Zechariah 7

General context

A dated heading opens the chapter: "And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;" Sherezer and Regem-melech and their men have been sent to the house of God to pray before the Lord and to put a question to the priests and the prophets: Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? The word of the Lord of hosts comes to Zechariah with questions in reply. He is told to speak to all the people of the land and to the priests: when they fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months through those seventy years, did they fast to the Lord at all, and when they ate and drank, did they not eat and drink for themselves? He asks whether they should not hear the words the Lord cried by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, with her cities round about and men living in the south and the plain. A further word comes. The Lord of hosts had told them to execute true judgment, show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the stranger or the poor, and not to imagine evil against a brother in the heart. They refused to hear, pulled away the shoulder, stopped their ears and made their hearts as an adamant stone, so a great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. As he had cried and they would not hear, so they cried and he would not hear. He scattered them with a whirlwind among nations they did not know, and the pleasant land was left desolate behind them.

Cited passages: Zechariah 7:1, Zechariah 7:2, Zechariah 7:3, Zechariah 7:4, Zechariah 7:5, Zechariah 7:6, Zechariah 7:7, Zechariah 7:8, Zechariah 7:9, Zechariah 7:10, Zechariah 7:11, Zechariah 7:12, Zechariah 7:13, Zechariah 7:14

Zechariah 7 (KJV)

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Historical context

The heading dates the word by a foreign king's regnal year and by month and day: the fourth year of king Darius, the fourth day of the ninth month, "even in Chisleu." Measured by the headings alone, this stands nearly two years after the vision date of 1:7, which fell in the second year of Darius. Verse 2 says "they had sent" without naming who sent; Sherezer and Regem-melech and their men are named as those sent, and nothing else is said of them. The question in verse 3 is asked in the first person singular, "Should I weep in the fifth month," although it is brought by a delegation. The fasts of the fifth and seventh months are mentioned without any statement of what they commemorate; 8:19 lists four fasts, of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months, also without explanation. "Those seventy years" repeats the span the angel named in 1:12, again with no start or end event given. The former prophets are referred to twice and none is named. The scattering, the whirlwind and the desolation are stated without naming a nation, a king or a year.

Cited passages: Zechariah 7:1, Zechariah 7:2, Zechariah 7:3, Zechariah 7:5, Zechariah 7:7, Zechariah 7:12, Zechariah 7:14, Zechariah 1:7, Zechariah 1:12, Zechariah 8:19

Literary context

A question about one fast is answered with questions about everything else. The delegation asks whether the weeping of the fifth month should continue, and the reply never says yes or no; it asks instead whether the fasting was ever for the Lord and whether ordinary eating and drinking was not equally for themselves. The answer then moves backward in time rather than forward, to the words the Lord cried by the former prophets while the city was still inhabited and in prosperity, and those words turn out to be about judgment, mercy, the widow, the fatherless, the stranger and the poor, not about fasting at all. The refusal is described in four physical actions, refusing, pulling away the shoulder, stopping the ears and hardening the heart to adamant. Verse 13 sets the exchange as a mirror, as he cried and they would not hear, so they cried and I would not hear. The chapter ends on an empty land with no one passing through, and chapter 8 answers it by opening with jealousy for Zion and old men and children back in the streets.

Cited passages: Zechariah 7:3, Zechariah 7:5, Zechariah 7:6, Zechariah 7:7, Zechariah 7:9, Zechariah 7:10, Zechariah 7:11, Zechariah 7:12, Zechariah 7:13, Zechariah 7:14, Zechariah 8:2, Zechariah 8:4, Zechariah 8:5

Key moments

1. A dated word in Chisleu (Zechariah 7:1). The word comes to Zechariah in the fourth year of Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month.
2. Should I weep in the fifth month (Zechariah 7:3). A delegation asks the priests and prophets whether the mourning should continue.
3. Did ye fast unto me (Zechariah 7:5). The Lord asks whether seventy years of fasting were ever for him.
4. The words of the former prophets (Zechariah 7:7). The reply points back to what was cried while Jerusalem was still inhabited.
5. Execute true judgment (Zechariah 7:9). The earlier command is repeated: true judgment, mercy and compassion.
6. Hearts as adamant (Zechariah 7:12). The refusal is described as ears stopped and hearts made as an adamant stone.
7. Scattered with a whirlwind (Zechariah 7:14). The people are scattered among unknown nations and the pleasant land left desolate.

For reflection

The question brought to the priests is about a private practice of mourning, and the answer given is about judgment, mercy and the treatment of the widow and the stranger. Why might the text let those two subjects stand in place of each other?

People in this chapter

• Zechariah (Prophet)

Also indexed here:

• Darius
• Regem-melech
• Sharezer