Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:1-2

(Chapter 14, verses 1, 2.) Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when your spoils will be divided in your midst. And I will gather all nations to Jerusalem for battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses plundered, and the women violated. And half of the city shall go into captivity, but the rest of the people shall not be removed from the city. LXX: Behold, the days of the Lord are coming, and your spoils will be divided within you. And I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses plundered, and the women defiled. And half of the city shall go into captivity, but the rest of my people shall not perish from the city. Those whom the Lord threatens to come will divide the spoils of Jerusalem in its midst, and everything that is included in the prophetic discourse, these are the ones about whom we also read in Isaiah: The day of the Lord, the day of incurable fury and wrath, to make the whole earth a desolation and to remove sinners from it (Isaiah 13:9). But how necessary will it be for its spoils to be divided in its midst? This often happens, that what has been suddenly seized in the city is divided outside in the field or in the wilderness, lest perhaps the enemies come upon it. However, such a weight of evils will fall upon them, that the spoils will be divided among themselves as a means of securing victory. Not only will Jerusalem be captured, inciting all nations against it in battle, but the houses of those who dwell in Jerusalem will be laid waste, and the women violated, causing sorrow for their husbands and masters. They will be unable to protect their homes from pillage or their wives from the lust of the enemy, as is written elsewhere: 'Those who gather within you shall fall by the sword and your sons shall be dashed to pieces before your eyes; your homes shall be plundered and your wives violated' (Isaiah 13). Nothing can be found more cruel or wretched, where out of fear for their own lives they dare not defend the safety of their children or the modesty of their wives. This very thing, the prophet Amos, speaking against the impious priest Amaziah, says: Your wife will commit adultery in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be measured out with a measuring line (Amos 7:17). And all these things will happen to the people of Judah: Because the nations have raged, and the peoples have planned in vain. The kings of the earth have risen up, and the rulers have gathered together as one against the Lord and against His Christ (Psalm 2:1-2). He who mocked and scorned them, and in his fury troubled them, to the extent that even the Apostle, seeing that the years appointed for repentance had already passed, and yet they persisted in denial, they who killed the Lord and persecuted the prophets and apostles, said: 'Wrath has come upon them to the end.' (I Thess. II, 16). Josephus, who wrote the history of the Jews, recounts that they endured all of this and much greater things than what we read in the prophets. Cornelius Tacitus, who wrote the Lives of the Caesars in thirty volumes from the time of Augustus until the death of Domitian, also describes how the middle part of the city was captured, while the rest of the population remained in the city. At that time and at other times, it is confirmed that the northern and lower part of the city was captured, but the hill of the temple, and Zion, where the citadel was, remained intact. The Jews claim that these events will be fulfilled under Gog: some claim it happened during the time of the Macedonians and Egyptians, and from various other peoples. Let us explain the truth of the Lord's teachings, which have been written down, in our time.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Zechariah 14:2

And we can see this with our own eyes. For though many have afflicted the word of Christ and are even now contending with it, yet it is lifted above them and become stronger than them all. Yes, truly, the hand of Christ is raised against all that afflicted him, and all his enemies who from time to time rise up against his church are said to be “utterly destroyed.” The fulfillment of this also agrees with the passages quoted on the destruction of the whole Jewish race, which came on them after the coming of Christ. For Zechariah writes this prophecy after the return from Babylon, foretelling the final siege of the people by the Romans, through which the whole Jewish race was to become subject to their enemies. He says that only the remnant of the people shall be saved, exactly describing the apostles of our Savior.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3.50, 53

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:3-4

(Verse 3, 4.) And the Lord shall go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And the mount of Olives shall be split in two, one part to the east and the other to the sea, by a very great abyss. We should understand worthy of God the things which are said in the holy Scriptures in a human and carnal way, and which are contained in them. Otherwise, when the Apostle speaks: Who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). And again: To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God (1 Timothy 1:17). And it is written in the Gospel: No one has ever seen God: the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him (John 1:18). And again: Not that anyone has seen God, except the one who is from the Father (Ibid., 6): just as we understand his anger and repentance, and his soul, and his hands, and his feet, and his belly, and his eyes, and the other members of his body, according to the diversity of causes and interpretations of the senses: so we also understand this which is written, The Lord will come forth, and will fight, in accordance with what we read in Habakkuk: You went forth for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your anointed (Habakkuk 3:13). And in Micah: For behold, the Lord will come out of his place, and come down and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will burst open (Micah 1:3-4). Also in Isaiah: The Lord of hosts will go out and fight against the nations, and stir up zeal, and cry out against his enemies with strength (Isaiah 42:13). Therefore, God will come out of his place when he is compelled to break his peace, meekness, and clemency for the sake of correcting sinners. Although he is naturally sweet, he becomes bitter due to our fault, that is, he becomes bitter not for himself, but for those who are suffering, for whom bitter torments are. He who speaks elsewhere through the prophet: I am God, and I do not change (Malachi III, 6). And it is said to him: But you are the same, and you remain (Psalm CI, 28). And in the letter of James: With whom there is no change (James I, 17): now he goes out and fights as in the day of battle, when he submerged Pharaoh in the Red Sea, and fought for the people of Israel (Exodus XIV). And his feet will stand on those whom he has shown mercy to, and they will not be moved at all, so that it can be said again of him: And the Lord will sound the trumpet; and he will walk with the threat of his anger (Zechariah IX). He will not walk, as the sun is already setting, and darkness comes after midday, which we read that Adam did (Gen. III). And when he stands, he will not stand in the valley and low places, but on a mountain, which does not have fruitless trees and a barren forest; but where olive groves are born, which nourish eternal light, and weaknesses are dissolved, and rest is given to the weary. And the Mount of Olives itself, on which the feet of the Lord stand, is opposite Jerusalem and to the East, where the sun of justice rises, and it is planted with those olive trees of which it is said: Your children are like young olive trees, around your table (Ps. CXXVII, 3). Whose middle part will be divided towards the east, in which there are trees planted by the nations, of which one speaks: But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God (Ps. LI, 10). And the other middle part will be divided towards the west and the sea, with a very deep precipice, which is the circumcised people, to whom God speaks through the prophet: What has my beloved done in my house, committing abomination? Will vows and holy flesh take away evils from you (Jer. XI, 15); or will you escape in them? She, beloved in the house of God, committed abomination, that she might crucify the Son of God, and [said] that you, O Lord, were called the shady and wooded olive-tree, and that your branches were useless, which were broken from the good root, that we might be grafted in their place. And consider the secrets of the Scriptures, when (rather, how) the middle part, which leans towards the west, is dashed upon by salt and bitter waves, not simply said to be in the sea, but in a steep abyss of the sea, which also Micah speaks of: 'I will uncover its stones in the valley' (undoubtedly Jerusalem), 'and will reveal its foundations' (Micah 1:6). These things, as we have said in very difficult and obscure places, due to the weakness of our strength. However, the Jews following the letter of the western alphabet, try to show that the Lord is standing on the Mount of Olives, and that the mountain itself is divided into two parts, so that at the beginning of one part there is a tear against the east, and the other part stretches towards the west: and in the middle of a very steep valley, one part is divided to the north, the other to the south.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Zechariah 14:4

But it might happen that he should sit upon a foal; give us rather a sign where the king who enters will stand. Give us a sign not far from the city, that it may not be unknown to us; give us a sign nearby and clearly visible, that being in the city we may behold the place. Again the prophet answers, saying, “That day his feet shall rest upon the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem to the east.” Is it possible for anyone standing within the city not to behold the place?

Source: Catechetical Lecture 12:11

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Zechariah 14:5-6

Christ, then, was crucified for us; he was judged in the night, when it was cold, and therefore a fire of coal was laid. He was crucified in the third hour, and “from the sixth hour there was darkness until the ninth hour,” but from the ninth hour there was light again. Are these details written down? Let us inquire. Zechariah says, “And it shall come to pass in that day, and there shall be no light but cold and frost through one day (the cold on account of which Peter warmed himself), and that day shall be known to the Lord.” (What? Did he not know the other days? There are many days, but “this is the day [of the Lord’s patience] the Lord has made.”)6 “And that day shall be known to the Lord, and not day nor night.” What dark saying does the prophet utter? That day is neither day nor night. What then shall we call it? The gospel interprets it, telling of the event. It was not day, for the sun did not shine without interruption from rising to setting, but from the sixth hour to the ninth there was darkness. The darkness was interposed, but God called the darkness night. Therefore it was neither all light, so as to be called day, nor all darkness, so as to be called night; but after the ninth hour the sun shone forth. This also the prophet foretells; for after saying “not day nor night,” he adds, “And in the time of the evening there shall be light.” Do you see the truth of the events foretold?

Source: Catechetical Lecture 13:24

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Zechariah 14:5-6

Yet learn that the Son knows the day of judgment. We read in Zechariah: “And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with him. In that day there shall not be light but cold and frost, and it shall be one day, and that day is known to the Lord.” This day, then, was known unto the Lord, who shall come with his saints to enlighten us by his second advent. But let us continue the point that we have commenced concerning the Spirit: “He shall glorify me.” So then the Spirit glorifies the Son, as the Father also glorifies him, but the Son of God also glorifies the Spirit, as we said. He then is not weak who is the cause of the mutual glory through the unity of the eternal light, nor is he inferior to the Spirit, of whom this is true that he is glorified by the Spirit.

Source: On the Holy Spirit 2.11.119-20

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:5

(Verse 5) And the middle of the mountain will be separated to the north, and its middle to the south. And you will flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to the next, and you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Oshea of Judah, and the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. LXX: And the middle part of the mountain will incline to the north, and its middle part to the south. And the valley of my mountains will be closed off, and the valley of the mountains will reach Asael. And it will be filled as it was filled from the face of the earthquake in the days of King Oshea of Judah, and the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. Therefore, as we have said, you will flee, which the seventy and the other interpreters have translated as 'will be blocked' or 'will be filled'. And as we have stated, because the valley of the mountains will be joined up to the next one; for the next one, the seventy translators have rendered it as Asael. Aquila put the Hebrew word Asel, using the letter 'e' instead of 'i'. Theodotion used the extended form, Azel. Only Symmachus translated it as 'the next one', whom we have also followed. Let us say in a paraphrastic manner how the things that are written can come to pass: When the mountain of Olivet has been broken by a large chasm, so that one part of the chasm looks towards the East and the other towards the West, suddenly, in the very chasm itself, high cliffs on both sides will break away, and another chasm will be formed towards the North and another towards the South, and a square cliff will be made, so that the chasm stretches in four directions, towards the East and the West, the North and the South. And you will flee, he says, to the valley that is between the temple and Zion. For these two mountains, the temple and Zion, are called God's mountains; because that valley of the Mount of Olives, which is surrounded by steep mountains on both sides, will extend to the mountain of the temple, which is holy. However, the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah, is mentioned from that time, when Uzziah, who is also called Azariah in another name, attempted to claim the priesthood for himself and was struck with leprosy on his forehead (2 Chronicles 26), which we read about in the beginning of Amos (Amos 1): The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake (Isaiah 1). Finally, after this wicked king died, at whose impiety the whole world was shaken, Isaiah saw a great vision, which he interwove into his book. Let us now turn to the spiritual interpretation. After the Mount of Olives has been separated by the calling of the Gentiles to the East and the rejection of the Jews, there will again be another division of the North and the South. The North will join the West, the South to the Eastern regions; Circumcision will stand to the left, the Christian people to the right. The Church speaks of these two winds: 'Arise, O North wind, and come, O South wind' (Canticles 4:16), so that when the cold wind of the North, which represents the devil, retreats, the warm wind of the South, which the bride seeks, may come. She asks: 'Where do you feed, where do you rest at noon?' (Ibid. 1:16). Concerning this, Habakkuk speaks mystically: 'God will come from Teman' (Habakkuk 3:3), for which it is written in Hebrew: 'God from the South,' that is, from the fullest light. From which the Psalmist elsewhere exclaims: You illuminate wonderfully from the eternal mountains (Psalm 76). But when there is such a great division of two peoples in the whole world, that some are to the East and South, that is, to the right: others to the North and West, that is, to the left, then whoever is holy will flee to the valley of the mountains of God, of which we have spoken above, the temple and Zion, namely the two Testaments: because that whirlpool which before was of both mountains, extends up to Asael, that is, up to the house of God, which is near paradise, and heavenly Jerusalem, and the holy mountain, where the temple is situated. And just as at that time when under King Osias a violent earthquake terrified the hearts of mortals and scattered them in all directions, so the separation of the two peoples and again the society of believers in one faith will rest in a reconcilable place between two mountains: because both the old and the new Covenant are joined together. But what is said, 'up to Asael,' that is, 'up to the nearest,' signifies this, that indeed the two Instruments of the Law and the Gospel are joined together, but in such a way that they are more neighboring than united: for we have lost many things of the old Law, and have received the new grace. But when this has been accomplished by perfect reason, then the Lord my God will come, he says, and all the saints with him. But if we desire what we have said, you will flee, pursuing that which other interpreters have rendered, it will be closed off, or the valley of their mountains will be filled. We will say that the coming of the Savior Lord, separating two peoples, will close off and fill that chasm which divided the two peoples, so that they may walk on a level path towards each other.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:6-7

