Zechariah 7:12

12 And they set their heart as an adamant (stone), lest they heard the law, and words which the Lord of hosts sent in his [holy] Spirit, by the hand of the former prophets; and great indignation was made of the Lord of hosts. (And they hardened their hearts like a stone, lest they heard the Law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent by his Holy Spirit, by the earlier prophets, or by the prophets of old; and so the Lord of hosts had great indignation.)

Zechariah 7:12 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 7:12

Yea, they made their hearts [as] an adamant stone
The word here used is translated a "diamond" in ( Jeremiah 17:1 ) and it is said to be harder than a flint, ( Ezekiel 3:9 ) . The Jewish writers say

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 it is a worm like a barley corn, so strong as to cut the hardest stones in pieces; Moses (they say) used it in hewing the stones for the two tables of the law, and in fitting the precious stones in the ephod; and Solomon in cutting the stones for the building of the temple; and is so hard that it cannot be broken by iron: and as hard is naturally the heart of man, and which becomes more so by sinning, and obstinate persisting in it, that nothing can remove the hardness of it but the powerful and efficacious grace of God: as hard as the adamant is, it is to be softened by the blood of a goat, as naturalists says ^F8; so the blood of Christ sprinkled on the heart, and a sense of forgiveness of sin by it, will soften the hardest heart: lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of
hosts hath seat in his Spirit by the former prophets;
the words of reproof, admonition, caution, and exhortation, which Jeremiah and others were sent to deliver to them, under the influence of the Spirit of God: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts;
which brought the Chaldeans upon them, who carried them captive into Babylon.
F7 Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 12. Pirke Abot. c. 5. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. Kimchi in 1 Reg. vi. 7. Jarchi in Isa. v. 6.
F8 Pausan. Arcadica, sive l. 8. p. 485. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 4.

Zechariah 7:12 In-Context

10 And do not ye falsely challenge a widow, and fatherless, either motherless, and comeling, and poor man; and a man think not in his heart evil to his brother. (And do not ye oppress a widow, or the fatherless, or the motherless, child, or a newcomer, that is, a stranger, or a poor person; and do not let anyone think evil in his heart against his brother, or against his neighbour.)

11 And they would not take heed, and they turned away the shoulder, and went away, and made heavy their ears (and closed their ears), lest they heard.

12 And they set their heart as an adamant (stone), lest they heard the law, and words which the Lord of hosts sent in his [holy] Spirit, by the hand of the former prophets; and great indignation was made of the Lord of hosts. (And they hardened their hearts like a stone, lest they heard the Law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent by his Holy Spirit, by the earlier prophets, or by the prophets of old; and so the Lord of hosts had great indignation.)

13 And it is done, as he spake; and as they heard not, so they shall cry, and I shall not hear [them], saith the Lord of hosts. (And it is done, as he had said it would be; and because they did not listen to me, so now they shall cry, and I shall not hear them/and I shall not listen to them, saith the Lord of hosts.)

14 And I scattered them by all realms, which they knew not, and the land is desolate from them; for that there was not a man going and turning again, and they have put [the] desirable land into desert. (And I scattered them into all the kingdoms, which they did not know about, and the land was made empty of them; and because there was no one going forth, and returning, they have made, or turned, this most desirable land into a desert, or deserted and desolate.)