Commentary on Zechariah 1 part 13/24

Since, therefore, the things of the letter are impossible, we say that there are so many thousands of those who live undefiled and blameless, on account of the virtue inhering in the number;

for it is a square number, of which every side is twelve thousands, this number too possessing much prerogative, as will be clear to one who gathers examples from Scripture.

An irrefutable clarity concerning these matters has been set forth in the commentaries on the Apocalypse of John and on Paul's Epistle to the Romans; and whoever reads them will behold the divine contemplations concerning the numbers scattered throughout Scripture — both that before the sojourn of the Savior, which is called the Old Testament, and that after Christ's coming hither, which is entitled the New.

'The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Sedrach and of Damascus, because the Lord watcheth over men and over all the tribes of Israel, and Hemath in her borders.'

The saints, being ministers of the divine word, receive it, God giving it, so that, being possessed by God, they may proclaim, according to him who speaks in Christ, the knowledge of things to come.

In this manner Habakkuk, being held fast by God, beheld a divine burden;

for it is written concerning him:

'The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.' Here too, therefore, concerning such a bearing of God, a burden of the word of the Lord is announced.

But what is the burden of the word, and concerning whom does it wish to speak? In the land, it says, of Sedrach and of Damascus, and Hemath in the borders of Damascus, it comes to pass, while God watches over men and over the tribes of Israel.

And it is a blessed thing to be seen by God, according to the saying:

'The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,' and according to him who prays to attain this, saying in supplication:

'Look upon me and have mercy on me.' Consider whether the land of Sedrach can indicate the multitude of the ancient people who have believed in the Savior, who says:

'Learn of me, that I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.' And Damascus intimates those called out from idols;

for great superstition is diligently practised by the Damascenes.

Wherefore also, being opposite to those who found rest for their souls through the Savior who is meek and lowly in heart, they are cruel and savage, murderous against their neighbours.

by faith; after whom, second, are those from the tribes of Israel.

All those mentioned, being wild before the divine calling, were within the borders of the land of the Damascenes, whom Jesus, while yet a child, took as spoil, receiving the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus before the king of the Assyrians.

See whether this victory of the infant, not yet having age to call father or mother, intimates the calling of the magi from the east, who came from the eastern regions to Jerusalem to worship the King born there, being guided by a star that appeared to them, as the Gospel according to Matthew declares.

'Tyre and Sidon, because they were exceedingly proud';

'And Tyre built strongholds for herself, and heaped up silver as dust, and gathered gold as the mire of the streets.'

'Therefore the Lord will inherit her, and will smite her power into the sea, and she shall be consumed in fire.'

Through the names set forth, the calling of all the nations is signified.

For the Tyrians and Sidonians are utterly given to idolatry.

For that which is said in one of the Psalms:

'The daughters of Tyre shall worship him with gifts,' intimates the calling of those who had no hope, and the conversion of the nations that were godless in the world.

According to the same understanding one must also take that which stands thus in another ode:

'Glorious things were spoken concerning thee, O city of God; and behold, foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians — these were born there.' For then, then, they come to be in the glorified city of God, when both the foreigners, and the Tyrians, and the people of the Ethiopians turn from the impiety and superstition which they held, so that they may be reckoned a portion and inheritance of God, having ceased from the error of the foreigners and from the idolatry of the Tyrians and the Ethiopians.

One must endeavour to take up together with the foregoing also the things in the Gospel which stand thus:

'Woe unto thee, Chorazin; woe unto thee, Bethsaida;'

'for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.' For when the prodigious mighty works of Jesus were accomplished, the citizens of Chorazin and Bethsaida, being Jews, did not repent, whereas Tyrians and Sidonians would have repented had they been done among them;

yet even though at that time they did not see the wondrous mighty works of Jesus, nevertheless later, at some time beholding them and believing in him who wrought them, they came to repentance.

Their calling that was to come, then, the present prophecy also makes plain, standing thus:

'Tyre and Sidon, because they were exceedingly proud,' boasting so as to build strongholds which seemed to be impregnable;

and these are sophistical and contentious arguments, on which, being greatly proud, she supposed herself to be hard to capture and invincible.

Concerning such fortresses zealously reared by the heterodox, as being destined to be cast down by those who wage war under God, the Apostle writes:

'The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty for God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down reasonings, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.' For it is not concerning sensible strongholds cast down by reasonings — that is, by contentious arguments — that the apostolic phrase speaks.

And to Nineveh — which is translated as 'the adorned' — being greatly proud on account of the enclosures and impregnable fortresses she had built, the Destroyer of such things, uttering threats, says:

'And thou also shalt be made drunken, and shalt be passed over, and shalt seek for thyself a standing-place from among thine enemies.'

'Thy strongholds are fig trees having watchmen; and if they be shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.' For how should she not be passed over by the Provider of all things — she who has become drunken from the wine of profligacy, whose very drinking the Apostle who speaks in Christ forbids, writing —

and Moses interpreted the venom of asps to be incurable, saying:

'for their vine is of the vine of Sodom'; and a little after:

'Their wine is the fury of dragons, and the incurable venom of asps.' She who partakes of this drink unto drunkenness is passed over by God her guardian, so as no longer to find a standing-place, while invisible enemies press upon her, ravaging her after the manner of mighty foes.

And what will follow upon this convulsion, but that her strongholds, which she deemed secure and unshakeable, will become so weakened as to be moved like fig trees having watchmen — in which convulsion her fruit falls into the mouth of the eater?

For the adversary and enemy gaped and opened his mouth, ready to receive and devour those who fall away from the strongholds, since through much weakness they had been shown to be easily shaken; whereas the triumphant King of all had given power to trample the opposing phalanx, according to what was said in the Gospel by the Savior to His familiar friends:

'I have given you authority to tread upon others and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall harm you'—that is, injure you.

That to fall into the mouth of one devouring signifies being defeated is attested by many Scriptures, and especially by this:

'Israel is a scattered sheep; lions have driven him out.'

First the king of Assyria devoured him, and afterward the king of Babylon gnawed his bones. Yet even if the opposing powers—likened to lionesses for their savagery—prevailed, still they shall pay the penalty, when the Israel who had been swallowed up by them is set free, being allegorically called a sheep, so that the prophet cries out in triumph:

'Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of His produce;'

'all that devour him shall incur guilt; evils shall come upon them, says the Lord.' The word mocks against her who had become drunk and was despised, adding:

'Draw for yourself water of siege; take firm hold of your strongholds, which you supposed to be invincible.'

For even if at one time the sophistries seemed indissoluble and the contentious arguments seemed irrefutable, yet when the truth appears they shall be pulled down, so as no longer in any way to exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.

In like manner you will understand that fortresses and supposedly indestructible barriers have been built by those who plead the cause of idolatry and polytheistic error;

these, by way of allegory, are named Tyrians, which when rendered into Greek speech means 'a place of confinement' and 'those who hold together.'

And since all the wicked are such of themselves—no one being base in essence but by his own doing—Tyre too becomes God's inheritance, together with all those concerning whom it was said by the Father to the Savior:

'Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance.' Being one of the nations that are inherited, Tyre too shall be subdued, so as at last to repent when she beholds the marvelous powers of Jesus.

For if formerly she boasted, building strongholds and heaping up silver like dust, and gathering gold like the mire of the streets, her power has been dragged down into the tempest of human life—allegorically named a sea—since neither the hoarded silver profited her (being compared for its multitude or worthlessness to the dust of the earth), nor did the gathered gold, likened to the mire of the streets, contribute to her security;

for however much the advocates of impiety may play the sophist and devise their schemes, the objects of their zeal shall be handed over to destruction.

For how shall the wealth of those who rage madly against the truth not be compared to dust—those who bear the image of the man of dust—and likewise the gold which they have amassed be counted worthless like the mire of the streets? For those who walk in the ways of impious teachings tread upon mire, so as to suffer countless slips.

and of that fire concerning which the Savior said:

'I came to cast fire upon the earth; would that it were already kindled,' that by it might be consumed every harmful growth, which is thorn and thistle and tare.

For it will be for Tyre's good to experience being thus consumed by fire, according to what was said by the Savior:

'Everyone shall be salted with fire.' And it is profitable also that all her power be brought down into the sea, in which the hoarded silver is as dust and the gathered gold is likened to the mire of the streets.

When her overweening power has been dragged down into the sea, and she herself consumed by fire, the residue that first lies subject shall be inherited by the Lord, being His own handiwork;

for thus also all the nations shall become His inheritance, having turned away from every superstition and polytheistic error.

Let everything said concerning Tyre be understood also concerning Sidon;

for as the vice and impiety are the same, so also the repentance and turning to God are the same.

Sidon has great affinity with Tyre in the worship of idols.

'Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid, and Gaza, and shall be exceedingly pained, and Ekron, because she was put to shame in her hope.'

'And the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.'

'And foreigners shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will pull down the insolence of the Philistines.'

