Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 8:16
These [are] the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
16. the judgment of truth and peace ] Rather, truth and the judgment of peace judge ye, as in R. V. margin. Jerusalem would indeed “be called a city of truth” (Zec 8:3), when alike in the private intercourse of her citizens ( speak ye every one the truth to his neighbour), and in the public administration of justice ( in your gates, Deu 25:7; Job 5:4), truth reigned supreme. The judgment of peace is righteous judgment, which alone secures peace.
“If ye judge righteousness, there will be peace between the parties in the lawsuit, according as our rabbies have said in a proverb of the children of men, ‘He that hath his coat taken from him by the tribunal, let him sing and go his way.’ And they have adduced in proof that verse, ‘And all this people shall also go to their place in peace’ (Exo 18:23). ‘All the people,’ even he that is condemned in judgment. And our rabbies of blessed memory have interpreted, and the judgment of peace, of reconciliation, for it is said, ‘What sort of judgment is that in which there is peace? They answered, ‘That of arbitration.’ ” Kimchi (McCaul’s Trans.), quoted by Wright.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
These are the things that ye shall do – He exhorts them to the same duties, to which the former prophets had exhorted their fathers, Zec 7:9-10, and, as before, first positively to truth and peace; then to avoid everything contrary to it. Judgment of peace must be judgment which issues in peace, as all righteous judgment righteously received, in which case each party acquiesces, must. Kimchi: If ye judge righteousness, there will be peace between the litigants, according to that proverb, Sanhedr. f. 7. a. quoted by Me. Caul, p. 78), He that hath his coat taken from him by the tribunal, let him sing and go his way (because, says a gloss (Rashi, quoted Ibid.), they have judged the judgment of truth, and have taken away that which would have been stolen property, if he retained it, being in fact not his). And they have quoted that, And all this people shall go to their place in peace Exo 18:23. : All this people, even he that is condemned in judgment. It is also interpreted of arbitration. What sort of judgment is that, in which there is peace? It is that of arbitration.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Zec 8:16-17
Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour
Truth
Concisely stated, the doctrine of the text is, think truth, love truth, speak truth, and do truth–live in its atmosphere, make it your ruling principle.
Let the clear light which it sheds out throw a radiance on your course, so that your life be transparent as a summer day. The charm of truth is the charm of simplicity. He who knows the value of truth, and strives to exhibit it, bears the mark of God: he cannot be far from the kingdom of God. The text contains two affirmative and two negative precepts–speak the truth, execute judgment, and do not imagine evil in your hearts, do not love a false oath.
I. Presumedly innocent inroads upon the domains of truth.
1. There is innuendo and insinuation. The wise look which says so much, and commits itself to little.
2. Common prattle and gossip, meddling, as it generally does, with the more intimate concerns of third persons, seldom respects the limits of truth. Nowhere is caution more needful than in ordinary conversation.
3. Promises are lightly and readily given, and often as lightly and readily broken.
4. Lack of firmness necessitates sacrifice of truth. One does not like to be singular, one does not like to be disagreeable.
5. In speaking of ones self or friends, the temptation, not always resisted, is to throw them out in the best light and make great persons of them, that it may be seen how grand, how clever we are, and how choice is the circle of our acquaintance.
6. The species of falsehood commonly called fibs, white lies, or in the slang diction of the college, crams.
7. The unconscientious workmans dallying with his work is a sin against truthfulness.
II. Flagrant breaches of the law of truth. Open and deliberate lies, intentional and heartless deception. In opposition to all falsehood, whether of the lighter or heavier sort, whether respectable or vulgar, whether in deed, word, or gesture, whether by omission or addition, the Word of God says, Speak every man truth to his neighbour.
