34 of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Chelluh,

36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau,

38 And Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,

39 And Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,

40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

41 Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.

43 Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah.

44 All these had taken strange wives and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Concluding Prophecies of Zechariah.

ZECHARIAH IX 26.

God defendeth his church. 9 Zion is exhorted to rejoice for the coming of Christ, and his peaceable kingdom. 12 God's promises of victory and defence.

1 The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the

25 There is less certainty with respect to the probable date and place of these latter chapters of Zechariah, than of any other chapters in the Old Testament. An expression quoted by St. Matthew, (chap. xxvii. 9, 10.) from Zechariah, is attributed by that Evangelist to Jeremiah. The learned Joseph Mede, Dr. Hammond, Bishop Kidder, and some others, assign these chapters to this latter prophet. In support of this opinion, the former uses the following arguments, Mede's Works, p. 786-833.

1. "If the contents of the prophecy be weighed, they would in all likelihood be of an elder date than the time of Zechariah, namely, before the captivity: for the subjects of them were scarce in being after that time.

2. "The chapter out of which St. Matthew quotes may seem to have somewhat much unsuitable with Zechariah's time; as, a prophecy of the destruction of the temple, then, when he was to encourage them to build it: and how does the sixth verse of that chapter suit with his time?

3. "No Scripture saith they are Zechariah's, but there is Scripture which saith they are Jeremiah's.

4. "Their being united to the other prophecies of Zechariah no more prove them to be his, than the adjoining of Agur's proverbs to Solomon's, proves they are therefore Solomon's; or that all the Psalms are David's, because joined in one volume with David's Psalms."

5. Several verbal criticisms on the words used by St. Matthew, when compared with those used by Zechariah; which prove only that the Evangelist quoted according to the sense, and not the precise phrases of the prophet. (Compare Matt. xxvii. 9, 10. with Zech. xi. 12, 13. Archbp. Newcome's translation.)

6. The above are selected from observations on several other passages of Scripture, in Epistle xxxi. In Epistle lxi. he resumes the subject.

A.C. 457.

* Or, Mabna. debai, accord. ing to some Copies.

A.C. 457.

eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.

matter not.

"The titles at the heads of the pages (in the Hebrew Bibles or manuscripts) The Jews wrote in rolls, or volumes, and the title was but once. If aught were added to that roll, of similitudinem argumenti, or for any other reason, it had a new title, as that of Agur, or perhaps sometimes none, but was ἀνώνυμον.

7. "That which I fancy or conceive is, that those prophecies against Damascus and the Philistines, (chap. ix.) would better befit Jeremiah's time, of their destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, than (if of Zechariah's time) by Alexander See the prophecy against Damascus, (Jer. xlix. 23.) against the Philistines. (chap. xlvii. 2. and Ezek. xxv. 15.) For where do we find Damascus destroyed from Zechariah's to our Saviour's time? For to come under the hands of new masters, or to suffer some direption, or pillaging, doth not seem to satisfy the intent of the prophecy. And for the Philistines, though it be true that Alexander destroyed Gaza, yet it appears not that any such desolation befel Ashkelon, whereby it should not be inhabited: nor should they seem in Zechariah's time to have so well recovered their destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, as to be a subject for a new prophecy to that purpose."

8. "Tyre had but lately been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The prophecy against this city, therefore, would be more suitable to the times of Jeremiah."

9. "That which moves me more than all the rest is in chap. xi. (whence that in the Gospel is quoted) which contains a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and a description of the wickedness of its inhabitants, for which God would give them to the sword, and have no more pity upon them. It is expounded of the destruction by Titus; but methinks such a prophecy was not seasonable for Zechariah's time, (when the city in great part lay in ruins, and the temple had not yet recovered herself,) nor agreeable to the scope of Zechariah's commission, who, together with his colleague Haggai, was sent to encourage the people lately returned from the captivity to build the temple, and instaurate their commonwealth. Was this a fit time to foretel the destruction of both, while they were yet but building? and by Zechariah too, who was to encourage them? Would not this better befit the desolation by Nebuchadnezzar ?

