Zechariah 1:16
in Zechariah 1Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my house shall be built in it, saith Jehovah of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.
KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
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This verse in Zechariah 1
Commentary
9 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 Awakening2 voices
Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies,....
He must cry, " Thus saith the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. I was going away in wrath, but I am now returning in love. Cry yet to the same purport,"
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It was not completed till the sixth year of Darius (Ezr 6:15). line-- (Job 38:5). The measuring-line for building, not hastily, but with measured regularity. Not only the temple, but Jerusalem also was to be rebuilt (Ne 2:3, &c.; compare Zec 2:1, 2).
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies - Before, he came to them in judgments; and the principal mercy is, the house of the Lord shall be rebuilt, and the ordinances of’ the Lord re-established. And a line shall be stretched forth - The circuit shall be determined, and the city built according to the line marked out.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore - This being so, since God was so jealous for His people, so displeased with their persecutors, “thus saith the Lord,” Dionysius, “I who “in wrath remember mercy, am returned” Hab 3:2, not by change of place, who am uncircumscribed, not existing in place, to the people of Judah and Jerusalem in mercies, manifoldly benefiting them by various effects of My love.” The single benefits, the rebuilding of His House, and so the restoration of His public worship, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, are but instances of that all-containing mercy, His restored presence in tender mercies. “I am returned,” God says, although the effects of His return were yet to come. A line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem - Before, when it stood, this had been done to destroy 2Ki 21:13; Isa 34:11; now, when destroyed, to rebuild . Osorius: “The temple was built then, when the foundations of the walls were not yet laid. In man’s sight it would have seemed more provident that the walls should be first builded, that then the temple might be builded more securely. To God, in whom alone is the most firm stay of our life and salvation, it seemed otherwise. For it cannot be that he, to whom nothing is dearer fhan zeal for the most holy religion, should be forsaken of His help.”
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֞ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שַׁ֤בְתִּי | shavti | I have returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ | lirushalim | to Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| בְּֽרַחֲמִ֔ים | berachamim | with compassion<s> | H7356 → | |
| בֵּיתִי֙ | beiti | house my | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִבָּ֣נֶה | yibaneh | it will be rebuilt | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בָּ֔הּ | bah | in it | ||
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֑וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| וְקָ֥ו | vekavah | and a measuring-line | H6957 → | |
| יִנָּטֶ֖ה | yinateh | it will be stretched out | H5186 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
לָכֵ֞ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
שַׁ֤בְתִּיI have returned
shavtiH7725 →1056 times
לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙to Jerusalem
lirushalimH3389 →643 times
בְּֽרַחֲמִ֔יםwith compassion<s>
berachamimH7356 →
בֵּיתִי֙house my
beitiH1004 →2046 times
יִבָּ֣נֶהit will be rebuilt
yibanehH1129 →376 times
בָּ֔הּin it
bah
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֑וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
וְקָ֥וand a measuring-line
vekavahH6957 →
יִנָּטֶ֖הit will be stretched out
yinatehH5186 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Jerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 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
Job 38:5Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:12
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or…
- Job 11:9
Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
- Zechariah 2:1–2
Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
- Proverbs 8:27
I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
- Psalms 19:4
their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
- Isaiah 40:12
Through
Zechariah 8:3This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be…
it leads to
- John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will…
- John 14:23
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- John 1:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
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About Zechariah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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.