PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah
William J. Deane [1853-1943] · 158,320 words · 170 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 61
EXPOSITION. go forth, because for the snko of God's CHAPTER VI. kingdom and to promote its ohjects the Vers. 1-8.-§ 10. The eighth vision: the world-powers are destroyed (Knabenbauer) four cha,·iots. (Isa. !xvi. 15). The number" four" representa completeness; the judgment shall leave no Ver. 1.-1 turned, and lifte…
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8light <"lurni:,i in the word rendered "be.y" that the vision is one of judgment: and the in the Authorized Version, which would Spirit of the Lo1-d is 'a Spirit of judgmont cl\use it tn meRn "r<'d." The Syriao, indeed, e.ud vengeance (Isa. iv. 4), whioh destroys which omits the word in ver. 3, tmnele.tes evil that …
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unwilling the Jowa were to let the 80.mnritana a.rise in his own country e.nd n1ttion, and take port in the good work, they were quite she.II spring from e. lowly origin to the rently to receive contributions from their highest glory (see Isa.. xi. I ; ltii. 2). He brethren in the di~persion, and likewise she.11 bui…
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.lnshue,'s bend e,nd deposited in the temple and to its good men, e.nd to those the.t he.ve as a memoria.l of this prophecy, &nd of the understood it, both fur o. favour to the son zeal of those who he,d oome from far to r,f Sophonias, nnd for a psnlm in the house hrine: offerings to the Lord, and likewise of of the Lo…
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'J.'his same truth seoms intimated to us also in Col. i. 16; and, perhaps, of evil angels in Mark ix. 29. A legitimate Ruhject this for meditation and praise, though not fo; intrusion (Col. i. 18). 4. llow diversely employed. Like " the four winds of heaven " e.g., some go in this direction, some in that. Also some are…
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t.o ~heir o_ffenngs. These are not only '.11.0t refused, but openly accepted-a vory great pomt, and by no means such a matter of course as we are sometimes inclined to suppo!!e (Gen. iv. 4, 5; Numb. xvi. 16; Exod. xxv. 2; xxx. 16; x.xxv. Ii, etc.). Also, when accepted, these offerinF:s are honoured, and put to very d…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1-8.-The world ruled in the interest of Ohristianity. I. THE POWERS OF TIIE wonLD AflJll UNDER THE CONTROL OF Gov. East and west, north and south, all the world over, God is supreme, He is the Lord of all forces, the Ruler of all events, the Arbiter of all destinies. War, famine, pes…
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strength. 3. He saw these chn.riots drawn by horses of different colours. In the first chariot we have red horses; in the second, black; in the third, white· and in the fourth, grisled or piebald grey. Now, the prophet seemed utterly unable to understand the meaning of these objects. But he is anxiouR to do so, and …
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Vers. 9-15.-The matchless Man in history. "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the Captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijab, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day." The crowning, the work, and the position of Joshua spoken of in these verses are obviously employ…
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can subordinate the most hostile externRl elements and forces to its own will and interests. III. THAT HE IS OIIE WHOSE MISSION IS SUBLIMELY GLORious. "He shRll build the temple of the Lord," etc. Zerubba.bel was now engaged in the ,vork of reCLrlng the material temple at Jerusalem; and a more glorious work;than this …
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER VII. have retained them on their retum. She- rezer, eqnivalent to Asayrian Sar-usur or Vor. I-oh. viii. 23.-Part II. THE ANSWER Asur-sar-usur, "Aeur protect the King,'' is TO A QUESTION OONOERNING THE O1lSERVANCE th_e nam_e home by a son of Sennacherib (2 OF CERTAIN FASTS. Kmgs xix. 37). Regem-me…
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These e~ many years. All the seventy trust iu the observance of outward cere- ye1trs of exile. There is, perhaps, BOme monies, but attend to the cultivation ot Pha.risnieal complacency in this assertion. moral obedience and purity (see l Sa.m. xv. 22; Prov. xxi. 3; Ia,i. i. 11, 12, lG, 17; Vers. 4-7.-§ 2. In an-BWe…
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like Rll ox which refuses to have the yoke and I would not hear; rather, so they ,hall put on his neck, or dro.ws back when it cry, and I will not hear. God will be deaf feels the weight (N eh. ix. 29; Hos. iv. 16). to their cry, and will g;ive them up to their Stopped their ears. Mo.de their ears heavy. own ways (J…
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burning of the temple on the tenth da.y of the fifth month (Jer. lii. 13), in commemorn- Lion of which this fast of the fifth month had been instituted; and the renewed building of the temple, commenced in the second of Dinius (Ezra iv. 24; v. 1, 2), having now (in this fourth of Darius, see ver. l) so far advanced tha…
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(vor. 7), God had demanded of men? Under one aspect, as before shown by us, "repentcmce towards" himself. Under another aspect, so it seems here explained in vors. 9, 10, only what WBB p;ood for themselves. How many blessings, e.g., if God'a laws had been really kept, and their fathers had only done e.a God asked of…
