Zechariah 8:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 8:6
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֣הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֔וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
marvellous
יִפָּלֵ֗אyi.pa.Le'
H6381
properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
eyes
בְּעֵינֵי֙be.'ei.Nei
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
remnant
שְׁאֵרִית֙she.'e.Rit
H7611
a remainder or residual (surviving · noun, common feminine singular construct
people
הָעָ֣םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
days
בַּיָּמִ֖יםbai.ya.Mim
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
marvellous
יִפָּלֵ֔אyi.pa.Le'
H6381
properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
eyes
בְּעֵינַי֙be.'ei.Nai
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix
saith
נְאֻ֖םne.'Um
H5002
an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֥הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָאֽוֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural 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
Jeremiah 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Romans 4:20-21 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son…
Numbers 11:22-23 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffic…
2 Kings 7:2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this th…
Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for the…
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…
However impossible these things just promised by Me seem to you, they are not so with God. The "remnant" that had returned from the captivity, beholding the city desolate and the walls and houses in ruins, could hardly believe what God promised. The expression "remnant" glances at their ingratitude in rating so low God's power, though they had experienced it so "marvellously" displayed in their restoration. A great source of unbelief is, men "limit" God's power by their own (Psa 78:19-20, Psa 78:41).
these days--"of small things" (Zac 4:10), when such great things promised seemed incredible. MAURER, after JEROME, translates, "in those days"; that is, if the thing which I promised to do in…
If it be marvellous - You may think that this is impossible, considering your present low condition: but suppose it be impossible in your eyes, should it be so in mine! saith the Lord of hosts.
John Gill on Zechariah 8:6
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... This is repeated for the same end as before; See Gill on Zechariah 8:4,
If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days; either in the then present days and time; and the sense is, if it should seem wonderful, incredible, and scarcely possible to the small number of the Jews in Judea, that all the great and good things before promised should be fulfilled; or in the times of the Gospel, when the remnant, according to the election of grace, would wonder at the marvellous loving kindness of the Lord, in doing each great things for his church and people:
should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts; no, not as…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 6) Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it seems difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be difficult in my eyes? says the Lord of hosts. LXX: Thus says the Lord Almighty: If it is impossible before the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be impossible before me? says the Lord Almighty. The prophet presents, word by word and sentence by sentence, the promises of prosperity to Israel and almost incredible things due to their magnitude. Thus says the Lord Almighty, speaking in another manner: Do not think that what I promise belongs to me, and do not believe me as you would believe a man. The promises I make are of God. As I said before, the old people and the elderly will sit in the streets and hold staffs in their hands for a long time. The streets will be made narrower due to the multitude of people, and boys and girls will lead processions as if it were a festival. Jerusalem will be rebuilt and restored to its former state of happiness. To those remaining people who had come out of captivity, this seemed unbelievable when they saw the city completely deserted, with walls in ruins and burnt walls, exhibiting the hand of Babylon. Therefore, he associates: If for those of you who are the remaining captives, what I promise seems difficult or impossible, that such happiness will be in those days when Jerusalem is being built, will it be difficult or impossible in the sight of the Lord who promises these things with my own mouth? For what is impossible for men is possible for God (Matthew 19:26). We have witnessed these things fulfilled during the time of persecution in the churches of Christ, when such a rage of cruelty was stirred up among the persecutors that they even destroyed our assemblies, burned divine books, filled all islands, mines, and prisons with chained flocks of confessors and martyrs. Who would have believed at that time that the very ones who had destroyed would be the ones to build up the churches again? Not because the same men were in power, but because the same royal authority, which previously lay in wait with the rich (Psalms 10), and sought to extinguish the name of Christ as if by a senatorial decree, now constructs basilicas at the expense of the republic of the Churches, and raises up the highest, so that it not only decorates the shining ceilings and roofs with gold, but also…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Zechariah 8:6
6. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.
6. Sic dicit Iehovae exercituum, Si mirabile est hoc in oculis reliquiarum populi hujus in diebus illis, etiam in oculis meis mirabile erit? dicit Iehova exercituum.
He sharply reproves here the lack of faith in the people; for as men are wont to measure whatever is promised by their own understanding, the door of entrance for these prophecies was nearly closed up when they saw that the fury of their enemies could by no means be pacified. They had indeed tried in various ways to check them, or at lea…
"Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this nation in those days, will it also be marvellous in my eyes? is the saying of Jehovah of hosts." The second clause of this verse is to be taken as a question with a negative answer, גּם for הגם, as in Sa1 22:7, and the meaning is the following: If this (what is promised in Zac 8:3-5) should appear marvellous, i.e., incredible, to the people in those days when it shall arrive, it will not on that account appear marvellous to Jehovah Himself, i.e., Jehovah will for all that cause what has been promised actually to occur. This contains an assurance not only of the greatness of the salvation set before them, but…
The Old Testament portrays God as able to do the impossible and the miraculous—nothing is too hard for the God who made the heavens and the earth (Gen 18:14; Jer 32:17, 27; see also Matt 19:26).
Rashi on Zechariah 8:6
As it will be wonderful in their eyes, the great loving-kindness that I will do for them.
it will also be wonderful in My eyes how I returned from the great wrath. And our Sages expounded on [this phrase], concerning the slaughter of the evil inclination, in tractate Sukkah (52a): it will also be wonderful in My eyes how the righteous will be able to stand up against [the evil inclination] during their lifetime.
