Zechariah 1:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 1:7
Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
four · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
twentieth
עֶשְׂרִ֨ים'es.Rim
H6242
twenty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
day
בְּיוֹם֩be.yOm
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
eleventh
לְעַשְׁתֵּֽיle.'ash.tei-
H6249
eleven or (ordinal) eleventh · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
month
חֹ֙דֶשׁ֙cho.desh
H2320
the new moon · noun, common masculine singular absolute
month
חֹ֣דֶשׁCho.desh
H2320
the new moon · noun, common masculine singular construct
Sebat
שְׁבָ֔טshe.Vat
H7627
Shebat · proper noun, a title
second
שְׁתַּ֖יִםshe.Ta.yim
H8147
two · noun, common feminine dual absolute
year
בִּשְׁנַ֥תbish.Nat
H8141
a year (as a revolution of time) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Darius
לְדָרְיָ֑וֶשׁle.da.re.Ya.vesh
H1867
Darejavesh · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
word
דְבַרde.var-
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Zechariah
זְכַרְיָה֙ze.khar.Yah
H2148
Zecarjah · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Berechiah
בֶּ֣רֶכְיָ֔הוּbe.rekh.Ya.hu
H1296
Berekjah · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Iddo
עִדּ֥וֹאi.Do'
H5714
Iddo (or Iddi) · proper noun, a man's name
prophet
הַנָּבִ֖יאha.na.Vi'
H5030
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
saying
לֵאמֹֽרle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
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
Zechariah 1:1 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 proph…
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…
The general plan of the nine following visions (Zec. 1:8-6:15) is first to present the symbol; then, on a question being put, to subjoin the interpretation. Though the visions are distinct, they form one grand whole, presented in one night to the prophet's mind, two or three months after the prophet's first commission (Zac 1:1).
Sebat--the eleventh month of the Jewish year, from the new moon in February to the new moon in March. The term is Chaldee, meaning a "shoot," namely, the month when trees begin to shoot or bud.
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 1:7
Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month - This revelation was given about three months after the former, and two months after they had recommenced the building of the temple.
Sebat - Answers to a part of our February. See Hag 2:18.
John Gill on Zechariah 1:7
Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat,.... Called Sabat in the Septuagint version, and in the Apocrypha:
"Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the country, and taking care for the good ordering of them; at which time he came down himself to Jericho with his sons, Mattathias and Judas, in the hundred threescore and seventeenth year, in the eleventh month, called Sabat:'' (1 Maccabees 16:14)
It is said by the Jews (g) to be the beginning of the months of the year for trees, of which they bring the first fruits. It answers to part of our January, and part of February. This is the first time that the name of a month is mentioned by any of the…
The Church Fathers
(Vrs. 7.) On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sabat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying. LXX: On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sabat, in the second year under Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Addo, saying. Some place the eleventh month as the twelfth month and interpret the twenty-fourth day of the same month by mathematical calculations, suspecting it to be a firm and stable number, wanting what is written to be certain and stable; but we say that in the same year, the second year of King Darius, in the third month after the first Vision, that is, the eleventh month after the eighth, which is called Sabat by the Hebrews, again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. According to the number, it is unclean and pertains to the union of flesh and worldly things, pertaining to matter, as we often teach. But the eleventh month, which is called Sabat, and is translated in our language as "rod," signifies severity and chastisement, as the Apostle says: What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod? (1 Corinthians 4:21). And as the Psalmist says: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). And it is during the harshest time of winter, which is called Mechir by the Egyptians, περίτιος by the Macedonians, and Februarius by the Romans. The twenty-fourth day of the month also signifies the illustrious shadow of the night, with the moon waning into darkness and the blind and perpetual horror of the night growing. Therefore, it is fitting that those who were still in captivity, the majority of whom were in Media and Chaldea, and were exiled in Assyria, saw what follows on the second year and eleventh month, during the most severe cold, and on the twenty-fourth day of the same month, to the Jewish people.
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.…
Barachias, Berechiah — 4 (q.v.), whom Jehovah hath blessed, father of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 1:1, 7; Matt. 23:35).
Berechiah — Blessed by Jehovah. (1.) Son of Shimea, and father of Asaph the musician (1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17). (2.) One of the seven Ephraimite chieftains, son of Meshillemoth (2 Chr. 28:12). (3.) The fourth of the…
Iddo — (1.) Timely (1 Chr. 6:21). A Gershonite Levite. (2.) Lovely. The son of Zechariah (1 Chr. 27:21), the ruler of Manasseh in David’s time. (3.) Timely. The father of Ahinadab, who was one of Solomon’s…
Month — Among the Egyptians the month of thirty days each was in use long before the time of the Exodus, and formed the basis of their calculations. From the time of the institution of the Mosaic law the…
Sebat — The eleventh month of the Hebrew year, extending from the new moon of February to that of March (Zech. 1:7). Assyrian sabatu, “storm.” (See MONTH.)
Months · Names of the twelve: Eleventh, Sebat — Names of the twelve: Eleventh, Sebat
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 1:7-11
7. Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
7. Die vicesima quarta undecimi mensis, hic est mensis Sebath, anno secundo Darii, fuit sermo Iehovae ad Zachariam, filium Berechiae, filii Addo (vel, Iddo,) Prophetae, (vel, Prophetam; sed melius quadrat accusativus,) dicendo,
8. I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
8. Vidi nocte, et ecce vir equitans super equum rufum,…
Three months after his call to be a prophet through the first word of God that was addressed to him, Zechariah received a comprehensive revelation concerning the future fate of the people and kingdom of God, in a series of visions, which were given him to behold in a single night, and were interpreted by an angel. This took place, according to Zac 1:7, "on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, i.e., the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius," that is to say, exactly five months after the building of the temple had been resumed (Hag 1:15), with which fact the choice of the day for the divine revelation was evidently connected, and two months after the last promise issued through H…
These eight visions addressed the Judeans’ fears that prevented them from responding in faith to God’s promises. These visions, which occurred two months after Haggai’s final two messages (Hag 2:10-19, 20-23), suggest that Haggai’s prophecies were being fulfilled.
1:7-17 Zechariah’s first vision depicts God’s concern for Jerusalem (1:7-15), followed by a response (1:16-17) that confirmed God’s intentions to rebuild his Temple and restore the city’s prosperity.
Rashi on Zechariah 1:5
[As for] your fathers - where are they? See that they suffered an evil blow, with famine, with the sword, and with pestilence.
But the prophets - do they live forever? And if you ask, “the prophets, too where are they? Have they not died?” I [God] will answer you, “Should the prophets have lived forever?” But their end proves that their words were true; for all My words, and the declarations of the decrees of My retribution that I commanded My servants, the prophets, concerning you - did they not overtake your fathers?