10. "Jeremiah's prophecies are digested in no order, but only as it seems they came to light in the scribes' hands, &c.: and why may not some be found till the return from the captivity, and be approved by Zechariah, and be added to his volume, according to the time of their finding, and approbation by him: and after that, some other prophecies of his."

The argument for assigning the prophecy to the time of Jeremiah, derived from the text of St. Matthew, is of the greatest weight. Yet it must be observed, that the word 'Ispɛuís, does not appear to have been the original reading of St. Matthew. It might either have been a marginal annotation, which afterwards crept into the text, or if the name of the prophet Zechariah had been written by St. Matthew, and was preserved in the manuscripts in an abbreviated form, that abbreviation may have been mistaken. The Syriac and Persic versions omit the name. Augustine de cons. Ev. 3. 7. (quoted by Archbp. Newcome) says, "Primo noverit non omnes codices evangeliorum habere, quod per Hieremiam, dictum sit, sed tantummodo per prophetam.'" Griesbach prefixes to the word

2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and A.C. 457. Zidon, though it be very wise.

Iepeμís his mark, that it should properly be omitted. Lightfoot (Harmony of the N. T.) observes, that in the old Bibles, Jeremiah was placed next after the book of Kings, and stood first in the volume of the prophets. So that when Matthew quotes a text of Zechariah, under the name of Jeremiah, he does but cite a text out of the volume of the prophets under his name that stood first in that volume. In confirmation of this hypothesis, he refers to Matt. xvi. 14. observing, that in the saying Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, there is the same reason why Jeremiah is mentioned by name; because his name stood first in the volume of the prophets, and so occurred first to the mind, when any of the people spoke familiarly of the prophets.

We learn from Zechariah ii. 4, that, at the commencement of his prophesying, in the second year of Darius, he was a very young man. The same word being used in Jeremiah i. 6, and is rendered in the authorized translation " a child." He would not be, therefore, more than eighty years old when Ezra went up from Babylon to Jerusalem. And as we have already seen that the spirit of God was frequently poured upon his servants on the occurrence of any important occasion, it is not unreasonable to suppose, as there is no date assigned to these chapters, and as they have been attributed to Zechariah both by Ezra and the great Sanhedrim, that they were uttered by him during the government of Ezra. The evident difference of style observable in these latter chapters of Zechariah, when compared with those that precede them, and the great resemblance the former bear to the style of Jeremiah, may be accounted for on the supposition, that his first prophecies were delivered when he was quite a young man, a child;" and that his last were given probably after a particular attention and study of the prophecies of Jeremiah, by which his own expressions were strengthened, and his language improved.

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This theory perhaps may be considered as the best solution to the difficulty; it is, however, rejected by Whitby, who seems to incline to the opinion of the learned Joseph Mede. Though it may appear presumptuous to submit to the world an opposite opinion to that which has been defended by one so eminent, yet I feel that it would be still more so to adopt so considerable an alteration, without still more powerful and convincing evidence. It will be only necessary, therefore, to state those arguments which seem to oppose the hypothesis maintained by Mr. Mede.

The first merely states the proposition to be proved.

2. It cannot be proved that Zechariah wrote this chapter at the exact time when he was encouraging the people to build the temple. The sixth verse may justly be interpreted as a prophecy of the destruction of the temple by Titus.

3. That these chapters have been uniformly, without one exception, in one version or MS. been given to Zechariah, is more ample proof that they were written by that prophet, than the disputed insertion of the word "Jeremiah" in Matt. xxvii. 10.

4. Agur's name is prefixed to his proverbs: other names than David's are prefixed to various Psalms. By the same analogy we are fairly warranted in concluding, that if these chapters had been written by Jeremiah, his name likewise

gEzek. xxviii. 3, &c.

A. C. 457.

3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.

would have been prefixed to them either by Zechariah, by Ezra, or by the great Sanhedrim.