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Ver. 3.-Shall we fa8t1 This question has been often e.sked down to our own day. I. There are NATIONAL FASTS. These are rare, and only appointed under very solemn circumstances. In 1853, when cholera prevailed, the Presbytery of Edinburgh (Church of Scotland) suggested to Lord Palmerston, then Home Secretary, the propr…
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were sent "to pray before the Lord," or, as in the margin, "to entreat the face of the Lord." Tbat men can obtain by prayer to the Supreme Being what they could not obtain without it is one of the fundamental and distinctive faiths of humanity. 11 s•ead of being against the law of nature, it is one of the most unifo…
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Vere. B-14.-Religion, genuine and spwrious. "And tho Word of the Lord," etc. From this passage we infer three facts. I. G1rnurnm RELIGION 18 PHILANTHROPIO, (Isa. i. 16, 17; Iviii. 6, 7; Matt. v. 44.) "'l'hus speakcth the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brot…
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t-er C'ontnine the seC'ond haU of the Lord's Lord alludes to the games of chlldron in Rnewer conoeming fasting, merging into the ruarket-ple.ces as a familinr incident lu proph,-cy. his days (Matt. :li. 16, 17; comp. Jer. vi. Ver. 2.-Thn& ■e.ith the Lord of hoat1. 11). TLis formula OOl'-urs ten times in this Ver. 6…
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began to improve dlrecUy they ehowe,1 in the land, anrl from thia r,ict the resnlta diligence and zoal. There was no hire for following should ensue. This afford• a very man, etc. Either tho ,yield was so Rmall good sense; but it is probably a metaphor thctt no labour ol' men or benete was needed quite unintended by th…
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11lonc were to share at the first: lerael's condition of the fulfilment of the promise happ)" time (ver. 13) W118 to come le.ter. (ver. 16; ob. vii. 9), here ngain f'oroibly Ver. 16.-Theae are the things. To eecure impressed. t.he fulfilment of the promise of good, they Ver. 20.-lt she.II yet come to pas~, that nrnst …
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HOMILETICS. Vars. 1-8.-.Assurance of favour. "Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me." When warning is carried too far, it degenerates into threatening, and defeats its own end, producing despair instead of desire to escape. It is probably on this account that the solemn warning with which eh. vii. conclude…
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III. CoProus ADDITION, Did t.hese visions seom very marvellous in the eyes of those to wbom they were shown ? Almost too good, in fact, to be true. Let suoh persons remember: 1. That they were Mt too marvellous fO'I" God's powe1·. Often had God sbown this kind of thing to be true (see Gen. xviii. 14; Jer, xxxii. 0-17,…
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purposes. (Vera. 14, 15.) When the state of things is such as to call for _judgment, ye have seen bow the thought of such judgment is carried out by me (comp. 1 Sam. iii. 12). Lee.rn from this, when Lhings, as at present, are different, to rely on the oame s•eadf!l.8t- ness on my part. 2. So to describe it, the easines…
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II. THE FUTURE EMINENCE OF JERUSALEM, This capital of Israel was to become" yet" (i.e., however apparentl[ unli~ely, however apparently delayed) the religious capital of the world. As forotellmg this, we have portrayed to us hero: 1. .A great .fourner, resolved on. We see (1) manypilgrimsassembiingtogether,people who h…
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8-12). Finds a gro.nder fulfilment under the gospel, and will be perfectly fulfilled in the lo.Uer days. IV. Goo's FAITHFULNERB IN I,'tJ'LFILLING BIB PROMISl!:1'1 TO BIS CHURCH. There are things which seem too great to be possible-too good to be trne. It may be so with man, but not with God. Eternal Wisdom cannot err.…
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reudering of Dr. Henderson is worth citation: "And the word of Jehovah was com- municated to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have been jealous for Zion with great zeal, yea, with great indignation have I been jealous for her." Jerusalem was a city in which God hnd chosen "to put his Name;" there was his temp…
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Vers. 9-15.-.A Divine call to a, Divi·ne worl:. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words," etc. This para- graph iM promising and chrnrful; it is at once intended and suited to animate the 86 THE BOOK OF ZEOHA.RIAR, [orr, vur. 1-23. builders of the temple and t…
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to any community; the obedient are evermore a blessing. "No man liveth to himself." We must either bless or curse our race. 3. Divine fa;u01Jl1'. "For thus saith the Lord or hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not: so again have I thought in…
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pleasure in religious ordintmeeB. " Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Tho fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts." "The fast of the fonrth month was on account of the taking of Jeru…
