Zechariah 8:5

5 And boys and girls will fill the public parks, laughing and playing - a good city to grow up in."

Zechariah 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 8:5

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls,
&c.] Denoting a large increase of inhabitants, in a literal sense; and may spiritually signify the large numbers of converts, of new born babes, who are regenerated by the grace and Spirit of God, and are accounted of by the Lord for a generation: playing the streets thereof;
being in health and rigour, and in great security. The Targum renders it, "singing" or "praising in the spacious places thereof"; singing the praises of God in Gospel strains; saying their Hosannas to the Son of David; rejoicing in the great salvation by Christ, and magnifying the grace of God, and setting forth the glories of it in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; see ( Matthew 11:16 Matthew 11:17 ) ( Matthew 21:15 Matthew 21:16 ) . In Jerusalem, literally taken, there were various streets, besides the street of the temple, which led to it, ( Ezra 10:9 ) mention is made of others in Jewish writings, as of the upper street F11, and of the street of the butchers, and of the street of those that dealt in wool F12.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 Misn. Shekalim, c. 8. sect. 1.
F12 Misn. Erubin, c. 10. sect. 9.

Zechariah 8:5 In-Context

3 "I've come back to Zion, I've moved back to Jerusalem. Jerusalem's new names will be Truth City, and Mountain of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, and Mount Holiness."
4 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
5 And boys and girls will fill the public parks, laughing and playing - a good city to grow up in."
6 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: "Do the problems of returning and rebuilding by just a few survivors seem too much? But is anything too much for me? Not if I have my say."
7 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.