Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:1-3

(Chapter 8, Verses 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy, and with a great indignation am I jealous for her. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. LXX: And the word of the Lord Almighty came, saying: Thus saith the Lord Almighty: I am jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great jealousy, and with a great fury am I jealous for her. Thus says the Lord Almighty: I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called the true city, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty, the holy mountain. In the book of Ezekiel (Chapter 16), we learn in greater detail how the Lord took Jerusalem, that is, the Israelite people, when they were in the wilderness like a wife, covered in the blood of idolatry, and he covered them with his cloak and loved them with marital affection. Later, we learn that she ate fine flour, honey, and oil, adorned with the most beautiful garments, and had all the jewelry and ornaments given by her husband, but she committed adultery with the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, and the Lord said: As a wife despises her husband, so Israel has despised me in the house of Israel (Jeremiah 3). But when she was delivered into captivity and mocked by her lovers, and stripped of her former beauty, after she spread her legs to every passerby and was defiled up to her head, she laments the memory of her former happiness, saying: 'I will return to my former husband, for it was better for me then than it is now.' (Hosea 2:7). And he, taking her back in marriage, to whom he had previously said, 'I will not be angry with you, and my jealousy shall depart from you' (Ezekiel 16), now speaks: 'I am consumed with zeal for Zion, with great zeal and great indignation I am consumed for her.' I was very angry that she was defiled by many lovers and stained my marriage bed. Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers, not as an adulteress under her husband, but as a harlot and worthless slave, and she was prostituted in brothels. Now I have returned to her even more, because she has repented and built a temple for me to dwell in the midst of her. And she will be called the city of truth, which was previously called the city of lies, as written in Isaiah: Truth has slept (or dozed) in her; but now murderers. And there will be a mountain, the mountain of the Almighty Lord, a sanctified mountain, in which, with the temple restored, victims are sacrificed, and the order of ceremonies is observed. This is according to the history. However, there is no doubt that Zion and Jerusalem, the watchtower and vision of peace, are able to receive the souls of the faithful, to whom, when they have sinned, the angry Lord hands them over to captivity, so that they who have not sensed God through good and prosperous things may sense Him through evil and adverse things. And when they shall have repented, the Lord will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, which we understand as the one and the same city, in which before reigned the vices of sins and falsehoods; afterwards Christ will dwell, who is the truth. And the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain, of which it is said: They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion (Ps. 142:1). And: Great is the Lord and exceedingly praiseworthy, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain (Ps. 47:1). About which Isaiah and Micah cry out: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord will be prepared on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all peoples will flow to it, and many nations will hurry, and they shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob (Isaiah 2:2-3; Micah 4:1-2). Concerning this mountain and this city, and the Apostle Paul (if indeed in receiving the Epistle, he did not reject the Greek authority in the Latin language) disputing with sacred prayer says: You have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and to thousands of angels, and the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven (Hebrews 12:22).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:4-5

