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Introduction
to Zechariah
INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH
This
book is in the Hebrew copies called "the Book of Zechariah"; in the
Vulgate Latin version, "the Prophecy of Zechariah"; and, in the
Syriac and Arabic versions, the Prophecy of the Prophet Zechariah. His name,
according to Jerom, signifies "the memory of the Lord": but,
according to HillerusF1Onomastic. Sacr. p. 508, 957, 958. ,
"the Lord remembers": either us, or his covenant; his promises of
grace, and concerning the Messiah, of which there are many in this book. The
writer of this prophecy could not be, as some have imagined, Zacharias the
father of John the Baptist; since there must be some hundreds of years
difference between them; nor the Zacharias, the son of Barachias, slain between
the temple and the altar, our Lord speaks of in Matthew 23:35 for
though their names agree, yet it does not appear that this prophet was slain by
the Jews; indeed the Jewish Targumist, on Lamentations 2:20,
speaks of a Zechariah, the son of Iddo, a high priest, slain in the temple; but
it could not be this Zechariah, since he was no high priest; Joshua was high
priest in his time; nor could he be slain in such a place, seeing the temple
and altar were not yet built; nor was this prophet Zechariah the son of
Jehoiada, slain in the court of the Lord's house, 2 Chronicles 24:20
for, as their names do not agree, so neither their office, he being a high
priest, this a prophet; nor the times in which they lived, Zechariah the son of
Jehoiada lived in the times of Joash king of Judah, two or three hundred years
before this; but this was one of the captivity of Babylon, and who came up from
thence with Zerubbabel, Nehemiah 12:16 and
was contemporary with the Prophet Haggai; so that the time of his prophecy was
after the Babylonish captivity, and was delivered to the Jews that were
returned from thence; and the design of it is to stir them up to build the
temple, and restore the pure worship of God; and to encourage their faith and
hope in the expectation of the Messiah; for the book consists of various
visions and prophecies relating to him, and to the times of the Gospel; and the
visions are, as some Jewish writersF2Aben Ezra & Jarchi in loc.
& R. Abendana in Miclol Yophi in loc. & Kimchi in ver. 8. observe, very
obscure, and like the visions of Daniel, and difficult of interpretation. There
are several passages cited out of this book in the New Testament, as Zechariah 8:16 in Ephesians 4:25, Zechariah 9:9 in Matthew 21:5 in Matthew 27:9 in John 19:37 in Matthew 26:31 which
abundantly confirm the authenticity of it. This prophet seems to have lived and
died in Jerusalem; and, according to Pseudo-EpiphaniusF3De Prophet.
Vita & Interitu, c. 21. , was buried near Haggai the prophet; and with
which agree the Cippi HebraiciF4P. 29. Ed. Hottinger. , which inform
us that Haggai was buried in a cave in the downward slope of the mount of
Olives; and at the bottom of that mount was a large statue called the hand of
Absalom, near to which was the grave of Zechariah the prophet, in a cave shut
up, and over it a beautiful monument of one stone: and Monsieur ThevenotF5Travels,
par. 1. B. 2. ch. 37. p. 184. tells us, that now is shown, near the sepulchres
of Absalom and Jehoshaphat, on the descent of the mount of Olives, the
sepulchre of the Prophet Zacharias.---It is cut in a diamond point upon the
rock, with many pillars about it. SozomenF6Hist. Eccles. l. 9. c.
17. the historian, indeed, makes mention of Caphar Zechariah, a village on the
borders of Eleutheropolis, a city in Palestine, where it is pretended the body
of this prophet was found in the times of Theodosius, to which no credit is to
be given; nor is there any dependence to be had on the former accounts.
Commentator
John Gill (November 23, 1697-October 14,
1771) was an English Baptist, a biblical scholar, and a staunch Calvinist.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism is a matter of academic debate.
He was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
In his youth, he attended Kettering Grammar School, mastering the Latin
classics and learning Greek by age eleven. The young scholar continued
self-study in everything from logic to Hebrew. His love for Hebrew would follow
Gill throughout his life.
At the age of about twelve, Gill heard a
sermon from his pastor, William Wallis, on the text, "And the Lord called
unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). The message
stayed with Gill and eventually led to his conversion. It was not until seven
years later that young John made a public profession when he was almost
nineteen years of age.
His first pastoral work was as an intern
assisting John Davis at Higham Ferrers in 1718 at age twenty one. He was
subsequently called to pastor the Strict Baptist church at Goat Yard Chapel,
Horsleydown, Southwark in 1719. In 1757, his congregation needed larger
premises and moved to a Carter Lane, St. Olave's Street, Southwark. His
pastorate lasted 51 years. This Baptist Church was once pastored by Benjamin
Keach and would later become the New Park Street Chapel and then the
Metropolitan Tabernacle pastored by Charles Spurgeon.
During Gill's ministry the church strongly
supported the preaching of George Whitefield at nearby Kennington Common.
In 1748, Gill was awarded the honorary degree
of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Aberdeen. He was a profound scholar
and a prolific author. His most important works are:
John Gill is the first major writing Baptist
theologian. His work retains its influence into the twenty-first century.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism in English Baptist life is a matter of
debate. Peter Toon has argued that Gill was himself a hyper-Calvinist, which
would make Gill the father of Baptist hyper-Calvinism. Tom Nettles has argued
that Gill was not a hyper-Calvinist himself, which would make him merely a
precursor and hero to Baptist hyper-Calvinists.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James Version Bible, NKJV
The
NKJV was commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
One-hundred-and-thirty respected Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay
Christians worked for seven years with the goal of updating the vocabulary and
grammar of the King James Version, while preserving the classic style of the of
the 1611 version.
The
task of updating the English of the KJV involved many changes in word order,
grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. One of the most significant features of the
NKJV was its removal of the second person pronouns "thou",
"thee", "ye," "thy," and "thine." Verb
forms were also modernized in the NKJV (for example, "speaks" rather
than "speaketh").
Young’s
Literal Translation was completed in 1898 by Robert Young, who also compiled
Young’s Analytical Concordance. It is an extremely literal translation that
attempts to preserve the tense and word usage as found in the original Greek
and Hebrew writings. The online text is from a reprint of the 1898 edition as
published by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Obvious errors in
spelling or inconsistent spellings of the same word were corrected in the
online edition of the text. This text is Public Domain in the United States.