remaining people, and bless it again with a fruitful harvest of the fruits of the field and soil. כּי in Zec 8:12, “for,” after a negative clause, “but.” זרע השּׁלום, not the seed will be secure (Chald., Pesh.), but the seed of peace, viz., the vine. This is so designated, not because there is a berâkhâh in the grape (Isa 65:8); but because the vine can only flourish in peaceful times, and not when the land is laid waste by enemies (Koehler). On the words which follow, compare Lev 26:4., Psa 67:7; Hag 1:10; Hag 2:19. “Future abundance will compensate for the drought and scarcity of the past” (Jerome).
Verse 13
The whole blessing is finally summed up in one expression in Zec 8:13 : “And it will come to pass, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I endow you with salvation, that ye may be a blessing. Fear not, let your hands be strong.” The formula, to be a curse among the nations, is to be interpreted according to Jer 24:9; Jer 25:9; Jer 42:18; 2Ki 22:19, as equivalent to being the object of a curse, i.e., so smitten by God as to serve as the object of curses. In harmony with this, the phrase to “become a blessing” is equivalent to being so blessed as to be used as a benedictory formula (cf. Gen 48:22; Jer 29:22). This promise is made to the remnant of Judah and Israel, and therefore of all the twelve tribes, who are to become partakers of the future salvation in undivided unity (cf. Zec 9:10, Zec 9:13; Zec 10:6; Zec 11:14). Israel is therefore to look forward to the future without alarm.
Verses 14-17
The ground upon which this promise rests is given in Zec 8:14 and Zec 8:15, and it is closed in Zec 8:16 and Zec 8:17 by the addition of the condition upon which it is to be fulfilled. Zec 8:14. “For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers were angry with me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and repented not; Zec 8:15. So have I purposed again in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Fear ye not. Zec 8:16. These are the words that ye are to do: speak truth every one to his neighbour; truth and judgment of peace judge ye in your gates. Zec 8:17. And let not one devise the evil of his neighbour, and love not the oath of deceit: for all this, I hate it, is the saying of Jehovah.” As the time of punishment by exile came upon Israel through the decree of God, so is it now a decree of the Lord to show good to Judah. In שׁבתּי זממתּי the שׁבתּי takes the place of the adverbial idea “again.” The
