fore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so "they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts :

14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

12.

12 Heb. land of desire.

Verse 5. When ye fasted...in the fifth and seventh month.'-This is one of several allusions in Zechariah to anniversary fast-days concerning which we cannot do better than transcribe the following from Jahn's Archæologia Biblica, iii. 357. The Hebrews, in the early period of their history, were in the habit of fasting whenever they met with any adverse occurrences (Judg. xx. 26; 1 Sam. vii. 6; xxxi. 13; 2 Sam. iii. 35; Isa. Iviii. 3-12). But it was not till about the time of the Captivity that they introduced anniversary fast-days. The days to which we allude are as follows:

I. The seventeenth day of the fourth month, namely, TAMMUZ, or July. This fast was instituted in memory of the capture of Jerusalem; Jer. liii. 6, et seq.; Zech. viii. 19. II. The ninth day of the fifth month, AB, or August, in memory of the burning of the Temple; Zech. vii. 3; viii. 19.

III. The third day of the seventh month, TISHRI, or October, in memory of the death of Gedaliah; Jer. xl. 4; Zech. vii. 5.; viii. 19.

IV. The tenth day of the tenth month, TEBETH, or January, in memory of the commencement of the attack on Jerusalem; Zech. viii. 19.'

The prophet Zechariah, in reference to inquiries which were made to him, asserted that these mournful occasions were, at some future time, to be converted into festivals of joy; but the Jews, notwithstanding, have ever continued to observe them as fasts. They expect this change to take place in the days of the, by them, still expected Messiah.

It will be recollected that only one annual public fast, that of the day of atonement, was instituted by the Law of Moses; but several instances occur in Scripture of extraordinary public fasts, appointed by the authority of the civil magistrate (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6; 2 Chron. xx. 3; Jer. xxxvi. 9). Thus the present were the first annual fasts held in commemoration of public calamities which befel the nation. It is observable of the second, that the Jews fast on the ninth Ab, not only for the destruction of the first but of the second Temple; as they are persuaded that both events took place on the same day of the same month.

7. The south and the plain.'—The south explains itself; the plain means the western part of Judæa, being the same as the valley of Josh. xv. 33: see the note there.

CHAPTER VIII.

1 The restoration of Jerusalem. 9 They are encouraged to the building by God's favour to them. 16 Good works are required of them. 18 Joy and enlargement are promised.

AGAIN the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; 'I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth and the mountain of the LORD of

hosts the holy mountain.

4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand 'for very age.

I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;

8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

10 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.

11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.

12 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.

5 Or, the hire of man became nothing, &c.

13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of

Hag. 1. 6.

4 Heb. the country of the going down of the sun. 7 Heb. of peace.

soners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

15 The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and "subdue with sling

8 Or, subdue the stones of the sling.

stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they 'shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.

16 And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people : for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.

17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men 'cheerful, and new wine the maids.

Verse 1. Hadrach.'-It is doubtful whether this name is intended to denote a country, a city, or a king. The last is considered the most probable, on the ground that it is not likely that the name either of a country or its metropolis, in a region near Damascus, should have entirely disappeared from the pages of history or geography. To speak of the land of a particular king is not unexampled in Scripture; and Dr. Henderson has some grounds for his suspicion that the name 7 is after all but a corruption of 777 Hadad, the common name of the kings of Syria, although, as he observes, such corruption, if it exists, must have taken place at a very early period, as it was found in the copy from which the Septuagint version was made.

2. Hamath.'-Of this place see the note on Num. xiii. 21. In the Egyptian paintings a name read as 'Hamathites' is applied to at least two distinct races of men, one of which may be judged, from analogies of dress and circumstances, to represent the inhabitants of Northern Syria, including the people of Hamath and the neighbouring district. The same analogies seem to indicate that the other race was a people of the more southern parts of

so much in the general style of that of the Canaanites, which would alone manifest that they dwelt not far from them. They wore, too, drooping ostrich feathers, and shaved the head into corners, like the Hittites; the tunic, also, is the same in shape and appearance with that most usually worn among the Canaanites. The hair was plaited over the whole head, as well as the long lock over the ear-a practice very prevalent in the ancient world. The skin was either tattooed or painted in patterns, and ear-rings were worn. The other and apparently southern race of ancient Syrians exhibits considerable personal resemblance to the

HEAD OF HAMATHITE.

Syria. The former are those, therefore, to whom we have now to direct attention; indeed we strongly suspect that they may be taken to represent generally the appearance of those nations of Northern Syria with whom David had relations of war and peace, and who are often otherwise alluded to in Scripture; and some of the texts in which the word Hamath occurs would indicate that it was generally understood among the Hebrews for all the inhabitants of Syria who were not Canaanites, and not of Damascene Syria. The race of Hamathites, to whom our attention is chiefly directed, are represented in the tomb of Sethos with auburn hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion, with a European contour of the face. Yet the dress is

HAMATHITE OR SYRIAN.

The

figures supposed to represent the Jebusites; and the dress, although more rich and varied in its colours, has every essential resemblance to that of the Canaanites. tunic, which was of a sort of shawl pattern in colours of green, blue, scarlet, etc., was wrapped close around the person, and confined at the waist with a girdle, knotted in front. The common cape or Tyrian mantle, which was also worn, was inclined to the left shoulder, so as to leave the right arm free. Like the tunic, it was fringed at the edge. The beard was rather long, but the whiskers and forehead were shaven, and the rest of the hair being combed back, was thick and bushy behind. A closefitting coloured cap, bound by a ribbon or fillet, completed a very fanciful and not inelegant costume.

5. And the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. Askelon was one of the proudest satrapies of the lords of the Philistines; now there is not an inhabitant within its walls, and the prophecy of Zechariah is fulfilled: when the prophecy was uttered, both of these cities were in an equally flourishing condition, and nothing but the prescience of heaven could pronounce on which of the two, and in what manner, the

of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.

4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.

5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.

7 And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.

8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them and they shall increase as they have increased.

9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.

10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.

11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart

away.

12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

CHAPTER XI.

1 The destruction of Jerusalem. 3 The elect being cared for, the rest are rejected. 10 The staves, Beauty and Bands, broken by the rejection of Christ. 15 The type and curse of a foolish shepherd.

OPEN thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the 'mighty is spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

4 T Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich and their own shepherds pity them not.

:

shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, *even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called 'Bands; and I fed the flock.

8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul 'lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

9 Then said I, I will not feed you: 'that that dieth, let it die: and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

11 And it was broken in that day: and 'so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they "weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

1 Or, gallants.

13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it