Zechariah 14:10
Ver. 10. All the land shall be turned as a plain,.... That is, all the land of Israel round about Jerusalem, which was encompassed with mountains, Ps 125:2 but now these mountains shall become a plain, that that may be seen; since it follows,
from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; Geba was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, on the northern border of the land, Jos 21:17 and Rimmon was in the tribe of Judah, given to Simeon on the southern part, Jos 15:32 so that from Geba to Rimmon was the same as from Geba to Beersheba, which was in the same tribe, 2Ki 23:8 and, according to the Jewish writers, the south of Jerusalem was a plain; wherefore the meaning seems to be, that the whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, should be like that. Jerom makes mention of a village called Remmon in his time, fifteen miles to the north of Jerusalem, which cannot be the place here meant, and yet speaks of it as in the tribe of Simeon or Judah; and afterwards takes notice of another village called Remmus in Daroma, or the south {m}; to me it seems that Geba and Rimmon were places near one to another, and both in the tribe of Benjamin; see 1Sa 14:2 where the word rendered "pomegranate" is Rimmon, and is the proper name of a place, according to some; the same with that in Jud 20:47 where was a rock called the rock Rimmon; and Jonathan ben Uzziel, on 1Sa 14:2 renders it, "the plain of the pomegranate"; or rather the plain of Rimmon: and the Jews make mention in their Talmud {n} of the valley of Rimmon, where seven elders met to intercalate the year; and here, they say, was a marble rock, in which everyone fastened a nail, and therefore it is called the rock of nails. Now the sense seems to be, that all the land of Israel should become a plain, like the valley that was between Geba and Rimmon. Jarchi interprets it of the whole world. And this will be literally true of the new earth, in the thousand years' reign, which will be without hills mountains, and seas, Re 21:1. It may be mystically understood of the spiritual reign of Christ, when the whole world will become Christian; when Jews and Gentiles, and even the kings of the earth, shall bow the knee to Christ, and be subject to him.And it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place; that is, Jerusalem, which shall appear very high, all the land round about being a plain; and, being rebuilt, shall be inhabited on the same spot of ground it formerly was: or the church may be meant, which in the latter day will be greatly exalted, and will be filled with, and inhabited by, some of all the nations of the world, Isa 2:2:from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate; not that called the high gate of Benjamin, and which was near the temple, Jer 20:2 and seems to be one of its gates; and such an one there was, which in Arabic was called "Bab Alasbat", the gate of the tribes, where was the pool of the blood of the sacrifices; and is said to be not far from another gate, called the gate of mercy {o}; but this is that which led out of the city, and was one of its gates towards the land of Benjamin, from whence it had its name, and through which Jeremiah attempted to go when he was stopped by the captain of the ward, Jer 37:13 this, according to Grotius, was on the north of Jerusalem: Mr. Fuller {p} places it more rightly in the northeast part of it, as does Adrichomius {q}, who wrongly confounds it with the corner gate later mentioned, which is here manifestly distinguished from it; and which mistake also Schindler {r} gives into, and likewise Arias Montanus {s} and others. "The first gate" is the same with "the old gate" in Ne 3:6.Unto the corner gate; the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Ephraim, are the same, as is thought by Grotius; the distance between that gate and the corner gate was four hundred cubits, 2Ki 14:13:and [from] the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses; mention is made of the tower of Hananeel in Ne 3:1 it was to the south of Jerusalem; and is called in the Targum the tower of Pikkus: "the king's winepresses" doubtless were where his vineyards were; King Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon, So 8:11. Grotius says the place where these winepresses were was at Sion, in the inmost part of the city; and so Adrichomius {t} places them in Mount Sion; though Kimchi speaks of them as without the city; and Jarchi makes mention of an Agadah, or exposition, which interprets them of the great ocean, which reaches from Jerusalem to the end of the world, the lakes which the King of kings has made. Very probably these places lay east, west, north, and south; and so denote the amplitude of the city, and the largeness and extensiveness of the church of Christ, signified thereby; see Eze 48:1.{m} De locis Heb. fol. 94. A. C. {n} T. Hieros. Chagiga, fol. 78. 