III. How does Scripture enforce this? By what revelations; by what further precepts?
1. The wrongfulness and fate of untruth are clearly explained.
2. What more would you have to recommend truth than that it is assimilation to the Divine character? He is a God of truth, and without iniquity. Just and right. If our thoughts, words, and deeds were regulated by the standard of truth this would be heaven upon earth. Be satisfied of a mans integrity, sure that he ever means to do the right, and would scorn to act meanly, and you may make that man your friend. To work the world out into a society of friends, to transform it into a brotherhood, is, in brief, the aim of Christ. That ideal is the reality of heaven. (A. Hawkins Jones.)
An universal revival of religion
I. The essential prerequisites. Four prerequisites or preparatories for an universal revival of genuine religion.
1. There must be truthfulness in speech. These are the things which ye shall do, Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour. Truthful speech is somewhat rare in all social Circles, and in all departments of life. Fallacious statements abound in markets, senates, courts, and even families. Truthful speaking involves two things–
(1) Sincerity. To speak a true thing insincerely is not to speak truthfully. A man must conscientiously believe that what he speaks is true, before he can be credited with veracity. Truthful speaking involves–
(2) Accuracy. A man may speak with sincerity, and yet from ignorance or mistake may not speak according to fact; and unless he speaks according to fact he can scarcely be said to speak truthfully. His speech unintentionally conveys falsehood. Hence truthful speaking requires a strong sense of right, and an adequate acquaintance with the subjects of the speech.
2. There must be rectitude in conduct. Execute the Judgment of truth and peace in your gates. In the East the courts of justice were held at the gates of the city; and perhaps the primary reference here is to the pronouncing of judgment on cases that were righteous and tended to peace. But rectitude of life is even more important and urgent than rectitude in judg ment.
3. There must be benevolence in feeling. Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour. We must not only keep our hands from evil, but we must watch over our hearts, that they imagine not any evil against our neighbor.
4. There must be abhorrence of falsehood. Love no false oath.
II. The signal manifestations. It is suggested that where these prerequisites are found, i.e. where a revival takes place, three things are manifest.
1. An increased pleasure in religious ordinances. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth , and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. The fast of the fourth month was on account of the taking of Jerusalem (Jer 39:2; Jer 52:5-7); that of the tenth was in commemoration of the commencement of the siege (Jer 52:4). The Jews are distinctly informed that these fasts should be turned into festivals of joy.–Henderson. The first sign of a true revival of religion in an individual or a community is a new and happy interest in the ordinances of religion. Another sign is–
2. A deep practical concern for the spiritual interests of the race. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also. There will be a mutual excitation amongst the people to seek the one true and living God. Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord. Speedily, there is no time to be lost; religion is for all, and for all an urgent duty. Another sign is–
3. An universal desire to be identified with the people of God. In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men–a definite number for an indefinite multitude, indicating many rather than a few–shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. Conclusion–When will this universal revival of religion take place? The signs are scarcely visible anywhere. We can only hasten it by attending to the prerequisites. (Homilist.)
Lying and false oath
s:–Honesty and policy cannot live in the same heart. Who can make anything of the liar? He is the worst of all men. He has lost the higher qualities of manhood, yet the base deceiver can shudder when he sees a poor drunken man who may be a saint compared with himself. The liar cannot be converted, unless it be by the whole force of the Deity. He is hollow, he has killed his conscience, he has sold his honour. Never allow a liar to come into your house. The liar is a composite sinner; he sins all round, or would sin in any direction and every direction if it would serve his purpose so to do. Have faith in every man that loves truth. Though he fall seven times a day he shall stand at eventide. Any sins that lie along the line of passion are nothing as compared with sins of deliberation, plan, scheme, thoroughly wrought out, purposed. I have known many a soul overborne by gusts from the bottomless pit, not wanting moral beauty and fine quality, but I have never known a liar that was worth being touched by the point of the