Zechariah 8:10
in Zechariah 8For before those days neither man nor beast received wages, nor was there safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I had turned every man against his neighbor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in, because of the adversary: for I set all men every one against his neighbor.
KJV
For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.
⋯
This verse in Zechariah 8
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 10.) Indeed, before those days there was no wages for humans, nor wages for animals, nor peace to the one entering and leaving because of the affliction. And I will send forth all people against their neighbors. They have all been reported to the future time, but better to the past, as it is in Hebrew, and the truth of the exposition will approve. Before the house of the Lord was founded, and the temple of the Lord was built, all your labor was in vain.
This site's exposition
Let your hands be strong, you who now hear
on Zechariah 8:9-10
“Let your hands be strong”, the LORD says to those who now hear “the prophets who were present when the foundations were laid”. Barnes dates the days of verse 10 to the years between the foundation laid under Cyrus and the building resumed under Darius.
This site's exposition
neither man nor beast received wages
Jerome noted that some translators put these lines in the future tense, and he preferred the past, as the Hebrew has it. The verse describes the years before the temple's foundation was laid, when the people's labor came to nothing. The Lord names himself as the cause of the strife.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For before these days,....
These are mentioned as a foil to the blessings God was now about to bestow upon them, to make them appear the more strange, to the glory of God, and the more sweet, to their comfort. The truth was the times had long been very bad, and the calamities and difficulties of them were many and great.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
before these days--before the time in which ye again proceeded with the building of the temple (Zec 8:9), namely, at the time that the temple lay neglected. no hire for man . . . beast--that is, no produce of the field to repay the labor of man and beast on it (Hag 1:6, 9, 10;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The same prophets who promised prosperity at the foundation of the temple, now promised still greater blessings hereafter.
For before these days there was no hire for man - Previously to this, ye had no prosperity; ye had nothing but civil divisions and domestic broils. I abandoned you to your own spirits, and to your own ways.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
There was no hire for man - Literally, “hire for man came not to pass.” It was longed for, waited for and came not. So little was the produce, that neither laborer nor beast of burden were employed to gather it in. Neither was there peace to him who went out or came in because of the affliction, better, of the adversary - In such an empire as the Persian, there was large scope for actual hostility among the petty nations subject to it, so that they did not threaten revolt against itself, or interfere with the payment of tribute, as in the Turkish Empire now, or in the weak government of Greece. At the rebuilding of the walls, after this time, the Samaritans, “Arabians, Ammonites, Ashdodites conspired to fight against Jerusalem,” and to “slay them” Neh 4:7-11. They are summed up here in the general title used here, “our adversaries”. For I set - Literally, “and I set.” Domestic confusions and strife were added to hostility from without. Nehemiah’s reformation was, in part, to stop the grinding usury in time of dearth or to lear the king’s taxes, through which men sold lands, vineyards, even their children Neh 5:1-12. (literally) let them loose, each against his neighbor - in that He left them to their own ways and did not withhold them.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֗י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לִפְנֵי֙ | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַיָּמִ֣ים | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָהֵ֔ם | hahem | <the> those | H1992 → | 553 times |
| שְׂכַ֤ר | sekhar | [the] wage[s] of | H7939 → | 28 times |
| הָֽאָדָם֙ | haadam | <the> person | H120 → | 551 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִֽהְיָ֔ה | nihyah | it happened | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| וּשְׂכַ֥ר | usekhar | and [the] wage[s] of | H7939 → | 28 times |
| הַבְּהֵמָ֖ה | habehemah | the animal[s] | H929 → | 190 times |
| אֵינֶ֑נָּה | ʾeinenah | [was] not it | H369 → | 789 times |
| וְלַיּוֹצֵ֨א | velaiyotze' | and [belonged] to the [one who] went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וְלַבָּ֤א | velaba' | and to the [one who] came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵין־ | ʾein- | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| שָׁלוֹם֙ | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַצָּ֔ר | hatzar | the opponent | H6862 → | |
| וַאֲשַׁלַּ֥ח | vaashalach | so I may send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָדָ֖ם | haadam | <the> person | H120 → | 551 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בְּרֵעֵֽהוּ׃ | bereehu | on neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
כִּ֗יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לִפְנֵי֙<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
הַיָּמִ֣יםthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 times
הָהֵ֔ם<the> those
hahemH1992 →553 times
שְׂכַ֤ר[the] wage[s] of
sekharH7939 →28 times
הָֽאָדָם֙<the> person
haadamH120 →551 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נִֽהְיָ֔הit happened
nihyahH1961 →3559 times
וּשְׂכַ֥רand [the] wage[s] of
usekharH7939 →28 times
הַבְּהֵמָ֖הthe animal[s]
habehemahH929 →190 times
אֵינֶ֑נָּה[was] not it
ʾeinenahH369 →789 times
וְלַיּוֹצֵ֨אand [belonged] to the [one who] went out
velaiyotze'H3318 →1067 times
וְלַבָּ֤אand to the [one who] came
velaba'H935 →2568 times
אֵין־not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
שָׁלוֹם֙peace
shalomH7965 →236 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַצָּ֔רthe opponent
hatzarH6862 →
וַאֲשַׁלַּ֥חso I may send
vaashalachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָדָ֖ם<the> person
haadamH120 →551 times
אִ֥ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
בְּרֵעֵֽהוּ׃on neighbor his
bereehuH7453 →188 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
Amos 3:6If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:7
I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- Zephaniah 1:16
a day of horn blast and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.
- Isaiah 14:24–27
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
- 2 Corinthians 5:11
Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
- Genesis 50:20
As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- Isaiah 45:7
Through
Isaiah 19:2“So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
it leads to
- Judges 7:22
And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the…
- 1 Samuel 14:20
Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor.
- Judges 7:22
Through
Amos 9:4Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:33
But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Leviticus 26:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zechariah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.