4. {o} Cippi Hebr. p. 22. Geograph. Nub. p. 114. {p} Pisgah-Sight of Palestine, B. 3. c. 3. sect. 15. p. 322. {q} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 167. {r} Lexic. Pentaglott. col. 1912. {s} Nehemias, sive de Antiqu. Jerus. situ. {t} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. Jerusalem, No. 25. p. 152. Zechariah 14:11Ver. 11. And [men] shall dwell in it,.... In great numbers, in much peace and safety, and from generation to generation: Aben Ezra says, Messiah the son of David will now come:and there shall be no more utter destruction; no wars, nor desolations by them, in a civil sense; there shall be no more killing, as the Targum, Isa 2:4 no "cherem", no anathema, in a religious sense; in the old translation it is, "and there shall be no more cursing"; there will be no curse in the Jerusalem state, Re 22:3 which words seem to be taken from hence; no cursed thing, nor cursed person, or any curse or anathema denounced against any; no Popish bulls and anathemas, nor any other:but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited; the inhabitants of it shall dwell securely, without any apprehension of danger, and having no enemies to fear; though, before this safe and happy state, there will be many enemies; and what will become of them is shown in the following verses. Zechariah 14:12Ver. 12. And this shall be the plagues,.... This respects one or more, or all, of the seven plagues, which will be inflicted on the antichristian states, mentioned in Re 15:1:wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; who have been the enemies and persecutors of his church; and with which plague or plagues they shall be utterly consumed and destroyed:their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet; antichrist will be consumed with the breath of Christ's mouth; the flesh of the whore of Rome, which is her substance, shall be eaten and devoured by the kings of the earth; and her destruction will be in a moment, suddenly, and at unawares, as is here suggested; see 2Th 2:8:and their eyes shall consume away in their holes; the right eye of the idol shepherd shall be utterly dried up, and the kingdom of the beast will be full of darkness, Zec 11:17:and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth; with which antichrist and his followers have blasphemed the name of God, his tabernacle, and his saints; and which they will gnaw for pain, when the plagues of God are inflicted on them, Re 13:5. Zechariah 14:13Ver. 13. And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When the vials are pouring out:[that] a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; the Targum renders it, a great tumult, or noise of killing; and the Septuagint, an ecstasy: it refers to the earthquake, and the slaughter of seven thousand men of name, and the fright upon that, Re 11:13and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbour, and shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour; there will be a revolution, upon this tumult, in several of the antichristian states; and the kings of them shall hate the whore, make her desolate, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, Re 17:16 or, "his hand shall be cut off by the hand of his neighbour" {u}; see Zec 11:17, the power of antichrist shall be destroyed by neighbouring Christian princes.{u} wher dy le wdy htlew "et succidetur manus ejus super manum amici sui", Pagninus. So Aben Ezra, and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 43. 1. Zechariah 14:14Ver. 14. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem,.... These are the professing people of Christ, the armies in heaven, the chosen, called, and faithful, who will follow the Lamb, and attend him when he goes forth to make war with the antichristian princes, and shall overcome them, Re 17:14:and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold and silver, and apparel, in great abundance; by which are meant the riches of the Papists, called Gentiles or Heathens, Re 11:2 which will fall into the hands of the followers of Christ at the time of Rome's destruction; and which are signified by the flesh of the whore, and by the flesh of kings, captains, and mighty men, which will then be eaten; they will be stripped and spoiled of all their substance, Re 17:16. Zechariah 14:15Ver. 15. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass,.... The flesh of the horse is said to be eaten, Re 19:18:and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague, their beasts shall perish in like manner as themselves. Zechariah 14:16Ver. 16. And it shall come to pass,.... After the plague on man and beast is over:[that] everyone that is left of all the nations which come against Jerusalem; these are the remnant, according to the election of grace, who will have been among the enemies of Christ and his people, but preserved when others will be destroyed; and they will not only be frightened at the general destruction, but will be truly converted, and give glory to the God of heaven, Re 11:13: theseshall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts; the King Messiah, as Aben Ezra and Abendana on the place observe; the same with the King overall the earth, Zec 14:9 who is Lord of hosts, of all the armies in heaven, that will have followed him, at this time, and is