Zechariah 8 Study Notes

8:12 Everything the returnees could have hoped for was addressed in this sermon, which was rich with blessings (cp. Ezk 34:25-29). The peace . . . fruit . . . produce, and dew were the opposite of their experience in the land during the previous two decades (Hg 1:6-11; 2:15-19).

8:13-15 By referring to them as house of Judah and house of Israel Zechariah taught that the postexilic community represented the whole covenant people. The exhortation let your hands be strong also begins v. 9. They could be encouraged because God’s resolve to do them good was as certain as was his resolve to do them harm previously.

Qatsaph means be angry (Gn 40:2). People are furious (Nm 31:14), enraged (Is 8:21), or infuriated (Est 2:21). God grows angry (Dt 1:34), directs fierce anger (Dt 9:19), or vents wrath (Nm 16:22). The causative verb denotes provoke (Dt 9:7), provoke to anger (Zch 8:14), or anger (Ps 106:32). Qetseph (28x) signifies divine wrath (21x, Nm 18:5) or anger (Is 54:8) and twice indicates human anger (Ec 5:17) or fury (Est 1:18). Qatsaph with qetseph implies being extremely angry (Zch 1:2). While Zch 1:15 mentions being a little angry, this root seems one of the strongest words for anger. Qetseph is synonymous with chemah (“wrath, fury”), but in a pair or series qetseph appears last, sometimes modified by “great,” as the most intense word: God uprooted people in his anger, fury, and great wrath (Dt 29:28). Aramaic counterparts of the verb (Dn 2:12) and noun (Ezr 7:23) occur.

8:16-17 The terms of the covenant made it clear that people determine their own destiny, while God responds accordingly (Jr 18:7-10). These are the things you must do reveals that the function of the sermon was more than simply rebuilding the walls (v. 9). In order for the returnees to enjoy the incredible blessings that God offered, they would need to obey the covenant’s standard of social justice (7:8-10). In Eph 4:25 Paul quotes Zch 8:16 as an exhortation to NT believers.

8:18-19 In response to the question that initiated the sermon—whether it was necessary to continue fasting and mourning the destruction of Jerusalem (7:3,5)—the Lord announced a reversal. Fasts of lamentation were to be transformed into times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals.

8:20-22 The idea that residents of many cities of the world would come to Jerusalem is well attested in the OT (2:11; 14:16-19; 2Sm 22:45-46; 1Kg 10:23-25; 2Ch 9:22-24; Is 2:2-3; 27:13; 45:20; 60:3). As with Solomon, such an ingathering was a sign of greatness, both of Jerusalem and of God’s presence. The image was a fitting conclusion to Zechariah’s sermon. The seemingly insignificant city of Jerusalem was now seen as the most important city in the world.

8:23 In the ancient Near East, grabbing the hem of a garment was an act of submission and supplication. Since the Israelites spent years under foreign domination, to have Gentiles show submission to them would be an astonishing reversal (Gn 27:29).