8:1 VA YEHI DEVAR YHVH TSEVA'OT LE'MOR
וַיְהִי דְּבַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לֵאמֹר
KJ (King James translation): Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then the word of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens [came to me], saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then the word of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens [came to me], saying,
Zechar-Yah may do poetry and especially symbolism brilliantly, but grammar is not his forte! However... see my note to verse 5.
8:2 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT KIN'E'TI LE TSI'ON KIN'AH GEDOLAH VE CHEMAH GEDOLAH KIN'E'TI LAH
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת קִנֵּאתִי לְצִיּוֹן קִנְאָה גְדוֹלָה וְחֵמָה גְדוֹלָה קִנֵּאתִי לָהּ
KJ: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "I yearn for Tsi'on with a great yearning, and I yearn for her with great wrath."
KIN'E'TI...KIN'AH: Jealousy? What does "jealous" mean? We use it colloquially as an error for envy, and it clearly does not mean that here. Jealousy is being determined to keep what you already have, envy is wanting what you don't, but someone else does have: total opposites - I said the same when the word was used in Exodus 20:4 for the Ten Commandments. But this is about YHVH feeling abandoned by his people, and wanting them back. Or YHVH was kicked out of Tsi'on decades ago, when his palace was burned to the ground, and he wants to go home. Either way, yearning, not envy. Zealousy, not jealousy. YHVH has, so to speak, made Yeru-Shala'im his "highest joy".
CHEMAH: from the root CHAM = "heat"; so "rage" or "passion", depending on whether we regard this internally self-contradictory phrase as a positive or a negative.
KIN'E'TI...KIN'AH: Jealousy? What does "jealous" mean? We use it colloquially as an error for envy, and it clearly does not mean that here. Jealousy is being determined to keep what you already have, envy is wanting what you don't, but someone else does have: total opposites - I said the same when the word was used in Exodus 20:4 for the Ten Commandments. But this is about YHVH feeling abandoned by his people, and wanting them back. Or YHVH was kicked out of Tsi'on decades ago, when his palace was burned to the ground, and he wants to go home. Either way, yearning, not envy. Zealousy, not jealousy. YHVH has, so to speak, made Yeru-Shala'im his "highest joy".
CHEMAH: from the root CHAM = "heat"; so "rage" or "passion", depending on whether we regard this internally self-contradictory phrase as a positive or a negative.
8:3 KOH AMAR YHVH SHAVTI EL TSI'ON VE SHACHANTI BETOCH YERU-SHALA'IM VE NIKRE'AH YERU-SHALA'IM IR HA EMET VE HAR YHVH TSEVA'OT HAR HA KODESH
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה שַׁבְתִּי אֶל צִיּוֹן וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְנִקְרְאָה יְרוּשָׁלַםִ עִיר הָאֱמֶת וְהַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת הַר הַקֹּדֶשׁ
KJ: Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
BN: Thus says YHVH, "I have returned to Tsi'on, and I will dwell in the midst of Yeru-Shala'im: and Yeru-Shala'im shall be called 'The City of Truth', and 'The Mountain of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens', 'The Holy Mountain'."
HAR HA KODESH: whence al-Quds in the Moslem-Arabic.
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8:4 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT OD YESHVU ZEKENIM U ZEKENOT BIRCHOVOT YERU-SHALA'IM VE ISH MISH'ANTO BE YADO ME ROV YAMIM
HAR HA KODESH: whence al-Quds in the Moslem-Arabic.
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8:4 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT OD YESHVU ZEKENIM U ZEKENOT BIRCHOVOT YERU-SHALA'IM VE ISH MISH'ANTO BE YADO ME ROV YAMIM
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת עֹד יֵשְׁבוּ זְקֵנִים וּזְקֵנוֹת בִּרְחֹבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְאִישׁ מִשְׁעַנְתּוֹ בְּיָדוֹ מֵרֹב יָמִים
KJ: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "Old men and women shall once again stroll the streets of Yeru-Shala'im, each one with his Elder's staff in his hand...
MISH'ANTO: Just an old person's walking cane, or a badge of office? Remember that the word for "tribes" (MATOT) derives from the MATAH, which was the banner or sceptre or staff of office carried by their sheikh, each one carved to represent the tribe very precisely. And being an "elder" of the tribe went with being one of its senior citizens. So probably both.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "Old men and women shall once again stroll the streets of Yeru-Shala'im, each one with his Elder's staff in his hand...
MISH'ANTO: Just an old person's walking cane, or a badge of office? Remember that the word for "tribes" (MATOT) derives from the MATAH, which was the banner or sceptre or staff of office carried by their sheikh, each one carved to represent the tribe very precisely. And being an "elder" of the tribe went with being one of its senior citizens. So probably both.