to be worshipped by angels and men; he is equal with God, the Creator of both, the Redeemer of men, and King of saints; and to worship him shall the above persons preserved and called go up to Jerusalem, the church of God, year by year, that is, constantly:and to keep the feast of tabernacles; not literally, but spiritually; for, as all the Jewish feasts have been long since abolished, having had their accomplishment in Christ, not one of them will ever be revived in the latter day. This feast was originally kept in commemoration of the Israelites dwelling in tents in the wilderness, and was typical of Christ's incarnation, who was made flesh, and tabernacled among us; so that to keep this feast is no other than to believe in Christ as come in the flesh, and in the faith of this to attend to the Gospel feast of the word and ordinances; and whereas this feast was observed by drawing water with expressions of joy, this may respect the pouring forth of the Spirit in the last day, and that spiritual joy saints will then be filled with; to which may be added, that palm tree branches used to be carried in their hands at the time of that feast; and so the keeping of it now may denote the victory that will be obtained over the beast and his image, which palm tree branches are a token of; and this will issue in the personal reign of Christ, when the tabernacle of God shall be with men. Zechariah 14:17Ver. 17. And it shall be, [that] whosoever will not come up,.... This, though it follows upon the former account, must be understood of times preceding the spiritual reign of Christ; for the rain of the Gospel will be upon all the earth in the latter day glory; and all nations will then serve and worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even those that remain after the general destruction of the antichristian states; besides, express mention is hereafter made of Egypt, which designs Rome, Re 11:8 and the whole manifestly refers to the time of the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth, who had power to shut the heaven, that it rain not, Re 11:6:of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem, to worship the King, the Lord of hosts: all of the antichristian party, that refuse to worship the Lord with his true church, according to his revealed will:even upon them shall be no rain; not literally, but spiritually; and is to be understood either of the love and favour of God, comparable to rain in its original, it being owing to the will of God, and not to the merits of men, and therefore is distinguishing and sovereign; in its objects, persons very undeserving; in the manner of its communication, it tarries not for the will and works of men, and comes in great abundance; and in its effects, it softens, cools, refreshes, and makes fruitful; and not to have this is to be hated of God: or of the blessings of divine grace; these are from above like rain, depend on the will of God, are free gifts, and given in abundance, and make fruitful; the contrary to these is cursing: or of the Gospel, which is of God and from heaven, falls according to divine direction, and softens, refreshes, and revives; and not to have this is the sorest of judgments, Am 8:11. Zechariah 14:18Ver. 18. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not,.... To Jerusalem, the church of God; do not go thither to worship the Lord, attend his ordinances, and keep them in their purity; nor walk as becomes the people of God: by "the family of Egypt" are meant the Papists, so called for their tyranny, cruelty, and idolatry, Re 11:8:that [have] no [rain]; have not the pure word of God, and the ordinances thereof, only the traditions of men; yea, the doctrines of devils, and lies in hypocrisy: the allusion is to the land of Egypt, which was watered, not so much by rain as by the overflowing of the river Nile: or it may be rendered, "and upon them there shall be no rain" {w}; or that which is equivalent to it. So the Targum paraphrases it,"the Nile shall not ascend unto them.''The sense is, as they are without the pure Gospel of Christ, they shall continue so, and be punished with, that sore judgment of a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.There shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles; they shall have the same plague of want of water, a famine; for it is a vulgar mistake that there is no rain in Egypt; it rains indeed but seldom, and only in some places, but it does rain. Monsieur Thevenot {x} says,"it rains much at Alexandria, and Rosetta also; but at Cairo, which stands higher, it rains less; and yet (says he) I have seen it rain very hard every year, for two days together in the month of December.''And Mr. Fuller {y} says that Sir William Paston, a patron of his, and a well accomplished traveller, was"an eye witness of much and violent rain at Grand Cairo, but such as presaged a great mortality, which ensued, not long after.''But it should be observed that this is only true of the lower part of Egypt, for in the upper parts it rains not, at least not very commonly: for Herodotus {z} reports that"in the times