Zechariah 14:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 14:17
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
to ascend · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
families
מִשְׁפְּח֤וֹתmish.pe.Chot
H4940
a family · noun, common feminine plural construct
earth
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Jerusalem
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םye.Ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
worship
לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֔תle.hish.ta.cha.Vot
H7812
to depress · preposition + verb, infinitive construct
King
לְמֶ֖לֶךְle.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
rain
הַגָּֽשֶׁםha.Ga.shem
H1653
a shower · definite article + noun, common masculine 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
Isaiah 60:12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
Jeremiah 14:4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
Amos 4:7-8 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and ca…
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the sp…
Revelation 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to sm…
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Deuteronomy 11:17 And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; a…
Genesis 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth af…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 14:16–end
Three things are here foretold: -
I. That a gospel-way of worship being set up in the church there shall be a great resort to it and a general attendance upon it. Those that were left of the enemies of religion shall be so sensible of the mercy of God to them in their narrow escape that they shall apply themselves to the worship of the God of Israel, and pay their homage to him, Zac 14:16. Those that were not consumed shall be converted, and this makes their deliverance a mercy indeed, a double mercy. It is a great change that the grace of God makes upon them; those that had come against Jerusalem, finding their attempts vain and fruitless, shall become as much her admirers as ever they had…
no rain--including every calamity which usually follows in the East from want of rain, namely, scarcity of provisions, famine, pestilence, &c. Rain is the symbol also of God's favor (Hos 6:3). That there shall be unconverted men under the millennium appears from the outbreak of God and Magog at the end of it (Rev 20:7-9); but they, like Satan their master, shall be restrained during the thousand years. Note, too, from this verse that the Gentiles shall come up to Jerusalem, rather than the Jews go as missionaries to the Gentiles (Isa 2:2; Mic 5:7). However, Isa 66:19 may imply the converse.
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 14:17
Upon them shall be no rain - Those who do not worship God shall not have his blessing; and those who do not attend Divine ordinances cannot have the graces and blessings which God usually dispenses by them. On such slothful, idle Christians, there shall be no rain!
John Gill on Zechariah 14:17
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, Revelation 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, Revelation 11:6,
of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem,…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 17) And it shall be that those who do not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. LXX: And it shall be that those who do not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, there will be consequences for them. Because the Seventy translated 'there will be consequences for them,' it is written in Hebrew, 'Ulo Alehem Eje Gesem,' which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion also interpreted in a similar way, and there will be no rain on them. The Church of the Lord Jesus is called the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the Apostle writes: 'But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all' (Galatians 4:26); and: 'But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem' (Hebrews 12:22). And this Jerusalem is not situated in lowly places, but on a high mountain, about which the Savior speaks: 'A city set on a hill cannot be hidden' (Matthew 5:14). Therefore those who wish to worship the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem must ascend the mountains. But those who are from the families and tribes of the land, and therefore cannot worship the Lord, no temporary or late rain will fall upon them, nor will the land be watered by the rains of the heavens. Or, as the Seventy translated, those who do not ascend from the families of the land to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty King, when they are counted among those who fought against Jerusalem, their flesh will waste away, their eyes will melt, and their tongues will decay.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Zechariah 14:17, 18
17. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
17. Et erit, Qui non ascenderit e familiis terrae in Ierusalem ad supplicandum Regi, Iehovae exercituum, etiam non erit super eos pluvia.
18. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
18. Et si familia Egypti non ascenderit et non venerit, etiam non super eos; erit autem plaga qua percutiet, (plagabit, ad verbum,) Iehova gentes quae non ascenderint ad ce…
Conversion of the heathen. - Zac 14:16. "And it will come to pass, that every remnant of all the nations which came against Jerusalem will go up year by year to worship the King Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zac 14:17. And it will come to pass, that whoever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King Jehovah of hosts, upon them there will be no rain. Zac 14:18. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, then also not upon them; there will be (upon them) the plague with which Jehovah will plague all nations which do not go up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zac 14:19. This will be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the na…
come to Jerusalem to worship: Jerusalem, with God’s Temple, is envisioned as the center of God’s universal kingdom (8:20-22; see Isa 56:6-7; 66:19-23; Mic 4:1; Hag 2:7; Rev 21:1-2, 10-27). • no rain: This was one of the curses God pronounced against Israel for covenant disobedience (see Deut 28:22-24). That curse extended to all the nations, as God’s rule extends over all peoples (cp. Zech 10:1).
Rashi on Zechariah 14:17
rain Actual rain to cause the produce of their land to grow. Now, what reason did He have for decreeing upon them the withholding of rain? That the commandments of the festival are based on the rains: the four species of the lulav and the water libation are to appease God for water. Since the festival of Tabernacles is the time of the rains of the year, no rain will fall on those who entertain doubts concerning the festival of Tabernacles. This is learned in the Tosefta of Sukkah (4:7).