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EXPOSITION. heathen, a.a well e.e those of Israel, will lo0k CHAPTER IX. to the Lord, e.nd they will marvel at the Ver. 1-ch. xiv. 21.-Part III. THE judgment e.nd the close fulfilment of tl10 FUTUHE Oli' THlll POWERS OF THE WORLD prediction. This would be n. very aonnrl and probable exposition of the paBBrtg-c if …
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u (most efforts, which were only successful oocm·s in Dent. xxiii. 2 (3, Hebrew), where when he had united the island to the it may possibly meo.n "a stranger." It is mainhmd by erecting an enormous mole generally considered to signify one whose between t.hem. Thie causeway he.s now birth has a blemish in it-ono bor…
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mea.ne ( eh. xii. 5, 6). It is used of the all hostile attacks. The phrase, "him thl\t chiefs of Eclom in Gen. xxxvi. 16, 16, paeseth by e.nd him that rcturneth,'' is used cto., whoro the Authorized Version gives of an enemy making incursions, or attack-in~ "dukes." 'l'he tribes of Israel were divicled at various point…
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imply that Israel would no longer have to upheld by God (Ps. xviii. 50; ox. 1, 2, 5; pay tribute to foreign nationB, but should Isa. xlii. l ; xlix. 8), or as being victorious henoeforward beindepen<lent. For now have and so able to aid his people. In this latter I seen with mine eyes. It is as though, view, t!Je activ…
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Ephro.im, o.nd portinontly asks why such added to the horror of the sitnation, or to term mny not he 11lso need by one who wrote intimate that the prisoners were not hope- nfler the Captivity. The be.ttle bow sto.nds lessly drowned therein. We Christia.as see for 1111 wcnpons of w11r. That Messiah's in this para.graph …
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thee. God will mako his people into e. enemies was a se.ored war, aud accepted by hE1rn's sword to eirncute vengee.noe on the him as a sacrifice. In the Muooabean enemv. struggle the bloodshed WO,S often very con- Ver. 14.-The Lord she.II be seen over siderable (see 1 Maco. vii. 32, 46 ; xi. 47: them. To encourage …
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HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-6.-A visitation of judgment. "The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach," etc. Whatever view is taken of the exact time of the fulfilment of the glorious promises with which the last chapter concludes, it was necessarily a time still future when those promises were uttered. Other…
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Vers. 7, 8.-...4. visitation of mercy. ".And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth," etc. The key to this passage seems to be in its very last words (comp. Exod. ill. 7 and end of ver, 6). In the preceding verses we saw how God "visited" the nations bordering on Israe…
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its movements. From all theso dangers defence is here promised. 2. Its secret. By God's own hand,: "I will encamp" ( comp. Pa. xx. 7 ; xu:iv. 7; 2 Kings vi. 17). For the sake of Gods own house, some expressly render the words, "about mine house" (oomp. Pa. cxxii. 9; 1 Kiags viii. 23). 3. Its results; viz. comparative f…
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life, in fll('t, like Joseph in Gen. xxxvii. 24, 27, only no~ gone, 2, The kind of salva- tion VOIJ,IJhsafed. (1) Its cert&inty. A matter of "covene.nt" (ver. 12)---of a covenant Etill binding, renewed "to-day;" a covenant made by the greatest of all beings (" do I declare"), and in the most ~lemn of all methods, vi…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers.1-8.-God's fudgments. I. THE DABK BIDE. "Burden." Word of ill omen to God's enemies. God's eye is on all. Storm gathering. Will soon burst in fury, just, universal, over·whelming. None so small as to be overlooked. None so great as to secure immunity. The wisdom of the wise, the resou…
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oomes not within our purpose to discuss.the questions of genuineness, authenticity, an,l inspiration. In the preceding chapters the prophet had in vision seen and said rm1ch concerning many of the more remarkable events connected with the continued rule of the Persians; he ndv1mces now to foretell some of the more stri…
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Vers. 9, 10.-Theuleal Mon<IIT'ch of the world. "Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion," etc. "In the former part of this chapter," says Dr. Wardlaw, "we found in the pro- gressive conquests of Alexander the Great and the favour which, in the midst of them, he showed to Jerusalem, the execution of God's vengeance, as h…
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Vers. 11, 12.-Historical facts illustrations of spiritua.l realities. "As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope : even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee." In these verses we …
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exclaim, as he bas passed from page to page, "This is the Lord's doing, and it is mar- vellous in our eyes"? We say," thoughtful student;" for it is only manifeRt to the spiritually thoughtful. 'l'he hearts of others are so thickly veiled with depravity and wickedness that they see him not; they neither recognize his h…
