Zechariah 8:6
in Zechariah 8This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “If this is impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be impossible in My eyes?” declares the LORD of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.
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This verse in Zechariah 8
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 6) Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it seems difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be difficult in my eyes? says the Lord of hosts. LXX: Thus says the Lord Almighty: If it is impossible before the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be impossible before me? says the Lord Almighty. The prophet presents, word by word and sentence by sentence, the promises of prosperity to Israel and almost incredible things due to their magnitude.
This site's exposition
If this is impossible in the eyes of the remnant
The LORD asks whether what seems “impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people” should “also be impossible in My eyes”. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear an echo of the question put to Sarah at Genesis 18:14, the same form of question answering unbelief.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: 17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the L ORD . God, by the prophet, here gives further assurances of the mercy he had in store for Judah and Jerusalem.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:47w-of-68
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
GOD sent His servant Zechariah with a promise that Jerusalem should be rebuilt and that it should enjoy a time of great peace and prosperity. Instead of men being slain in battle in the prime of their days, old men and old women were to dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, "every man with his staff in his hand for very age." And whereas war had often cut off the women and the children, the promise further added, "the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A great source of unbelief is, men "limit" God's power by their own (Ps 78:19, 20, 41). these days--"of small things" (Zec 4:10), when such great things promised seemed incredible. MAURER, after JEROME, translates, "in those days"; that is, if the thing which I promised to do in those days, seems "marvellous," &c.
GOD sent His servant Zechariah with a promise that Jerusalem should be rebuilt and that it should enjoy a time of great peace and prosperity. Instead of men being slain in battle in the prime of their days, old men and old women were to dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, "every man with his staff in his hand for very age." And whereas war had often cut off the women and the children, the promise further added, "the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." Everything was to be prosperous in the land around, so as to bring plenty into the city—"For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things." It was a sweet assurance and it ought to have made them very happy, but it did not. When this gracious promise came, it startled the people, for it seemed past belief! The unbelievers did not say, point blank, "This promise is not true," but deep in their brains they thought as much. It is not the general habit of unbelief among God's people to give a flat contradiction to His promises—we are hardly honest enough to our own thoughts to express them with deliberate plainness of speech—even unbelief loves to wear some cobweb covering or other so that its naked deformity may not appear. Our reverence for the Lord will not permit us to distinctly call Him a liar, but it comes to much the same thing, for in our heart of hearts we deny the truthfulness of His Word. The remnant of Israel said, "How can this thing be? In these days, in these troublous days, in these threatening days, how can Jerusalem be made to prosper? Former hopes have been disappointed. We see no better signs of the times and no doubt, if our hopes are now raised, they will again be disappointed.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
If it be marvellous - You may think that this is impossible, considering your present low condition: but suppose it be impossible in your eyes, should it be so in mine! saith the Lord of hosts.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If it should be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those - (not these) days, shall it be marvelous in Mine eyes also? saith the Lord of hosts Man’s anticipations, by reason of his imperfections and the chequered character of earthly things, are always disappointing. God’s doings, by reason of His infinite greatness and goodness, are always beyond our anticipations, past all belief. It is their very greatness which staggers us. It is not then merely that the temporal promises seemed “too good to be true” (in our words) (Jerome), “in the eyes of the people who had come from the captivity, seeing that the city almost desolate, the ruins of the city-walls, the charred houses showed the doings of the Babylonians.” It is in the day of the fulfillment, not of the anticipation, that they would seem marvelous in their eyes, as the Psalmist says, “This is the Lord’s doing: and it is marvelous in our eyes” . The temporal blessings which God would give were not so incredible. They were but the ordinary gifts of His Providence: they involved no change in their outward relations. His people were still to remain under their Persian masters, until their time too should come. It was matter of gladness and of God’s Providence, that the walls of Jerusalem should be rebuilt: but not so marvelous, when it came to pass. The mysteries of the Gospel are a marvel even to the blessed angels. That fulfillment being yet future, so the people, in whose eyes that fulfillment should be marvelous, were future also. And this was to be a remnant still. It does not say, “this people which is a remnant,” nor “this remnant of the people,” that is, those who remained over out of the people who went into captivity, or this remnant, but “the remnant of this people,” that is, those who should remain over of it, that is, of the people who were returned. […]
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִפָּלֵ֗א | yipale' | it will be difficult | H6381 → | |
| בְּעֵינֵי֙ | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| שְׁאֵרִית֙ | sheerit | [the] remnant of | H7611 → | 66 times |
| הָעָ֣ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| בַּיָּמִ֖ים | baiyamim | in the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָהֵ֑ם | hahem | <the> those | H1992 → | 553 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּעֵינַי֙ | beeinai | in view my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יִפָּלֵ֔א | yipale' | will it be difficult? | H6381 → | |
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָאֽוֹת׃ פ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֔וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
כִּ֣יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
יִפָּלֵ֗אit will be difficult
yipale'H6381 →
בְּעֵינֵי֙in [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
שְׁאֵרִית֙[the] remnant of
sheeritH7611 →66 times
הָעָ֣םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
בַּיָּמִ֖יםin the days
baiyamimH3117 →2304 times
הָהֵ֑ם<the> those
hahemH1992 →553 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
בְּעֵינַי֙in view my
beeinaiH5869 →887 times
יִפָּלֵ֔אwill it be difficult?
yipale'H6381 →
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָאֽוֹת׃ פof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 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
Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
it leads to
- Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 32:17
“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
- Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
- Luke 18:27
But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
- Matthew 19:26
Through
Jeremiah 32:27“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
it leads to
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Isaiah 64:8
Through
Luke 18:27But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
it leads to
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zechariah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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. 1747: “Marvelous! Marvelous!” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.