8:5 U RECHOVOT HA IR YIMAL'U YELADIM VIYLADOT MESACHAKIM BIRCHOVOTEYHA
וּרְחֹבוֹת הָעִיר יִמָּלְאוּ יְלָדִים וִילָדוֹת מְשַׂחֲקִים בִּרְחֹבֹתֶיהָ
KJ: And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
BN: "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing on her streets."
RECHOVOT... BIRCHOVOTEYHA: Grammar in verse 1, now this sloppy repetition of a phrase here. And yet we have witnessed such heights of poetic craftsmanship, I am beginning to wonder... from the end of this chapter on, according to most scholars, the text will belong to Zechar-Yah's successors and disciples, dates unknown and time of redaction unknown. But perhaps this is already section two. The tone, the style, the language, let alone the grammar and the sloppiness. Or if it is our Zechar-Yah, maybe he hired a new apprentice scribe, and needs to move up the date of his first evaluation, or simply fire him.
BN: "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing on her streets."
RECHOVOT... BIRCHOVOTEYHA: Grammar in verse 1, now this sloppy repetition of a phrase here. And yet we have witnessed such heights of poetic craftsmanship, I am beginning to wonder... from the end of this chapter on, according to most scholars, the text will belong to Zechar-Yah's successors and disciples, dates unknown and time of redaction unknown. But perhaps this is already section two. The tone, the style, the language, let alone the grammar and the sloppiness. Or if it is our Zechar-Yah, maybe he hired a new apprentice scribe, and needs to move up the date of his first evaluation, or simply fire him.
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8:6 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT KI YIPAL'E BE EYNEY SHE'ERIT HA AM HA ZEH BA YAMIM HA HEM GAM BE EYNEY YIPAL'E NE'UM YHVH TSEVA'OT
8:6 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT KI YIPAL'E BE EYNEY SHE'ERIT HA AM HA ZEH BA YAMIM HA HEM GAM BE EYNEY YIPAL'E NE'UM YHVH TSEVA'OT
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת כִּי יִפָּלֵא בְּעֵינֵי שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם הַזֶּה בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם גַּם בְּעֵינַי יִפָּלֵא נְאֻם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "If it was marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, why should it not also be marvellous in my eyes?" says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "If it was marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, why should it not also be marvellous in my eyes?" says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
KOH AMAR... NE'UM YHVH: As with the "streets" in the previous verse.
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8:7 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT HINENI MOSHI'A ET EMI ME ERETS MIZRACH U ME ERETS MEV'O HA SHAMESH
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8:7 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT HINENI MOSHI'A ET EMI ME ERETS MIZRACH U ME ERETS MEV'O HA SHAMESH
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת הִנְנִי מוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת־עַמִּי מֵאֶרֶץ מִזְרָח וּמֵאֶרֶץ מְבוֹא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ
KJ: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "Behold, I will redeem my people from the eastern lands, and from the still more eastern lands as well...
MOSHI'A: Not Mashiyach, which is an entirely different concept, much confused by Christians. This is the role of the deity, where the other is the role of the anointed priest-king. But it is not redemption in the sense of the forgiveness that Heine anticipated on his death-bed, but redemption in the sense that, stripped for cash and in desperate plight, one might take the object one values most to a pawnshop, and later, when circumstances are improved, one would then take the cash back to the pawnshop, and redeem the object.
MEV'O HA SHEMESH is still further east, not west! I presume his point is that there are the tribes who were taken into captivity in Babylon, some of whom were still there under the Persian Medes, but the Yehudim at least knew where they were, even if they had gone, as many did, into India, and even as far as China later on; but there were also the tribes who were taken from the northern kingdom a hundred and forty years before that, and who disappeared somewhere in the lands of Mesopotamia, as close perhaps as Edom or Mo-Av or Ashur itself, in the lands that are now Iraq and Jordan and Syria; but maybe even further.
8:8 VE HEVE'TI OTAM VE SHACHNU BETOCH YERU-SHALA'IM VE HAYU LI LE AM VA ANI EHEYEH LAHEM LE ELOHIM BE EMET U VITSDAKAH
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "Behold, I will redeem my people from the eastern lands, and from the still more eastern lands as well...
MOSHI'A: Not Mashiyach, which is an entirely different concept, much confused by Christians. This is the role of the deity, where the other is the role of the anointed priest-king. But it is not redemption in the sense of the forgiveness that Heine anticipated on his death-bed, but redemption in the sense that, stripped for cash and in desperate plight, one might take the object one values most to a pawnshop, and later, when circumstances are improved, one would then take the cash back to the pawnshop, and redeem the object.
MEV'O HA SHEMESH is still further east, not west! I presume his point is that there are the tribes who were taken into captivity in Babylon, some of whom were still there under the Persian Medes, but the Yehudim at least knew where they were, even if they had gone, as many did, into India, and even as far as China later on; but there were also the tribes who were taken from the northern kingdom a hundred and forty years before that, and who disappeared somewhere in the lands of Mesopotamia, as close perhaps as Edom or Mo-Av or Ashur itself, in the lands that are now Iraq and Jordan and Syria; but maybe even further.
