Zechariah 1:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 1:14
So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
a messenger · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
communed
הַדֹּבֵ֣רha.do.Ver
H1696
perhaps properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
said
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Cry
קְרָ֣אke.Ra'
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
saying
לֵאמֹ֔רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
saith
אָמַ֖ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֣הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֑וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
jealous
קִנֵּ֧אתִיki.Ne.ti
H7065
to be (causatively · verb, piel perfect, 1st person common singular
Jerusalem
לִירוּשָׁלִַ֛םli.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Zion
וּלְצִיּ֖וֹןu.le.tzi.Yon
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a place name
great
גְדוֹלָֽהge.do.Lah
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
jealousy
קִנְאָ֥הkin.'Ah
H7068
jealousy or envy · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joel 2:18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
Isaiah 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isaiah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Zechariah 1:9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
Zechariah 1:17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion,…
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to estab…
Isaiah 38:22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?
Isaiah 42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 1:7-17
We not come to visions and revelations of the Lord; for in that way God chose to speak by Zechariah, to awaken the people's attention, and to engage their humble reverence of the word and their humble enquiries into it, and to fix it the more in their minds and memories. Most of the following visions seem designed for the comfort of the Jews, now newly returned out of captivity, and their encouragement to go on with the building of the temple. The scope of this vision (which is as an introduction to the rest) is to assure the Jews of the care God took of them, and the eye of his providence that was upon them for good, now in their present state, when they seem to be deserted, and their case…
Cry--Proclaim so as to be heard clearly by all (Isa 40:6; Isa 58:1).
I am jealous for Jerusalem--As a husband jealous for his wife, wronged by others, so Jehovah is for Judah, who has been injured wantonly by the heathen (Zac 8:2; Num 25:11, Num 25:13; Kg1 19:10; Joe 2:18).
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 1:14
I am jealous for Jerusalem - I have for them a strong affection; and indignation against their enemies.
John Gill on Zechariah 1:14
So the angel that communed with me,.... Having an order from the other Angel, or the Lord of hosts:
said unto me, Cry thou; proclaim, publish, declare in the hearing of the people, for their comfort and encouragement. The Targum renders it, "prophesy":
saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion, with a great jealousy; which is expressive of his conjugal affection for his church and people, his zeal for their good, and his indignation at their enemies, and of the vengeance he would execute on them.
John Calvin on Zechariah 1:14
Zechariah 1:14
14. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
14. Et dixit angelus qui loquebatur mecum, Clama dicendo, sic dicit Iehova exercituum, Zelatus sum Ierusalem et Sion zelo magno.
Zechariah now mentions the chief consolation to which he had referred; for it would not have been sufficient to say in general, and in a few words without explanation, that God gave a kind answer to the angel. For we know how strong were those temptations with which the faithful had to struggle. It was then needful for them to be furnished, not with light weapons, in so arduous a contes…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 14 and following) And the angel who spoke in me said to me: Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with great jealousy, and with great anger I am angry (alternate: I will be angry) with the prosperous nations, for I was angry only a little, but they (alternate: they themselves) assisted in bringing about evil. Therefore, thus says the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and my house will be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and the plumb line will be stretched out over Jerusalem. LXX: And the angel who was speaking with me said, 'Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord Almighty: I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great zeal, and with great wrath I am angry with the nations that are above them, for I was indeed angry for a little while, but they themselves are subjected to evil. Therefore, thus says the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and my house will be rebuilt in it,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.' Still good words, and consoling words these are, which now the prophet is commanded to cry aloud: that the Lord is zealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great zeal. But he who is zealous, shows by loving the thing that he is zealous for, not saying, as Isaiah says, 'As a wife despises her husband, so has the house of Israel despised me' (Jeremiah 3:20). To whom the Lord spoke through Ezekiel: 'I will no longer be angry with you, and my zeal has turned away from you' (Ezekiel 16:42). Therefore, he who is jealous for Jerusalem and Zion (which are one and the same city) now becomes angry with the rich nations, whom he called upon above red, white, and various colored horses, because he himself delivered them for punishment. However, they raged against those who were delivered; here, as if wanting his son to be corrected by a tutor; there, as if wanting to kill an enemy and punish him. Similar to this is what is written in Isaiah: 'I gave them into your hands, but you showed them no mercy.' You have laid a heavy yoke on the aged and said, 'I will be mistress forever' (Isaiah 47:6). But zeal is understood in a human way, like anger. From this passage heretics are refuted, who detract from the Old Testament, claiming that God, when angry, does not want to destroy those towards whom He is angry, but to correct them. Therefore, he…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Jealousy — Suspicion of a wife’s purity, one of the strongest passions (Num. 5:14; Prov. 6:34; Cant. 8:6); also an intense interest for another’s honour or prosperity (Ps. 79:5; 1 Cor. 10:22; Zech. 1:14).
Jews, The · Denunciations against those who: Aggravated the afflictions of — Denunciations against those who: Aggravated the afflictions of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Zac 1:8. "I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtles which were in the hollow; and behind him red, speckled, and white horses. Zac 1:9. And I said, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me said to me, I will show thee what these are. Zac 1:10. And the man who stood among the myrtles answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to go through the earth. Zac 1:11. And they answered the angel of Jehovah who stood among the myrtles, and said, We have gone through the earth, and, behold, the whole earth sits still, and at rest. Zac 1:12. Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt Thou not…
My love . . . is passionate and strong: This phrase, sometimes translated as “I am very jealous,” reflects intense, single-minded devotion that could produce hatred and envy or zeal and devotion. God is jealous—as the one true and living God, he has exclusive rights to his creatures’ worship (see Exod 20:5; 34:14). • Jerusalem signifies the territories ruled by Judean kings; Mount Zion was the site of the Lord’s Temple.
Rashi on Zechariah 1:14
I am jealous for Jerusalem I am exacting the retribution [for] the cause of Jerusalem from those who oppress her.