(Verses 4, 5.) This is what the Lord of hosts says. Yet old men and old women will dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their many days. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets. LXX: This is what the Lord Almighty says: Yet old men and old women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their many days. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets. So great, he says, will be the prosperity of all things and the peace and tranquility of war, with no enemy remaining, that old age in both sexes will reach the very last age, and trembling limbs will be supported by a ruling staff. The streets of the city will also be filled with playing boys and girls. However, this usually happens when there is security and deep peace in the cities, so that the joy of the cities may celebrate with games and dances the playful age. But if we refer to the Church, of which it is said: Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God (Psalm 87:3), and: The streams of the river make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved (Psalm 46:4-5), who can doubt that the streets of the Church are the virtues, in which wisdom acts confidently and is proclaimed on the heights of the walls? Therefore, the Psalmist cries out to the Lord: I hold your commandments in high esteem (Psalm 119:96). In the streets, seeking the Lord and Savior, the bride speaks in the Song of Songs: I will arise and go about the city in the streets and in its squares, until I find him whom my soul loves (Song of Songs 3:2). Therefore, the elderly men and women will dwell or sit, of whom it is written (if anyone is willing to receive the book): Honorable old age, not measured by time or numbered by years (Wisdom 4:8). But dogs are the wisdom of men, and old age is a blameless life: of which the Lord also speaks to Moses: Gather with you seventy elders, whom you know to be elders (Num. XI, 16); wherefore before Abraham no one was called old, of whom we read: Abraham died being old: nourished in good old age, old and full of days (Gen. XXV, 8). For the glory of old men is gray hair, of whom it is said: The gray hair of a man is his wisdom (Wis. IV, 8). They will hold rods and staffs in their hands because of the multitude of days, and they will say to the disciples: What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in the spirit of gentleness and meekness (1 Corinthians 4:21)? For he who speaks wisdom from his lips, the rod strikes the foolish man. And on the contrary: He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who diligently corrects him loves him (Proverbs 13:24). And not only old men, but old women will also sit in the streets of Jerusalem, which Paul describes with apostolic words: Honor, he says. See widows who are truly widows. And in another place: Let a widow be chosen not less than sixty years old, who was the wife of one husband, having testimony in good works: if she has brought up children, if she has received strangers, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work (I Tim. V, 3, 9, 10). Such old men and old women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, and they will hold staffs in their hands, and the streets of the city will be filled with playing boys and girls. These are the boys and girls, the old and young, whom the Psalmist exhorts to sing to the Lord, saying: Young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the name of the Lord (Ps. CXLVII, 12). And John the Evangelist and Apostle says: I write to you, young men, because your sins are forgiven you for the sake of the Savior's name: I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning (I John II, 12, 13). And of these things Solomon speaks in Proverbs: And He shall give subtlety to the innocent, and understanding to the young man. And again: Hear, O sons, the discipline of a father, and attend that you may know understanding (Prov. 1:4, 8). Concerning these boys, young men and girls, the forty-fourth psalm says, After her shall virgins be brought to the king. According to what is written: The daughters of Judah rejoiced and were glad because of your judgments. Lord (Ps. XCVI, 8). When they have heard from the Apostle: Rejoice, again I say rejoice (Philip. IV, 4), they will indicate the joy of the mind with a gesture of the body, and with a leaping dance, they will say with David: I will leap and dance in the sight of the Lord (II Sam. VI, 22).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:5

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.”

Source: Against Jovinianus 1.30

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:6

(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 clothes the walls with different layers of marble, and venerates the divine books, which it previously handed over to the fire, now gilded and purpled, and distinguished by a variety of gems, in the custody of the Roman state.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:7-8

(Verses 7, 8.) Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the land of the East, and from the land of the setting sun. And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in justice. Likewise in the Septuagint. Others say that these things were fulfilled by the Jews after the rebuilding of the temple and the city walls by Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, and the restoration of the Jewish state by the Maccabees and various princes who ruled over Judea until King Herod. Others, in talking about the completion of the world under Christ, whom they vainly wait for, mention things that are yet to be fulfilled. But we, on the other hand, say that even at that time, that is, after Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, it was partially completed and already foreshadowed in types and images when the people were brought back from captivity, dwelt in Jerusalem, and were called the people of God, and again the Lord was called their God: not in deceit and injustice, but in truth and righteousness. And now, most fully under the Lord and Savior in the Church, that is, in the true Jerusalem, the promise is being fulfilled, especially because it is said: Behold, I will save my people from the land of the East and from the land of the West, of whom the Lord also spoke in the Gospel: Many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. VIII, 11). And long before, the Psalmist had promised, saying: The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken and called the earth. From the rising of the sun to its setting, from Zion, the perfection of beauty, he comes. For from Zion shall come the one who delivers and turns away iniquities from Jacob, when, from the east and the west, incense is offered to the name of the Lord in every place, and a pure sacrifice, not of the victims of the old Testament, but of the sanctity of the gospel purity, of which incense and elsewhere we read: Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight. And the following speech explains what this offering is: The lifting up of my hands is the evening sacrifice. For after the shoot from the stem of Jesse has blossomed forth, who was to rule the nations, in Him the nations were to hope (Rom. XV), and from the East and the West, as well the first people as the last have believed in the Lord, and there was made one flock: then all the nations were called to joy, and stirred up to gladness, as the Prophet says: Rejoice, O nations, with His people (Ps. XXI, 28). According to what is written elsewhere: All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. And what follows: In truth and righteousness, this signifies that the shadow of the old Law departs and the truth of the Gospel comes, not in the righteousness of the Jews, but in Christian righteousness: for the Lord himself is truth and righteousness, of whom we read: Truth will spring up from the earth, and righteousness will look down from heaven (Psalm 85:11). And in the fourteenth Psalm, righteousness and truth are mentioned together: He who walks without blemish and practices righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 56] 2 Corinthians on Zechariah 8:8

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [Zechariah 8:8] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:9

(Verse 9) Thus says the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing through the mouth of the prophets the decrees that were made when the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid for the rebuilding of the temple. For there are seventy years for the Lord of hosts, the Almighty, and in like manner the rest were translated. When the temple was built under Zerubbabel and Jesus (for in the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is called Chislev, these things are said, when the temple had already been constructed), the same prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who had encouraged the leaders and the people to build it, now encourage them to conform their faith to what had been promised in the past and what is promised for the future, and to strengthen their hands, fearing neither the attack of the Medes nor the plots of the surrounding nations. And let them be comforted by the words of the prophets from the day the foundation of the temple was laid until the day it was completed, and let them hear what follows. Briefly, we explain the history of whatever is said about Jerusalem and the temple, referring it spiritually to the Church, in which hands are strengthened through good works, and houses are founded when the foundations of faith are laid, and a temple is built when the multitude of believers is strengthened, and thus lives so as to deserve to be the temple of God.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:10

(Verse 10.) Indeed, before those days there was no wages for humans, nor wages for animals, nor peace to the one entering and leaving because of the affliction. And I will send forth all people against their neighbors. They have all been reported to the future time, but better to the past, as it is in Hebrew, and the truth of the exposition will approve. Before the house of the Lord was founded, and the temple of the Lord was built, all your labor was in vain. And both men and animals in agriculture, in trade, and in various works, were frustrated in their empty efforts: outside there were adversaries, at home sedition disturbed the peace, and everywhere there was injustice due to the frequency of wars and domestic plots, while brother did not show faith to brother, and every kinship was hostile. Understanding this meaning, the prophet Haggai says: And now set your hearts from this day and beyond: before the stone was placed upon the stone in the temple of the Lord. When you approached a heap of twenty measures, there were ten; and you entered the winepress to press out fifty jugs, and there were twenty. I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands, and there was no one among you who returned to me, says the Lord (Hag. 2:16-17): which we can also understand in the Church and in each of the believers. Indeed, before the house of God is laid as a foundation within us, and we are built up as a temple to God, and we hear from the Apostle; You are the temple of God: and the Holy Spirit dwells within you (II Cor. VI, 16), whatever good work we seemed to have, either rational, who are called humans, or simple, who are called beasts (for you will save humans and beasts, Lord (Ps. XXXV, 7)), it has no reward from God, and there are battles and conflicts within us, and everywhere there is tribulation without the peace of Christ, which he left with the apostles as he went to the Father (John XIV), and the Lord's saying is fulfilled in us: The enemies of a man are those of his own house (Micah VII, 6). For every brother supplants with supplanting; and every friend walks deceitfully, and a man mocks his brother, and does not speak the truth, their tongue has learned to speak lies. (Jeremiah IX, 4). But if we turn to Christ, and become his temple, immediately we will hear the Apostle proclaiming: Each one will receive their own reward according to their work. (I Corinthians III, 8).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:11-12

(Verse 11, 12): But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. LXX: And now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Almighty Lord; but I will show peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of my people to possess all these things. Before the foundations of the house of God were laid and the temple was built, there was no merchandise of men, nor merchandise of livestock, nor was there peace for those entering and leaving, and all people were in hostile disagreement with one another. But now, because the foundations of the house of the Lord are already laid and the temple is built, I will not do as I did before to those who have returned from the captivity of Babylon; but there will be peace and joy everywhere, and the abundance of the former times will compensate for the drought and famine. For the vine shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall be filled with the produce of the harvest; the presses shall overflow with wine, and the land shall be adorned with bountiful crops. With abundant rain and nightly dew, all shall sprout and grow. I will fulfill all that I have spoken and the remnants of my people shall possess. For the foundations of the house of the Lord have been laid, and the temple has been built. These same words were spoken by the prophet Haggai at the same time, who said: 'I struck you with scorching wind, mildew, and hail, destroying all the work of your hands, after the foundations of the temple were laid. Set it in your hearts from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month: from the day the foundations of the temple were laid, set it upon your hearts.' Is the seed already in the bud: and has the vineyard, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree not yet blossomed? From this day forward, I will bless you, and I will shake the heavens and the earth again (Haggai 2:18-19). Let us also say, following another explanation of the Church. Before anyone receives the faith of Christ, and the foundations of the Holy Spirit are laid in them, no one can hear, there is recompense for your work. Whether they are Jewish, or heretic, or pagan: whatever good works they do, if they do not do them in the name of Christ, they will not receive the reward of their good works. We see the virgins of the heretics, the strictness of the philosophers, the variety of observances among the Jews in regard to food; and yet, according to Haggai, we say that they eat, but are not satisfied; they drink, but are not intoxicated; they cover themselves, but are not warmed; and whoever gathers wages, puts them in a bag with holes (Haggai I). But after they have received the faith of Christ, both those who were sinners outside the Church and those within, and have been handed over to the captivity of this world and burned by Babylonian fire, and have heard the Lord preaching: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me; to preach the Gospel to the poor He has sent me, to proclaim release to captives, and sight to the blind, to heal the broken-hearted" (Isaiah LXI, 2), and when in them is fulfilled what is said through Amos: "I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the desolate cities, and I will plant them" (Amos IX, 14), then in those days righteousness and a multitude of peace shall arise (Psalm LXXI). The vine will produce its fruit, as it says in the Gospel: I am the vine, you are the branches. Every branch that remains in me, the Father cleanses, so that it may bear greater fruit (John 15:8). And when its branches, that is, the shoots and tendrils, have been cleansed, and with budding eyes begin to promise the hope of future fruit, then the flowering vines will give off their fragrance (Song of Solomon 2:13). At that time, the sun of righteousness will color the hanging clusters of grapes, as mentioned in the winepress psalms of the eighteenth and eighty-third, which are inscribed for the winepresses. The feet of the Lord, who ascends from Bosor, will crush them, in order to create the wine that gladdens the heart of man. The earth will also yield its produce, not dry and rocky and full of thorns; but good earth that gives a hundredfold and sixtyfold and thirtyfold fruit (Matt. 13): so that those who sow in tears may reap in joy (Psalm 126). And the heavens will also give their dew, of which it is written in Psalm 18: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. About these heavens, it is said in the song of Deuteronomy: Rejoice, O heavens, with him (Deut. 32:43), that is, with the Lord and Savior, whom he foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8), who speaks with Moses: May my teaching come down like rain, my words fall like dew (Deut. 32:2). For those who were dead in sins will rise again, and those who lay in their graves will be raised up, those tombs that are full of the bones of the dead, and those who reside on the earth will rejoice. And the following statement explains the reason for their joy: For health is theirs from the dew of the rose that is from you. And all these things, namely peace and the fruit of the vineyards and the abundance of the lands, which thrive from the dew of the heavens, will be possessed by the remnants of my people, of whom Isaiah speaks: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:9). For the elect's sake, the remains were saved by grace: not by works; otherwise grace would not be grace.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:13-15

(Verse 13 and following) And it shall be, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Just as I purposed to afflict you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord, and I did not relent, so now I have purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear. LXX: And it shall be, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, let your hands be strong.' For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. These things after the building of the temple promise to be in the future, that just as they were in all nations for a curse and for a hissing and for an example, the house of Judah and the house of Israel (namely, the two and ten tribes), so when they have been saved and returned to Judaea, they may be a blessing for all. Do not, he says, fear the rebellious adversaries: trust that what the Lord promises through me is true: strengthen your hands: fulfill the works that you have begun. For the cause of comfort, there is a promise of the Lord. For thus says the Almighty Lord, to whom nothing is impossible, who can fulfill what He promises: just as I have devised to afflict you and deliver you into captivity because your fathers provoked me to anger and I did not show mercy. And the Septuagint translated it as 'I did not repent', which is written in Hebrew as 'Ulo Naamathi'. But I did not show mercy in order to correct you with captivity and instruct you with all kinds of torments and afflictions. So now, at this present time, I have devised to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. And it is to be noted that when he is angry, his curse is upon the nations of the house of Judah and the house of Israel, that is, all twelve tribes that were handed over to captivity. But when he plans to do good, he does not do so for Judah and Israel, that is, the two and ten tribes, namely Jerusalem and Samaria, Oollae and Oolibae; but leaving Israel in captivity, he does good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah: and he concludes by saying: Do not fear or be confident, in the sense that we have explained above. However, the Church and each individual believer can be understood in this way: that during times of persecution, they were a curse and an example to all the surrounding nations because they offended their Lord. And afterwards, they were a blessing when peace was restored. And all of this happened because the Lord, who was once angry, then had mercy on Jerusalem and on the Jews who confessed the faith of the Lord. Moreover, each of the believers who are expelled from the Church due to their sins and handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (I Cor. V), so that they may learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. I), when they have repented, they shall return to their former state and shall see the peace of God and possess the glory of their confession. The heretics falsely accuse God, saying that he is either cruel or changeable, if he either does not repent or does repent, because it is written: \"I have not shown mercy or had pity\". For if he repents, they say he is changeable; if he does not repent, they assert he is cruel. However, God regretted that he had anointed Saul as king (1 Samuel 15). And concerning the Ninevites, to whom he had proclaimed through the prophet: \"Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown\" (Jonah 3:4), it is said that he himself changed his mind when they repented, not due to a fault of his unwise mind, but due to the variation of their actions, whether good or evil. For if they have done wrong, He threatens; if they have repented of their former sins, He shows mercy. God, who is always the same and cannot be changed, does not change; but when they have turned from evil to good works, He changes His own decree. He also speaks in Genesis: The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has multiplied, and their sins are very great. Therefore I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know. What he said is this: If they remain in anger, punishment will not be lacking for sinners; if they cease from insanity, they will become most worthy of my knowledge. But the Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim. 2:19). And the Apostle writes to the Galatians: But then, not knowing God (Gal. 4:8). And since God knows all things, and nothing can escape Him, neither past nor present nor future, He says in the Gospel that the wicked do not know Him: Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I do not know you (Luke 13:27). Therefore let us understand both the knowledge, and the repentance, and the anger, and the indignation, and all the affections of God, not with the fault of human speech, but with the sense of divine majesty.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 62] Ephesians on Zechariah 8:16

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. [Zechariah 8:16] Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

[AD 132] Pseudo-Barnabas on Zechariah 8:16

[Burnt offerings] he accordingly did away with, so that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ might be without restraining yoke and without manmade offering. Again he says to them, “Did I command your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt to offer me burnt offerings and sacrifices? Rather I did command them this: Let none of you cherish evil in his heart against his neighbor, and do not love a false oath.” We ought therefore to understand, if we are not senseless, the kindly intention of our Father, for he speaks to us, desiring us not to err like them but to seek how to make our offering to him. To us he accordingly speaks thus: “A contrite heart is a sacrifice to the Lord; an odor of sweetness to the Lord is a heart which glorifies its maker.” We ought, therefore, to watch carefully after our salvation, brothers, lest the evil one, sneaking in among us deceitfully, push us away from our life.

Source: EPISTLE OF BARNABAS 2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Zechariah 8:16

For indeed there is nothing equal to this virtue. Would you learn the power of this virtue? “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,” says God, “my soul would not regard them.” Nevertheless those whom Moses and Samuel were not able to snatch away from God’s wrath, this precept when observed was able to snatch away. Hence it is that he continually exhorts those to whom he had spoken of these things, saying, “Let none of you revengefully imagine evil against your brother in his heart,” and “Let none of you think of his neighbor’s malice.” It is not said merely, forego wrath; but do not retain it in your mind; do not think of it; part with all your resentment; do away with the sore. For you suppose that you are paying him back the injury; but you are first tormenting yourself, and setting up your rage as an executioner within you in every part, and tearing up your own bowels. For what can be more wretched than a person perpetually angry? And just as maniacs never enjoy tranquility, so also one who is resentful and retains an enemy will never have the enjoyment of any peace. Incessantly raging, [such a person] daily increases the tempest of his thoughts, calling to mind his words and his acts, and detesting the very name of one who has aggrieved him. If you but mention his enemy, he becomes furious at once, and sustains great inward anguish; and should he only by chance get a bare glimpse of him, he fears and trembles, as if encountering the worst evils.

