Zechariah 7:5

Zechariah 7:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
• New International Version (NIV)“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Say to all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?

Context of Zechariah 7:5

3They asked the priests from the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done for so many years?” 4Then the Lord of Armies spoke his word to me. He said, “Tell all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these past 70 years, did you really do it for me? 6When you ate and drank, didn’t you do it to benefit yourselves? 7Aren’t these the same words that the Lord announced through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding cities were inhabited and undisturbed and the Negev and the foothills were still inhabited?’ ”

Zechariah 7:5 word by word

אֱמֹר֙ אֶל־כָּל־עַ֣ם הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר כִּֽי־צַמְתֶּ֨ם וְסָפ֜וֹד בַּחֲמִישִׁ֣י וּבַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י וְזֶה֙ שִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה הֲצ֥וֹם צַמְתֻּ֖נִי אָֽנִי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Speakאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto all the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• and to the priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• When ye fastedצוּםtsûm · to fastH6684
• and mournedסָפַדsâphad · to mournH5594
• in the fifthחֲמִישִׁיchămîyshîy chămishshîy · fifthH2549
• and seventhשְׁבִיעִיshebîy‛îy shebi‛îy · seventhH7637
• even those seventyשִׁבְעִיםshib‛îym · seventyH7657
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141

Cross-references for Zechariah 7:5

• Isaiah 58:5Is this the kind of fasting I have chosen? Should people humble themselves for ⌞only⌟ a day? Is fasting just bowing your head like a cattail and making your bed from sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call fasting? Is this an acceptable day to the Lord?
• Zechariah 8:19This is what the Lord of Armies says: The fast in the fourth month, the fast in the fifth month, the fast in the seventh month, and the fast in the tenth month will become joyful and glad occasions as well as happy festivals for the nation of Judah. So love truth and peace.
• 2 Kings 25:23When all the army commanders and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael (son of Nethaniah), Johanan (son of Kareah), Seraiah (son of Tanhumeth from Netophah), and Jaazaniah from Beth Maacah and their men.
• Jeremiah 41:1In the seventh month Ishmael (son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a descendant of the royal family and of the king’s officers) went with ten men to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate together at Mizpah,
• Zechariah 7:3They asked the priests from the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done for so many years?”
• Zechariah 1:12Then the Messenger of the Lord said, “Lord of Armies, how much longer until you show compassion to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You’ve been angry with them for 70 years.”
• Jeremiah 25:11This whole land will be ruined and become a wasteland. These nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.
• Zechariah 7:6When you ate and drank, didn’t you do it to benefit yourselves?
• Isaiah 1:11The Lord asks, “What do your many animal sacrifices mean to me? I’ve had enough of your burnt offerings of rams and enough fat from your fattened calves. I’m not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.
• Isaiah 58:4Don’t you see that when you fast, you quarrel and fight and beat your workers? The way you fast today keeps you from being heard in heaven.
• Matthew 5:16In the same way let your light shine in front of people. Then they will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven.
• Matthew 6:2So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward.
• Matthew 23:5“They do everything to attract people’s attention. They make their headbands large and the tassels on their shawls long.
• Romans 14:6When people observe a special day, they observe it to honor the Lord. When people eat all kinds of foods, they honor the Lord as they eat, since they give thanks to God. Vegetarians also honor the Lord when they eat, and they, too, give thanks to God.
• 1 Corinthians 10:31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God.
• 2 Corinthians 5:15He died for all people so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the man who died and was brought back to life for them.

Commentaries on Zechariah 7:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth - month - This they did in the remembrance of the burning of the temple, on the tenth day of that month; and on the seventh month, on the third of which month they observed a fast for the murder of Gedaliah, and the dispersion of the remnant of the people which were with him. See Jeremiah 41:1, and 2 Kings 25:25.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Speak unto all the people of the land - They of Bethel had spoken as one man, as Edom said to Israel, “Thou shalt not pass by me” Numbers 20:18; and “the men of Israel said to the Hivite; Perhaps thou dwellest in the midst of me, and how shall I make a league with thee?” Joshua 9:7. God gives the answer not to them only, but to all like-minded with them, “all the people of the land,” the whole population (in our language); as Jeremiah says, “ye and your…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Jeremiah said that 70 years of exile in Babylon (see Jeremiah 25:11–12; 29:10) would compensate for the Sabbath years of rest that the land missed for nearly 500 years (2 Chronicles 36:21; see Exodus 23:10–11; Leviticus 26:34–35). The summer fast mourned the destruction of Solomon’s temple (Zechariah 7:3), while the early autumn fast either marked the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (see 2 Kings 25:22–25; Jeremiah 41:1–3), or it was the day…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Speak unto all--The question had been asked in the name of the people in general by Sherezer and Regemmelech. The self-imposed fast they were tired of, not having observed it in the spirit of true religion. seventh month--This fast was in memory of the murder of Gedaliah and those with him at Mizpah, issuing in the dispersion of the Jews (2Ki 25:25, 26; Jr 41:1-3). did ye ... fast unto me?--No; it was to gratify yourselves in hypocritical will-worship…Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 7:5

• Fasting
• Hypocrisy
• Impenitence
• Minister, Christian
• Seventy

In the dictionaries

• Seventy Years
• Fast
• Atonement, Day of
• Bible, the
• Feasts and Fasts
• Gedaliah
• Number
• Zechariah, Book of
• Fasts
• Synagogue

Commentaries on Zechariah 7

• 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