longest instrument ever fashioned by human hands. Lying is so subtle, too. It is not vulgar deception in all cases. There is a falsehood that is calculation, a very fine process of putting things together and totalling them up into certain results and considering whether those results are worth realising. Lying may be speechless. It is a mistake to say that lies are always told: lies are acted, lies are suggested, lies are inferential. Christ came to give us the spirit of truth. Truth is a spirit. It is not a mere way of stating facts. A man may contradict himself in his statement of facts and be true at the soul. Verbal discrepancies are nothing: the meaning of the heart is everything. When an honest soul corrects itself theres nobility in the very act of self-correction; you see the candour, you appreciate the withdrawal or the addition or the modification of former statements, as the case may be. A truthful man never thinks of his own consistency; a truthful man cannot be inconsistent. So called inconsistency in his case is accidental, superficial, transient, explicable. The mans consistency is in his soul: what he means to be, that he is. Of all liars perhaps the young liar is the worst. It ought not so to be. The boy, the young man, should not lie. He should be so heroic and fearless as even to blurt out the truth when he does not tell it in sequential order. It should not occur to his young soul to falsify. Yet if one were to write the history of young hearts in any family and in any city, society could not live; we would fly away from one another as men fly from suddenly disclosed serpents. Love no false oath, saith the text. False oath–what ironies there are in expression I False balance–what an affront to geometry! False oath–what an offence to righteousness! False prophet–what a shock to the spirit of the sanctuary! False brethren–who can live? The Bible grows upon our conscience and our whole moral nature by the sublimity of its criticisms and the loftiness of its spiritual appeals. The Bible will have truth everywhere, because it will first have truth in the soul. Do not treat the symptoms of your case: get at the radical disease. It is poor curing that is done by mere plasters. Only the cure that starts from the centre and works out towards the circumference brings with it summer redness to the cheek, summer brightness to the eyes. God condemns sin and all evil things in detail because they are ruinous to the man. They are spoiling the work of Gods hands, they are overturning the purpose of Gods heart. The sinner is a suicide. He that sinneth against Me, saith the Scripture, wrongeth his own soul. Think of a man committing plunder upon his own nature, stealing from himself every element that makes him a man! I have known liars that succeeded for a few months; I have before my mind at this moment three liars, all under five-and-twenty years of age, who lied and robbed and did evil with both hands, and tonight they are refuse; they are avoided by all who know the rottenness and pestilence of their character. Thus sin takes a man down line by line, faculty by faculty. Sin sucks the Divine juice out of a man. You cannot allow one evil thought to pass through your sensitive brain without leaving that brain weaker and poorer. The temptation came and left ruin behind. The temptation itself is not sin unless it is yielded to, but if the temptation have hospitality one moment in the brain it takes off some fine film, some subtle veil through which the brain saw somewhat of God. The poet can drink himself into idiocy; the genius, the master magician of words, can so treat his body that his soul will not think for him. It will give up and abandon the altar where once it burned. God sees therefore that sin ruins the man. The sinner himself goes down. The things are not only hateful to God, they are ruinous to the people who practise them. You cannot over eat yourself, and pray; you cannot soak your body in evil liquids, and then sing, you can sound the notes, but the subtle, spiritual, Divine music is gone. When fire has left the altar what is the altar? (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. Speak ye every man the truth] See Zec 7:9-10.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
These are the things that ye shall do; you to whom I am returned, whom I have promised to bless, you have something to do that the blessing may come upon you, and look you do it. Beside building the temple and restoring public worship in sacrifices, these things ye must do.
Speak ye every man the truth; be true of your word, and lie not one to another, as becomes such a people, Psa 24:4; Pro 12:19; Hos 4:1.
To his neighbour; to all men: it hath been the sin of your fathers, they have lived, deceived, and cheated, not strangers, but brothers and neighbours; but do not ye so; every one you deal with is your neighbour, do you speak truth to every such one.
Execute the judgment of truth: see Zec 7:9.
And peace; that may restore, settle, and promote peace among you, as righteous judgments will do.