'And I will take away their blood out of their mouth, and their abominations from between their teeth, and these too shall be left as a remnant for our God, and shall be as a captain of thousands in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.'

'And I will set up for My house a garrison, that none pass through nor return, and there shall no more come upon them one that drives out, because now I have seen with My own eyes.'

When Ashkelon beheld the grievous things that had befallen the Tyrians, she was seized with fear, dreading lest she should ever fall under the same sufferings; and Gaza was exceedingly pained, and Ekron too endured shame, her hope having fallen through.

But what is the cause of Gaza's being exceedingly pained, if not that her king perished; and of Ashkelon's being afraid, if not that her inhabitants had endured grievous things? In like manner you will understand also concerning Ekron and Ashdod, and, in a word, concerning the Philistines.

Such being the matters that pertain to the literal sense, we must now consider those that pertain to the elevated interpretation.

Ashkelon, being one that is 'weighed and measured' because of her preciousness and being well founded, having taken up a contemplative mind, shall see—no longer blinded by base pleasure and the other passions—so as to take up godly reverence, so as to be numbered among those who possess this virtue, concerning whom the proverbial oracle speaks about wisdom and her father:

'He will guard the way of those who reverence Him.' Exhorting all men to advance into this praiseworthy condition, the prophet here set forth—or rather the Word who is in him—exhorts, saying:

'Let all flesh reverence before the face of the Lord Almighty.'

And since the foregoing prophecy has proclaimed in advance not only the grievous things that befell Tyre, but also her change for the better, Ashkelon, beholding these things, gained a perfect reverence, that which is presented from the words:

'The fear of the Lord surpasses all things,' and from this:

'There is no want to those who fear the Lord,' for they are filled with all that is profitable, and those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Following upon Ashkelon, who feared through having with clear vision fixed her gaze upon the praiseworthy transformation of Tyre, Gaza too shall be exceedingly pained, likewise in the manner of one who through repentance laments, saying:

the faculty of reason given to her by nature.

So many things having been dispensed for the sake of Gaza, who was exceedingly pained, Ekron also—being a certain 'barrenness,' for so it is interpreted—shall incur shame, her hope having fallen through.

And since childbearing is understood in two ways according to the anagogical sense—the one occurring from those able to say to God:

'From Your fear we conceived in the womb, and travailed, and gave birth.' And this is praiseworthy, having the bridegroom Word as sower, whereas that which is constituted from adulterers is blameworthy.

Concerning such offspring, then, and concerning her mother, it is said by the Master of all things:

'Her children I will not pity, because they are children of harlotry;'

'their mother played the harlot; she who conceived them acted shamefully.' Since the succession of children is divided in two ways, it is blessed to endure barrenness—that barrenness, namely, which afflicts her who bears destructively from invisible wicked lovers;

for this deprivation turns out for good, when the sowing from God takes its beginning, from which there shall be a generation of saving produce, so that at last the well-favored bride is settled, having become the mother of many children in the house of the husband concerning whom it is said thus in the Psalms:

'To Him who settles the barren woman in a house as a joyful mother of children;'

and in another Scripture, after barrenness, good and abundant childbearing is recorded:

'The barren has borne seven.' Concerning her—or rather to her—the prophet Isaiah cries out:

'Break forth and cry aloud, you who do not travail, for the children of the desolate are more than of her who has the husband.' The Scriptures thus adduced hint especially at the two callings: that from the circumcision and that from the nations.

For the one had the Law as husband, bearing children from him;

but the other was barren and bereft of children, when, being godless, she had no hope at all in the world, according to what was written by Paul concerning the idolaters.

Such being the case, when the true Bridegroom came to dwell among them, the barren one became through Him a mother of divine offspring, named 'seven' because of the incorruption and purity belonging to them—this mystical hebdomad possessing these virtues—so that, though the barren bore seven, she was settled by the husband as a mother of joyful children.

'She who abounded in children has grown weak,' since many of her children came into being, not so much in number as in vulgarity.

For this too is shown from the wording, just as in the Gospel those are said to be many who travel the broad way, which has destruction as its end.

In this manner also the sons of Israel, being ruled by the tyrant of spiritual Egypt, became many and exceedingly vulgar.

Separating himself and those entrusted with the same ministry as himself from the 'many' thus spoken of, the Apostle writes:

'We are not like the many, who peddle the word of the Lord.' With this contemplation agrees also that which is proclaimed in a hymn by the psalmist:

'Many say to my soul,' and again:

'Many rise up against me.' When the synagogue of those from the circumcision had grown weak because of the vulgarity of her children, though she had the Law as husband, she who was called from the nations became a mother, though she was formerly barren, the aforementioned seven children having been regenerated not from corruptible seed but from incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God, so that at last the multitude of children of the desolate is greater than of her who dwells with the Law—the one allegorically called a husband.

