2<\/strong>. all nations<\/em> ] Comp. Joe 3:2<\/span>; Joe 3:9-11<\/span>; Ezekiel 38, 39; Rev 20:7-9<\/span>.<\/p>\n I Will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle – <\/B>This is a feature which belongs to the end. It had been dwelt upon by Joel; Joe 3:2-9<\/span>, Joe 3:11<\/span>; Ezekiel spoke of the many nations Eze 38:6<\/span>, Eze 38:15<\/span>, Eze 38:22<\/span> which should come under Gog. John foretells of an universal strife at the end, when The spirits of devils, working miracles, go forth unto the king; of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty Rev 16:14<\/span>; and Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints round about, and the beloved city Rev 20:7-9<\/span>. Since no creature can do aught but what God wills, and, in his phrensy against Gods people, is but His instrument, to try them and to purge and to make white to the time of the end Dan 11:35<\/span>; Dan 12:10<\/span>; and the strength of body or intellect, which is abused against His law, He continuously in the order of nature supplies, God may be said to do what Satan does against Him. Satan, in his blind fury, crowns martyrs, fills the thrones of heaven, works, against his will, the All-wise Will of God.<\/P> And the houses rifled, and the women … – <\/B>The horrors of pagan war repeat themselves through peoples ever-recurring passions. What was foretold as to Babylon is repeated in the same words as to the Church of God. Seemingly all things come alike to all Ecc 9:2<\/span> : there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean: to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner. The outward event is the same, the hidden part is known to God alone. And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city, unlike the lot of the earthly Jerusalem, in the destruction both by Nebuchadnezzar (which was past) and the Romans (see at Mic 3:12<\/span>, pp. 46-50). At the first, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away the rest of the people left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude 2Ki 25:11<\/span>, so that Jeremiah mourned over it, Because of the mountain of Zion which is desolate, foxes walk (habitually) upon it Lam 5:18<\/span>. The Romans (see at pp. 46, 47) effaced the city. Now a remnant is not cut off, because for the elects sake those days shall be shortened Mat 24:32<\/span>; for our Lord had said, that the gates of hell should not prevail against His Church Mat 16:18<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 2<\/span>. I will gather all nations<\/B><\/I>] The Romans<\/I>, whose armies were composed of all the nations of the world. In this verse there is a pitiful account given of the horrible outrages<\/I> which should be committed during the siege of Jerusalem, and at its capture.<\/P> <\/P> The residue of the people shall not be cut off<\/B><\/I>] Many were preserved for slaves<\/I>, and for exhibition<\/I> in the provincial theatres.<\/P> <\/p>\n For:<\/B> this gives not the reason why, but introduceth an account how, this thing shall be done. <\/P> I will gather:<\/B> God will summon and bring together his army. They do it themselves by their own counsels, for their own works and ends; God also hath his work for them to do, and by his counsel and at his call they shall come. <\/P> All nations; <\/B>the Romans, with the power of their empire, which at that time had the rule over all the known world, or over all the Nations of that part of the world. <\/P> Against Jerusalem to battle; <\/B>to make war with the Jews, which lasted some years, and cost many thousand lives, and ended at last as our prophet foretold. <\/P> The city shall be taken, <\/B>by assault and force, whereby all lay at mercy of the soldiers, who showed little to those who first refused the mercy of their God, and, justly given up by God to their own blind, obstinate wills, refused the mercy of their enemy also. <\/P> The houses rifled; <\/B>all houses pillaged, and all in them Worth taking was taken away. <\/P> The women ravished; <\/B>wives, widows, and virgins barbarously violated. <\/P> Half of the city; <\/B>a certain part for uncertain, or, in common speech, many; were it one half precisely it would be but a sixth part of what were before the wars; two-thirds being cut off, as Zec 13:8<\/span>, and one-third remaining, of which one half is for captivity. <\/P> The residue of the people; <\/B>that small number of the Jews which fled to Pella, and who were spared by Titus. <\/P> Shall not be cut off from the city; <\/B>literally, were not forbidden to dwell in or about the city; mystically, were not cut off from the church, nor ceased to be a church; this the more likely, for Titus utterly ruined the city. <\/P> <\/p>\n 2. gather all nations,<\/B> c.Theprophecy seems literal (compare Joe3:2<\/span>). If Antichrist be the leader of the nations, it seemsinconsistent with the statement that he will at this time be sittingin the temple as God at Jerusalem (2Th2:4<\/span>) thus Antichrist outside would be made to besiege Antichristwithin the city. But difficulties do not set aside revelations: theevent will clear up seeming difficulties. Compare the complicatedmovements, Da 11:1-45<\/span>.<\/P> half . . . the residue<\/B>InZec 13:8<\/span>; Zec 13:9<\/span>,it is “two-thirds” that perish, and “the third<\/I>“escapes. There, however, it is “in all the land<\/I>“;here it is “half of the city.