(Vers. 6, 7.) And it shall come to pass in that day, there shall be no light, but cold and frost. And there shall be one day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, and in the evening time there shall be light. LXX: In that day there shall be no light, but cold and frost shall be one day, and that day shall be known to the Lord: neither day nor night, and in the evening there shall be light. Clearly it is preached about the second coming of the Savior, about whom even John speaks in his Apocalypse: Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him (Apoc. I, 7). And the Lord in the Gospel pronounces that the Son of Man will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew XXIV). He will come with clouds, that is, with angels, who are ministers of the Spirit, and are sent for various tasks, and with prophets and apostles, of whom it is written: Your truth reaches to the clouds (Psalm XXXV, 6). And when the day of His coming shall be fulfilled, there will be no light, but cold and frost, with the love of all growing cold, and due to the multitude of evils that are to come, everyone will grow cold, and those who lose the warmth of their former faith. But after all the sinners have contracted their cold and frost, there will be one day and eternal: neither light nor darkness, day and night succeeding; but the Lord himself will be the light of all: of whom Isaiah says more clearly: There will be no sun for you in the light of day, nor will the rising of the moon illuminate you at night; but the Lord will be your eternal light, and your God will be your glory (Isaiah 60:19). He also shouts in another place to Jerusalem: Arise, shine, Jerusalem; for your light has come, and the glory of your God has risen upon you. For behold, darkness and gloom shall cover the earth upon the peoples: but upon you the Lord shall arise, and his glory shall be seen upon you. And kings shall walk in the light of you, and nations in the splendor of you (Verse 1 and following). If darkness and gloom shall cover the earth upon the peoples, how then shall the nations walk again in the splendor of the Lord? But those nations shall be in darkness which frost and chill shall have contracted: and they shall walk in the light of the Lord, who have followed kings, apostles and prophets, of whom it is written: The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord (Prov. XXI, 1). Finally, at the time of evening, that is, the darkness and sadness of all sins, there will be light for the saints, and it will be a single and eternal day, which, if it will be known by the Lord (for He cannot be ignorant of what He created), it must be considered how He says in the Gospel that neither the angels nor the Son will know that day, except the Father alone (Matthew 24).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:6

No light: Viz., in that dismal time of persecution of Antiochus, when it was neither day nor night: (ver. 7) because they neither had the comfortable light of the day, nor the repose of the night.

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Zechariah 14:7

And in another place: “And I was reckoned with the transgressors.” Then there was darkness for three hours, from the sixth to the ninth, and again light in the evening; as it is written: “It shall not be day or night, and at the evening there shall be light.” All [these] things, when those malefactors saw that they were crucified with him, the one of them reproached him as though he was weak and unable to deliver himself. But the other rebuked the ignorance of his fellow, and turning to the Lord, as being enlightened by him, and acknowledging who he was that suffered, he prayed that he would remember him in his kingdom hereafter. He then presently granted him the forgiveness of his former sins and brought him into paradise to enjoy the mystical good things. He also cried about the ninth hour, and said to his Father, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” And a little afterward, when he had cried with a loud voice, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and had added, “into your hands I commit my spirit,” he gave up his spirit and was buried before sunset in a new sepulcher. But when the first day of the week dawned, he arose from the dead and fulfilled those things that before his passion he foretold to us, saying, “The Son of man must continue in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” And when he was risen from the dead, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, then to Cleopas in the way, and after that to us his disciples, who had fled away for fear of the Jews but privately were very inquisitive about him. But these things are also written in the Gospels.

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 5:3.14

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:7

In the time of the evening there shall be light: An unexpected light shall arise by the means of the Machabees, when things shall seem to be at the worst.

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Zechariah 14:8

On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. After this, from Jerusalem the law of salvation will come. Indeed, as the Lord says, salvation is from the Jews, and it will spread among the neighbor nations. Two seas are proposed as a symbol of the nations: the eastern sea, which Scripture calls Sea of Salt, and the western sea, which is the Great Sea. Again, in a different manner, the prophet calls the eastern sea the people living in the region of light; while by the western sea he indicates the people of Judea, who would not be deprived of the light of the gospel, if they did not want to be. In fact, even though these people are signified through the image of the sunset and the night, nevertheless the living waters of the divine precepts of Christ would not be prevented from constantly flowing to irrigate their hearts, if only they wanted them to come back to their heart. And it shall continue in summer as in winter, as in the ancient times. That is, in the same order and with the same happiness they will flow to the nations who believe as they flowed to our ancestors.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:8

(Verse 8.) And it shall be in that day, living waters shall come out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter it shall be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth.\n\nLXX: In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the first sea and half of them toward the last sea; in summer and in spring it shall be so; and the Lord shall be king over all the earth.\n\nAt that time (for this refers to the day that is known to the Lord alone, in which there will be no succession of light and darkness; but there will be perpetual light, as it is written in the Apocalypse: And the city shall have no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the Lord God giveth it light (Rev. 21:23))), living waters shall come forth from Jerusalem, of which we have discussed previously, presenting the testimony of Ezekiel, of which half shall go toward the eastern sea, which the Greek books call the Asphaltic Lake, commonly known as the Dead Sea, because nothing can live in its waters. And the middle part leads to the farthest sea, which leads to Egypt, and it makes the shores of Palestine. In summer, he says, and in winter it will be so, that these waters which flow out from Jerusalem will not be frozen by the winter's cold, nor will they be dried up by the excessive heat of summer: although they have changed the springtime of winter, which does not fit the distinction of summer. And when the life-giving waters have entered both seas, and have softened the bitter waters with a sweet river: then the Lord will be king over all the earth. The water that comes forth from Jerusalem, that is, from the Church, indicates the teaching of the Savior: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3); according to what is written elsewhere: The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Ibid., 11:9). The middle part of these waters shall go to the Eastern Sea, to the people of the Circumcision, who were chosen in the apostles and through the apostles; and the middle part to the Western Sea, so that those who sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob may come from the East and the West. Certainly, let us understand the ancient Testament and the new Testament as the Eastern Sea and the Western Sea, which, unless it is sweetened by the river of the Savior and His spiritual understanding, is very bitter; with the letter dying, and the spirit giving life (Matthew 8). And what follows: In summer and in winter they shall be, is understood the living waters that come forth from Jerusalem, so that even in peace and in persecutions these living waters may not cease to flow. Whether because the Seventy translated it thus, or because in summer and in spring it will be as we say, during that time there will be no winter, but only spring and everlasting summer, when the voice of the turtledove will be heard in our land, and the fig tree will bring forth its ripening fruit, and the vineyards will flourish, and winter will pass away, and the rain will cease, and it will leave for itself (Song of Songs 2). During that time, spring will be necessary, because the flowers will appear in our land so that we may celebrate Easter and Pentecost, during which we pass from earthly things to heavenly things, and offer all our fruits to God. In the winter, the end of the season is the beginning of spring; in Pentecost, the beginning of summer, when we offer the labors of our hands and the fruits to God. Concerning this summer and everlasting spring, the righteous speaks to the Lord: 'You have created the dawn and the sun, you have shaped the summer and the spring' (Psalm 73:16, 17). Then the Lord will be king over all the earth, when we say: 'The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice' (Psalm 97:1). And again: 'Tell it among the nations, the Lord reigns.' For indeed, He has established the course of the earth, which shall not be moved (Ps. XCV, 10). But the true understanding of the teaching of the Savior regarding the living water will be known by those who drink it and hear the Savior preaching: If anyone drinks of the water that I will give him, it shall become in him a fountain of living water, springing up unto eternal life (John IV, 14). And again: Whoever believes in Me (as the Scripture has said), out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John VII, 38). For just as one who drinks of his teaching will have within him a living fountain, so one who believes in him, according to what is contained in the words of Scripture, rivers of living water will flow out of his belly. Many refer the living waters to baptism, which are to be given to those thirsting in spring and summer, that is, in Easter and Pentecost, when what is written will be fulfilled: 'Be cleansed, become pure' (Isaiah 1:16).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:8

Living waters: Viz., the gospel of Christ.

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Zechariah 14:9

It is clear that this passage refers to the glorious time of the Maccabees when, after the idolatry that Antiochus had introduced had been rejected, all of Judea embraced the cult of the one God. At the same time, the things which you see here to be foreshadowed were fulfilled and perfected by Christ. Therefore the prophet calls summer the very happy time of the manifestation of Christ to the whole world, because Nisan aptly represents the end of the winter month and the beginning of the fruitful summer. On the other hand, he calls winter the night, which constantly oppresses the devil, after the birth of Christ. Again the words “as it was in the ancient times” appear to be suitable to the day, which brought salvation to Moses and the children of Israel. Indeed, it opened a splendid summer for them, whom it carried safe and uninjured through the sea, while it generated a sorrowful winter to the Egyptians by submerging and suffocating their army. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. What I said to refer to the time of the Maccabees and the dominion of the Jews was brought to its completion all over the world, when, after the promulgation of the gospel of Christ, the whole world believed in him and recognized that he is God and the true king.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:9-11

(Verse 9 and following). In that day there will be one Lord, and his name will be one: and all the land will return to the desert from the hill of Remmon to the South of Jerusalem: and it will be exalted, and it will be inhabited in its place, from the Benjamin gate to the place of the former gate, to the corner gate: and from the Tower of Ananeel to the king's winepresses, and they will dwell in it, and there will no longer be a curse, but Jerusalem will sit securely. LXX: In that day there will be one Lord, and his name will be one: encircling all the land, and the desert from Gabaa to Remmon to the South of Jerusalem: But Rama will remain in place, from the Benjamin gate to the first gate, to the corner gate, and to the tower of Anamael, to the king's winepresses they will dwell in it, and there will no longer be a curse, and Jerusalem will dwell confidently. The destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and the flowing forth of the waters from its midst, which flow to both seas, the Jews and the Judaizing Christians promise to themselves in the last times, when circumcision will again be practiced, and victims will be sacrificed, and all the precepts of the Law will be observed, so that Christians become not Jews, but Jews become Christians. On that day, they say, when Christ will sit in Jerusalem, golden and adorned, reigning, there will be no idols nor diverse worship of divinity, but there will be one Lord, and all the earth will return to solitude, that is, to its ancient state. And he sets forth the names of the places from which place to which place Jerusalem is to be built: from the hill Remmon (for this is what Gabaa means, where the Maligranati tree is) to the southern region of Jerusalem. And what follows: However, Rama will remain in its place, which Aquila and others have better interpreted to mean, it will be exalted. For Rama means exaltation, according to that prophetic and gospel saying: A voice was heard in Rama, that is, it sounded on high (Matthew 2:18). Therefore, Jerusalem will be exalted and rebuilt in its original place, from the Gate of Benjamin to the Gate called the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Ananeel (not as the Greeks and Latins wrongly read it as Anamael) to the Winepresses of the King, which in Hebrew is written Ammelech (or, according to some, Amalech). And it is said that they will dwell in it, that is, in Jerusalem, and there will no longer be any curse: no hostile attack, no fear; but Jerusalem will sit or be inhabited in eternal peace and rest. The Jews dream literally and our chiliasts, who desire to hear again: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28), and for the sake of continence of this life and brief fasting, they promise themselves onions, and vulvas, and the birds of Phasis, and the attagen, not the Ionic, but the Jewish ones, concerning which the Lord can truly say: My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh (Gen. 6:3). For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh (Galatians. V, 17). And let not the book of Revelation (Chapter XX) be opposed to us, for it must also be interpreted spiritually. But we shall interpret the heavenly Jerusalem as the Church, which, though walking in the flesh, does not live according to the flesh, whose citizenship is in heaven (Philippians. III). For when the Lord Jesus shall reign over all the earth, of whom the Holy Spirit speaks to the Father through the Prophet: O God, give Your judgment to the king, and Your justice to the king's son (Psalm. LXXI, 1): then there will be one Lord, of whom it is written: Know that the Lord Himself is God (Deuteronomy. IV, 35): And His name will be one, with all false religion trampled underfoot, according to what the Prophet sings: O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is your name in all the earth (Psalm. VIII, 1)! And again: You have magnified your holy name above all (Psalm 137:3). And elsewhere: As is your name, O God, so is your praise unto the ends of the earth (Psalm 48:11); of which Habakkuk also speaks: The earth is full of his praise (Habakkuk 3:5). Of the glory of his name, God himself speaks: Apart from me, you will not know God, and besides my name, which is magnified above all (Isaiah 44:8). Then all the earth will return, in which the Jews dwelt up to the desert, that is, up to the people of the Gentiles, which was formerly deserted and did not have knowledge of the Law: from Geba to Rimmon, that is, from the hill to the high place, for we ascend from the earth and the desert to the hills, and from the hills to the mountains. And the bridegroom in the Song of Songs passes over the smaller hills and leaps upon the tall mountains (Song 1), of which it is written: He makes the mountains skip like deer (Psalm 104). But if we wish to understand the Remmon, which both words signify in Hebrew, let us say that the limits of the Church begin from the hills, so that the whole ecclesiastical order be constructed, as we have said above, when we interpreted the lament of the only-begotten, and the lament like Adadremmon. And the Church is not content with this end; but it will reach as far as the South in the fullest light, as we have previously explained. And now we remain silent about it, so as not to annoy the reader by repeating the same things often. And the Church which began from the hills will be exalted and will reach the South; and it will dwell in its place, as it is written: 'He has set me in a place of pasture' (Psalm 22:1). From the gate of Benjamin, which is interpreted as the Son of the right hand, and not the Son of days, as some suspect wrongly: for it is one thing if it ends with the letter Nun, another if it ends with the letter Mem. And it shall come to the place of the eastern and former gate, even to the gate of the corners. We begin with virtue, for this indeed signifies the right hand, and we arrive at the former gate, so that we may enter through it to the others. And immediately we encounter the gate of the corners, where the corner stone is, which the builders rejected and has become the head of the corner (Ps. CXVII, 22). This corner stone connects both walls and brings two peoples into one (Ephes. II), about which God speaks through Isaiah: Behold, I will place in Zion a corner stone, chosen and precious in its foundation; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame (Isai. XXVIII, 16). Here the cornerstone and other cornerstones wanted to be built, so that the apostle Paul might freely say: Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). These stones do not imitate the heretics, who do everything for the sake of glory and profit, and pray in the corners of the streets, leaving the straight path. For every corner breaks the straight line, and therefore the prostitute in Proverbs (Chapter 7), however we may understand her, whose feet do not rest at home, but wanders outside or lies in wait in all the corners of the streets, when she sees a foolish young man (for she does not invite one whom she perceives to be wise and mature in age, of whom it is written: The wisdom of an old man is his gray hair), she immediately seizes him, and kisses and flatters him, and leads him to the brothel, and invites him to have intercourse. Let us therefore leave behind false angles and pass on to the firm and robust angles of Christ, to which when we have arrived, we are immediately met by the Tower of Ananeel, which is interpreted as the favor of God. For what is more pleasing than the Tower of Solomon? of which it is said to the bride: 'Your neck is like the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks; a thousand shields hang upon it; all the spears of the mighty are upon it' (Song of Solomon 4:4). The Lord wants this tower to be built in the Gospel (Chapter XIV), with previous expenses and costs computed: and about which it is said to Jerusalem: Let there be peace within your walls, and abundance within your towers (Psalm 122:7), about which the saint also speaks to the Lord: You have led me, for you have become my hope: a tower of strength against the enemy (Psalm 60:4). From the Tower of Ananeel, we come to the king's wine press, for which three psalms also have a title. And the Lord says in Isaiah: I have trodden the winepress alone (Isa. LXIII, 3), so that our vineyard may abound in them, and we may press out the grapes, and in Christ's blood we may trample the reddened juice; so that we may drink the wine that gladdens the heart of man (Ps. CIII); and the bride desires the companions of the bridegroom, saying: Lead me into the wine cellar, set love upon me (Cant. II, 4). If we are made drunk by such winepresses, we will dwell in Jerusalem, where there will no longer be anathema, namely curse and abomination. And the Apostle says: If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed (I Cor. XVI, 2). And in another place: No one speaking in the Spirit of God says 'Jesus be accursed' (I Cor. XII). And for the sake of the salvation of his brothers, he desires to be accursed, imitating his Lord who, though he was not a curse, became a curse for us (Rom. IX). But when all the curse is removed, Jerusalem will dwell secure and confident, and she will fulfill that which is said of her: 'Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.' And: It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man (Ps. CXVII, 8): about this security and confidence the prophet Jeremiah also mentions: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord (Jerem. XVII, 7).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:10

