Zechariah 14:17
in Zechariah 14And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be, that whoso of all the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain.
KJV
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
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This verse in Zechariah 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(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.
This site's exposition
shall even go up from year to year
on Zechariah 14:16-19
The survivors of the nations that came against Jerusalem are not destroyed outright but drawn in, going up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles, the harvest feast of ingathering turned into the picture of the nations gathered to God. The penalty for staying away is agricultural, no rain, and Egypt is named by exception since her fields answer to the Nile rather than to rain, yet she too is struck with the same plague if she withholds herself. The bench names the readings, a future and literal worship at a rebuilt temple on the one hand and a figurative picture of universal worship on the other, and the parking order keeps the note from mapping either onto any present nation.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
God will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon them. Note, It is a righteous thing with God to withhold the blessings of grace from those that do not attend the means of grace, to deny the green pastures to those that attend not the shepherd's tents.
And it shall be, that whosoever will not come up,....
God's providences concerning his church are here represented as strangely changing and strangely mixed. Sometimes the tide runs high and strong against them, but presently it turns, and comes to be in favour of them; and God has, for wise and holy ends, set the one over against the other. God here appears against Jerusalem; judgment begins at the house of God.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Whoso will not go up - Cyril: “To those who ‘go not up,’” he threatens the same punishment as persecutors would endure. For enemies, and they who will not love, shall have the same lot. This is, I think, what Christ Himself said, ‘Whoso is not with Me is against Me, and whoso gathereth not with Me scattereth’ Luk 11:23.” Upon them there shall be no rain - Rain was the most essential of God’s temporal gifts for the temporal well-being of His people.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
no rain--including every calamity which usually follows in the East from want of rain, namely, scarcity of provisions, famine, pestilence, &c. Rain is the symbol also of God's favor (Ho 6:3).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Upon them shall be no rain - Those who do not worship God shall not have his blessing; and those who do not attend Divine ordinances cannot have the graces and blessings which God usually dispenses by them. On such slothful, idle Christians, there shall be no rain!
How the passage was read
On Zechariah 14:16-21On Zechariah 14:16-21
The feast with a future
Of all the feasts, Zechariah gives Tabernacles (Sukkot, the autumn booth-feast) the widest horizon: the surviving nations come up to Jerusalem year by year to keep it. The sages noticed the feast's reach toward the nations from the Torah itself: the seventy bulls offered across Sukkot's seven days (Numbers 29) were read in the Talmud as offerings on behalf of the seventy nations of the world (Sukkah 55b). The feast Israel keeps in a backyard booth carries, in both Testaments' reception, the whole world in view.
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.
Sources: Sukkah 55b (the seventy bulls for the seventy nations) · Numbers 29:12–34 (the seventy bulls, counted)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֠הָיָה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | [one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲלֶ֜ה | yaaleh | he will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מֵאֵ֨ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| מִשְׁפְּח֤וֹת | mishpechot | [the] clans of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֔ת | lehishtachavot | to bow down | H7812 → | |
| לְמֶ֖לֶךְ | lemelekh | to [the] king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֑וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַגָּֽשֶׁם׃ | hagashem | <the> rain | H1653 → |
וְ֠הָיָהand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
אֲשֶׁ֨ר[one] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲלֶ֜הhe will go up
yaalehH5927 →890 times
מֵאֵ֨תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
מִשְׁפְּח֤וֹת[the] clans of
mishpechotH4940 →303 times
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֔תto bow down
lehishtachavotH7812 →
לְמֶ֖לֶךְto [the] king
lemelekhH4428 →2525 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֑וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֖םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
הַגָּֽשֶׁם׃<the> rain
hagashemH1653 →
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
James 5:17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 4:25
But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 18:1
After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of…
- Revelation 11:6
These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with…
- Acts 14:15
“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made…
- 1 Kings 17:1
Through
Isaiah 60:12For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.
it leads to
- Isaiah 54:15
If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- Zechariah 14:12–19
And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in…
- Isaiah 54:15
Through
Jeremiah 14:4The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.
it leads to
- Joel 1:11
Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
- Joel 1:11
Where this verse is studied
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.