<\/I>” Two-thirds of the”whole people<\/I>” perish, one-third survives. One-halfof the citizens<\/I> are led captive, the residue are not cut off.Perhaps, too, we ought to translate, “a (not ‘the’) residue.”<\/P><\/p>\n For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle<\/strong>,…. Meaning not the Romans, in the time of Vespasian, for they were not all nations; nor did a part of the city only go into captivity then, but the whole; nor did any remain in it: it seems right to refer it to the gathering of the kings of the earth to the battle of the Lord God Almighty at Armageddon, Re 16:14<\/span> unless it may be thought better to interpret it of the vast numbers, out of several nations, the Turk will bring against Jerusalem, to dispossess the Jews of it, by whom it will be again inhabited in the latter day; see Eze 38:4<\/span> and Kimchi interprets it of the Gog and Magog army. The Jews, in their ancient Midrashes d, apply it to the times of the Messiah; which is true, if understood not of the first times of the Messiah, whose coming they vainly expect, but of the last times of the Messiah.<\/p>\n And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city shall go into captivity<\/strong>: this will be the time when the outward court shall be given, to the Gentiles, the Papists; the two witnesses shall be slain, and their enemies shall rejoice and send gifts to one another, Re 11:2<\/span> this will be a trying season, and such a time of trouble as has not been known:<\/p>\n and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city<\/strong>; there will be a remnant according to the election of grace; the city, the church, shall not be wholly extinct; Christ will reserve a seed for himself in those very worst of times, as he has always done: this cannot refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, for then all the inhabitants of the city were cut off, or carried captive, and none left; but, if literally to be understood, must refer to what will be, when the army of Gog shall come against it in the latter day; though these circumstances are not mentioned in Ezekiel.<\/p>\n d Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 22. 3. & Midrash Ruth, fol. 33. 2.<\/p>\n He afterwards adds, I will gather all nations against Jerusalem. He confirms what I have already said, that God would be the author of those calamities, and thus he puts a restraint on the Jews, that they might not expostulate with him respecting the severity of their punishment. He then shortly intimates, that the nations would not come by chance to attack Jerusalem; and that whatever commotions would arise, they could not be ascribed to chance or to fortune, or to the purposes of men, but to the decree of heaven. He then bids them to look to God, that they might humble themselves umber his mighty hand, according to what Peter also does. (1Pe 5:6<\/span>.) He might have said in a briefer manner, “All the nations shall conspire;” but he ascribes this to God, and says, that he will bring them, like a prince, who collects an army, which he commands to fight under his banner. And by naming all nations, he reminds them that their trials would not be light; for such would be the union of enemies, and so large would be their number, that Jerusalem would be brought nigh to utter ruin. But afterwards he subjoins a consolation to moderate the grievousness of that calamity: yet he says first – <\/p>\n Taken shall be the city, plundered shall be the houses, and the women shall be ravished. What usually happens to a city taken by storm, the citizens of Jerusalem, the Prophet says, would have to endure. It is indeed an extreme outrage, when women are ravished by enemies; and then, poverty is often more grievous than death; and yet he says, that when deprived of their substance they would have to witness an outrage more hard to be borne than death itself, because their women would be subjected to such a disgrace. <\/p>\n He adds, that half part of the city would depart. He had said before that a third part only would be saved; but he now seems to be inconsistent with himself. But as to number we need not anxiously enquire, as I have elsewhere reminded you; for the Prophets often mention half part and then the third, when yet they mean the same thing. It is the same as though he had said, that the destruction would be so great, that hardly half of them would remain alive. <\/p>\n Now follows the consolation which I have mentioned, — that the residue of the people would not be exterminated from the city. By these words the Prophet teaches them, that though hard would be the condition of the city, as it would be reduced nearly to a waste, yet they who having returned to their country sincerely worshipped God, would be blessed; for the Church would ever remain safe, and that how much soever God might lessen the number, yet a part of the Church, however small, would be kept safe. The object then of the Prophet is to comfort the faithful, that they might sustain whatever evils might be at hand, and look for what God promises, even that a Church would again emerge, and that God would really prove that Jerusalem was not in vain his sanctuary, where he would bless the remnant which escaped, and escaped through his wonderful favor. He afterwards adds — <\/p>\n (2) This verse is but a further description of the event depicted in the second half of the preceding verse.