All the land shall return: This, in some measure, was verified by the means of the Machabees: but is rather to be taken in a spiritual sense, as relating to the propagation of the church, and kingdom of Christ, the true Jerusalem, which alone shall never fall under the anathema of destruction, or God's curse.

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:12

(Verse 12) And this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem. The flesh of each one standing on their feet will rot away, and their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongue will rot away in their mouths (Septuagint: their mouths). The Scriptures testify to the nations that will suffer, those that will fight against the city of the Lord: 'They will stand,' it says, 'on their own feet, and their flesh will waste away and flow off, and their eyes will decay, and from their openings they will fall out; their arrogant tongue, which blasphemed against the people of God, will dissolve into pus, and within the fortification of their teeth it will decay. It is clear to everyone that the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem did not suffer these things, unless perhaps the Jews claim that those nations, which were to fight against the golden and jeweled Jerusalem, would suffer them.' But we will say that all the persecutors, who afflicted the Church of the Lord, received in the present age what they did, even if we remain silent about future tortures. Let us read the Ecclesiastical histories, what Valerian, what Decius, what Diocletian, what Maximian, what the cruelest of all Maximinus, and recently Julian, suffered: and then we will prove by facts, even according to the letter, that the truth of the prophecies has been fulfilled, that their flesh has rotted away, and their eyes have decayed, and their tongue has dissolved into filth and pus. Moreover, if the cruelty of God towards heretics seems to be shown in this saying, let it be understood that all these things happen so that good things may increase as evil things decrease. For whoever stands in the Lord and with the Lord, his carnal things flow away so that spiritual things may arise, and the eyes that were seeing poorly fall from their sockets so that others may be put in their place, who can receive the Lord with the prophet saying: To you I lift up my eyes, you who dwell in the heavens (Ps. 122:1). And the blaspheming tongue will decay, so that another tongue may be born, which glorifies God, and can say: My tongue shall meditate on your righteousness, your praise all day long (Ps. LXX, 15). Therefore Simeon, receiving the Infant in his arms and foretelling the future, says: Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rise of many (Luke II, 34), so that the evil may fall, and the good may rise. Therefore the Lord also said: For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind (John IX, 39). The people of the Gentiles did not see, but after the faith of Christ, they began to behold the light of truth, which speaks through the prophet: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for which reason he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed (Isaiah 61:1-2), of which it is written: The wisdom of a man enlightens his face (Ecclesiastes 8:1). And in the Psalms we read: The Lord gives sight to the blind, or makes them wise (Psalm 146). For this signifies more the wise. The Jews saw; and because they did not want to receive the light, they were covered in eternal blindness.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:12

The flesh of every one shall consume: Such judgments as these have often fallen upon the persecutors of God's church, as appears by many instances in history.