Source: HOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 20:6

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:16-17

(Verse 16, 17) These are the words you shall do: Speak truth, each one with his neighbor. Give judgment of truth and peace in your gates. And let none of you think evil in your hearts against his neighbor. And love not a false oath. For all these are the things that I hate, says the Lord. LXX: These are the words you shall do: Speak truth, each one with his neighbor. Give judgment of peace and justice in your gates. And let none of you think evil against his neighbor in your hearts. And love not a false oath. For I hate all these things, says the Almighty Lord. I have promised that I will not abandon the remnants of the captive people and I will not act as I did in the past days. Just as I had planned to afflict them when their fathers provoked me to anger and I showed no mercy, now I have turned my thoughts to doing good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Therefore, in order to fulfill my purpose and not make my promises void, do these things that I command: Speak the truth with your neighbors. Let us embrace, as our nearest kin, the entire human race, for we are all descended from a single parent. Otherwise, whoever is the next closest relative should be considered, and one must lie to strangers and foreigners. The Apostle speaks of the same thing: 'Putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbour' (Ephesians IV, 25). 'Judge ye the truth and the judgment of peace in your gates.' In judgment let truth and justice come first, and then mercy follows. For this is the judgment of peace, that the judge has the intention to reconcile the discordant, according to that Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). And what follows 'In your gates' is in agreement with that prophetic passage: They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth (Amos 5:10). And in another place: They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate (Psalm 129:6). David also judged in the gates, when Absalom, promising the truth of judgment, laid snares for his father (2 Samuel 19). And it is asked why among the Jews in the city gates there was a place for judgment. So that farmers would not be forced to enter the cities and incur any expense, judges would reside in the city gates in order to hear both urban and rural people entering and leaving the city, and once the matter was finished, each person would immediately return to their own homes. And the evil, he says, do not contemplate against your friends in your hearts: Raah (), which all voice consonant κακίαν, that is, malice, can be understood in two ways, both as affliction and as evil. Regarding affliction: If there is wickedness in a city that the Lord has not made (Amos III, 6). And: Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew VI, 34). Concerning evil, God speaks through the prophet Jonah: The outcry of their wickedness has come to me (Jonah I, 2). And in the Apostle, we read: They were filled with all unrighteousness and wickedness (Romans I, 29). Therefore, in both ways, one who is holy does not afflict his friend nor does he think of bringing harm upon him in his heart. And he said, 'Do not love a false oath: according to the commandment of the Lord in the Gospel: 'But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool...' (Matt. V, 34). For whoever does not swear, will never be able to perjure. Let the one who swears, hear what is written: 'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain' (Exod. XX, 7). These are all the things that I hate,' says the Lord, according to the words of Malachi: 'And you have done all the things that I hate' (Mal. II, 13; sec. LXX). In the precepts pertaining to life, which are clear, we should not seek allegory, lest, in accordance with the Comic, we seek a knot in a reed.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:18-20

(Verse 18, 19,.) And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah, joy and gladness, and great solemnities: only love ye truth and peace. LXX: And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord Almighty. The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah, joy and gladness, and good festivals (for this is the Hebrew word Tobim (), meaning good), and be happy, and love truth and peace. To the question that Sarasar and Rogommelech asked through messengers, whether they should fast and mourn in the fifth month and the seventh month, as it is written in the Septuagint, or whether they should end the fast and put away mourning after the completion of the temple, with many things being set forth in the midst of what they would do and what they would hope for, the Lord responded through the person of the prophet: the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth month, and the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month (for the month is understood) shall be turned into joy and gladness for the house of Judah and Jerusalem on the appointed feasts. God alone seeks the truth and peace. In this place, many of our people have said many different things, and there is disagreement among them. Some, professing obscurity, have passed over the deepest pit in their commentaries: thinking it better to say nothing at all than to say too little. Therefore, we are compelled to turn to the Hebrews and seek the truth of knowledge from the source rather than from the streams: especially since there is no prophecy about Christ, where they often twist and conceal the truth with lies; but rather the order of history is woven from what comes before and what follows. On the seventeenth day of the month of July, which is called Julius in Latin, it is believed to commemorate the moment when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and threw down and broke the tablets of the Law (Exodus 32), and when the walls of the city were first breached, according to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 52). In the fifth month, which is called Augustus in Latin, when a rebellion arose among the people because of the spies of the Holy Land, they were commanded not to ascend the mountain; but for forty years they wandered in the wilderness, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, until they all perished (Numbers 14). In this month, both by Nabuchodonosor (Jer. LII), and many centuries later by Titus and Vespasian, the temple in Jerusalem was burned and destroyed, the city of Bether was captured, to which many thousands of Jews had fled, the temple was plowed in disgrace by the Roman governor Turannius Rufus. In the seventh month, which is called October among us, as we have said above, Godolias was killed, and the tribes of Judah and the remains of Jerusalem were scattered (IV Reg. 25). We read Jeremiah (Chapters XXXIX and XLI). In the tenth month, which is called January among us, because it is the door of the year and the beginning, Ezekiel, being in captivity, heard that the temple was destroyed in the fifth month, which we fully know from the same prophet. Therefore, this is all that is said: The days of mourning and fasting that you have had until now for sorrow, you shall know that I planned to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah, to turn them into joy and gladness and festive occasions, if only you love truth and peace. According to interpretation, because then we fast when the bridegroom is taken away from us (Luke 5), and we do not deserve to have his presence when the Lord returns to us and decides to bless us, all sorrow will turn into joy; and the previous hunger for the word of God, the presence of his teachings, and the satisfaction of heavenly bread, will be weighed.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Zechariah 8:19