Since different children and their begetting have been made manifest according to divine instruction, it will be for good that the soul which is readily disposed to bear children of destruction should be made barren, whereas it is destructive and injurious that the soul readily able to conceive from the seeds of the Word of God should be made barren.

Therefore it is fitting to pray against such a barrenness, that there may come to be a generation of refined and good children.

the expectation that rests upon a multitude of useless children.

When these things had come to pass for Ekron, her expectation having fallen through, the king of Gaza perished.

Who this is has been stated in what precedes.

Her king is the passion, or rather the reason, that governs her.

And if he is the ruler before the better manner of life and conduct, then the destruction of this one is most delightful;

but if he is the one after the improvement and the advance toward the good... the flesh of the dragon; but also those who bite and devour one another have abominations in their teeth and blood in their own mouth.

When these things are taken away, there are left to the Lord those who have been set free from murderous insolence;

for once every evil that has befallen men is done away with, there remains that which is 'according to the image and likeness', in respect of which they were fashioned by God.

For since man, being in honour, did not understand, but fell into a brutish manner and was likened to the senseless beasts, when the brutishness and the bestial condition are taken away, the honour is left to our God, once the rational faculty of the man who has become upright is displayed, and the many crooked reasonings are removed. For God made man upright, but they themselves sought out vain reasonings, which are many because of their baseness.

So then, in the prophetic passage before us, when those things are done away with according to which they had become men of Ashkelon and citizens of Gaza and inhabitants of Ekron, those who were fashioned according to the image and likeness of God will themselves also be left to our God, confessing to Him with sincerity, so as to be styled captains of thousands of Judah;

for 'Judah' is rendered as 'one who confesses'.

And everyone who confesses with a ruling and princely purpose is a captain of a thousand.

But Ekron too shall be as the Jebusite, which is rendered as 'a treading down'.

When these things have come to pass, God builds for those who have been benefited a fortress, a stronghold possessed of height, so that those remaining within, standing firmly established, may no longer wander to and fro here and there, borne about in disorder, nor turn back again to the sins they have left behind, but rather, forgetting them and reaching forth unto the things which are before, may attain to the prize of the high calling.

When these good deeds have been accomplished, or rather these gifts of God, there is no longer any enemy that drives away, since all who savagely press upon them have been overthrown.

Once the tyrant of spiritual Egypt pursued the people of God, so that he spoke boldly and boastfully, saying:

'I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the spoils, I will glut my soul, I will destroy with my sword, my hand shall have dominion'; and while he was still speaking these boastful words, he was submerged beneath the waves, all his arrogant words being overturned, so that he was no longer one who drives away.

This very same drama the king of the Assyrians also underwent;

for having boldly threatened countless things, he was at once destroyed, and a great host of his army was laid low in the turn of a single hour by one angel, as the Scripture proclaims, saying that a single angel slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand, so that he was no longer strong enough to drive away the people of God.

So then the Benefactor and the Author of all blessed salvation says:

'For this reason there is no longer one who drives away now, because I have seen with my eyes'—that is, with the beholding powers—concerning which the Apostle writes thus:

'All things are naked and laid open to the eyes of God and to His word.'

It must be said, secondly, that the seeing eyes of God are the overseeing angels who preside over the affairs of men, concerning whom the psalmist says:

'His eyes look upon the nations.' And it is not unfitting also to call the contemplative men, whose divine visions have been recorded, the eyes of God;

they are eyes possessed of keen sight, as the apostolic passage makes plain.

Therefore, since the eyes—interpreted according to all the renderings of the text—behold those upon whom they keep watch, every one who drives away shall depart out of the way.

And this too may be applied to the prophecy:

since the eyes have beheld the Saviour coming for the benefaction and salvation of all, every one who drives away has been destroyed, authority having been given to tread upon serpents and scorpions and all the power of Satan.

For next after what precedes, the triumphant Saviour, who is to come, is presented thus:

'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem'; and the rest of the text, which must be set out word for word as follows.

'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem;'

'behold, your king comes to you, righteous and bringing salvation.'

'He is meek and mounted upon a beast of burden and a young colt.'

'And he shall utterly destroy chariots out of Ephraim and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the war-bow shall be utterly destroyed; and there shall be abundance and peace from among the nations.'