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Zechariah 14:13

On that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of a neighbor, and the hand of the one will be fastened to the hand of the other. After peace was restored to the Jews, their Greek enemies and those Jews who had abandoned the religion of their fathers fell into a great distress and panic. And therefore it happened that, as is the habit of those who are confounded, they took each other’s hand and were not able to let their hold go because of their fear.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:13-14

In that day there will be a great tumult of the Lord among them: and a man will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be placed upon the hand of his neighbor. But Judah will fight against Jerusalem, and the riches of all the nations will be gathered around: gold, silver, and many garments. LXX: And in that day there will be a great astonishment of the Lord upon them: and each one will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will cling to the hand of his neighbor: and Judah will be prepared in Jerusalem, and the strength of all the peoples will be gathered around: gold, silver, and many exceedingly garments. When these wonders have been completed, such as the flesh of the enemies flowing away, the eyes withering away, and the tongue in the mouth of blasphemers decaying: then there will be a great tumult, or astonishment in them; for this signifies the ecstasy which the LXX translated: And each one will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be compared with the hand of another, because of fear, and the weight of evils which will come upon them. Judas will also fight against the metropolis, of which we spoke above (Chapter XII), and will receive victory granted by the Lord: the wealth of all nations that have fought against Jerusalem will be gathered, gold and silver, and a multitude of clothing, which are most precious in things. This unfortunate Judas promises to himself, hoping to receive gold which he valued the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. But we, following the established order, let us refer all these things to the blessedness of the Church, so that all who are in it may admire the subjection of the enemies and their own happiness, and each one may take hold of the hand of his neighbor, so that they may join right hands and be connected by mutual faith and kinship. And what we read in Hebrew, 'And Judas will fight against Jerusalem'; for this, the Septuagint translators rendered it as, 'And Judas will be prepared in Jerusalem'; let us accept it in both ways, that Judas, who once confessed the Lord's name, and being forced by persecutions, persecuted the people of Christ, may himself turn to joy. Certainly, Judas, being entirely repentant and faithful, should not fight against Jerusalem, but should prepare himself in Jerusalem to fight against the adversaries. And Judas himself will gather the riches of all nations around, gold, and silver, and very many garments. We have often said that gold and silver are understood in a metaphorical sense, and so too should we understand the garments, with which the Church of Christ is adorned, of which it is written: 'The queen stood at your right hand in golden robes, adorned with variety' (Psalm 45:10). The crowd of believers rejoices at seeing her dressed in these garments and says: I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and covered me with the robe of righteousness (Isa. LXI, according to the LXX). For the Lord Himself has said to her: I clothed you with embroidered work and gave you sandals of badger skin (Ezek. XVI). Let us accept these garments made of embroidered work, which are so beautiful and delicate that they appear to be like hair. The Church gathers these garments so that she may have something to clothe her people with, to whom the true preacher has said: Let your garments always be white (Eccl. IX, 8).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:14

Even Juda: The carnal Jews, and other false brothers, shall join in persecuting the church.

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:15

(Verse 15) And so there will be the destruction of horses, and mules, and camels, and donkeys, and all the livestock that were in those camps, just like this destruction. LXX: And this will be the destruction of horses and mules, camels and donkeys, and all the livestock that were in those camps, in accordance with this destruction. And the Jews strive to fulfill this, according to their carnal interpretation. Truly, the strength of the Lord is great, so that the horses, mules, camels, and donkeys, and all their livestock fall in the enemy camps, just as the men had fallen (or will fall). Great triumph, glorious victory, beasts are defeated by God fighting. Let us therefore say, according to the beginning of tropology: so that all the evils that previously fought against the Church may fall, so that the goods may suddenly arise. Finally, he who was previously a horse neighing after the wife of his neighbor (Jeremiah 5), and was carried away by lust, and lay in the filth of pleasures: when he begins to follow chastity, it will be said to him: Rise, let us go from here (John 14, 31). And: Arise, come, my love (Song of Solomon 2:10). And in the Apostle: Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Ephesians 5:14). And when those horses rise up that have fallen before, and have offered their soft backs to the Lord to sit upon, they shall say to God: Mount upon thy horses, and thy riding is salvation (Habakkuk 3:8). According to this sense, let us consider mules, which are barren and do not produce offspring; but they indulge in pleasure: of whom the Psalmist speaks: Be not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding (Psalm 31:9). So just as those who are inclined to lust are called horses, so we shall rightly call those who are virgins in the flesh and not in the spirit, mules. And those who are castrated not for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, but for the pleasure of men. Therefore, when these mules and eunuchs have been turned into offspring and have begotten spiritual children, they will hear through Isaiah: 'And let not the eunuch say: Behold I am a dry tree.' For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs, who keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant: I will give them a place in my house and within my walls, a name better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name will I give them, that shall never be cut off (Isaiah 56:3-5). The kings of Israel, especially David, are said to have had many male and female donkeys, which is related to Christ (2 Kings 13 and 1 Kings 3). If we understand what the running and rising horses and donkeys are, let us move on to camels, a ruminant animal that does not have a divided hoof (Leviticus 11). And let us say that all the sinners of the earth are like camels, who are weighed down by the heavy burden of sins, and they seem to read the holy Scriptures to themselves, but they do not have a divided hoof, rumination the divine words and neglecting what is written. But a camel can more rightly be called the people of the Jews, who themselves meditate upon the Law of God, and chew it over and turn it in their hearts, but do not split the hoof, so that they may believe in the Father and in the Son; and in this they are unclean, because they never separate the letter from the spirit, the shadow from the truth, and they bear the burden of the Law, and they hear through the prophet: Woe, sinful nation, people full of offenses (Isaiah 1:4). Concerning this kind of camel who chews and does not split the hoof, it is said in Proverbs as if to a son: Whoever forsakes the discipline of his father will meditate on evil speeches (Proverbs 21). Let us cross over to the donkey, who once was carried unbridled and unclean, and had many masters, and slid down the steep slopes, so that he would rise up suddenly when falling, and carry the Lord Savior, and enter into holy Jerusalem, and be received by a crowd of believing children triumphantly (Matt. XXI and John XII). It is said that the Savior tied this donkey to the vine and the vineyard (Gen. XLIX, 11), of which it is written in the Psalms: You brought the vine out of Egypt, and drove out the nations, and planted it (Ps. LXXIX, 9). To which the vinedresser himself says: I planted you a fruitful vineyard, a wholly true (Jer. II, 21). Likewise, all the beasts and animals, which the prophet comprehends under one name, are to be interpreted according to the nature of each one, and this is more fitting for the Son of God than for those things which the foolish people of the Jews presume to prophesy.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:15

Shall be like this destruction: That is, the beasts shall be destroyed as well as the men: the common soldiers as well as their leaders.