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mal<et1' the l.ightn,'.ngs. Tbundel'llto'11b:11! -rulerR were indeed God's instruments in acoompRny the periodical rains. Ye must punishin~ his people, but they hnd exoeeded Mk of him, and ye shall have. Septuagint, their oommission, and o.fflicted rsrael ,in Kop,or ,,,a/711T< q,a.V'Ta.1Tias, " The Lord makes order …
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ngninst a.11 nssailants. Oppressor; rather, eh. ix. 15; Ps. lxxviii. 65, 66). Their ruler, ns lsn. iii. 12; Ix. 17, Judah she.11 ohildren shall see it. Though une.hle to ho.ve every leo.der nccesso.ry for nil emergen- pe.rticipate in the struggle, their children cies. Septuagint, ,,.as o ,~e>..a6vr,w lv -r,p ehall shar…
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~il•ila'bo ci& (Ynlgate). The slight.est 11um- iv. 1. 2; 7. 6). Septuagint, "There shall mons 'l\'ill hring them when God wil111 the not even one of them be left behind," ,.e. in return of the dispersed. The "hissing" exile. is the whistlin.~ or tinkling with which Ver. 11.-He shall pall through the sea bees arl' allur…
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HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-6.-7Vle secret of victory. "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time," etc. In the le.st passage the Church of God (in its new Testament form, as we supposed) WBR presented to us under the figures of an army (ver. 13, etc.); a flock (ver. 16); and a field which the Lord had blessed (ver. 17). In the pre…
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true religious life. It was the absence of this ,vbich made the Jewish Church the dead tliing (Luke Hii. 3i) that it was, like the old world and Sodom (Luke xvii. 27, 29) when _No~h and ~?t had ~one out ot them. All their many other privileg011 (see Ro_m_. 11. l 1 -20; m. 1, 2; ix. 4, 6) were of no avail without thi…
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Vers. 1, 2.-Parable of the rain. I. MAN'S GREAT NEED. Without rain the ground is impoverished and dead. So is the soul without God. No good fruit. 11. MAN'S GREAT RESOURCE. Not idols or enchantments, not hum.an devices or philosophies, but appeal to God. He will withhold no good from them that walk uprightly. • III. …
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I. Tnrn 0ATHERING, So now under the gospel. From far and near they come. A~ the call of Jesus they gather under the banner of the cross. If. TnE PABSAOI!I. (Ver. 11.) Like children of Israel-pilgrims in the wilderness. ManHold trials. Educated by adversity and prosperity. Course ever onward, under the bane! and guidan…
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depends upon rain, and this rain God will give in &newer to prayer. Observe: 1. God gif!es rain. A pseudo-science would ascribe "rain" and "clouds" and "showers II to what they call the laws of nature; but what these laws &re, and how they operate, they cannot tell. The Bible, giving us at once an adequate &nd an in…
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Vere. 6-12.-Victory, 'll/Tl,ification, <11T1,d blessedness for the good. "And they shall be as mighty men," etc. This paragraph is a continuation of the preceding portions of the chapter. The various statements bring nnder our notice subjects which, if we give them a spiritual application, are of groot and permanent in…
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thwu§':h E~·pt and Assyria. It does not say that all Jews shall return, but a f!:reat multitude i~ implied. 3. The scene at whwh the regathering will take place. "I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon." This de…
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EXPOSITION. OHAPTER XI. wards a.long the Jordan valley. Their glory. The noble trees in whose shadow they re- Vers.1-9.-§ 8. Restoration to their own joiced. Young lion■. Which had t&eir lairs le.nd ancl material prosperity do not free the in the forests now laid waste (Jer. xlix. 19). Israelites from probation or t…
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ill-gotten gnins. Tho prophet is speaking the poor among the flock. "Therefore" re- of chiefs and rulers, civil a.nd ecolesie.etros.l, fers to the previous commntHI. It is nlso who ple.yed into the enemies' hands, and rendered "in sooth." The LXX., arranging thought. of nothing but bow to make 11, gain the letters diff…
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prophet's cyo nil this seemed to tnke place and tho snffering among them, who paicl in the.t short spaoe of time. If anything respect to his words, recognized that what moro is intended, we mo.y, with Keil and happened we.a according to God's Wor<l, others, tnking the month as consisting of and knew that all the res…
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-r-1,p,oP, "Lay them in the foundry, and I 1 xxvii. 9 the two verses, 12, 18, with some will see if it is approved;" Vulg1tte, Pro• ve.rie.t.ion.s, are quoted e.s "spoken by Jeremy ;ice il111d ad ~tailwrium; the Syriao and the prophet." Henoe some Rttributo this Targum have, "Put it into the treasury" po.rt of Zeehe.ri…
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Messiah, he must represent some person or He thinks only how to get personal advan- powe1· lhnt oxisted subsequent to Christ's tage from the flock (comp. Ezek. xxxiv, death. Mnny consider thBt he symbolizes 2-8). TeBr their claws (hoof•) in pieces, the Rom11ns; but these people could not be as some say, by making them …
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.