Zechariah 8:9

9 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Be strong and finish the task! Ever since the laying of the foundation of the Temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, you have heard what the prophets have been saying about completing the building.

Zechariah 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 8:9

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Let your hands be strong,
&c.] In going on with the building of the temple, which was typical of the church of God, since so many great and good things were promised by the Lord, ( Haggai 2:4 ) : ye that hear in these days;
such as Zerubbabel the ruler, Joshua the high priest, and the rest of the people of the land: these words by the mouth of the prophets;
that is, these prophecies of future good things, which were delivered by Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi; who were the prophets, which [were] in the day [that] the foundation of the house of the
Lord of hosts was laid;
which was in the second year of Darius, on the twenty fourth day of the ninth month, ( Haggai 2:10 Haggai 2:18 ) : that the temple might be built;
in order to the rebuilding of it, the foundation was laid; and from that time it was to continue building, till it was finished ^F13.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 The true reading of these words, according to the accents, is, "Thus saith the Lord [of hosts:] let your hands be strong, that hear in those days these words: [out of] the prophets, [I say, ye have heard], that, from the day the house of the Lord of hosts shall be founded, the temple [should be continued] to be built." So Reinbeck. De Accent. Heb. p. 453.

Zechariah 8:9 In-Context

7 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west.

8 I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God.

9 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Be strong and finish the task! Ever since the laying of the foundation of the Temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, you have heard what the prophets have been saying about completing the building.

10 Before the work on the Temple began, there were no jobs and no money to hire people or animals. No traveler was safe from the enemy, for there were enemies on all sides. I had turned everyone against each other.

11 “But now I will not treat the remnant of my people as I treated them before, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.