a word · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
do
תַּֽעֲשׂ֑וּta.'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
Speak
דַּבְּר֤וּda.be.Ru
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
man
אִ֣ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
truth
אֱמֶת֙'e.Met
H571
stability · noun, common feminine singular absolute
neighbour
רֵעֵ֔הוּre.'E.hu
H7453
an associate (more or less close) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
execute
שִׁפְט֖וּshif.Tu
H8199
to judge · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
judgment
וּמִשְׁפַּ֣טu.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
truth
אֱמֶת֙'e.Met
H571
stability · noun, common feminine singular absolute
peace
שָׁל֔וֹםsha.Lom
H7965
safe · noun, common masculine singular absolute
gates
בְּשַׁעֲרֵיכֶֽםbe.sha.'a.rei.Khem
H8179
an opening · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
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
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Zechariah 7:9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
Psalms 15:2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to…
Luke 3:8-14 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you…
Proverbs 12:17 He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
Proverbs 12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
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…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 8:9-17
God, by the prophet, here gives further assurances of the mercy he had in store for Judah and Jerusalem. Here is line upon line for their comfort, as before there was for their conviction. These verses contain strong encouragements with reference to the difficulties they now laboured under. And we may observe,
I. Who they were to whom these encouragements did belong - to those who, in obedience to the call of God by his prophets, applied in good earnest to the building of the temple (Zac 8:9): "Let your hands be strong, that are busy at work for God, you that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, and are not disobedient to them as your fathers were, in the former days,…
The promised blessings are connected with obedience. God's covenanted grace will lead those truly blessed by it to holiness, not licentiousness.
truth to . . . neighbour--not that the truth should not be spoken to foreigners too; but He makes it an aggravation of their sin, that they spared not even their brethren. Besides, and above all outward ordinances (Zac 7:3), God requires truth and justice.
judgment of . . . peace--Equitable decisions tend to allay feuds and produce peace.
gates--the place where courts of judicature in the East were held.
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 8:16
Speak ye every man the truth - See Zac 7:9, Zac 7:10.
John Gill on Zechariah 8:16
These are the things that ye shall do,.... Which were duties incumbent on them, and which it became them to perform, under a sense of the favours bestowed on them, to show their gratitude to God, and that they might glorify him:
Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; not using deceit, prevarication, and lying, Ephesians 4:25 and it becomes every man under the Gospel dispensation, according to the gift he has received, to speak, publish, and declare the truth of the Gospel, to the edification of others:
execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; that is, execute true judgment, as in Zechariah 7:9 do justice between man and man, without respect of persons; the issue of wh…
The Church Fathers
[Burnt offerings] he accordingly did away with, so that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ might be without restraining yoke and without manmade offering. Again he says to them, "Did I command your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt to offer me burnt offerings and sacrifices? Rather I did command them this: Let none of you cherish evil in his heart against his neighbor, and do not love a false oath." We ought therefore to understand, if we are not senseless, the kindly intention of our Father, for he speaks to us, desiring us not to err like them but to seek how to make our offering to him. To us he accordingly speaks thus: "A contrite heart is a sacrifice to the Lord; an odor of sweetness to the Lord is a heart which glorifies its maker." We ought, therefore, to watch carefully after our salvation, brothers, lest the evil one, sneaking in among us deceitfully, push us away from our life.
For indeed there is nothing equal to this virtue. Wouldest thou learn the power of this virtue? "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me," saith God, "my soul would not regard them." Nevertheless, those whom Moses and Samuel were not able to snatch away from God's wrath, this precept when observed was able to snatch away. Hence it is, that He continually exhorts those to whom He had spoken these things, saying, "Let none of you revengefully imagine evil against his brother in your heart," and "let none of you think of his neighbour's malice." It is not said merely, forego wrath; but retain it not in thy mind; think not of it; part with all thy resentment; do away the sore. For thou supposest that thou art paying him back the injury; but thou art first tormenting thyself, and setting up thy rage as an executioner within thee in every part, and tearing up thine own bowels. For what can be more wretched than a man perpetually angry? And just as maniacs, who never enjoy tranquility, so also he who is resentful, and retains an enemy, will never have the enjoyment of any peace; incessantly raging, as he does, and daily increasing the tempest of his thoughts, calling to mind his words and acts, and detesting the very name of him who has aggrieved him. Do you but mention his enemy, he becomes furious at once, and sustains much inward anguish; and should he chance to get only a bare sight of him, he fears and trembles, as if encountering the worst evils. Yea, if he perceives any of his relations, if but his garment, or his dwelling, or street, he is tormented by the sight of them.
Dictionary and topics
Courts Of Justice · Judges of: To promote peace — Judges of: To promote peace
Truth · Saints should: Speak, to one another — Saints should: Speak, to one another
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 8:16, 17
16. These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
16. Haec verba quae facieties (Haec sunt, nam nomen [dvrym] est supervacuum, Haec sunt igitur quae facietis,) Loquimini veritatem, quisque cum socio suo; veritatem et judicium pacis judicate in portis vestris;
17. And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord
17. Et vir (et quisque) malum socio suo ne cogitetis in cordibus vestris; et jusjurandum mendacii ne diligatis; quia omnia haec sunt quae odio habeo, dicit Iehova.
Zecha…
The ground upon which this promise rests is given in Zac 8:14 and Zac 8:15, and it is closed in Zac 8:16 and Zac 8:17 by the addition of the condition upon which it is to be fulfilled. Zac 8:14. "For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers were angry with me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and repented not; Zac 8:15. So have I purposed again in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Fear ye not. Zac 8:16. These are the words that ye are to do: speak truth every one to his neighbour; truth and judgment of peace judge ye in your gates. Zac 8:17. And let not one devise the evil of his neighbour, and love not the oath of deceit: for all this…
God expects his people to act with integrity and justice (see Eph 4:25). • The courts (literally the gates): Legal proceedings were conducted at the gates of the city or Temple (see Deut 21:19; 25:7).
(Verse 16, 17) These are the words you shall do: Speak truth, each one with his neighbor. Give judgment of truth and peace in your gates. And let none of you think evil in your hearts against his neighbor. And love not a false oath. For all these are the things that I hate, says the Lord. LXX: These are the words you shall do: Speak truth, each one with his neighbor. Give judgment of peace and justice in your gates. And let none of you think evil against his neighbor in your hearts. And love not a false oath. For I hate all these things, says the Almighty Lord. I have promised that I will not abandon the remnants of the captive people and I will not act as I did in the past days. Just as I had planned to afflict them when their fathers provoked me to anger and I showed no mercy, now I have turned my thoughts to doing good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Therefore, in order to fulfill my purpose and not make my promises void, do these things that I command: Speak the truth with your neighbors. Let us embrace, as our nearest kin, the entire human race, for we are all descended from a single parent. Otherwise, whoever is the next closest relative should be considered, and one must lie to strangers and foreigners. The Apostle speaks of the same thing: 'Putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbour' (Ephesians IV, 25). 'Judge ye the truth and the judgment of peace in your gates.' In judgment let truth and justice come first, and then mercy follows. For this is the judgment of peace, that the judge has the intention to reconcile the discordant, according to that Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). And what follows 'In your gates' is in agreement with that prophetic passage: They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth (Amos 5:10). And in another place: They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate (Psalm 129:6). David also judged in the gates, when Absalom, promising the truth of judgment, laid snares for his father (2 Samuel 19). And it is asked why among the Jews in the city gates there was a place for judgment. So that farmers would not be forced to enter the cities and incur any expense, judges would reside in the city gates in order to hear both urban and rural people entering and leaving the city, and…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