'And he shall rule over the waters as far as the sea, and over the rivers to the outgoings of the earth.'

The evangelists say that the prophecy here set forth was fulfilled by Jesus when He mounted upon the ass and the colt, which had been loosed and brought from the village opposite—which may God grant to be made clear to those who expound the Gospels, concerning which we too have spoken as far as was possible in our commentaries on the Gospel according to Matthew.

Wherefore now, in addition to those things, the words of the prophet must also be contemplated.

He commands the daughter of Zion to rejoice intently and vehemently, and the daughter of Jerusalem to proclaim, because the King and Saviour comes, righteous and bringing salvation, meek and mounted upon a beast of burden and a young colt, so that chariots may be utterly destroyed out of Ephraim and the horse out of Jerusalem, and moreover the war-bow, and a multitude of nations and peace.

And when these things have been accomplished, He who is to come shall rule over the waters as far as the sea, and over the rivers which have their outgoings in the earth.

It is fitting to state what each of these things means.

The daughter of Zion is the soul that keeps watch over noble things, contemplating the things that are not seen, which are eternal;

for Zion is interpreted as 'watchtower', and 'a commandment fulfilled'.

For how does the soul that watches over the truth not fulfil the divine commandment, translating it into works, so as to say with confidence:

'The commandment of the Lord is clear-shining, enlightening the eyes;'

'Your commandment is exceeding broad, and Your servant has loved it.' Just as, then, such a soul is a daughter of Zion in the manner described, so also might there be a certain daughter of Jerusalem, a soul that beholds the peace which surpasses all understanding.

Clearly the word commands both: the one to rejoice vehemently at the coming of the true King, the other, as one who has ascended higher, also to proclaim the all-ruling King who comes.

For Jerusalem excels Zion, and for this reason the daughter also excels the daughter, so that the one is commanded only to rejoice, while the other is commanded also to proclaim.

For he who has rightly ordered only the practical life is able to rejoice, while he who possesses contemplation both rejoices and proclaims, because he has received the surpassing gift of the Holy Spirit, the word of wisdom and knowledge.

And the prophecy commands them to rejoice greatly and to proclaim at the coming of a King who is at once the one who saves and also righteous, being no other than Jesus.

For who thus saves and is Saviour of the world except Emmanuel, God with us, born of a virgin who had no experience of a man, in fulfilment of the prophecy which runs thus:

'Behold, the virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bear a son.' This offspring of the virgin who bore without a man, the angel named Jesus, giving also the reason for this designation.

'For this reason,' he says, 'He shall be called Jesus, because He Himself shall save His people from their sins.'

In Bethlehem, a great angel standing by said:

'Today there is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.' Concerning the Christ who was born, those who foreannounced His descent hither were commanded, according to the passage in Isaiah:

'Behold, your Saviour comes to you';

and this one is no other than Jesus, who announced concerning Himself:

'The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost';

'A righteous one and a Saviour there is none besides Me.' For how is He not one who saves, He who was raised up by the Father as a horn of salvation in the house of David, according to Zechariah, who, filled with the Holy Spirit, being the father of John the Baptist, said:

'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has visited and wrought redemption;'

'He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David.' In addition to the coming King being righteous and one who saves, He is also meek, mounted upon a beast of burden and a colt;

He Himself, at any rate, says concerning Himself in the Gospel:

'Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls;'

'for my yoke is kindly and my burden is light.' Each of those who bear the kindly yoke is a beast of burden, upon which the meek King has mounted;

and since He is Saviour not only of those yoked to His kindly yoke, but also of those newly called, He has also mounted upon a young colt, one still untamed and unbridled, so that He might tame it too, like a most excellent breaker of colts.

In addition to this understanding, there are signified by the passage both the peoples that were called: the one from the circumcision, yoked to the yoke of the law according to the letter and the shadow, called a heavy yoke, and the one straightway called out of all idolatry and the worst superstition.

And that those under the law according to the letter bore a heavy yoke, the apostles say concerning it in the Book of their own Acts, that 'neither we nor our fathers were able to bear the heavy yoke of the law.'

In harmony with this, Paul too, who speaks in Christ, writes to the Galatians who wished to be circumcised in the perceptible sense after the gospel:

'Stand fast therefore, and do not again be held under a yoke of bondage.' For it was no longer fitting for the disciples of the gospel to be subject to the load and to the heavy yoke, since they had believed Him who said:

'My yoke is kindly.' In like manner the meek King has also mounted upon the colt called new, in order that He might create the two in Himself into one new man.