Do.niel'e, nnrl hie description of the powers seems most suitable here. LXX., -rlnova,; hostile to the Ohuroh of God rune on parallel Vulgate, fal,ros. They represent the human lines with thnt of hie predecessor. Whether agencies employed by God to overthrow the he refers to the ea.me four empires must be powers hostile to the Church. 'fheir num- left in uncorto.inty. Judah, lsro.el, and ber is the same as that of the " horns," thus Jerusalem. All the tribes nnd the capito.l. showing their adtque.cy for the work which According to Ewe.Id, Judo.h ie named first they have to execute. It is quite unneces- o.a occupying the plo.ce of honour, even as sary to attempt to identify the four "crafts- Benjamin ie named before Judo.h in Pe. men." Some take them to be Zerubbabel, lxviii. 27, been.use the co.pita! city lo.y in Joshua, Ezra, and Nehemiah; or N el,ucliad- its territory. J eruso.lem wa.e the centre of nezzar, Cyrus, Cambyses, and Alexander worship and government for nil the people, the Great; or the four evangelists; or gene- the northern tribes being represented by ra.Uy, angels. We shall be safer if we look Isro.el, the southern by Judah. Some critics upon them merely as God's instruments and co.nee! the word "Israel " here, o.nd there is servants without further identification. no doubt that it is often written for "Jeru- Ver. 21.-And heapake. The interpreting salem" by mistake ( comp. J er. xxiii. 6 [ where angel spake. Which have scattered Judah. see Professor Oheyne's note]; xxxii. 30, 32; The LXX. adds, " and broke Israel in Ii. 49; Zeph. iii. 14; Mai. ii. 11). Gratz pieces." Did lift up his head. These powers supposes that in the present passage the laid Judah prostrate. To fray them. To scribe discovered his mistake, and wrote terrify the powers symbolized by the four the right word" Jerusalem" after the wrong horns, a.nd disturb their self-complacent one "Israel," but leaving the latter still security (ver. 15). The LXX., mistaking the in the manuscript. Of course, there is no sense, gives, ToV O(Vva., aVTct els xe,pa.s a.lrrW11 proof of this supposition. Some manu- -ro. -r,,r,rapa KEpa-ra, "To sharpen them, even soripts of the Septuagint omit "Jerusalem" the four horns, in their hands." To cast here. out ; to cast down, to overthrow these proud Ver. 20.-Four carpenters; craftsmen; powers. Over (against) the land. The Revised Version, smiths, in which case" the nations had treated J ndah as a wild bull horns" would be made of iron. The word treats things that oppose him, tossing and is o.pplied to workers in wood, stone, and scattering them to the wind. metal ; therefore an ambiguous rendering
HOMILETICS,
Vers. 1-6.-.A timely warning. "In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet," etc. Special attention seems invited in the opening verse uf this opening prophecy to the question of time. Probably because the time of its utterance was a time of much hopo, as shown by the cotemporaneous prophecies of Hag. i. 13-15 (" sixth month"); ii. 1-9 (" seventh month"); and ii. 18, HJ (" ninth month"). Probably also because a time of much hope is a time of much fear; the season of bloom is the season of blight. Accordingly, the whole of this opening message-a kind of prologue to the visions that follow-is one of admonition and warning, e. warning which turns (1) on the present position, and (2) on the past experience, of the Jewish people and Church. I. PRESENT POSITION. 1. The fact. How did they stand before God? As the children of sinners (ver. 2). This is the first thing to be remembered by them, as also by us all (Eph. ii. 3, end). 2. The significance of the fact; and that in two opposite directions. (1) As to God's attitude towards them. His favour was turned away from them. Aa he had been "displeased" with their "fathers," so also, though not irretrteve.bly, with themselves. This implied in the very promise of ver. 3, "I will turn to you." This same truth, again, both in the second commandment, and also in the gracious declaration of Exod. xxxiv. 5-7, is set forth as part of God's uniform rule. (2) As to their (natural) attitude towards God. Their hearts weni turned away from him. Hence the exhortation of ver. 3. '!'heir attitude was one even of malignant aversion, if so we may speak, always tending of itse!J~ like certain malignant bodily diseases, to become aggravated and worse. The longer we postp,,ne our repentance the more difficult it becomes. Thi~ is the most serious consideration of all, fl THE BOOK OF ZEOHARIAH. [OH. I, 1-21.