Zechariah 1:4

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
fathers	כַאֲבֹֽתֵיכֶ֡ם kha.'a.vo.tei.Khem	H1	father · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
former	הָרִֽאשֹׁנִ֜ים ha.ri.sho.Nim	H7223	first · definite article + ordinal number, masculine plural absolute
prophets	הַנְּבִיאִ֨ים ha.ne.vi.'Im	H5030	a prophet or (generally) inspired man · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
cried	קָרְאֽוּ ka.re.'u-	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
saying	לֵאמֹ֗ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
saith	אָמַר֙ 'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD	יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts	צְבָא֔וֹת tze.va.'ot	H6635	a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
Turn	שׁ֤וּבוּ Shu.vu	H7725	to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
evil	הָרָעִ֔ים ha.ra.'Im	H7451	bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
ways	מִדַּרְכֵיכֶ֣ם mi.dar.khei.Khem	H1870	a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
evil	הָֽרָעִ֑ים ha.ra.'Im	H7451	bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
doings	וּמַֽעֲלְלֵיכֶ֖ם u.ma.'a.li.lei.khem	H4611	an act (good or bad) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
hear	שָׁמְע֛וּ sha.me.'U	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
hearken	הִקְשִׁ֥יבוּ hik.Shi.vu	H7181	to prick up the ears · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural
saith	נְאֻם ne.'um-	H5002	an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	יְהוָֽה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title

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

Psalms 78:8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was…
Psalms 106:6-7 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
Jeremiah 35:15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way,…
Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live:…
2 Chronicles 36:15-16 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, a…
Isaiah 1:16-19 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Jeremiah 11:6-8 Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of t…
Zechariah 1:3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LO…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 1:1-6

Here is, I. The foundation of Zechariah's ministry; it is laid in a divine authority: The word of the Lord came to him. He received a divine commission to be God's mouth to the people and with it instructions what to say. He received of the Lord that which also he delivered unto them. The word of the Lord was to him; it came in the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, as a real thing, and not a fancy. For the ascertaining of this, we have here, 1. The time when the word of the Lord came first to him, or when the word that next follows came to him: it was in the second year of Darius. Before the captivity the prophets dated their writings by the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel; b…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 1:4

Be ye not as your fathers--The Jews boasted of their fathers; but he shows that their fathers were refractory, and that ancient example and long usage will not justify disobedience (Ch2 36:15-16). the former prophets--those who lived before the captivity. It aggravated their guilt that, not only had they the law, but they had been often called to repent by God's prophets.

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 1:3

Turn ye unto me - This shows that they had power to return, if they would but use it. And I will turn unto you - I will show you mercy and grant you salvation, if you will use the grace I have already given you. Men are lost, because they turn not unto God; but no man is lost because he had not power to return. God gives this, and he will require it.

John Gill on Zechariah 1:4

Be ye not as your fathers,.... Who lived before the captivity, and misused the prophets and messengers of the Lord, and despised his word, and fell into gross idolatry; the evil examples of parents and ancestors are not to be followed: unto whom the former prophets have cried: such as Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others: saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; by their "evil ways" may be meant their idolatrous worship; and by their "evil doings" their immoralities; or, by both, their wicked lives and conversations, both before God and men; from whence they were exhorted by the former prophets to turn, and to reform; even "now", at that…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 4) Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn away from your evil ways, and from your wicked thoughts; but they did not listen, nor pay attention to me, says the Lord. LXX: Thus says the Almighty Lord: Turn away from your wicked ways, and from your evil inventions; but they did not pay attention to listen to me, says the Lord. The conclusion depends on the preceding statements, and what follows must be connected with what came before. For it is not Zacharias speaking to the people; but he shows what the former prophets spoke to their fathers, to which they cried out, saying: 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from your wicked thoughts.' This was cried out by Isaiah, by Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Jeremiah, urging them to forsake their evil ways and abandon their wicked thoughts, in which they sinned both in action and in mind. However, they did not listen or pay attention to the Lord speaking through the prophets who spoke to them, but to me, says the Lord: I was the one speaking and being despised among them. Wherefore, the Lord also said in the Gospel: 'He who receives you, receives me' (Matthew 10:40).
— Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah

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.…

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).

Zechariah 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 1:1-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 1:4

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 1:3

John Gill on Zechariah 1:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Zechariah 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 1:1-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 1:4

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 1:3

John Gill on Zechariah 1:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Zechariah 1:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Zechariah 1:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Zechariah 1:4

Rashi on Zechariah 1:2