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?
• 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?
• New Living Translation (NLT)“Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting?

Context of Zechariah 7:5

3by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” 4Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: “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? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’ ”

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 fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
• Zechariah 8:19This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.”
• 2 Kings 25:23When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men.
• Jeremiah 41:1In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there,
• Zechariah 7:3by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
• Zechariah 1:12Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”
• Jeremiah 25:11This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
• Zechariah 7:6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?
• Isaiah 1:11“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
• Isaiah 58:4Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
• Matthew 5:16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
• Matthew 6:2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
• Matthew 23:5“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
• Romans 14:6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
• 1 Corinthians 10:31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
• 2 Corinthians 5:15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

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