Therefore, when we come to the feast, we must not treat it as the shadows and pictures that Israel had, for they are fulfilled. Nor should we come to it as we would any ordinary secular feast. Oh, no! Let us go quickly to the Lord, who is himself the feast. We must not look at the feast as a time to delight the appetite and overindulge but as a display of virtue. The feasts of the heathen are made up of laziness and greed. They think idleness is the mark of a feast, and when they feast they do the despicable acts of death and hell. Our feasts, on the other hand, are scenes of virtuous activities and the practice of temperance. The prophetic word says it very clearly, “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months shall become feasts of joy and gladness for the house of Judah.”

Source: FESTAL LETTERS 11

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 8:19

The fast of the fourth month: They fasted, on the ninth day of the fourth month, because on that day Nabuchodonosor took Jerusalem, Jer. 52. 6. On the tenth day of the fifth month, because on that day the temple was burnt, Jer. 52. 12. On the third day of the seventh month, for the murder of Godolias, Jer. 41. 2. And on the tenth day of the tenth month, because on that day the Chaldeans began to besiege Jerusalem, 4 Kings 25. 1. All these fasts, if they will be obedient for the future, shall be changed, as is here promised, into joyful solemnities.

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:21-22

(Verse 21, 22.) Thus says the Lord of hosts: How long will the people come and dwell in many cities, and the inhabitants go from one to another, saying: Let us go and entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will also go, and many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the face of the Lord. LXX: Thus says the Lord almighty: Yet many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come; and those who dwell in cities will gather in one city, saying: Let us go to entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the presence of the Lord almighty. I will also go, and many peoples and numerous nations will come to seek the face of the Almighty Lord in Jerusalem, and to supplicate the face of the Lord. The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be changed into the best festivities, to the extent that the cities of Judah, which were previously deserted, will be celebrated with abundant inhabitants. And one city shall go to another, and they shall encourage one another and say: Because for seventy years the ways of Zion had been desolate, since there was no one to go to the feast, all its gates were deserted, and its priests were lamenting. Now that peace has been restored, let us go to Jerusalem, where it is commanded by law that we offer sacrifices, and let our every male appear before the Lord three times a year (Exod. XXIII). And one city will say to another: Let us go and supplicate the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Almighty Lord. The other city will reply: I will also go. At that time, many peoples and innumerable and powerful nations will come to offer sacrifices to the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to supplicate His face. For the Lord is near to those who do not test Him, and He reveals His face to those who are not unbelieving. Whoever sees the Son, sees the Father as well; and the Son is the image of the invisible God, not because the Son is visible and the Father invisible, but because when the Son is mentioned, the Father is felt. For the Father does not exist without the Son. Therefore, He Himself speaks in the Gospel: Father, I have manifested Your name to men. What we have said about Jerusalem and Zerubbabel, or after Zerubbabel, is more accurately and fully applied to Christ and Jerusalem, which is understood as the Church: and then concerning the whole world and peoples and nations coming together to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord. Also during the time of persecution, as we have mentioned before, the teachers and priests of the Church boldly promise to the captives and believers that the parishes will be rebuilt and peace will be restored, and the face of the Lord is to be sought in the Churches. We pass by in order to dwell in the more obscure things.