8:8 VE HEVE'TI OTAM VE SHACHNU BETOCH YERU-SHALA'IM VE HAYU LI LE AM VA ANI EHEYEH LAHEM LE ELOHIM BE EMET U VITSDAKAH
וְהֵבֵאתִי אֹתָם וְשָׁכְנוּ בְּתוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְהָיוּ לִי לְעָם וַאֲנִי אֶהְיֶה לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים בֶּאֱמֶת וּבִצְדָקָה
KJ: And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
BN: "And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Yeru-Shala'im, and they shall be my people, and I will be their god, in truth and in righteousness."
The first "Law of Return", or the first "Zionist invasion", depending on your politics.
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8:9 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT TECHEZAKNAH YEDEYCHEM HA SHOM'IM BA YAMIM HA ELEH ET HA DEVARIM HA ELEH MI PI HA NEVIY'IM ASHER BE YOM YUSAD BEIT YHVH TSEVA'OT HA HEYCHAL LEHIBANOT
BN: "And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Yeru-Shala'im, and they shall be my people, and I will be their god, in truth and in righteousness."
The first "Law of Return", or the first "Zionist invasion", depending on your politics.
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8:9 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT TECHEZAKNAH YEDEYCHEM HA SHOM'IM BA YAMIM HA ELEH ET HA DEVARIM HA ELEH MI PI HA NEVIY'IM ASHER BE YOM YUSAD BEIT YHVH TSEVA'OT HA HEYCHAL LEHIBANOT
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת תֶּחֱזַקְנָה יְדֵיכֶם הַשֹּׁמְעִים בַּיָּמִים הָאֵלֶּה אֵת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה מִפִּי הַנְּבִיאִים אֲשֶׁר בְּיוֹם יֻסַּד בֵּית יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת הַהֵיכָל לְהִבָּנוֹת
KJ: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "Strengthen your hands, you who are hearing at this time these words from the mouth of the Prophets who were alive on the day that the foundation of the house of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, was laid - yes, the Temple itself, that it might be built...
TECHEZAKNAH: An allusion, I presume, to Psalm 137, the origjnal Zionist anthem: "if I forget you, Yeru-Shala'im, let my right hand lose its cunning..."
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "Strengthen your hands, you who are hearing at this time these words from the mouth of the Prophets who were alive on the day that the foundation of the house of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, was laid - yes, the Temple itself, that it might be built...
TECHEZAKNAH: An allusion, I presume, to Psalm 137, the origjnal Zionist anthem: "if I forget you, Yeru-Shala'im, let my right hand lose its cunning..."
Is he telling us that the go-ahead has now been given, that work is about to resume? Or even, BE YOM YUSAD, that this speech is being made at the dedication ceremony? Or is it simply one more urge, one more method of encouraging the leaders to get to that point, but getting them to think back to the dedication of the Solomonic Temple? Alas, the latter - see verse 11.
8:10 KI LIPHNEY HA YAMIM HA HEM SECHAR HA ADAM LO NIHEYAH U SECHAR HA BEHEMAH EYNENAH VE LA YOTS'E VE LA VA EYN SHALOM MIN HA TSAR VA ASHALACH ET KOL HA ADAM ISH BE RE'EHU
8:10 KI LIPHNEY HA YAMIM HA HEM SECHAR HA ADAM LO NIHEYAH U SECHAR HA BEHEMAH EYNENAH VE LA YOTS'E VE LA VA EYN SHALOM MIN HA TSAR VA ASHALACH ET KOL HA ADAM ISH BE RE'EHU
כִּי לִפְנֵי הַיָּמִים הָהֵם שְׂכַר הָאָדָם לֹא נִהְיָה וּשְׂכַר הַבְּהֵמָה אֵינֶנָּה וְלַיּוֹצֵא וְלַבָּא אֵין שָׁלוֹם מִן הַצָּר וַאֲשַׁלַּח אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם אִישׁ בְּרֵעֵהוּ
KJ: For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.
BN: "For before those days there was no reward for any man, and no reward for any beast, nor any peace for he who went out or came in, because of the distress: for I set every man against his neighbour...
SECHAR: Can't mean "hire" in this context. The word really means the "wages", rather than the work anyway, so I presume he means it as the rewards of labour ("rewards" is how the word is understood in its most general use, as at Genesis 15:1), but probably spiritually rather more than physically; though in a fertility cult like this one, physically too.