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:16

(Verse 16.) And all who remain of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. LXX: And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. All, he said, who remain from the nations that came against Jerusalem, shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. The Jews also promise that this will happen in the empty hope of a thousand-year kingdom, the beginning of which is this solemnity: The people of Israel went forth from Egypt through a vast and terrible and broad wilderness, in which there was no house, village, town, or cave, and they made for themselves tabernacles and tents (which are now called tents from the likeness of a small bird's wing) in which they dwelt with their spouses and children, and took food, and avoided the heat of the sun by day, the dampness and cold and harm of the dew by night. And it was commanded that the feast of Tabernacles should be held on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. And when your son asks you tomorrow, saying, What do these tabernacles mean? You shall respond to him: For a long time we have been traveling in Egypt, from which the Lord brought us out into the wilderness, and therefore we set up tabernacles, so that we may remember the blessings of God at all times, when we began to dwell in cities (Deut. VI, 20, 21, and Lev. XXIII, 43). He also commanded them to make tabernacles from very beautiful wood, which the Jews call citron, and from the branches and leaves of very dense wood, and from willow and poplar. We have laid the foundations of history, so that we may move from these to spiritual matters. As long as we are in progress and in the course and struggle, we dwell in tabernacles, striving in our whole mind, so that we may move from tabernacles to a firm and stable dwelling, that is, the house of God. Therefore, holy David says in the Psalm: Woe is me, that my dwelling is prolonged (Ps. 119:5)! And: I am a stranger and a sojourner as all my fathers were (Ps. 38:31). This is spoken by someone who is in Egypt, and still living in the world. But whoever leaves Egypt, which is called Moab in Hebrew, and interpreted as tribulation; and enters the desert of vices, takes his journey, and says in the psalm: I will go through to the place of the wonderful tent, even to the house of God (Ps. XLI, 5). For it is admirable not to dwell with the Egyptians; but with Pharaoh drowned, to desire to enter the land of promise (Exod. XIV). And elsewhere it is said: How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it even faints for the courts of the Lord (Ps. 84:1). And a little later: Blessed are those who dwell in your house, they will praise you forever and ever (ibid., 84:5). For we find written in Proverbs: The house of the righteous will stand firm, their dwelling places will endure for those who act rightly (Prov. 2:21). He promises about houses, that they remain; about tabernacles, that they have statures. And in another place the holy man says: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and see the delight of the Lord, and visit His temple (Psalm 27:4). The one who dwells in such tabernacles, and from tabernacles goes to courtyards, and from courtyards goes to the house, and from the house goes to the temple of the Lord, ought to celebrate the feasts of tabernacles in the most beautiful wood of wisdom, about which it is said in Proverbs: It is a tree of life to all who approach it, and those who lean on it, as on a firm house (Proverbs 3:18). And in the branches of the palm trees, in which the sign of victory and the reward of virtue are contained, and in the leaves of the densest tree which the Jews understand to be myrtle, because of the mortification of the flesh and desires. Hence, it is offered to the Lord and Savior by the Magi in the form of myrrh (Matt. II). And he says, in the branches of the willow and the poplar, which some call one tree; and the name of the wood itself, which is called in Greek ἁγνὸς, indicates chastity. Doctors say, and those who have written about the nature of trees and plants, that if anyone drinks a mixture of willow flower or poplar with water, all heat will cool in him, and the vein of desire will become dry, and he will not be able to produce children. Whoever is protected by the branches of such trees should observe the feast of tabernacles, passing through the sixth month which refers to the world, and celebrating the spiritual Sabbath on the seventh day of the same month, when the moon of the night is fullest, and all its darkness is resolved by bright light. We have said these things briefly, contemplating in our mind the magnitude of the books, so that we may move on to the remaining ones.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:16

To keep the feast of tabernacles: This feast was kept by the Jews in memory of their sojourning forty years in the desert, in their way to the land of promise. And in the spiritual sense is duly kept by all such Christians as in their earthly pilgrimage are continually advancing toward their true home, the heavenly Jerusalem; by the help of the sacraments and sacrifice of the church. And they that neglect this must not look for the kind showers of divine grace, to give fruitfulness to their souls.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:16

They that shall be left: That is, many of them that persecuted the church shall be converted to its faith and communion.-- Ibid.

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:17

(Verse 17) And it shall be that those who do not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. LXX: And it shall be that those who do not go up from the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, there will be consequences for them. Because the Seventy translated 'there will be consequences for them,' it is written in Hebrew, 'Ulo Alehem Eje Gesem,' which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion also interpreted in a similar way, and there will be no rain on them. The Church of the Lord Jesus is called the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the Apostle writes: 'But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all' (Galatians 4:26); and: 'But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem' (Hebrews 12:22). And this Jerusalem is not situated in lowly places, but on a high mountain, about which the Savior speaks: 'A city set on a hill cannot be hidden' (Matthew 5:14). Therefore those who wish to worship the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem must ascend the mountains. But those who are from the families and tribes of the land, and therefore cannot worship the Lord, no temporary or late rain will fall upon them, nor will the land be watered by the rains of the heavens. Or, as the Seventy translated, those who do not ascend from the families of the land to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty King, when they are counted among those who fought against Jerusalem, their flesh will waste away, their eyes will melt, and their tongues will decay.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:18-19

(Vers. 18, 19.) And if the family of Egypt does not ascend and does not come, there will be no plague on them, but there will be a punishment by which the Lord will strike all the nations that do not ascend to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. This will be the sin of Egypt, and this will be the sin of all the nations that do not ascend to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. LXX: But if the tribe of Egypt does not ascend and does not come there, there will be a punishment on them by which the Lord will strike all the nations that did not ascend to observe the feast of Booths. This will be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles. Whoever is an Egyptian, and of other nations, as long as he remains an Egyptian and a foreigner, will not go up to Jerusalem; and because he cannot go up, nor raise himself to higher things, therefore the rain of the Lord's blessing will not be upon him. And this sin will be the greatest for the Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, if they do not desire to leave their lands and go up to Jerusalem, to pass through the tabernacles in Jerusalem, and find an eternal home, and if the people of other nations cease, and if they become Israelites in whom there is no deceit (John 7:24). All these things which we quickly discuss, O Jews, and our Judaizers, or rather not ours, because they are Judaizers, hope for future things bodily, certainly circumcision for themselves, and marriages promising in the reign of a thousand years, so that the curse which is written may not be fulfilled in them: Cursed is the barren one who does not bear seed in Israel; and: Blessed is he who has seed in Zion and household members in Jerusalem (Isa. XXXI, 9, sec. LXX). But if it is true, all the virgins that the thousand-year reign shall find shall be subject to eternal curses and sterility: or certainly they shall marry, to escape the curse.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Zechariah 14:20

On that day there shall be inscribed on the bit of the horse, “Holy to the Lord.” Not war or wrath but holiness and peace. Isaiah certainly prophesied this when he said, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Both prophets expected the advent of Christ. In a mystical sense, by the horse the prophet signifies any servant of Christ and understands the bit as the divine law, by which the hearts of the faithful are directed, so that they may not rush down into vice. The bit holds the horse in check and obliges it to obey the horseman, that is, mystically, the Lord.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:20

