Zechariah 8:14
in Zechariah 8For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Just as I resolved to bring disaster upon you when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the LORD of Hosts,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: As I thought to do evil unto you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I repented not;
KJV
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not:
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This verse in Zechariah 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
As I thought to punish you - (Literally, to do evil to you) “and repented not.” In like way God says in Jeremiah, “I have purposed and will not repent.” Jer 4:28.
This site's exposition
As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath
on Zechariah 8:14-15
The Lord states his own change of intention as plainly as the fasting question was answered earlier, the same resolve that once purposed punishment without relenting now purposed good toward Jerusalem and Judah without relenting either. Clarke reads the parallel construction, I thought to punish and I repented not against so again have I thought to do well, as making the coming blessing as fixed and certain as the judgment had been. The double command, fear ye not, closes the pair of oracles on assurance rather than warning.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For thus saith the Lord of hosts,....
Note, God's punishing sinners is never a sudden and hasty resolve, but is always the product of thought, and there is a counsel in that part of the will of God. If the sinner turn not, God will not turn. (2.) Now that they pleased him with their services; he said that he would do them good; and will he not be as true to his promises as he was to his threatenings?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The promised blessings are connected with obedience. God's covenanted grace will lead those truly blessed by it to holiness, not licentiousness. truth to . . . neighbour--not that the truth should not be spoken to foreigners too; but He makes it an aggravation of their sin, that they spared not even their brethren.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and I did not repent of what I had planned to bring upon you, [or] retract it; but I brought it. Neither will I repent of the good that I have planned for you.
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. 7 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֣ה | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֮ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָאוֹת֒ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| זָמַמְ֜תִּי | zamamti | I planned | H2161 → | 13 times |
| לְהָרַ֣ע | lehara' | to do harm | H7489 → | |
| לָכֶ֗ם | lakhem | to you | ||
| בְּהַקְצִ֤יף | behaktzif | when provoked to anger | H7107 → | 34 times |
| אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ | ʾavoteikhem | ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אֹתִ֔י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֑וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| וְלֹ֖א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִחָֽמְתִּי׃ | nichameti | I relented | H5162 → | 108 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֹ֣הthus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֮he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָאוֹת֒of hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֨רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
זָמַמְ֜תִּיI planned
zamamtiH2161 →13 times
לְהָרַ֣עto do harm
lehara'H7489 →
לָכֶ֗םto you
lakhem
בְּהַקְצִ֤יףwhen provoked to anger
behaktzifH7107 →34 times
אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ancestors your
ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 times
אֹתִ֔י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֑וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
וְלֹ֖אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
נִחָֽמְתִּי׃I relented
nichametiH5162 →108 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
Jeremiah 31:28Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 24:6
I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
- Jeremiah 1:10
See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”
- Jeremiah 18:7–9
At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
- Jeremiah 45:4
Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.
- Jeremiah 44:27
I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are…
- Jeremiah 24:6
Through
Ezekiel 24:14I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’…
it leads to
- Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- Matthew 16:27
Through
Jeremiah 4:28Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”
it leads to
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Jeremiah 12:4
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said,…
- Numbers 23:19
About Zechariah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.