Zechariah 1:14
in Zechariah 1Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So the angel that talked with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
KJV
So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
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This verse in Zechariah 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 14 and following) And the angel who spoke in me said to me: Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with great jealousy, and with great anger I am angry (alternate: I will be angry) with the prosperous nations, for I was angry only a little, but they (alternate: they themselves) assisted in bringing about evil.
This site's exposition
I am jealous for Jerusalem
on Zechariah 1:14-17
The comfortable words are given content: the Lord is jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great jealousy, and sore displeased with the nations that are at ease, the very powers used to punish Judah now judged for exceeding their commission, for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Calvin and the older bench read this as the standing principle behind every instrument God raises against his people, the rod is used and then broken for using too much force. The promise answers the vision's report point for point: my house shall be built in it, a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem, anticipating the measuring vision of chapter two, and my cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad, the Lord comforting Zion and choosing Jerusalem again.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
So the angel that communed with me,.... Having an order from the other Angel, or the Lord of hosts: said unto me, Cry thou; proclaim, publish, declare in the hearing of the people, for their comfort and encouragement. The Targum renders it, "prophesy": saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion, with a great jealousy; which is expressive of his conjugal affection for his church and people, his zeal for their good, and his indignation at their enemies, and of the vengeance he would execute on them.
Christ, under the law, appeared on a red horse, denoting the terror of that dispensation, and that he had yet his conflict before him, when he was to resist unto blood. But, under the gospel, he appears on a white horse ( Rev. vi. 11 ), denoting that he has now gained the victory, and rides in triumph, and hangs out the white, not the bloody flag.
He takes himself to be highly affronted by the injuries and indignities that are done to his church, as he had been formerly by the iniquities found in his church. The earth sat still and was at rest (
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The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Cry thou - The vision was not for the prophet alone. What he saw and heard, that he was to proclaim to others. The vision, which he now saw alone, was to be the basis and substance of his subsequent preaching Jon 1:2; Isa 40:2, Isa 40:6, whereby he was to encourage his people to persevere. I am jealous for Jerusalem - Literally, “I have been,” not now only but in time past even when I did not show it, “and am jealous”, with the tender love which allows not what it loves to be injured .
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Cry--Proclaim so as to be heard clearly by all (Isa 40:6; I am jealous for Jerusalem--As a husband jealous for his wife, wronged by others, so Jehovah is for Judah, who has been injured wantonly by the heathen (Zec 8:2;
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3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Therefore thus says the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: My house shall be built in it, says the Lord of Hosts and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad. And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem. Then lifted I up my eyes and sa w and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these?
Therefore thus says the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: My house shall be built in it, says the Lord of Hosts and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad. And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem. Then lifted I up my eyes and sa w and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem. And the Lord showed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And He spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to scatter them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it." Zechariah 1:8-21. THIS is a somewhat dark and mysterious passage. And if we should ask many a reader, "Do you understand what you are reading?" he would be compelled to reply as did the Ethiopian eunuch, "How can I, except some man should guide me?" Although there are some portions of the Word of God which are hard to be understood—by far the greater portion of Scriptures which are at first perplexing—will open up if we will carefully peruse them and prayerfully ask the illumination of God's Holy Spirit. We should seek to know all of God's Word which can be known. You will perceive that the Prophet Zechariah himself was not content with beholding the two visions described in this passage, but had to ask, in the ninth verse, "O my Lord, what are these?" And then, again, in the nineteenth verse, "What are these?" Nor did he cease his enquiries! In the twenty-first verse he says, "What come these to do?" If the seer of the vision asked for an interpretation, much more may you and I.
I am jealous for Jerusalem - I have for them a strong affection; and indignation against their enemies.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I am jealous for Jerusalem I am exacting the retribution [for] the cause of Jerusalem from those who oppress her.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And the Lord answered the angel who was speaking to me, good words Not that the prophet heard what He answered [the angel], but from what the angel said to him, “Proclaim, saying, ‘I am jealous etc.,’” I know that He answered him good words.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַ֗י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמַּלְאָךְ֙ | hamalokh | the angel | H4397 → | 213 times |
| הַדֹּבֵ֣ר | hadover | who was speaking | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| בִּ֔י | bi | with me | ||
| קְרָ֣א | kera' | proclaim | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֑וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| קִנֵּ֧אתִי | kineti | I am jealous | H7065 → | 34 times |
| לִירוּשָׁלִַ֛ם | lirushalim | for Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וּלְצִיּ֖וֹן | uletziyon | and for Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| קִנְאָ֥ה | kinah | jealousy | H7068 → | |
| גְדוֹלָֽה׃ | gedolah | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַ֗יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
הַמַּלְאָךְ֙the angel
hamalokhH4397 →213 times
הַדֹּבֵ֣רwho was speaking
hadoverH1696 →1141 times
בִּ֔יwith me
bi
קְרָ֣אproclaim
kera'H7121 →733 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֑וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
קִנֵּ֧אתִיI am jealous
kinetiH7065 →34 times
לִירוּשָׁלִַ֛םfor Jerusalem
lirushalimH3389 →643 times
וּלְצִיּ֖וֹןand for Zion
uletziyonH6726 →154 times
קִנְאָ֥הjealousy
kinahH7068 →
גְדוֹלָֽה׃great
gedolahH1419 →526 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 40:1“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 1:4
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
- Isaiah 51:12
“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?
- Zephaniah 3:14–17
Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
- Jeremiah 31:10–14
Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.
- Isaiah 51:3
Through
Isaiah 40:6A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
it leads to
- Psalms 103:15–16
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
- 1 Peter 1:24–25
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- Psalms 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
- Psalms 103:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Zechariah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceJerusalemZionThe eastern ridge David took from the Jebusites and made his stronghold, the name the Psalms and the prophets give the city the LO…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 598: “Two Visions” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.