Zechariah 1:5

Zechariah 1:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
• New International Version (NIV)Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

Context of Zechariah 1:5

3Therefore say to the Jews, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts (armies), “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and I shall return to you. 4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Repent [that is, change your way of thinking] and return now from your evil way [of life] and from your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me,” declares the Lord. “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6But did not My words (warnings) and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts planned to do to us [in discipline and punishment], in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so has He dealt with us.’ ” ’ ” 7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (Feb 15, 519 b.c.), which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of [the reign of] Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows:

Zechariah 1:5 word by word

אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם אַיֵּה־הֵ֑ם וְהַ֨נְּבִאִ֔ים הַלְעוֹלָ֖ם יִֽחְיֽוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Your fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
• they? and the prophetsנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
• do they liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
• for everעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769

Cross-references for Zechariah 1:5

• Job 14:10But [the brave, strong] man must die and lie face down; Man breathes his last, and where is he?
• Psalms 90:10The days of our life are seventy years— Or even, if because of strength, eighty years; Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow, For it is soon gone and we fly away.
• Ecclesiastes 1:4One generation goes and another generation comes, But the earth remains forever.
• Ecclesiastes 9:1For I have taken all this to heart, exploring and examining it all, how the righteous (those in right standing with God) and the wise and their deeds are in the hands of God. No man knows whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.
• Ecclesiastes 12:5Furthermore, they are afraid of a high place and of dangers on the road; the almond tree (hair) blossoms [white], and the grasshopper (a little thing) is a burden, and the caperberry (desire, appetite) fails. For man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets and market places.
• Acts 13:36For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried among his fathers and experienced decay [in the grave];
• Hebrews 7:23The [former successive line of] priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were each prevented by death from continuing [perpetually in office];
• Hebrews 9:27And just as it is appointed and destined for all men to die once and after this [comes certain] judgment,
• 2 Peter 3:2that you should remember the words spoken in the past [about the future] by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior given by your apostles [His personally chosen representatives].

Commentaries on Zechariah 1:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Your fathers, where are they? - Israel has been destroyed and ruined in the bloody wars with the Assyrians; and Judah, in those with the Chaldeans. The prophets, do they live for ever? - They also, who spoke unto your fathers, are dead; but their predictions remain; and the events, which have taken place according to those predictions, prove that God sent them.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Your fathers, where are they? - The abrupt solemnity of the question seems to imply an unexpected close of life which cut short their hopes, plans, promises to self. “When they said, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them” 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Yet not they only but the prophets too, who ministered God‘s Word to them, these also being human beings, passed away, some of them before their time as people, by the martyr‘s death. Many of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-6The prelude identifies the book’s themes as repentance and spiritual renewal, and establishes a tone of hope and encouragement.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Your fathers ... and the prophets, do they live for ever?--In contrast to "My words" (Zec 1:6), which "endure for ever" (1Pe 1:25). "Your fathers have perished, as was foretold; and their fate ought to warn you. But you may say, The prophets too are dead. I grant it, but still My words do not die: though dead, their prophetical words from Me, fulfilled against your fathers, are not dead with them. Beware, then, lest ye share their fate."Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 1:5

• Death

In the dictionaries

• Angel
• Bible, the
• Host of Heaven
• House
• Joshua (3)
• Molech; Moloch
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Zechariah 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings