Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 7:2
When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
2. when they had sent unto the house of God ] Rather, And (or now) Bethel sent. “Now they of Bethel had sent.” R. V. Having announced the fact and the date of the word of Jehovah coming to him again in Zec 7:1, the prophet breaks off, as it were, to state the occasion of its coming in Zec 7:2-3 now, why it came was that Bethel sent, &c. Then in Zec 7:4 he resumes by repeating the phrase of Zec 7:1, “and (as I said) the word of the Lord came unto me,” and passes on to the message itself. We have a similar construction, with the repetition of the word “take” Zec 6:10-11. It is best to regard Bethel here as a proper name. It was one of the cities to which captives had returned (Ezr 2:1; Ezr 2:28, “every one unto his own city”), and from it the question here proposed emanated.
Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men ] It is better to take these, as in A. V. and R. V., to be the deputation, or persons sent. It is possible, however, to render, when Bethel, viz. Sharezer, &c. sent ( men). In that case Sharezer and Regem-melech would probably be the chief men of the city, their names being those which were given them in Babylon. For Sharezer comp. Isa 37:38 ; 2Ki 19:37. Regemmelech has been supposed to be an official title and to signify, “friend of the king.”
to pray before ] Lit. smooth or stroke the face of, i.e. propitiate or seek the favour of. Comp. chap. Zec 8:21-22; Exo 32:11; Psa 45:12. It is also used of imploring the favour of man, Job 11:19; Pro 19:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
When they held sent unto the house of God – Rather, And Bethel sent; that is, the inhabitants of Bethel sent. The house of God is nowhere in Holy Scripture called Bethel. Bethel is always the name of the place. . The house of God is designated by historians, Psalmists, prophets, by the name, Beth-elohim, more commonly Beth-Ha-elohim, the God; or of the Lord, YHVH. Zechariah and Haggai use these names. It is not likely that the name, Beth-el, should have first been given to the house of God, when it had been desecrated by the idolatries of Jeroboam. Bethel also is, in the Hebrew order of the words, naturally the subject . Nor is there any reason why they should have sent to Bethel, since they sought an answer from God. For it would be forced to say that they sent to Bethel, in order that those at Bethel should send to Jerusalem; which is not said.
It were unnatural also that the name of the sender should not have been mentioned, when the names of persons inferior, because sent, are recorded . Bethel, in Nehemiahs time Neh 11:31, was one of the chief places of Benjamin. Two hundred twenty and three of the men of Bethel and Ai Ezr 2:28 had returned with Zerubbabel. The answer being to the people of the land, such were doubtless the enquirers, not those still in Babylon. The answer shows that the question was not religious, though put as matter of religion. It is remarkable that, whereas in the case of those who brought presents from Babylon, the names express some relation to God, these names are singularly, the one of a parricide son of Sennacherib Isa 37:38; 2Ki 19:37, and of one, chief among the King of Babylons princes ; the other probably a secular name, the kings friend.
Osorius: I do not see why under the name of Bethel, the city so called is not understood. For since Jerusalem was not yet fortified, the Jews chose them sites in various places, where they should be less harassed. All hatred was concentrated on that city, which the neighbors wished not to be restored to its former greatness. Other cities they did not so molest. Bethel then, that is, the assembly of the city, sent messengers to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to God and consult the wise there.
To entreat the face of the Lord – They wished, it seems, (so to speak) to ingratiate themselves with God with an account of their past self-humiliation, on the day when the house of God was burned by Nebuchadnezzar. In regard to God, the word is always used of entreating Him by earnest prayer .
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. When they had sent – Sherezer and Regem-melech] To inquire whether the fasts should be continued, which they had hitherto observed on account of their ruined temple; and the reason why they inquired was, that they were rebuilding that temple, and were likely to bring it to a joyful issue.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When they, either the captives which still continued in Babylon, or the Jews returned out of captivity, but who dwelt in the country at distance from Jerusalem,
had sent unto the house of God; the temple, which now, half built, began to be frequented by priests and people, and where Haggai and Zechariah might be found true prophets.
Sherezer and Regem-melech: it appears not who these were, but no doubt they were eminent in dignity and piety,
And their men; a train either of friends that accompanied them, or of servants that waited on them.
To pray before the Lord, in most solemn manner, and with sacrifices no doubt, for the altar was set up long ago. Now these come to entreat the face of the Lord by prayer, in the house of prayer, for pardon of what was past, and acceptance of them at present, and for answer to their inquiry.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. they . . . sent unto . . . houseof GodThe Jews of the country sent to the house of Godor congregation at Jerusalem. The altar was long since reared (Ezr3:3), though the temple was not completed till two yearsafterwards (Ezr 6:15). Thepriests’ duty was to give decision on points of the law (Deu 17:9;Mat 2:4). Beth-el is hereused instead of Beth-Jehovah, because the religiousauthorities, rather than the house itself (designated “Beth-Jehovah”in Zec 7:3), are intended. Theold Beth-el had long ceased to be the seat of idol-worship, so thatthe name had lost its opprobrious meaning. “The house of theLord” is used for the congregation of worshippers headed bytheir priests (Zec 3:7; Hos 8:1).MAURER makes the “houseof God” nominative to “sent.” HENDERSONmakes “Beth-el” so.
Sherezeran Assyrianname meaning, “Prefect of the treasury.”
Regemmelechmeaning,”The king’s official.” These names perhaps intimate thesemi-heathen character of the inquirers, which may also be implied inthe name “Beth-el” (Hebrew for “house of God”),so notorious once for its calf-worship. They sent to Jehovah’shouse as their forefathers sent to old Beth-el, not in thespirit of true obedience.
pray before theLordliterally, “to entreat the face of,” that is, tooffer sacrifices, the accompaniment of prayers, to conciliate Hisfavor (1Sa 13:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When they had sent unto the house of God,…. It is, in the Hebrew text, “when he sent Bethel”; which some, as Kimchi observes, take to be the name of a man that was sent along with those after mentioned; but the Targum and the Septuagint render it, “when”, or “after he had sent unto Bethel”: not the place so called in Jacob’s time; but Jerusalem, where the temple or house of God was now building; and it may be observed, that the words are expressed in the singular number, “when he had sent” t; and not, as we render them, “when they had sent”; and agreeably, in Zec 7:3, it is said, “should I weep”, c. as if these messengers were sent by a single person, and yet a body of people is meant and not the captives that remained in Babylon, as most interpreters understand it; but the Jews that were returned from thence, and were in Judea, as Junius and Tremellius observe; for to them the answer is returned, and to them does the Lord by the prophet direct his speech throughout the whole chapter. The persons sent were
Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men; who these persons were is not known; they were, no doubt, principal men of the people, by whom they were sent, and the chief of the embassy, and had others with them inferior to them: part of their business at Bethel, or the house of God, was,
to pray before the Lord; that they might be directed aright, and have a proper answer returned to the question they came with. The temple at Jerusalem was the place where men used to go up to pray; see
Lu 18:10.
t “cum misisset, [sub.] populus”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Tarnovius “et misit”, Pagninus, Montanus; “miserat autem sub”. Israel, Vatablus; “et miserat”, Cocceius; “et misit Bethelum”, i. e. “urbem”, Burkius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He says first, that messengers were sent to entreat the face of Jehovah. Here by the word entreating or praying, the Prophet means also sacrifices. For it is certain that the Jews prayed in exile, as there could have been no religion in them had they not exercised themselves in prayer. But the mention made here is of that stated prayer, connected with sacrifices, by which they professed themselves to be God’s people. We may hence also learn, that sacrifices of themselves are of no great importance, since prayer, or calling on God, has ever the first place. Sacrifices then, and other offerings, were, as we may say, additions; ( accessoria — accessions;) for this command ought ever to be regarded by the faithful,
“
offer to me the sacrifice of praise.” (Psa 50:14.)
He says, in the second place, that messengers were sent, that they might learn from the priests and the Prophets what was to them doubtful. We hence conclude, that it was no gross dissimulation, such as is found in hypocrites who pretend to pray to God, but that there was a real desire to obey. And, doubtless, when God’s word and celestial truth are despised, there is then neither any real prayer, nor any other religious exercise; for unbelief pollutes and contaminates whatever is otherwise in its nature sacred. Whosoever then desires rightly to pray to God, let him add faith, that is, let him come to God in a teachable frame of mind, and seek to be ruled by his word. For the Prophet in telling us what was done, no doubt keeps to the method or the order observed by the captives. It was then worthy of praise that they not only were anxious to seek God’s favor by prayers and sacrifices, but that they also sought to know what was pleasing to Cod. Nor was it a matter of wonder that they sent to Jerusalem on this account, for they knew that that place had been chosen by God as the place from which they were to seek the right knowledge of religion. Since then Jerusalem was the sanctuary of God, the captives sent there their messengers, particularly as they knew that the priests were the ambassadors of God, and that the interpretation of the law was to be sought from their mouth. They indeed knew that the time was not yet come when the doctrine of salvation was to be disseminated through the whole world.
But the Prophet says, that the captives not only inquired of the priests, but also of the Prophets. It hence appears, that it was a thing commonly known, that God had raised up Prophets, which he had ceased to do for a long time. For it was not without reason that Isaiah said, that God would yet speak by his Prophets, when he would again comfort his people. (Isa 40:1.) There had been then a mournful silence for seventy years, when no Prophets were sent forth, according to what is said in the book of Psalms,
“
our signs we see not, nor is there a Prophet among us.” (Psa 74:9.)
God indeed had been accustomed to lead the people as by an erected banner when they dwelt in the holy land, and Prophets continually succeeded one another in regular order, according to what the Lord had promised by Moses,
“
A Prophet will I raise up in the midst of thee,” etc. (Deu 18:15.)
From the time then in which they had been driven into exile, while looking there on one another, they could hear no voice to encourage them with hope, until new Prophets were again raised up beyond what they expected. And it was God’s will that the Prophets should have their abode and habitation at Jerusalem, in order that he might gather the dispersed Israel; for had there been Prophets in Chaldea, many might hence lay hold of a pretext for their slothfulness: “Does not God dwell in the midst of us? what need is there of undertaking a difficult and toilsome journey? we shall indeed find nothing better at Jerusalem than in this exile; for God shows that he is present with us by his Prophets.” It would have therefore been a great evil to the Jews to have Prophets in their exile. But when the captives heard that the gift of prophecy appeared again in the temple, they might have called to mind what their fathers had heard from the mouth of Isaiah, and also from the mouth of Micah, “from Zion shall go forth a law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.” (Isa 2:3 Mic 4:3.) We now perceive why Zechariah joined Prophets to priests.
But we must bear in mind what we have stated elsewhere that the prophetic was, as it were, an extraordinary office, when God took others as the ministers of his word besides the priests. For their work was sacerdotal; but God meant to condemn the priests by transferring the work of teaching to others, that is, when Prophets were taken from the common people, or from other families, and not from the Levitical tribe. It is not indeed true that all the priests were Prophets; but the office itself would not have been transferred to any other tribe, had not God thus punished the ingratitude of those who bestowed more labor on their own private concerns than on teaching the people. However this case may have been, it was an illustrious testimony of God’s favor, that Prophets at that time had again been raised up. And this fact has been added — that they dwelt nowhere else but at Jerusalem, in order to encourage the dispersed to return, and to show to them that the place had not in vain been previously chosen by God. This is the reason why the Prophet expressly says, that the Prophets, as well as the priests, were in the house or in the temple of the Lord of hosts.
The time is also mentioned, the fourth year of Darius, and the ninth month and the fourth day (69) The beginning of the year, we know, was in March; hence the month Chisleu was November, or a part of October and November, for they were wont to commence their months at the new moons. Of king Darius we have spoken elsewhere. He was not, indeed, the first Darius, the father-in-law of Cyrus, who transferred the monarchy to the Persian, but Darius the son of Hystaspes. Passed away then had the seventy years, for this, as it has been stated before, was the fourth king.
(69) Two years had elapsed since the “visions” recorded in the former chapters. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) When they had sent . . . before the Lord.Better, Then [the people of] Bethel [such as] Sherezer and Regemmelech, and his men, sent to entreat the Lord. Bethel stands for the inhabitants of Bethel, many of the former inhabitants of which had returned (Ezr. 2:28); similarly Jerusalem often means the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The verb then there sent seems to denote an event subsequent to the revelation spoken of in Zec. 7:1. (Comp. 1Ki. 14:5, where the prophet Ahijah receives warning of the coming of the wife of Jeroboam. Though the literal meaning of Bethel is house of God, no instance can be adduced of the words being used to denote the Temple (as it is taken by the English Version). Some (with LXX.) translate to Bethel; but this rendering is unsuitable, for we have no reason to suppose that the priests belonging to the house of the Lord dwelt specially at Bethel. Others, again, render the words, when Bethel sent Sherezer, and Regem-melech, and their people. Sherezer, or rather Sarezer, is mentioned as a name of one of the sons of Sennacherib, Isa. 37:38, and Nergal-Sarezer occurs Jer. 39:3. The name is Assyrian, [Nirgal]-sar-uur, May [Nergal] protect the king (Schrader).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Zec 7:2. When they had sent, &c. Who it was that sent appears from Zec 7:5 where God commands the prophet to answer all the people and the priests. The people held a fast as a mournful memorial of their subverted temple: a doubt therefore arose in their mind, after the temple began to be rebuilt, whether they should yet fast; which was a doubt of such a kind, as ought to affect both people and priest, though the people might send to consult the priests. God commands the prophet to answer for the priests, and to the priests themselves. The answer is made to those who doubt: they who doubt are called the people of the land; which appellation certainly belongs to the people dwelling in their own land, but by no means to the Jews who continued among the Chaldeans: wherefore they seem to be greatly in an error who think that Sherezer and Regem-melech were sent from Babylon to Judaea. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer, and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the Lord, 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? 4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, 5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
It appears from this enquiry, that the people were of the same complexion in those days as all days, willing to substitute anything for real godliness. The leaven of self-righteousness mingles up in all men’s minds, more or less. The great enemy of souls, infused this deadly poison unto our nature at the fall, and it runs like blood through the veins of the whole race. Fasting, and the squalid thee, sackcloth, and the like, are in the preference of all men by nature, because these are offerings to our own shrine. But faith in Christ is such a self-emptying, self-loathing principle, that none but those taught of God the Holy Ghost ever can, or ever will be able to practise. Reader! do observe in what terms the Lord speaks of those humiliations which are of man’s creating, and came not from the Lord. What communion had I with you in all these things, saith the Lord? It is plain from the manner of the Lord’s speaking, there had been none. And unless this great object had been the main object; intended from such observances, surely they are so far from being acceptable, that they become offensive in the sight of God. Reader! the doctrine is the same in the Christian Church, as in the Jewish. If Christ, who is exalted as a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins, doth not give them; evidently there can be no real repentance in the soul. Act 5:31 . And if our days of fasting and humiliation, be not with an eye to the blood and righteousness of Christ; they are but so much mockery before the Lord. Isa 65:5 . It is plain from what the Lord saith in the close of this paragraph, concerning the inattention of the people to the Prophets, that in the midst of all their pretended sanctity of fasting, there was a total disregard to the word of the Lord. What an awful delusion are men under that set up the form, while denying the power of godliness.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Zec 7:2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
Ver. 2. When they had sent ] They? who? Not the princes of Persia, that were now proselyted, as the vain glorious Jews (and after them Haymo and Hugo) would have it, for the honour of their nation, nor the Samaritans (as some in Theodoret held), as seeming to Judaize in part, to join Jewish ceremonies with heathenish rites; but either the Jews yet remaining in Babylon, as Calvin conceiveth (blaming them for their sloth in not returning when they might, and yet commending them for this, that they had not cast off all care of God’s sincere service), or else the whole body of the Jews returned, as Junius determineth; or, lastly, some particular man not named, who is brought in, Zec 7:3 , saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself,” &c. But that may be an ordinary analogy, the singular for the plural; especially since the embassy was sent in the name of the whole congregation.
Unto the house of God
Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men
To pray before the Lord
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
they had sent unto the house of GOD, &c.: or, when Sherezer had sent (and Regem-melech and his men) to Bethel”, &c. Beth-el had already been occupied by exiles returned from Babylon. See Ezr 2:28. Neh 7:32; Neh 11:31.
GOD. Hebrew. El. App-4.
Sherezer. Probably born in exile, as he bears an Assyrian name.
men. Hebrew, plural of ‘enosh. App-14.
pray before the LORD = entreat Jehovah’s favour by prayer (Exo 32:11. 1Ki 13:6; Jer 26:19); or by sacrifice (1Sa 13:12).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
they
“They,” i.e. of the captivity in Babylon. The mission of these Jews of the captivity concerned a fast day instituted by the Jews in commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem, wholly of their own will, and without warrant from the word of God. In the beginning there was doubtless sincere contrition in the observance of the day; now it had become a mere ceremonial. The Jews of the dispersion would be rid of it, but seek authority from the priests. The whole matter, like much in modern pseudo-Christianity, was extra-Biblical, formal, and futile. Jehovah takes the occasion to send a divine message to the dispersion. That message is in five parts:
(1) Their fast was a mere religious form; they should rather have given heed to the “former prophets” (Zec 7:4-7; Cf. Isa 1:12; Mat 15:1-10
(2) they are told why their 70 years’ prayer has not been answered (Zec 7:8-14); cf.; Psa 66:18; Isa 1:14-17
(3) the unchanged purpose of Jehovah, and the blessing of Israel in the kingdom Zec 8:1-8 cf. a like order in; Isa 1:24-31; Isa 2:1-4
(4) the messengers of the captivity are exhorted to hear the prophets of “these days,” i.e, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and to do justly; then all their fasts and feasts will become gladness and joy Zec 8:9-19.
(5) they are assured that Jerusalem is yet to be the religious centre of the earth Zec 8:20-23; Isa 2:1-3; Zec 14:16-21.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
they: Zec 6:10, Ezr 6:10, Ezr 7:15-23, Ezr 8:28-30, Isa 60:7
pray before the Lord: Heb. intreat the face of the Lord, Zec 8:21, Exo 32:11, *marg. 1Sa 13:12, 1Ki 13:6, Jer 26:19
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 7:2. According to Ezr 3:2 Ezr 3:6 the altar of sacrifices was built, some time before the temple was completed. The interest in the service of the Lord was indicated by sending these men to Jerusalem to pray on behalf of the work.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
7:2 When {b} they had sent to the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
(b) That is, the rest of the people that yet remained in Chaldea, sent to the Church at Jerusalem for the resolution of these questions, because these feasts were consented upon by the agreement of the whole Church, the one in the month that the temple was destroyed, and the other when Gedaliah was slain; Jer 41:2 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israelites who lived in Bethel, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem (cf. Ezr 2:28; Neh 7:32; Neh 11:31), sent two representatives to ask the priests and prophets in the capital about how they should worship the Lord (cf. Mal 1:9). The names of the two ambassadors were Babylonian suggesting that they had been born in Babylonia during the Captivity. Another view is that a Jew living in Babylon named Bethel-Sharezar (lit. house of God-protect the king), whose title was Regem-melech (lit. king’s friend) indicating his royal authority (from Darius), came with his men to pose the question. [Note: Baldwin, pp. 142-43.] A slightly different translation yields the view that Bethel-Sharezar sent Regem-melech and his men. Whoever these men were, they wanted to know if they should continue to weep and abstain from food (i.e., to fast), which had become traditional but which the Mosaic Law did not require. The only fast that the Mosaic Law prescribed was on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29; Lev 23:27-32).
"Coming as they did from a place long associated with apostate worship (1Ki 12:29-33; 2Ki 10:29; Jer 48:13; Amo 3:14; Amo 4:4; Amo 7:13), these men would be particularly concerned to determine orthodox praxis on behalf of those who sent them." [Note: Merrill, p. 208.]
There were four fasts that the Jews in exile had instituted to commemorate various events connected with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (cf. Zec 8:19). The one in the fifth month memorialized the destruction of the temple (cf. 2Ki 25:8-10). [Note: The Illustrated Family Encyclopedia of the Living Bible, 8:93; Peter Ackroyd, Exile and Restoration, p. 207.] Since the temple was almost complete (cf. Ezr 6:16), did the Lord want His people to continue to fast? The people knew that the captivity would last 70 years (Jer 25:11-12), and 68 of these had already past. It seemed to them that fasting over the destruction of the temple might be inappropriate since the Lord had enabled them to rebuild the temple and reestablish worship. The question was a reasonable one.
"What may have appeared to be an innocent question about the propriety of fasting was instead a question fraught with hypocrisy, as YHWH’s response puts beyond any doubt. It therefore appears that the query to Zechariah by the Bethelites may not have been so much a matter of piety as it was of posturing. May it not be that the delegation was trying more to impress the prophet than to gain instruction from him?" [Note: Merrill, p. 209. Cf. McComiskey, p. 1125.]