In your gates; either referring to the places of judicature, where the judges sat; or more generally and comprehensively through the whole land, Exo 20:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16, 17. The promised blessingsare connected with obedience. God’s covenanted grace will lead thosetruly blessed by it to holiness, not licentiousness.
truth to . . . neighbournotthat the truth should not be spoken to foreigners too; but He makesit an aggravation of their sin, that they spared not even theirbrethren. Besides, and above all outward ordinances (Zec7:3), God requires truth and justice.
judgment of . . .peaceEquitable decisions tend to allay feuds and producepeace.
gatesthe place wherecourts of judicature in the East were held.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
These [are] the things that ye shall do,…. Which were duties incumbent on them, and which it became them to perform, under a sense of the favours bestowed on them, to show their gratitude to God, and that they might glorify him:
Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; not using deceit, prevarication, and lying, Eph 4:25 and it becomes every man under the Gospel dispensation, according to the gift he has received, to speak, publish, and declare the truth of the Gospel, to the edification of others:
execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; that is, execute true judgment, as in Zec 7:9 do justice between man and man, without respect of persons; the issue of which will be peace between the contending parties: and this was to be done in their “gates”, because there their courts of judicature were kept.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Zechariah exhorts them here to true repentance, by showing that more things were to be hoped for than what they saw with their eyes; and at the same time he shows that it was not enough for them assiduously to build the city and the temple; but he requires other things, even that they should observe integrity and justice towards one another. We indeed know that the Jews were so given to their own ceremonies, that they thought that holiness existed in them: and this error Zechariah had before condemned, and now he inculcates the same truth, — that if they wished to have God propitious to them, and also wished to enjoy continually that goodness which they had already tasted, they were to strive to secure it not only by sacrifices and other ceremonies, but especially by attention to justice and equity.
But the Prophet does not here mention every part of an upright life, but only refers to some things. This mode of speaking is quite common, as we have already often noticed. The Prophet then states a part for the whole; but still he includes generally the whole of the second table, when he says that these things were to be observed, (89) even that they should speak the truth; that is, deal faithfully with one another, abstain from every falsehood and deceit, and from every kind of craftiness, — and also that they should execute justice in their gates. And because he names neighbors here, it would be very absurd for anyone hence to conclude, that it is lawful to defraud strangers, or those with whom we have no near connection: but the Prophet by this term meant only to set forth the atrocious conduct of the Jews, who spared not even their friends and their brethren. Though then it is a wicked thing to deceive any one, even the farthest from us, it is yet a greater crime when one lies in wait for his near neighbor and brother: and we know that this mode of speaking occurs everywhere in the law; for God, in order to restrain us from evil deeds, has set before us that kind of sin which we are constrained by the impulse of nature to detest. Thus he speaks of secret hatred as being murder. Then the Prophet in this place meant more sharply to reprove the Jews, because such barbarity had prevailed among them, that no one regarded his neighbor, but raged as it were against his own bowels.
As to the words, truth and the judgment of peace, he intimates by them, that not only individuals were privately given to evil deeds, but that also the court of justice was full of frauds and wrong acts, while it ought to have been the sanctuary of justice. Though many may be perversely wicked among the people, yet their audacity and wickedness are always restrained, when the laws are put in force, and incorrupt judges rule. But the Prophet shows that the judges had become like robbers, for there was no integrity in the gates. He mentions truth first, for the judges craftily perverted all truth by misrepresentations, as it is commonly the case. For even the worst of men do not openly say that they approve of a wicked deed; but they find out disguises by which they cover their own baseness, and that of those who do wrong, whom they favor, when bribed with money. It is then necessary that truth should have the first place in courts of justice. By the judgment of peace he understands, when his own is given to every one. Some think that what is right is called the judgment of peace, because when mercenary judges condemn and oppress the innocent, and for gain’s sake patronise what is wrong, many tumults often arise, and then open war ensues: but as the word peace has a wide meaning in Hebrew, we may take the judgment of peace as meaning only a calm and a rightly formed judgment. The Jews, we know, administered justice in the gates.
(89) Literally it is, “These the words which ye shall do.” The term “words” means here what the words contain, and may therefore be rendered, “commands,” or “do” may be translated “observe:” —
These are the commands which ye shall do, — Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor; The truth and the judgment of peace Pronounce in your gates.