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Zechariah 8:22

The whole life of a good Christian is a holy longing to make progress.

Source: SERMONS 4:6

[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 8:23

(Verse 23) Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days, when ten men from all the languages of the nations take hold of the garment of a Jewish man, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' LXX: Thus says the Lord Almighty: In those days, if ten men from all the languages of the nations take hold of the fringe of a Jewish man, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' Certain Jews say that these things were completed under Zerubbabel, and after Zerubbabel. Others differ, expecting Christ to come in the future. But we understand more correctly and truly in the coming of the Lord and Savior, when He was born of the Virgin Mary. Finally, it is written: 'How long will the peoples come?' (Zech. VIII, 20) When it is said, 'How long,' it does not signify the present time in which Zerubbabel and Joshua were, but the future, when many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the face of the Lord. At that time, therefore, and in those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will take hold of the edge of a man who is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. And in Isaiah we read: Seven women will take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing, only let your name be called upon us: take away our disgrace (Isaiah 4:1). Therefore, the seven women who are called there, that is, the Churches, whose number is also mentioned in the apostle Paul: for he writes to seven Churches, to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians. And in the Apocalypse of John, in the midst of the seven candlesticks (Apoc. I), that is, of the Churches, of the Ephesians, of the Smyrnians, of the Pergamenes, of the Thyatirians, of the Sardisians, of the Philadelphians, of the Laodiceans with variety (or truth), the Lord enters girded with the purest gold. Now in the prophet Zechariah, ten are mentioned, whom the Lord also inquired about, that if He found them in Sodom and Gomorrah, He would deliver them from destruction. For the letter Iota , from which the Savior's name begins, signifies not only the number ten among the Greeks, but also among the Hebrews. And by this mystical discourse it is shown that all those who are considered by the name of Christian, whom the Lord Himself says have left seven thousand in the time of the persecution of Jezebel and the flight of Elijah, who have not bent their knees before Baal (III Kings XIX), and who have come to the measure of a perfect man from all languages and nations, will grasp the fringe of the Jewish man, that is, of the Lord and Savior, about whom it is also said in the Psalms: 'Judah, my king' (Ps. LIX, 9). And: Judas, your brothers will praise you. And again: A ruler will not fail from Judah, and a leader from his loins, until the one to whom it belongs comes, and he will be the hope of the nations (Gen. XLIX, 8, 10): For he will be the offspring of Jesse, and the one who rises to rule the nations, in him the nations will hope (Isai. XI, 10). And when they take hold of him, they will desire to follow in his footsteps; for God is with him. Indeed, from all languages and nations, whoever believes will take hold of the Jewish man, the apostles who are from the Jews and they will say: Let us go with you, for we have heard through the prophets, and we have known by the voice of all the Scriptures, that the Son of God, Christ, is God and Lord with you. When the most manifest prophecy is fulfilled, and the coming of Christ and his apostles is preached, and the faith of all nations, we do not seek anything more. But what we said about the number seven thousand belonging to the name of Christians, calculate in Greek έπτα χίλια και Χριστιανους, and you will find the same number and sum, that is, one thousand nine hundred and forty-one. But also the parable of the ten virgins in the Gospel (Matt. XXV), which we interpret in the senses of the flesh and the spirit, if they have prepared oil of good works for their lamps, and have doubled the number five, so that they may be holy (according to the Apostle) in body and spirit, refer to the sacrament of this number. He will also receive in the future ten cities, the best governed by those who have the most excellent control of their senses (Luke 16).

Source: Commentary on Zechariah

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on Zechariah 8:23

God will make the return of the remainder so conspicuous that many people who are from different nations and have shared that calamity will perceive God’s care for the people. They will lay hold of any one of them and use him as a guide for a return to Jerusalem, since everyone is sufficiently stirred up to that end from the clear realization that God is with them on the basis of the incredible deeds done for them. The phrase “ten men,” note, here too refers not to number but has the meaning of many.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH 8:20-23

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zechariah 8:23

Ten men: Many of the Gentiles became proselytes to the Jewish religion before Christ: but many more were converted to Christ by the apostles and other preachers of the Jewish nation.