MIN HA TSAR: How does this get translated as "adversary" in several Jewish editions? The answer to that lies in Deuteronomy 32:27, Psalm 81:15, Job 16:9, several other places; my point is that it simply isn't the meaning intended here. But then, what is? KJ goes for "afflicted", which is closer, but doesn't tell us enough detail - afflicted by what, and in what way? I guess the problem is that the verse itself doesn't give us information either, though clearly he means the conquests, the destruction, the captivity, the exile, the marrying-out, the recession, the taxes, the neighbours, the mother-in-law... TSURUS in the Yiddish, from this same source.
BN: "For before those days there was no reward for any man, and no reward for any beast, nor any peace for he who went out or came in, because of the distress: for I set every man against his neighbour...
SECHAR: Can't mean "hire" in this context. The word really means the "wages", rather than the work anyway, so I presume he means it as the rewards of labour ("rewards" is how the word is understood in its most general use, as at Genesis 15:1), but probably spiritually rather more than physically; though in a fertility cult like this one, physically too.
MIN HA TSAR: How does this get translated as "adversary" in several Jewish editions? The answer to that lies in Deuteronomy 32:27, Psalm 81:15, Job 16:9, several other places; my point is that it simply isn't the meaning intended here. But then, what is? KJ goes for "afflicted", which is closer, but doesn't tell us enough detail - afflicted by what, and in what way? I guess the problem is that the verse itself doesn't give us information either, though clearly he means the conquests, the destruction, the captivity, the exile, the marrying-out, the recession, the taxes, the neighbours, the mother-in-law... TSURUS in the Yiddish, from this same source.
8:11 VE ATAH LO CHA YAMIM HA RI'SHONIM ANI LIS'ERIT HA AM HA ZEH NE'UM YHVH TSEVA'OT
וְעַתָּה לֹא כַיָּמִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים אֲנִי לִשְׁאֵרִית הָעָם הַזֶּה נְאֻם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "But now I shall not be to the remnant of this people as I was in days gone by," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
Does that mean he will be better, because they will have rebuilt the Temple, or worse, because they still haven't, or simply different? The answer lies in his yearning, in verse 2: it will be infinitely better. It will, indeed, be Messianic, in the proper meaning of that term, as defined in the verse that follows (and in my note to verse 7). But first you have to "strengthen your hand", which here means: "send a delegation to Susa, and have Dar-Yavesh scour the archives, and find that edict issued by Koresh, and get it reinstated". Alas, that is not to be (see Ezra 4:5-7).
8:12 KI ZER'A HA SHALOM HA GEPHEN TITEN PIRYAH VE HA ARETS TITEN ET YEVULAH VE HA SHAMAYIM YITNU TALAM VE HINCHALTI ET SE'ERIT HA AM HA ZEH ET KOL ELEH
BN: "But now I shall not be to the remnant of this people as I was in days gone by," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
Does that mean he will be better, because they will have rebuilt the Temple, or worse, because they still haven't, or simply different? The answer lies in his yearning, in verse 2: it will be infinitely better. It will, indeed, be Messianic, in the proper meaning of that term, as defined in the verse that follows (and in my note to verse 7). But first you have to "strengthen your hand", which here means: "send a delegation to Susa, and have Dar-Yavesh scour the archives, and find that edict issued by Koresh, and get it reinstated". Alas, that is not to be (see Ezra 4:5-7).
8:12 KI ZER'A HA SHALOM HA GEPHEN TITEN PIRYAH VE HA ARETS TITEN ET YEVULAH VE HA SHAMAYIM YITNU TALAM VE HINCHALTI ET SE'ERIT HA AM HA ZEH ET KOL ELEH
כִּי זֶרַע הַשָּׁלוֹם הַגֶּפֶן תִּתֵּן פִּרְיָהּ וְהָאָרֶץ תִּתֵּן אֶת יְבוּלָהּ וְהַשָּׁמַיִם יִתְּנוּ טַלָּם וְהִנְחַלְתִּי אֶת שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם הַזֶּה אֶת כָּל אֵלֶּה
KJ: For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
BN: "For the seed of peace shall come to fruit; the vine too shall bear fruit, and the ground shall yield its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things...
BN: "For the seed of peace shall come to fruit; the vine too shall bear fruit, and the ground shall yield its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things...
ZER'A HA SHALOM: The ultimate conjunction of mythology with metaphysics, the fertility of the former being seeds of natural life, the fertility of the latter being the fulfilment of human ideals - and this is the SECHAR he intended, two verses ago. The latter however is dependent on the former - nations without a sufficient economy will never be ready for peace with their neighbours, nor consider their time well spent if dedicated to the arts and letters.