of Psammenitus, the son of Amasis, king of Egypt, a very wonderful thing happened to the Egyptians; it rained at Thebes in Egypt, which it never had before, nor has ever since, as the Thebans say; for it never rains in the upper part of Egypt; but then it rained at Thebes in drops.''Yet Mr. Norden {a}, a late traveller in those parts, says he"experienced at Meschie (a city in his travels to upper Egypt) a very violent rain, accompanied with thunder, for the space of a whole hour;''though in the same place he says, at Feschna, and beyond, in the upper Egypt, the sky is always serene and clear. And in his travels from Cairo to Girge, capital of the upper Egypt, he relates, that at a certain place, as he went thither, they had little wind, and a great deal of rain {b}. And in another place {c} he observes, at Menie (a place in upper Egypt) there was so thick a fog that we could perceive nothing at thirty paces distant: wherefore, since it does rain at times in some places, the same plague as before may be here meant; or want of provisions, as others, through a defect of rain; or the Nile not overflowing and watering the land, as Jarchi interprets it: but Kimchi gives another sense, and so Aben Ezra, which is, that instead of having no rain, which they need not and do not desire, they shall be smitten with the plague that the Lord will smite all the nations with that fight against Jerusalem, namely, their flesh shall consume away, &c. Zec 14:12.{w} Mhyle alw "super quos non [est imber]", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; "et non super illos, scil. erit imber", Burkius. {x} Travels, part 1. c. 72. p. 247. {y} Pisgah-Sight, B. 4. c. 5. p. 80. {z} Thalia, sive l. 3. c. 10. {a} Travels in Egypt and Nubia, vol. 1. p. 140. {b} Ib. vol. 2. p. 20. {c} Ib. p. 209. Zechariah 14:19Ver. 19. This shall be the punishment of Egypt,.... Or "sin" {d}, as in the original text: rightly is the word rendered "punishment", as it is by the Targum:and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles; which will be one and the same; they shall have no rain, or what answers to it; they shall all have a famine; or it will be different, Egypt shall be punished with a consumption of their flesh, and the other nations with want of rain: the former sense seems best.{d} tajx "peccatum", V. L. Zechariah 14:20Ver. 20. In that day,.... After the destruction of antichrist and all the antichristian party, and a new state of things will take place, either the spiritual or personal reign of Christ:shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS TO THE LORD; as was upon the mitre of the high priest, Ex 28:36 to which there seems to be an allusion here: or, "upon the trappings of the horses" {e}, as the Targum renders it; and this intends either the horses slain in war, whose bells or trappings should be devoted and applied to holy uses; or the horses that carried the people up to Jerusalem to worship there, or horses in common. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, "on the bridle of the horse shall be Holiness to the Lord"; that is, they should be devoted to his service, which sometimes were very richly adorned; yea, were of gold; as those described by Virgil {f}; nay, they were adorned with precious stones, with pearls, emeralds, and jacinths, insomuch that the Romans were obliged to restrain this luxury by a law {g}. The conceit of some of the fathers, that this refers to one of the nails in the cross of Christ, which Constantine put into his horse's bridle, is justly ridiculed and exploded by most commentators. It seems best to render the word as we do, "bells", as Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it; since it is used of cymbals made of brass, which were to make a sound to be heard, 1Ch 15:19 and of the same metal were the horses' bells made; though those which the mules at the funeral of Alexander had at each jaw were made of gold {h}; as were those Aaron had at the hem of his robe. The use of these bells on horses, according to Gussetius {i}, in the eastern countries, where they travelled through deserts, and had no beaten track, was to keep them together, and that they might be known where they were when parted; and of like use are they now to horses of burden or packhorses with us; though in common use they seem to serve to give horses a pleasure, and quicken them in their work: but the original of them seems to be for the training of horses for war, and therefore they hung bells to their bridles, to use them to a noise, and to try if they could bear a noise, and the tumult of war, so as not to throw their riders, or expose them to danger {k}; hence one that has not been tried or trained up to anything is called by the Greeksakwdwnistov, one not used to the noise of a bell, by a metaphor taken from horses, that have never been tried by the sound of bells, whether they can bear the noise of war without fear {l}: and so it may signify, that these, and all the apparatus of war, all kind of armour, should no more be made use of for such purposes, there being now universal peace in the kingdom of Christ; wherefore