(Verse 20) On that day, what is on the bridle of the horse will be holy to the Lord, and the pots in the house of the Lord will be like the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be consecrated to the Lord of hosts. (Verse 21) On that day, what is on the bridle of the horse will be holy to the Lord God Almighty. And the pots in the house of the Lord will be like the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord God Almighty. The Hebrew word Mesuloth was translated by Aquila and Theodotion as 'profundum', that is, 'depth'. Symmachus translated it as 'incessum umbrosum', that is, 'shady walk'. The Septuagint alone translated it as 'frenum', that is, 'bridle'; and we have followed them in this place so as not to appear to introduce anything new in a well-known question. When I asked the Hebrew what it meant, he told me that we should not read Mesuloth, but Mesaloth, which means the trappings of horses and military ornamentation, and he said that apart from this place, the word is not found at all in any volume of the holy Scriptures. But the Hebrew word for bridle is Resen, not Mesuloth, as translated by the Septuagint. And its meaning is: During the perpetual solemnity and reign of Jerusalem, when everything is peaceful and tranquil, there is no need for cavalry, which is the strongest type of warriors; but all the adornment and splendor of trappings should be dedicated to the worship of the Lord. This is what they said. As for us, let us interpret the deep and rhythmic movement of horses, σύσκιον, as representing the mystical knowledge, which even David boasted of having, saying: You have revealed to me the uncertain and hidden aspects of your wisdom (Ps. 50, 8). And the Apostle says: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out (Rom. XI, 33) ! In this deep, the prophet cried out to the Lord, and he heard him. In these depths and darkness, God placed his hiding place (Ps. XVII): Moses entered into these darknesses and divine mysteries on Mount Sinai, in order to see God (Exod. XIX): of which David also spoke in another Psalm: The judgments of the Lord are a great abyss (Ps. XXXV, 9). These secrets and sacred mysteries are known to the Lord, which the evangelist John knew and dared to say, even though the angels may not have known: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). And for this reason, it is loved by the Lord, because it had the greatest depth; and it rested on the chest of Jesus, from where it drew wisdom (John 21). But if we wish to accept the translation of the Septuagint, let us understand the bridle as the word of God, which restrains the wild horses of desire and the barren and lustful mules from vices, and restrains and does not allow them to go through dangerous paths, of which it is said: Do not be like horses and mules, who have no understanding. In freno et chamo maxillas eorum constringe, qui non approximant ad te (Ps. XXXI, 9, 10) . De hoc freno et Jacobus loquitur: In equorum ora mittimus frenos, et omne corpus eorum circumagimus (Jacob. III, 3) , ut scilicet recto gradiantur itinere, et mollia ad sedendum Domino possint terga praebere. Tale frenum et talis sermo auri et argenti varietate compositus, feros equos Salvatori praeparat ad sedendum; et sanctos facit, ac proprie illius cultui consecratos. I heard a thing, spoken in a pious sense, but ridiculous. The nails of the Lord's cross, from which Emperor Constantine made his horse's reins, were called holy of the Lord. Whether this should be understood in this way, I leave to the reader's discretion. Let us now turn to the basins that will be in the Lord's house, like the bowls of the altar. For every basin will be sanctified to the Almighty Lord in Jerusalem and in Judah. Let the bronze basins love the Egyptian pots, and meats, and melons, and garlic, and onions, and cucumbers (Numbers 11). Let us turn the Jewish cooking pots in which the meats of the victims were cooked into jars of spices before the altar of the Lord, about which the bride says to the bridegroom: My brother has gone down to my garden to the jars of spices, to feast in the gardens, and gather lilies (Song of Songs 6:1). The garden and the paradise to which the bridegroom descends to the bride is the holy reading of the Scriptures: from which he gathers lilies, and violets and roses and various fragrant spices, to fill the jars of the souls of the believers, and offer them as offerings to the Lord. When these wordplays have been turned into the vials of the Lord, and they have been able to say: 'We are the good odor of Christ' (2 Cor. 15), and because of the strength of their flesh, they have begun to bear various flowers of virtues, then they will be sanctified to Almighty God in Jerusalem and in Judea, about whom we have frequently said that Jerusalem represents the vision of peace, and Judea expresses the one who confesses.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:20

That which is upon the bridle: The golden ornaments of the bridles, etc., shall be turned into offerings in the house of God. And there shall be an abundance of caldrons and phials for the sacrifices of the temple; by which is meant, under a figure, the great resort there shall be to the temple, that is, to the church of Christ, and her sacrifice.

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Zechariah 14:21

And the cooking pots in the house of the Lord shall be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar; and every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and use them to boil the flesh of the sacrifice. In that veneration the holy service of the house of the Lord will come, so that the common cooking pots may be revered by any foreigner, notwithstanding the fact that you Jews used to revere the bowls in front of the altar inside the closure of the house of the Lord. And not only will there be this honor for the cooking pots of the house of the Lord and of Jerusalem, but any cooking pot in the sanctuary as well as in the holy city and in the whole Jerusalem will be sanctified to the Lord, so that both the Jews and Gentiles will revere it as a thing consecrated to the Lord. The mystical meaning of this prophecy predicts two things: the honor to be given to the law of salvation proceeding from Judea and the conversion of the Jews and the Gentiles, whom the baptism of Christ received as cooking pots of flesh and turned into bowls full of perfumes.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 14:21

(Verse 21.) And all the sacrificers shall come, and they shall take from them, and they shall cook in them: and there shall be no more a merchant in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day. LXX: And all who sacrifice shall come and take from them, and they shall cook in them, and there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty in that day. For the Canaanite, Aquila interpreted it as a merchant, whom we also have followed in this place. When the pots have been turned into bowls, all the nations shall come around, whether those who have been left of all the nations sacrificing, and they shall take the bowls and cook in them the flesh of the victims, so that they do not eat the raw flesh of the lamb, but with all the moisture of the flesh cooked away by fire, what has been prepared by the fire remains to be consumed. Which are the vessels before the altar of the Lord, in which the Israelite dishes are converted, as we have said above, and now we will say in part. The bride praises her bridegroom in the Song of Songs: His cheeks are like containers of spices (Song of Songs 5). In the cheeks, the word is received, which, coming forth from the Lord, produces various ointments, and the fragrance of such a good odor will be so great that the Lord will make for himself a whip out of testimonies from the texts of the Scriptures, and he will drive out those who are buying and selling from the temple, and he will say to them: It is written, My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves (Matthew 21:13). Someone says that which is written in Daniel, although it is not read in Hebrew: 'The seed of Canaan, and not of Judah' (Dan. XIII, 56); and what is said by the prophet Hosea about Ephraim: 'Ephraim has become a partner with idols; he has set up stumbling blocks for himself, and has provoked the Canaanites to fornicate; they have committed fornication' (Hosea IV, 17-18). They apply this passage to the current situation and want every fornicator to be called a Canaanite and a foreigner, who they claim should be removed from the house of God.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 14:21

The merchant shall be no more: Or, as some render it, The Chanaanite shall be no more, that is, the profane and unbelievers shall have no title to be in the house of the Lord. Or there shall be no occasion for buyers or sellers of oxen, or sheep, or doves, in the house of God, such as Jesus Christ cast out of the temple.