Instead of “Pronounce,” Newcome has “Determine,” and Henderson, as in our version, “Execute;” the more literal rendering is “Judge:” but the verb often means to decide, to determine, to declare a thing as a judge, or to pronounce sentence in a cause. What they were required here was to pronounce what was true and right according to the law, an dto give such a judgment as was calculated to promote peace and concord, “by deterring the litigious,” as Newcome observes, “and punishing the evil doer.” Jerome, Drusius, Pemble, Henry, and Grotius, give the same view of “the judgment of peace;” but Henderson agrees with Calvin, and renders it “sound judgment.” The former view is most to be approved, as the latter is less distinct, for “true” and “sound” are nearly the same. “Let the judges,” observes Henry, “that sit in the gates, in all their judicial proceedings have regard both to truth and to peace; let them take care to do justice, and to accommodate differences, and prevent vexatious suits. It must be a judgment of truth in order to peace; and a judgment of peace as far as is consistent with truth, and no further.”
The words, “speak the truth,” Kimchi very beautifully explains thus, — “Speak not with one thing in your mouth and another thing in your heart.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zec. 8:16.] Just as in ch. Zec. 7:9-10, first positive (Zec. 8:16), then negative (Zec. 8:17). Judge] truly and promote peace. Gates] Places of administering justice.
Zec. 8:17. Hate] Lit. emphatic. They are all these things which I hate; i.e. the sum of what I hate; for they comprise the breaches of the two tables [cf. Pusey].
HOMILETICS
MORAL CONDITIONS OF PROSPERITY.Zec. 8:16-17
These verses contain a virtual and instructive reply to the question relative to the celebration of the fast (chap. Zec. 7:3). It was not in such merely external, ritual, or ceremonial observances, that Jehovah delighted; but in the love and practice of moral rectitude [Hend.]. In Zec. 8:14-15 we have the grounds upon which Gods promise rests; here, the conditions upon which it will be fulfilled. There are two aspects of duty as essential to prosperity.
I. Sympathy with our fellow-creatures. We are forbidden
1. To act evil Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates. Nothing must be done in partiality, violence, and passion. In public administration and private inter course we must allay feuds and seek peace.
2. To speak evil. Speak ye every man the truth. (a) In social intercourse. To his neighbour. (b) In public courts. Love no false oath. Truth is the band of union, and the basis of human happiness. Without this virtue there is no reliance upon language, no confidence in friendship, no security in promises and oaths [Jeremy Collier].
3. To think evil. Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts. All evil springs from the thoughts. The most secret sins and the most grievous acts begin there. To think well, says Paley, is the way to act well. The thoughts of the righteous are right (Pro. 12:5).
II. Moral conformity to God. All these things forbidden, are evils which God hates, and will punish. Therefore we should hate and avoid them also; shun them, not for the sake of policy, nor propriety, but as offensive to God. Men are seeking to substitute philanthropy for piety; the claims of humanity fur the worship of God. But Scripture and experience prove that there can be no true and permanent love to man, which is not the offspring of love to God. The test of our character and the degree of our prosperity will be according to our conformity to God. If we love what he loves, and hate what he hates, we shall bear his image and become his children. For love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8
Zec. 8:16-17. I hate. Men resemble the gods in nothing so much as in doing good to their fellow-creatures [Cicero]. Every day should be distinguished by at least one particular act of love [Lavater].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(16) Judgment of truth and peacei.e., in accordance with the true facts of the case, and such judgment as would tend to peace between man and man. (Comp. Zec. 7:9; and contrast Mal. 2:8-9.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16, 17. The conditions on which these blessings may be secured are essentially the same as those proclaimed by the earlier prophets (see on Zec 7:9-10).
Speak truth Without truthfulness among its members no community can prosper permanently.
Execute the judgment of truth and peace Margin R.V., more literally, “judge truth and the judgment of peace.” Judge truth is equivalent to give true and righteous judgment (see on Zec 7:9); the judgment of peace is “such an administration of justice as tends to promote peace and establish concord between those who are at strife.” Some commentators omit the second truth as an erroneous repetition suggested by Zec 7:9.