8:13 VE HAYAH KA ASHER HEYIYTEM KELALAH BA GOYIM BEIT YEHUDAH U VEIT YISRA-EL KEN OSHIY'A ET'CHEM VI HEYIYTEM BERACHAH AL TIYRA'U TECHEZAKNAH YEDEYCHEM
8:13 VE HAYAH KA ASHER HEYIYTEM KELALAH BA GOYIM BEIT YEHUDAH U VEIT YISRA-EL KEN OSHIY'A ET'CHEM VI HEYIYTEM BERACHAH AL TIYRA'U TECHEZAKNAH YEDEYCHEM
וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר הֱיִיתֶם קְלָלָה בַּגּוֹיִם בֵּית יְהוּדָה וּבֵית יִשְׂרָאֵל כֵּן אוֹשִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם וִהְיִיתֶם בְּרָכָה אַל תִּירָאוּ תֶּחֱזַקְנָה יְדֵיכֶם
KJ: And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
BN: "And it shall come to pass that, where you, the house of Yehudah and the house of Yisra-El, were once a curse among the nations, so I will redeem you, and you shall be a blessing. Have no fear. Strengthen your hands."
BN: "And it shall come to pass that, where you, the house of Yehudah and the house of Yisra-El, were once a curse among the nations, so I will redeem you, and you shall be a blessing. Have no fear. Strengthen your hands."
Yay, the end of anti-Semitism. Good on ya, YHVH!
OSHIY'A: As per my note to verse 7, this is what the concept of Messiah is all about.
TECHEZAKNAH: Again the reminder of Psalm 137. Everything depends on this, and the opening verses make clear that Psalm 137 has been forgotten, by the people, though not by YHVH or his Prophet.
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8:14 KI CHOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT KA ASHER ZAMAMTI LEHAR'A LACHEM BE HAKTSIPH AVOTEYCHEM OTI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT VE LO NICHAMTI
כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת כַּאֲשֶׁר זָמַמְתִּי לְהָרַע לָכֶם בְּהַקְצִיף אֲבֹתֵיכֶם אֹתִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וְלֹא נִחָמְתִּי
KJ: For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
BN: For thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "As I made plans to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "and I was not sorry...
BN: For thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "As I made plans to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "and I was not sorry...
ZAMAMTI: An interesting debate about the source and nature of this word in Gesenius; not essential to our needs here, so I merely link to iy for those interested.
NICHAMTI: With a Chet not a Chaf nor a Kaf: repentance, not comfort, nor revenge; interesting threesome though!
NICHAMTI: With a Chet not a Chaf nor a Kaf: repentance, not comfort, nor revenge; interesting threesome though!
8:15 KEN SHAVTI ZAMAMTI BA YAMIM HA ELEH LEHEYTIV ET YERU-SHALA'IM VE ET BEIT YEHUDAH AL TIYRA'U
כֵּן שַׁבְתִּי זָמַמְתִּי בַּיָּמִים הָאֵלֶּה לְהֵיטִיב אֶת יְרוּשָׁלִַם וְאֶת בֵּית יְהוּדָה אַל תִּירָאוּ
KJ: So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
BN: "So I have gone back and made plans these recent days to do good to Yeru-Shala'im and to the house of Yehudah. Fear not...
BN: "So I have gone back and made plans these recent days to do good to Yeru-Shala'im and to the house of Yehudah. Fear not...
8:16 ELEH HA DEVARIM ASHER TA'ASU DABRU EMET ISH ET RE'EHU EMET U MISHPAT SHALOM SHIPHTU BE SHA'AREYCHEM
אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשׂוּ דַּבְּרוּ אֱמֶת אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ אֱמֶת וּמִשְׁפַּט שָׁלוֹם שִׁפְטוּ בְּשַׁעֲרֵיכֶם
KJ: 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:
BN: "These are the things that you must do: every man must speak the truth to his neighbour; carry out the ordinances of truth and peace in your gates...
BN: "These are the things that you must do: every man must speak the truth to his neighbour; carry out the ordinances of truth and peace in your gates...
ELEH HA DEVARIM: Allusions, and then still more allusions: this is the opening phrase of the Book of Deuteronomy, which gives that book its Yehudit name. However, this is open to debate:a question of when was Deuteronomy written. Orthodox Jews insist that all five books of Torah were given to Mosheh on Mount Sinai; secular scholars insist that Deuteronomy reflects the practices of the Second Temple, and therefore could not have been written before that time. And if the scholars are correct, then Zechar-Yah could not have made allusion to a book that would not come into existence for at least another seventy years; though he could still perfectly well have used the phrase.
The other ostensible allusion is definitely non-viable: "Elu devarim" belongs to the period of Mishnah and Gemara, many centuries later. And yet, like the phrases reminiscent of Pirkei Avot in 7:9, so does what follows in this verse, leaving me still more convinced that these chapters do not belong to Zechar-Yah or his immediate followers at all, but were added on as much as half a millennium later, to make them accord with the theology of Talmudic Judaism.