5. Has been already answered in a former part of the note.

6. As there is no new title given to these latter chapters, we may justly conelude they were a continuation of the former prophecies of Zechariah.

7. Damascus was betrayed into the hands of Parmenio, one of Alexander's generals, though without bloodshed, and it ceased to be a place of importance. This was sufficient to fulfil the prophecy. It is not asserted that Damascus should be pillaged, neither is it necessary to suppose that its pillage or its violent capture were essential to the accomplishment of the prediction. (Zech. ix. L.) The Philistines, after the destruction of Gaza, never recovered their former glory; and Ashkelon shared the fate of the rest of the country. The words, it shall not be inhabited," are figurative: and express only extensive desolation, and total political ruin. Thus Ezekiel (chap. xxix. ver. 11.) predicts that Egypt should not be inhabited forty years. If this expression be literally interpreted, the prophecy has never been fulfilled: but as it signifies only desolation and ruin, it was accomplished in the forty years of calamity which succeeded the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar.

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in

8. Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar in the year 573. If this prophecy was delivered, as we suppose, in the year 457, an interval of 116 years is allowed for the revival of the Tyrian splendour: a space of time amply sufficient to enable a commercial power to recover all its splendour; particularly when that power its first overthrow saved all its richest effects, and enjoyed likewise, through the whole of this long time, an uninterrupted peace. The prophecy, however, seems to refer to the capture of New Tyre, by Alexander, who built the causeway, and "smote her power in the sea," (ver. 4.)

9. That the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus should be delivered at this time, was rather to have been expected. The only power in the world that could have assaulted Jerusalem, and inflicted such disasters upon it, was Persia; but Persia was now a friendly power, and the people would not of course apply the prophecy of Zechariah to Persia. They would refer it to another period; and thus the prediction would answer a twofold purpose. It would be a pledge to the Jews that their city should so far recover as to be again powerful and splendid; and it was a warning to them, and to their children, that the new city should share the fate of the first, if they again rebelled against the God who had brought them back to their native country. The argument of Mede is founded on the supposition that Zechariah, if he wrote these chapters, must ne cessarily have written them in the first years of his delegation to the prophetic office: but this hypothesis is by no means necessary.

10. Though the prophecies of Jeremiah are undoubtedly "digested in no or der," yet they were most probably collected together by the priests of the tem ple. They were known to Daniel, for he learned from them that the seventy years of their captivity had expired. They were of course known to Ezra, who would not, when he edited the Scriptures, have referred to one prophet the la

bours of another.

4 Behold, the LORD will cast her out, and he will smite A.C. 457. her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire. 5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

6 And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and * Heb. bloods. his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more for now have I seen with mine eyes.

Matt. xxi. 5.

9¶Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Žion; shout, Oh Is Ixii. II. daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: John xii. 15. he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon † Or, saving an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

himself.

10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to i Ps. lxxii. 8. the ends of the earth.

11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no

water.

12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

It would be easy still further to extend the argument in favour of the hypothesis that Zechariah was the author of the prophecies in question, from a comparison of the internal evidence, with the period that followed the commission of Ezra, to the time of Christ. From ver. 1-9, in chap. ix. the prophet gives a general outline of the conquests of Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon, effected by Alexander, and the overthrow of the Philistines, the ancient enemies of the church of God, (ver. 9, 10.) He foresees the entrance of the true king of Jerusalem, into the city "lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass;" (see Mark xi. 7. Matt. xxi. 5. and John xii. 15.) the walls of which the people about him had now begun to rebuild: and (ver. 13) foretells the victories of the Maccabees over the troops of Antiochus, who was of Grecian descent, and further deliverances and successes are promised to those that are converted and beleve. The theory here adopted is in some measure warranted by Lightfoot, (p. 145) who supposes that Zechariah continued to prophesy during the intermediate years between the reformation by Ezra, and the commission of Nehemiah.

Or, whose blood, Ex.

covenant is by

xxiv. 8. Heb. x. 29, & xiii.