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3,811 commentary entries
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible
Comfort for Jerusalem. (b. c. 520.)
COMFORT FOR JERUSALEM. (B. C. 520.) It is the comfort and triumph of the church (Isaiah 59:19) that when the enemy shall come in like a flood, with mighty force and fury, then the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a stan…
The Vision of the Measuring Line. (b. c. 520.)
THE VISION OF THE MEASURING LINE. (B. C. 520.) This prophet was ordered, in God's name, to assure the people (Zechariah 1:16) that a line should be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Now here we have that promise illustrat…
Zion Invited to Liberty. (b. c. 520.)
ZION INVITED TO LIBERTY. (B. C. 520.) One would have thought that Cyrus's proclamation, which gave liberty to the captive Jews to return to their own land, would suffice to bring them all back, and that, as when Pharaoh…
Zion's Prosperity Predicted. (b. c. 520.)
ZION'S PROSPERITY PREDICTED. (B. C. 520.) Here is, I. Joy proclaimed to the church of God, to the daughter of Zion, that had separated herself from the daughter of Babylon. The Jews that had returned were in distress an…
Joshua resisted and Upheld; Joshua Purified from Pollution; Joshua Reinstalled in His Office. (b. c. 520.)
JOSHUA RESISTED AND UPHELD; JOSHUA PURIFIED FROM POLLUTION; JOSHUA REINSTALLED IN HIS OFFICE. (B. C. 520.) There was a Joshua that was a principal agent in the first settling of Israel in Canaan; here is another of the…
Advent of Christ Predicted; Prediction Relating to Christ. (b. c. 520.)
ADVENT OF CHRIST PREDICTED; PREDICTION RELATING TO CHRIST. (B. C. 520.) As the promises made to David often slide insensibly into promises of the Messiah, whose kingdom David's was a type of, so the promises here made t…
The Vision of the Golden Candlestick; The Building of the Temple Encouraged. (b. c. 520.)
THE VISION OF THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK; THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE ENCOURAGED. (B. C. 520.) Here is, I. The prophet prepared to receive the discovery that was to be made to him: The angel that talked with him came and wak…
The Vision of the Olive-Trees. (b. c. 520.)
THE VISION OF THE OLIVE-TREES. (B. C. 520.) Enough is said to Zechariah to encourage him, and to enable him to encourage others, with reference to the good work of building the temple which they were now about, and that…
The Vision of the Flying Roll. (b. c. 520.)
THE VISION OF THE FLYING ROLL. (B. C. 520.) We do not find that the prophet now needed to be awakened, as he did Zechariah 4:1. Being awakened then, he kept wakeful after; nay, now he needs not be so much as called to l…
The Vision of the Ephah. (b. c. 520.)
THE VISION OF THE EPHAH. (B. C. 520.) The foregoing vision was very plain and easy, but in this are things dark and hard to be understood; and some think that the scope of it is to foretel the final destruction of the J…
The Vision of the Four Chariots. (b. c. 520.)
THE VISION OF THE FOUR CHARIOTS. (B. C. 520.) The prophet is forward to receive this vision, and, as if he expected it, he turned and lifted up his eyes and looked. Though this was the seventh vision he had had, yet he…
The Coronation of Joshua; Prediction of the Messiah. (b. c. 520.)
THE CORONATION OF JOSHUA; PREDICTION OF THE MESSIAH. (B. C. 520.) God did not only at sundry times, but in divers manners, speak in time past by the prophets to his church. In the former part of this chapter he spoke by…
An Enquiry Concerning Fasting; Hypocrisy Reproved. (b. c. 520.)
AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING FASTING; HYPOCRISY REPROVED. (B. C. 520.) This occasional sermon, which the prophet preached, and which is recorded in this and the next chapter, was above two years after the former, in which he g…
Wilful Disobedience of Israel; Consequences of Disobedience. (b. c. 520.)
WILFUL DISOBEDIENCE OF ISRAEL; CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE. (B. C. 520.) What was said Zechariah 7:7, that they should have heard the words of the former prophets, is here enlarged upon, for warning to these hypocritic…
Encouraging Prospects. (b. c. 517.)
ENCOURAGING PROSPECTS. (B. C. 517.) The prophet, in his foregoing discourses, had left his hearers under a high charge of guilt and a deep sense of wrath; he had left them in a melancholy view of the desolations of thei…
Encouraging Prospects. (b. c. 517.)
ENCOURAGING PROSPECTS. (B. C. 517.) God, by the prophet, here gives further assurances of the mercy he had in store for Judah and Jerusalem. Here is line upon line for their comfort, as before there was for their convic…
Encouraging Prospects. (b. c. 517.)
ENCOURAGING PROSPECTS. (B. C. 517.) These verses contain two precious promises, for the further encouragement of those pious Jews that were hearty in building the temple. I. That a happy period should be put to their fa…
Prophecy against Syria; Prophecy against the Enemies of Israel; Judgments and Mercies. (b. c. 510.)
PROPHECY AGAINST SYRIA; PROPHECY AGAINST THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL; JUDGMENTS AND MERCIES. (B. C. 510.) After the precious promises we had in the foregoing chapter of favour to God's people, their persecutors, who hated the…
Predictions Relating to Messiah. (b. c. 510.)
PREDICTIONS RELATING TO MESSIAH. (B. C. 510.) That here begins a prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom is plain from the literal accomplishment of the Zechariah 9:9 in, and its express application to, Christ's riding…
Gospel Invitations; Promises of God's Favour to Israel. (b. c. 510.)
GOSPEL INVITATIONS; PROMISES OF GOD'S FAVOUR TO ISRAEL. (B. C. 510.) The prophet, having taught those that had returned out of captivity to attribute their deliverance to the blood of the covenant and to the promise of…
Encouragements to Trust in God. (b. c. 510.)
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO TRUST IN GOD. (B. C. 510.) Gracious things and glorious ones, very glorious and very gracious, were promised to this poor afflicted people in the foregoing chapter; now here God intimates to them that…
Evangelical Promises; Encouraging Prospects. (b. c. 510.)
EVANGELICAL PROMISES; ENCOURAGING PROSPECTS. (B. C. 510.) Here are divers precious promises made to the people of God, which look further than to the state of the Jews in the latter days of their church, and have certai…
Destruction of the Jewish State. (b. c. 510.)
DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH STATE. (B. C. 510.) In dark and figurative expressions, as is usual in the scripture predictions of things at a great distance, that destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish church and nation…
Judgments Predicted and Typified. (b. c. 510.)
JUDGMENTS PREDICTED AND TYPIFIED. (B. C. 510.) The prophet here is made a type of Christ, as the prophet Isaiah sometimes was; and the scope of these verses is to show that for judgment Christ came into this world (John…