Matthew Henry on Zechariah 4:1-10
Here is, I. The prophet prepared to receive the discovery that was to be made to him: The angel that talked with him came and waked him, Zac 4:1. It seems, though he was in conference with an angel, and about matters of great and public concern, yet he grew dull and fell asleep, as it should seem, while the angel was yet talking with him. Thus the disciples, when they saw Christ transfigured, were heavy with sleep, Luk 9:32. The prophet's spirit, no doubt, was willing to attend to that which was to be seen and heard, but the flesh was weak; his body could not keep pace with his soul in divine contemplations; the strangeness of the visions perhaps stupefied him, and so he was overcome with sl…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 4:9
Zerubbabel . . . shall . . . finish it-- (Ezr 6:15) in the sixth year of Darius' reign.
Lord . . . sent me unto you-- (Zac 2:9). The Divine Angel announces that in what He has just spoken, He has been commissioned by God the Father.
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 4:7
O great mountain? - The hinderances which were thrown in the way; the regal prohibition to discontinue the building of the temple.
Before Zerubbabel - a plain - The sovereign power of God shall remove them. March on, Zerubbabel; all shall be made plain and smooth before thee. I have given thee the work to do, and I will remove all hinderances out of thy way.
He shall bring forth the headstone - As he has laid the foundation stone, so shall he put on the headstone: as he has begun the building, so shall he finish it!
With shoutings - The universal acclamation of the people.
Grace, grace unto it - How beautiful is this structure! May the favor of God ever rest upon it, and be manifested in it!
John Gill on Zechariah 4:9
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house,.... The temple at Jerusalem, which was laid, or however renewed, after it had been long neglected, even the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, two months before this vision and prophecy, Haggai 2:18 compared with Zechariah 1:7,
his hands shall also finish it: signified by bringing in the head or top stone, Zechariah 4:7 and so Christ our great Zerubbabel has laid the foundation of his church, which is no other than himself; and is a foundation firm and strong, sure and certain, immovable and everlasting; and his hands will finish the building of it, by bringing and laying every elect soul upon this foundation; which may…
