With the completion of the
new temple in Jerusalem a question arises whether the fast of the fifth month, commemorating the destruction of the first temple, is still necessary. The answer (verses 4—7, amplified in verses 8—14) is negative and sweeps in the fast of the seventh month also (verse 5), but more likely it means that, in the ideal world envisaged by the prophet, fasting is seen as punishment, so it should no longer be necessary.
Verse 1 :
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; • " In the fourth year of King Darius": This happened in 518 BCE, nearly two years after the visions had occurred (
Zechariah 1:7) and after the foundation of the temple was laid (
Haggai 2:10). In two years more the temple was finished (
Ezra 6:15), and the work of rebuilding was now proceeding vigorously; it seemed a fit opportunity for inquiring whether, in this period of comparative prosperity and success, it behoved the people to continue the fast appointed in sadder times.
Verse 2 in Hebrew Masoretic Text: : וישלח בית־אל שר־אצר ורגם מלך ואנשיו לחלות את־פני יהוה׃ Transliteration: : wa-yi wə- wa-; lə- - . Literal translation: : and sent Bethel Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to entreat the face of the Lord.
Verse 2 notes • "When they held sent unto the house of God": could be better rendered as "and Bethel sent" or "and the inhabitants of Bethel sent", because in the Hebrew order of the words, naturally the subject is 'Bethel'. • "To pray before the Lord": or "to entreat the face of the Lord";
Verse 3 :
And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? • "And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts": Those ministered in the sanctuary, as the Targum explains it, "who offered sacrifices, etc. and who were to be consulted in matters of religion",
Malachi 2:7. • "Fifth month" The original question in
Zechariah 7:3 referred only to this fast; the answer embraces also another fast in seventh month appointed by human authority. • "The seventh month": This fast was instituted in consequence of the murder of Gedaliah, B.C. 587, just seventy years ago, when the greater part of the remnant of the Jews, contrary to the prophet's warning, fled into Egypt to escape the punishment of the crime (; , etc.). • "Did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?" The fast they kept was not according to the command of God, but an appointment of theirs; nor was it directed to his glory; nor was it any profit or advantage to him; and therefore it was nothing to him whether they fasted or not; see
Isaiah 58:3. • "Seventy years" (also
Zechariah 1:12) refers to the fulfilled
Jeremiah's prophecy of exile (
Jeremiah 25:12,
Jeremiah 29:10) which is also cited by
Daniel (). ==Disobedience resulted in captivity (verses 8–14)==