Zechariah 8:5

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
streets	וּרְחֹב֤וֹת u.re.cho.Vot	H7339	a width · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct
city	הָעִיר֙ ha.'Ir	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
full	יִמָּ֣לְא֔וּ yi.Mal.'U	H4390	to fill or (intransitively) be full of · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
boys	יְלָדִ֖ים ye.la.Dim	H3206	something born · noun, common masculine plural absolute
girls	וִֽילָד֑וֹת vi.la.Dot	H3207	a lass · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural absolute
playing	מְשַׂחֲקִ֖ים me.sa.cha.Kim	H7832	to laugh (in pleasure or detraction) · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
streets	בִּרְחֹֽבֹתֶֽיהָ bir.Cho.o.Tei.ha	H7339	a width · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular

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

Jeremiah 31:13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them,…
Jeremiah 30:19-20 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I wil…
Zechariah 2:4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and ca…
Psalms 128:3-4 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
Psalms 144:12-15 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palac…
Jeremiah 31:27 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of…
Jeremiah 33:11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Prai…
Lamentations 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 8:1-8

The prophet, in his foregoing discourses, had left his hearers under a high charge of guilt and a deep sense of wrath; he had left them in a melancholy view of the desolations of their pleasant land, which was the effect of their fathers' disobedience; but because he designed to bring them to repentance, not to drive them to despair, he here sets before them the great things God had in store for them, encouraging them hereby to hope that their case of conscience would shortly determine itself and that God's providence would as loudly call them to joy and gladness as ever it called them to fasting and mourning. It is here promised, I. That God will appear for Jerusalem, and will espouse and p…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 8:5

boys and girls playing--implying security and a numerous progeny, accounted a leading blessing among the Jews. Contrast Jer 6:11; Jer 9:21.

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 8:5

The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls - The progeny shall be numerous, healthy, and happy. Their innocent gambols and useful exercises shall be a means of health, and a proof of happiness. To be healthy, children must have exercise. But they cannot take exercise, except in the way of play and diversion: ergo, such playfulness cannot be sinful. Let them be kept from evil words, lying, swearing, and scurrility; and all the rest may be innocent.

John Gill on Zechariah 8:5

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls,.... Denoting a large increase of inhabitants, in a literal sense; and may spiritually signify the large numbers of converts, of new born babes, who are regenerated by the grace and Spirit of God, and are accounted of by the Lord for a generation: playing the streets thereof; being in health and rigour, and in great security. The Targum renders it, "singing" or "praising in the spacious places thereof"; singing the praises of God in Gospel strains; saying their Hosannas to the Son of David; rejoicing in the great salvation by Christ, and magnifying the grace of God, and setting forth the glories of it in psalms, hymns, and spiritua…

The Church Fathers

This is that wine with which, when youths and maidens are intoxicated, they at once thirst for virginity. They are filled with the spirit of chastity, and the prophecy of Zechariah comes to pass, at least if we follow the Hebrew literally, for he prophesied concerning virgins: "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. For what is his goodness, and what is his beauty, but the corn of the elect, and wine that gives birth to virgins?" They are virgins of whom it is written in the forty-fifth psalm: "She is led to the king, with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king."
— Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.30

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

Games — (1.) Of children (Zech. 8:5; Matt. 11:16). The Jewish youth were also apparently instructed in the use of the bow and the sling (Judg. 20:16; 1 Chr. 12:2). (2.) Public games, such as were common…
Children · Amusements of — Amusements of
Cities · Arranged in streets and lanes — Arranged in streets and lanes

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 8:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 8:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 8:5

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 8:5

John Gill on Zechariah 8:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Zechariah 8:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 8:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 8:5

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 8:5

John Gill on Zechariah 8:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Zechariah 8:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Zechariah 8:4-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Zechariah 8:4-5

Rashi on Zechariah 8:4