Zechariahchapter 8
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Speaks with:Jeremiah 31×4Zechariah 8×4Zechariah 7×3Zechariah 1×2Joel 2×1Psalms 78×1
Summary
Chapter summary
Ten oracles, each headed 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,' and the sunniest chapter in the book. 'I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth.' The picture of that peace is deliberately ordinary: old men and old women in the streets, each with a staff for very age, 'and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof' (8:5). He gathers them from east and west; the fasts become cheerful feasts. 'Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor' (Paul quotes it, Ephesians 4:25). And ten men from all languages take hold of a Jew's skirt: 'We will go with you.'
Context
Prophecy · Zechariah — Zechariah overview
- A. 1–8 Old men with staffs and children playing in the streets
- B. 9–13 Let your hands be strong; you shall be a blessing
- C. 14–17 Speak truth and judge for peace in your gates
- D. 18–23 Ten men grab a Jew's skirt: we have heard God is with you
The outline
A.Old men with staffs and children playing in the streetsvv. 1 to 8
Read vv. 1 to 8 →B.Let your hands be strong; you shall be a blessingvv. 9 to 13
Read vv. 9 to 13 →C.Speak truth and judge for peace in your gatesvv. 14 to 17
Read vv. 14 to 17 →D.Ten men grab a Jew's skirt: we have heard God is with youvv. 18 to 23
Read vv. 18 to 23 →
The world behind this chapter
Zechariah 8The history
This chapter answers the fasting question at last, and it answers it with a picture rather than a rule.
The picture is astonishingly ordinary: old men and old women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age, and the streets full of boys and girls playing.
Every detail of that is a demographic claim. In a town that had been through siege, famine, and deportation, almost nobody grew old and children were scarce. Old people sitting outside without fear means no war. Children in the street means a birth rate and safety. It is peace described in the only way peace is ever actually experienced.
God anticipates the objection: if it is marvellous in the eyes of the remnant, should it also be marvellous in mine? Then practical instructions follow, aimed at the building site — let your hands be strong; before this work started there was no wage for man or beast and no safety in coming or going.
Then the fasts are answered directly: the fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall become joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. All four commemorated stages of the disaster — the breaching of the wall, the burning of the temple, the murder of Gedaliah, and the start of the siege. All four are converted, not cancelled.
The chapter ends with ten men out of all languages taking hold of the skirt of one Jew, saying, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.
What it meant to them
For a community whose whole religious calendar was built around grief, this said the grief days themselves would become feasts. Nothing would be forgotten; everything would be reversed.
And the condition attached is the same as chapter 7's complaint: speak truth to your neighbor, judge honestly in your gates, love no false oath. The city full of playing children is built out of ordinary honesty between neighbors.
Sources cited
- Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament
- Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David (public domain)
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Zechariah 8. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.