8:17 VE ISH ET RA'AT RE'EHU AL TACHSHEVU BILVAVCHEM U SHEVU'AT SHEKER AL TE'EHAVU KI ET KOL ELEH ASHER SAN'E'TI NE'UM YHVH
8:17 VE ISH ET RA'AT RE'EHU AL TACHSHEVU BILVAVCHEM U SHEVU'AT SHEKER AL TE'EHAVU KI ET KOL ELEH ASHER SAN'E'TI NE'UM YHVH
וְאִישׁ אֶת רָעַת רֵעֵהוּ אַל תַּחְשְׁבוּ בִּלְבַבְכֶם וּשְׁבֻעַת שֶׁקֶר אַל תֶּאֱהָבוּ כִּי אֶת כָּל אֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵאתִי נְאֻם יְהוָה
KJ: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
BN: "And let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate," says YHVH.
BN: "And let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate," says YHVH.
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8:18 VA YEHI DEVAR YHVH TSEVA'OT ELAI LE'MOR
8:18 VA YEHI DEVAR YHVH TSEVA'OT ELAI LE'MOR
וַיְהִי דְּבַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֵלַי לֵאמֹר
KJ: And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,
BN: Then the word of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, came to me, saying...
BN: Then the word of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, came to me, saying...
8:19 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT TSOM HA REVIY'I VE TSOM HA CHAMIYSHI VE TSOM HA SHEVIY'I VE TSOM HA ASIYRI YIHEYEH LE VEIT YEHUDAH LE SASON U LE SIMCHAH U LE MO'ADIM TOVIM VE HA EMET VE HA SHALOM EHAVU
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת צוֹם הָרְבִיעִי וְצוֹם הַחֲמִישִׁי וְצוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וְצוֹם הָעֲשִׂירִי יִהְיֶה לְבֵית יְהוּדָה לְשָׂשׂוֹן וּלְשִׂמְחָה וּלְמֹעֲדִים טוֹבִים וְהָאֱמֶת וְהַשָּׁלוֹם אֱהָבוּ
KJ: 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; therefore love the truth and peace.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "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 expressions of joy and gladness for the house of Yehudah, an opportunity to celebrate; therefore love truth and peace."
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "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 expressions of joy and gladness for the house of Yehudah, an opportunity to celebrate; therefore love truth and peace."
TSOM: We asked previously what the purpose was... look at a contemporary Jewish almanac and you will see that virtually every day of the year is a fast day, somewhere in the world, honouring some Tsadik, some pogrom, some incident of history. Jewish fasts last from sunset to sunset, 25 hours.
The Fourth month is Tammuz, and the 17th is the day of the fast - details here, but prominent among them is the siege of the First Temple.
The Fifth month is Av, the 9th of which commenorates the destruction of the First Temple (see my note to 7:3)
The Seventh month is Tishrey, so we can presume Yom Kippur, or Yom Tsom Kippur - the Tsom is added to the name by most orthodox Jews precisely because it means "fast".
The Tenth month is Tevet, the fast day is the 10th, and it too is connected to the siege of the First emple - click here.
Which leaves out the one month which most Jews would be likely to mention if asked which were the major months for fasting, which is Elul, the month of Selichot in preparation for Rosh ha Shanah - but perhaps that too was a Talmudic innovation, and therefore not part of Zechar-Yah's annual cycle.
One question left behind in the text. It gives us the number, and we assume it means the month, but it does not actually state "month". The answer probably lies in Zechariah 7:5, when this matter of fasting was first raised. However... see my next note.
LE SASON U LE SIMCHA: On each of the Sheloshat Regalim, the three Harvest Festivals of Pesach, Shavu'ot and Sukot on which pilgrimage to the Temple was an expectation, a special phrase is added (by most communities), to the Shemoneh Esreh (Amidah), as it is also to the Kiddush on Rosh ha Shanah: "mo'adim le-simcha, chagim u-zemanim le-sason - the seasons appointed for rejoicing, the holidays and times appointed for jubilation" - it seems reasonable to conclude that Zechar-Yah is making an allusion to this; and if he is, then he must also be alluding to one or all of those four occasions.
But why, if Zechar-Yah is alluding to the Pilgrim Festivals, do we not assume that the fasts in these four months must also be connected? Pesach, which falls in Nisan, the first month, is prefaced by Ta'anit Bechorim, the Fast of the First-born, on the 14th of the month, with Erev Pesach that same evening; and on the 10th, though it is unconcected with Pesach, there is a fast to commemorate the death of Mir-Yam, recorded in Numbers 20:1. Similarly Shavu'ot, which falls in Sivan, has a fast on the 20th of the month, but it is not connected with the hravest festival, and like the Nisan festivals was introduced by the Rabbis after the destruction of the Second Temple - so these cannot be part of the 7:5 allusion. Nor is there a pilgrim festival in Av, the fifth monthl though, as I pointed out in my note to Zechar-Yah 7:5, the 9th of Av later became the date associated with the destruction of the First Temple, though modern schoalrs reckon that is only because the Second Temple was destroyed on that date.
And why, if none of these can possibly be the ones Zechar-Yah is referencing, why have I spent so many paragraphs exploring them? Because the debate that I have just described has formed part of Yeshivah study for the last two thousasnd years. Rav David Brofsky, for example, in his exegesis of the customs and practices of Rosh ha Shanah (click here) notes that:
One question left behind in the text. It gives us the number, and we assume it means the month, but it does not actually state "month". The answer probably lies in Zechariah 7:5, when this matter of fasting was first raised. However... see my next note.
LE SASON U LE SIMCHA: On each of the Sheloshat Regalim, the three Harvest Festivals of Pesach, Shavu'ot and Sukot on which pilgrimage to the Temple was an expectation, a special phrase is added (by most communities), to the Shemoneh Esreh (Amidah), as it is also to the Kiddush on Rosh ha Shanah: "mo'adim le-simcha, chagim u-zemanim le-sason - the seasons appointed for rejoicing, the holidays and times appointed for jubilation" - it seems reasonable to conclude that Zechar-Yah is making an allusion to this; and if he is, then he must also be alluding to one or all of those four occasions.
But why, if Zechar-Yah is alluding to the Pilgrim Festivals, do we not assume that the fasts in these four months must also be connected? Pesach, which falls in Nisan, the first month, is prefaced by Ta'anit Bechorim, the Fast of the First-born, on the 14th of the month, with Erev Pesach that same evening; and on the 10th, though it is unconcected with Pesach, there is a fast to commemorate the death of Mir-Yam, recorded in Numbers 20:1. Similarly Shavu'ot, which falls in Sivan, has a fast on the 20th of the month, but it is not connected with the hravest festival, and like the Nisan festivals was introduced by the Rabbis after the destruction of the Second Temple - so these cannot be part of the 7:5 allusion. Nor is there a pilgrim festival in Av, the fifth monthl though, as I pointed out in my note to Zechar-Yah 7:5, the 9th of Av later became the date associated with the destruction of the First Temple, though modern schoalrs reckon that is only because the Second Temple was destroyed on that date.
And why, if none of these can possibly be the ones Zechar-Yah is referencing, why have I spent so many paragraphs exploring them? Because the debate that I have just described has formed part of Yeshivah study for the last two thousasnd years. Rav David Brofsky, for example, in his exegesis of the customs and practices of Rosh ha Shanah (click here) notes that:
Regarding the text of the Shemoneh Esreh and Kiddush of Rosh Ha-shana, the Rosh (Rosh Ha-shana 4:14), and subsequently his son, the Tur (582), bring different customs. They cite Rav Sar-Shalom, Rav Paltoi Gaon and Rav Shemu'el ben Chofni, who report that in the two major Babylonian yeshivot they would say on Rosh Ha-shana the standard Shalosh Regalim formula, thanking God for giving us “mo’adim le-simcha, chaggim u-zmannim le-sason,” “appointed seasons for rejoicing, holidays and times for jubilation.” The Tur concludes, however, that the custom is in accordance with Rav Hai Gaon, who omits the references to simcha. Clearly, they are debating the very character of Rosh Ha-shana.
MO'ADIM TOVIM: A Mo'ed is simply a festival day, and does not automatically assume feasting; and in this instance it cannot assume feasting, unless beforehand or afterwards, as by definition they are all days of abstinence from food. The point is the one that Yesha-Yahu (Isaiah) makes repeatedly: that afflicting oneself through abstinence should not be an act of masochism, but an opportunity to make the body sacred by focusing on its needs through fasting, and should be done happily, because it leads to self-improvement.
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8:20 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT OD ASHER YAVO'U AMIM VE YOSHVEY ARIM RABOT
8:21 VE HALCHU YOSHVEY ACHAT EL ACHAT LE'MOR NELCHAH HALOCH LEHALOT ET PENEY YHVH U LEVAKESH ET YHVH TSEVA'OT ELCHAH GAM ANI
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8:20 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT OD ASHER YAVO'U AMIM VE YOSHVEY ARIM RABOT
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת עֹד אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ עַמִּים וְיֹשְׁבֵי עָרִים רַבּוֹת
KJ: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "It shall yet come to pass, that nations will arrive, and the inhabitants of many cities...
Pilgrims coming to worship at what is now accepted as the only true and authentic shrine to the only true and authentic deity.... tourists, coming to take selfies among the surviving obsolescences of history... or simply a prevision of the disastrous overpopulation of the urban wasteland. Take your pick.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "It shall yet come to pass, that nations will arrive, and the inhabitants of many cities...
Pilgrims coming to worship at what is now accepted as the only true and authentic shrine to the only true and authentic deity.... tourists, coming to take selfies among the surviving obsolescences of history... or simply a prevision of the disastrous overpopulation of the urban wasteland. Take your pick.