these, and the like, should be converted to sacred uses, just as swords, at the same time, shall be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks, for civil uses, Isa 2:4 or, since Holiness to the Lord is said to be upon them, the sense may be, that holiness will be very general among all men; all professing people will be righteous; it will appear in all their actions, civil as well as religious; it will be as visible as the bells upon the horses, by their frequent going to the house of God; their constant attendance on public worship; their walking in the ways of the Lord, and their love to one another.And the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar; the "pots" in which they boiled the sacrifices shall be like "the bowls before the altar", which held the blood of the sacrifices to be sprinkled; either like them for number; they shall be many, like them, as the Targum paraphrases it; or for goodness, being made of the same metal: and the whole denotes the number, holiness, and excellency of the saints in the latter day, who will direct all their actions to the glory of God, whether in eating or drinking, or in whatever they do.{e} twlum le "in phaleris", Tigurine version. {f} "Aurea pectoribus demissa monilia pendent, Tecti auro, fulvum mandunt sub dentibus aurum." Virgil. Aeneid. l. 7. "Fraenaque bina meus, quae nunc habet aurea Pallas." Aeneid. l. 3. {g} Vid. Salmuth in Pancirol. Rer. Memorab. par. 1. tit. 48. p. 231. {h} See Calmet's Dictionary, in the word "Bella". {i} Ebr. Comment. p. 715. {k} Scholiast. Aristophan. in Ranis, Act. 1. Sc. 2. p. 214. Salmuth in Pancirol. par. 2. tit. 9. De Campanis, p. 161. Hospinian. de Templis, l. 2. c. 26. p. 333. {l} Vid. Scapulae Lexic. in voce kwdwn, "et alios lexicograph". Zechariah 14:21Ver. 21. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts,.... Such will be the number of sacrifices and sacrificers, that the pots in the Lord's house will not be sufficient; wherefore every pot, in city or country, shall be sanctified and devoted to holy uses:and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein; this denotes, as before, the general holiness of the professors of religion in those times; and that there will be no difference in the vessels of the Lord's house, or any distinction of Jew and Gentile; but they will be all spiritual worshippers, and offer up the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise to the Lord:and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts; the Targum paraphrases it,"there shall be no more a merchant in the house of the sanctuary of the Lord;''in the temple, where were buyers and sellers of sheep, oxen, and doves, for sacrifice, such as our Lord drove out; but now there shall be no more of them, all legal sacrifices being at an end. The word here used does signify a merchant, and is so rendered in Ho 12:7 and by some here {m}; and the Jews {n} have a saying, that"there are no Canaanites but merchants;''or the word always so signifies, referring to the above places, and having quoted Job 41:6 but it is to be applied to another sort of merchants; to false teachers, that make merchandise of the souls of men; to all merit mongers and Papists; and particularly to the great merchant of all, the pope of Rome, and to all inferior merchants under him, who sell pardons, indulgences, &c. and are called the merchants of the earth, Re 18:3 these are the Heathen that shall perish out of the land, and the sinners that shall be no more; antichrist shall no longer sit in the temple of God, showing himself to be God; nor will there be any, in the spiritual reign of Christ, that will buy Rome's merchandise any more. Moreover, a Canaanite may design an impure person, a hypocrite; and though there have been many such in the church of God in all ages, yet at this time there will be few or none, comparatively speaking; and in the personal reign of Christ there will be no wicked men at all: in the new heavens and new earth will dwell righteousness, or only righteous persons; all the wicked of the earth will be destroyed before this state takes place; only raised ones, the saints that partake of the first resurrection, will be there; they will be all holy and righteous persons; nothing shall enter into it that defiles or makes an abomination or a lie, only those that do the commandments of God; nor will there be any manner of sin or wickedness there: sin, like the Canaanites of old, continues in the saints as long as they are in the present state; and though it has not the dominion over them, yet is as grievous pricks and thorns unto them, and is left in them to prove them; but in this happy state there will be no more sin, no more this pricking brier and grieving thorn. That the word Canaanite is here to be taken in a figurative sense is certain; for, literally understood, there is no such person in the world now, nor has been for many hundreds of years, even an inhabitant of Canaan, or one so called.{m} ynenk "mercator", V. L. Montanus, Vatablus, Grotius, Burkius. {n} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 75. 1.