Zechariah 8:3

3 The Lord says this: "I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City,[a] the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, and the Holy Mountain."

Zechariah 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 8:3

Thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Zion
The temple being now building, and almost finished, and the worship of God restored in it. The Targum renders it, "I will return to Zion"; and it may refer to the time of Christ's incarnation, when the Redeemer came to Zion, ( Isaiah 59:20 ) or to the time of the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, of both which it is true; see ( Romans 11:26 ) : and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:
or "cause my Shechinah to dwell there", as the Targum paraphrases it; which was fulfilled when the Word was made flesh, (kai eskhnwsen) , "and dwelt" or "tabernacled" among the inhabitants of Judea and of Jerusalem, and taught his doctrines, and wrought his miracles, in the midst of them; and will be also when he shall dwell among them by his Spirit and grace in the latter day: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth;
when Christ, who is "truth" itself, was in it, and the truths of the Gospel were preached there by him and his apostles, and they were received and professed by many, though despised by others; and especially in the latter day, when the Jews shall generally and cordially embrace Christ and his Gospel, and shall worship God in spirit and in truth, and not in that shadowy, formal, and hypocritical way they do now; see ( Isaiah 1:26 Isaiah 1:27 ) and especially this will be true of the New Jerusalem, into which nothing shall enter that makes a lie, ( Revelation 21:27 ) : the mountain of the Lord of hosts;
which will be established upon the top of the mountains, and where the Lord will be seen and exalted in his glory, even the Lamb, with the hundred and forty four thousand with him, ( Isaiah 2:2 ) ( Revelation 14:1 ) : the holy mountain;
where the holy word of God will be preached, the holy ordinances administered, and holiness of life and conversation will be strictly attended to; yea, Holiness will be upon the bells of the horses, ( Zechariah 14:20 ) .

Zechariah 8:3 In-Context

1 The word of the Lord of Hosts came:
2 "The Lord of Hosts says this: I am extremely jealous for Zion; I am jealous for her with great wrath."
3 The Lord says this: "I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, and the Holy Mountain."
4 The Lord of Hosts says this: "Old men and women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of advanced age.
5 The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in them."

Footnotes 1

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