In your gates The place where justice was administered (see on Amo 5:10; compare 2Sa 15:2; Deu 21:19).
Let none imagine evil See on Zec 7:10.
Love no false oath See on Zec 5:3. All these things Jehovah hates, and therefore he is bound to punish them (compare Amo 5:21).
Fasting and mourning will be changed into joy and glory, 18-23.
The emphasis upon the real requirements of Jehovah and the promise of a speedy redemption (Zec 7:4; Zec 8:17) would suggest a solution of the problem raised in Zec 7:3; in Zec 8:18-23, the prophet gives a direct answer: the fasts will give place to “joy and gladness and cheerful feasts” (19), because the blessing and favor of Jehovah will be restored to the people (20-23).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Zec 8:16 These [are] the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
Ver. 16. These are the things that ye shall do ] Heb. These are the words. God will not so do all good for his people, but that they should reciprocate and do something for him by way of thankfulness. Particularly; these are the words, or commands, that ye shall not only know, but do. They are verba vivenda non legenda; word to live by not to be read, as lessons of music must be practised, and a copy not read only, but written after.
Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour
Execute the judgment of truth and peace
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Speak, &c. Compare Zec 8:19; Zec 7:9.
every man. Hebrew ‘ish. App-14.
execute, &c. See note on Zec 7:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
are: Deu 10:12, Deu 10:13, Deu 11:7, Deu 11:8, Mic 6:8, Luk 3:8-14, Eph 4:17, 1Pe 1:13-16
Speak: Zec 8:19, Zec 7:9, Lev 19:11, Psa 15:2, Pro 12:17, Pro 12:19, Jer 9:3-5, Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2, Mic 6:12, Eph 4:25, 1Th 4:6, Rev 21:8
execute the judgment of truth and peace: Heb. judge truth and the judgment of peace, Zec 7:9, Isa 9:7, Isa 11:3-9, Amo 5:15, Amo 5:24, Mat 5:9
Reciprocal: Gen 27:24 – I am Gen 34:20 – the gate Exo 18:21 – men Job 29:7 – General Isa 1:17 – seek Isa 39:8 – For Isa 61:8 – I the Lord Eze 18:8 – hath executed Eze 45:9 – remove Hos 12:6 – keep Mat 7:12 – for Eph 4:15 – But Col 3:9 – Lie
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 8:16. The promise of favor from God was made on condition of the proper conduct of the people. Whereas they had formerly been cruel and unjust toward each other, they were now expected to deal in truth or true security for a neighbor.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Zec 8:16-17. These are the things that ye shall do, &c. But these my promises of good to you are conditional, and the performance of them will depend upon your observing the laws of justice and righteousness; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour Let no one deceive another by guile or falsehood. Execute the judgment of truth True judgment; and peace in your gates Use all means to restore and establish peace among you. Or, Let those who have the administration of justice committed to their charge endeavour to search out the truth from the witnesses, in the trials which come before them; and decide according to the law, and do all in their power to uphold truth and integrity, and maintain the public peace. The judges, it is to be remembered, used to execute their office at the gates of each city, and therefore it is said here, Execute judgments, &c., in your gates. Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts See note on Zec 7:10. And love no false oath See note on Zec 5:3-4. For all these are things which I hate God, as he essentially, by his nature, loves that which is good and excellent, so must he hate that which is the contrary.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In view of this promise, the remnant should speak truthfully with each other. They should also practice justice and promote peace (Heb. shalom) in their community life. They should stop plotting to take advantage of one another and stop lying under oath because the Lord hates these things (cf. Pro 6:16-19; Mal 2:16).
"One theological rationale for ethics, then, is awareness that God hates attitudes and actions contrary to his character. We are to love what God loves and hate what he hates." [Note: Barker, p. 653.]
Zec 8:14-15 explain God’s part in the people’s immediate restoration, and Zec 8:16-17 explain theirs.