<\/p>\n And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.<\/strong>This was the case (with regard to Judah) in the Chaldan conquest (2Ki. 25:22<\/span>). Whether or no this can be interpreted of the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, we leave our readers to decide, after placing before them the following words of Josephus (Bel. Jud.<\/em> vi. 9, 2):And now, since his soldiers were already quite tired of killing men, yet there appeared to be a vast multitude still remaining alive, Caesar gave orders that they should kill none but those that were in arms and opposed them, but should take the rest alive. But, together with those whom they had orders to slay, they slew the aged and the infirm; but for those that were in their flourishing age, and who might be useful to them, they drove them together into the Temple, and shut them up within the walls of the court of the women, over which Caesar set one of his freedmen, as also Fronto, one of his friends, which last was to determine every ones fate according to his merits. So this Fronto slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, who were impeached one by another; but of the young men he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them in bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines.<\/em> Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres by the sword and by wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves.<\/em> We simply ask, what room is there for a remnant?<\/p>\n Zec 14:2<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>The residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> It is impossible to reconcile these words with the state of facts at the time when Jerusalem was taken by the Romans; for at that time, we are well assured by Josephus, who was an eye-witness, not only all <\/em>that were in the city were either slain or made captives, but also the city itself was razed to the ground, so as to leave no vestige of a habitation. BBell. Jud. lib. vi. c. 9. and lib. vii. c. 1. Ed. Havercamp. How then could there be a residue not cut off from the city? And if there has been no capture since to which these words can be applied, we must look forward to futurity for the completion of the prophesy. From its being said, that a residue shall not be cut off from the city, <\/em>together with what follows, the course of proceeding, it should seem, will be this: upon the city being taken, the most warlike part of the inhabitants will retire in a body to some strong post near at hand, and stand upon their defence; till, being encouraged by manifest tokens of God’s declaring himself in their favour, and perhaps reinforced by their brethren of Judah at large, they shall sally forth, and with the divine assistance completely defeat their enemies, and effect their own deliverance; so that, as is said, Jerusalem shall again sit in her own place at Jerusalem. <\/em>Compare chap. Zec 12:5-7<\/span>. See Blaney. Houbigant is of the same opinionthat this whole chapter refers not to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, but to some future and unknown events of the great and final restoration of the Jews. <\/p>\n Zec 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.<\/p>\n Ver. 2. For I will gather all nations<\/strong> ] The Romans, that styled and held themselves lords of all nations, and who had levied a mighty army out of all nations to fight against Jerusalem. See Joseph. B. J. III 1, 3. Or Gog and Magog, with all his armies and associates, Eze 37:4-6<\/span> , shall compass the beloved city, Rev 20:8-9<\/span> . See Zec 14:1<\/span> . See Trapp on “<\/em> Zec 14:1 “<\/em> Would any man take the Church’s picture? then let him, saith Luther, paint a silly poor maid sitting in a wood or wilderness, and compassed about with hungry lions, wolves, boars, and bears, &c., and in the midst of a great many furious men assaulting her every moment; let him give her, say I, that of Martial for her motto, <\/p>\n “ In me omnis terraeque, aviumque, marisque rapina est.<\/em> ”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And the city shall be taken<\/strong> ] Non tamen ad exitium, sed ad exercitium.<\/em> Not yet for destruction but for a lesson. I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage (saith the Lord, Jer 12:7 ). I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. At which times there is usually, as at Athens when taken by Sulla, , a bloody butchery. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And the houses rifled<\/strong> ] As at the sack of Constantinople by the Turks; where the soldiers are said to have divided money among themselves by whole hatfulls; and were therewith so enriched, that it is a proverb among them to this day, if any grow suddenly rich, to say, he hath been at the sacking of Constantinople. The Emperor had in vain many times with tears requested to have borrowed money of his covetous subjects, to have been employed in the defence of the city; but they would still swear that they had it not, as men grown poor for want of trade; which, in few days after, their enemies found in such abundance, that they wondered at their wealth, and derided their folly, that possessing so much, they would bestow so little in the defence of themselves and their country. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And the women ravished<\/strong> ] These are the common calamities of war; in the lawless violence whereof those three commandments, “Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal,” as they are ranked together in the law, so they are usually violated together; hence Isa 13:16<\/span> “Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.” The Irish rebels bound the husband to the bedpost while they abused his wife before his face. In the time of King Edward III the French soldiers at Winchelsea, in Sussex, took their lustful turns upon a beautiful woman in the Church, and at the time of divine service, until they had turned her out of the world, as a learned man phraseth it, Donec mulier fatigata spiritum exhalaret<\/em> While a weary woman to breath out her life. (Walsing.). <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And half of the city shall go forth into captivity<\/strong> ] An evil, an only evil, threatened Deu 28:15-68<\/span> , and fulfilled to the utmost upon this nation, so shamelessly, so lawlessly wicked, as can hardly be peered or paralleled. I have noted before, that this their last captivity and dispersion is such, as that one of their own Rabbis concludeth from thence that their Messiah must needs be come, and they must needs suffer so much for killing him. They used to say that there is still an ounce of the golden calf in all their public calamities. There is another thing lieth more heavily upon them to this day, were they but sensible of it. Let us be sending up, and sighing out for them that of the Psalmist, “Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad,” Psa 14:7<\/span> . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city<\/strong> ] A remnant shall be reserved, as it were for royal use; whether a third part, as Zec 13:8<\/span> , or a half, as here, it is not much material; in numeris non est anxie laborendum,<\/em> saith Calvin here; for the direct number it is neither here nor there, as we say. God shall reserve unto himself a set and select number. He who comforteth those that are cast down speaketh this to his, for encouragement. The Church may be shaken, not shivered; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, 2Co 4:9<\/span> .<\/p>\n I will gather, &c. Referring to the yet future and final siege of Jerusalem. See App-53. <\/p>\n battle = war. Not the same word as in Zec 14:3, <\/p>\n gather: Deu 28:9-14, Isa 5:26, Jer 34:1, Dan 2:40-43, Joe 3:2, Mat 22:7, Luk 2:1 <\/p>\n the city: Mat 23:37, Mat 23:38, Mat 24:15, Mat 24:16, Mar 13:14, Mar 13:19, Luk 19:43, Luk 19:44, Luk 21:20-24 <\/p>\n the houses: Isa 13:16, Lam 1:10, Lam 5:11, Lam 5:12, Amo 7:17, Mat 24:19-21 <\/p>\n the residue: Luk 21:24 <\/p>\n shall not: Zec 13:8, Zec 13:9, Isa 65:6-9, Isa 65:18, Mat 24:22, Rom 9:27-29, Gal 4:26, Gal 4:27 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Deu 28:52 – General 2Sa 10:15 – gathered 1Ki 2:4 – fail Isa 14:2 – whose captives they were Isa 54:15 – shall fall Jer 21:4 – and I Jer 30:7 – for Jer 30:16 – General Jer 51:11 – the vengeance Jer 51:27 – ye up Jer 52:15 – carried Eze 5:8 – even I Eze 26:3 – many Eze 38:7 – General Eze 38:15 – and many Hos 10:10 – and the Joe 3:11 – Assemble Amo 6:11 – he will Zep 3:8 – to gather Zep 3:19 – I will undo Zec 11:1 – that Zec 12:3 – in that Zec 14:21 – in the Mal 4:6 – lest Mat 21:41 – He will Mat 24:7 – nation shall Mat 24:21 – General Luk 13:35 – your Luk 17:37 – wheresoever Luk 21:6 – there Luk 21:10 – Nation shall Luk 21:22 – all Joh 11:48 – and the Act 6:14 – that Rev 11:7 – the beast Rev 11:18 – the nations Rev 16:16 – he<\/p>\n Zec 14:2. The events described here are the kind that would be done in a literal siege around Jerusalem. It will be accomplished figuratively in that much opposition will be attempted against the new system of the Lord to be set up In Jerusalem.<\/p>\n The Lord would gather all the nations against Jerusalem to fight against her (cf. Rev 16:16-21, Armageddon). They would capture the city, plunder the houses, and rape the women. Half of the Jewish residents would depart as exiles, but the other half would remain. This would be one-half of the portion of the one-third of the Jewish population that would be in Jerusalem that had not died during the Tribulation (Zec 13:8). This has never yet happened.<\/p>\n "The only [?] explanation is that this is an ideological conflict to remove a non-co-operative element that blocked the way to an international world order." [Note: Baldwin, p. 200.] <\/span><\/p>\n "This eschatological verse alone-with its statement that ’the city will be captured’-is sufficient to refute the notion popular in certain circles that ’the times of the Gentiles’ (Luk 21:24) were fulfilled as of the rebirth of the modern state of Israel. According to Lucan theology, after ’the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,’ Jerusalem will be trampled on no more. Since Zec 14:2 clearly indicates that Jerusalem will be ’trampled on’ again in the future, the ’times of the Gentiles’ would seem to extend to the Messiah’s second advent, when those ’times’ will be replaced by the final, universal, everlasting kingdom of Dan 2:35; Dan 2:44-45." [Note: Barker, p. 689.] <\/span><\/p>\n For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 2. all nations ] Comp. Joe 3:2; … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 14:2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"