8:21 VE HALCHU YOSHVEY ACHAT EL ACHAT LE'MOR NELCHAH HALOCH LEHALOT ET PENEY YHVH U LEVAKESH ET YHVH TSEVA'OT ELCHAH GAM ANI
וְהָלְכוּ יֹשְׁבֵי אַחַת אֶל אַחַת לֵאמֹר נֵלְכָה הָלוֹךְ לְחַלּוֹת אֶת פְּנֵי יְהוָה וּלְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֵלְכָה גַּם אָנִי
KJ: 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.
BN: And those who come to settle shall go one to another, saying, "Let us go quickly to entreat the favour of YHVH, and to seek YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens: I too will go."
BN: And those who come to settle shall go one to another, saying, "Let us go quickly to entreat the favour of YHVH, and to seek YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens: I too will go."
Or a fourth and a fifth option for my note to the previous verse: the fourth,the down-side of economic and cultural success - all the rag tag and bobtail of the failed world come rushing, wanting their slice, though they have done nothing of their own to merit it, stealing it from us. (Enoch Powell, circa 1968. Nigel Farage, circa 2014).
The fifth, the upside of economic and cultural success - all the failed (or all the strong, in the next verse) peoples of the world will see that there is a moral and ethical path that can be followed to high achievement, and they too will wish to be initiated, so that they can add their slice to ours and make us even richer. (Zechar-Yah, circa 520 BCE)
The fifth, the upside of economic and cultural success - all the failed (or all the strong, in the next verse) peoples of the world will see that there is a moral and ethical path that can be followed to high achievement, and they too will wish to be initiated, so that they can add their slice to ours and make us even richer. (Zechar-Yah, circa 520 BCE)
8:22 U VA'U AMIM RABIM VE GOYIM ATSUMIM LEVAKESH ET YHVH TSEVA'OT BIYRU'SHALA'IM U LECHALOT ET PENEY YHVH
וּבָאוּ עַמִּים רַבִּים וְגוֹיִם עֲצוּמִים לְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת בִּירוּשָׁלָםִ וּלְחַלּוֹת אֶת פְּנֵי יְהוָה
KJ: Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
BN: Many nations, many strong people, shall come to seek YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, in Yeru-Shala'im, and to entreat the favour of YHVH.
BN: Many nations, many strong people, shall come to seek YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, in Yeru-Shala'im, and to entreat the favour of YHVH.
ATSUMIM: Wasn't that the word that he used earlier for the red horses? No, that was AMUTSIM, which is an anagram, but also, curiously enough, has the same meaning.
Have you, like me, noticed that there are two very different voices in this chapter? This last is the Zechar-Yah we are used to, playing his word-games to make his points, even if they go way over the heads of his listeners. Whereas those Talmudic-sounding pieces, pompous sermonising platitudes and clichés every one, and those dreadful repeat-phrases and grammar errors, feel like someone five hundred years later re-writing this to suit his purpose at the time. Clearly there was an original.
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8:23 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT BA YAMIM HA HEMAH ASHER YACHAZIYKU ASARAH ANASHIM MI KOL LESHONOT HA GOYIM VE HECHEZIYKU BICHNAPH ISH YEHUDI LE'MOR NELCHAH IMACHEM KI SHAMA'NU ELOHIM IMACHEM
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8:23 KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT BA YAMIM HA HEMAH ASHER YACHAZIYKU ASARAH ANASHIM MI KOL LESHONOT HA GOYIM VE HECHEZIYKU BICHNAPH ISH YEHUDI LE'MOR NELCHAH IMACHEM KI SHAMA'NU ELOHIM IMACHEM
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת בַּיָּמִים הָהֵמָּה אֲשֶׁר יַחֲזִיקוּ עֲשָׂרָה אֲנָשִׁים מִכֹּל לְשֹׁנוֹת הַגּוֹיִם וְהֶחֱזִיקוּ בִּכְנַף אִישׁ יְהוּדִי לֵאמֹר נֵלְכָה עִמָּכֶם כִּי שָׁמַעְנוּ אֱלֹהִים עִמָּכֶם
KJ: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "In those days it will come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of he who is a Yehudi, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.'"
BICHNAPH: "Skirt" is correct. Trousers, which I have seen in several translations, are a very modern, and still fairly rare, male clothing item in the Middle East, though the Persian Sirwal, which came in with the Aryans from India, were well on their way to becoming trousers. Kilts and bernousim for the most part; so skirts for their hems either way.
ELOHIM: YHVH saying this, remember. He is still only the head of the pantheon, not yet the Omnideity.
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BN: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "In those days it will come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of he who is a Yehudi, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.'"
BICHNAPH: "Skirt" is correct. Trousers, which I have seen in several translations, are a very modern, and still fairly rare, male clothing item in the Middle East, though the Persian Sirwal, which came in with the Aryans from India, were well on their way to becoming trousers. Kilts and bernousim for the most part; so skirts for their hems either way.
ELOHIM: YHVH saying this, remember. He is still only the head of the pantheon, not yet the Omnideity.
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