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 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

3and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?” 4Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, “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? 6When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were 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 it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the Lord?
• Zechariah 8:19“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘The fast of the fourth month, The fast of the fifth, The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, Shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts For the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.’
• 2 Kings 25:23Now when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
• Jeremiah 41:1Now it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and of the officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah.
• Zechariah 7:3and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?”
• Zechariah 1:12Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?”
• Jeremiah 25:11And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
• Zechariah 7:6When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?
• Isaiah 1:11“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.
• Isaiah 58:4Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high.
• Matthew 5:16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
• Matthew 6:2Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
• Matthew 23:5But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
• Romans 14:6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
• 1 Corinthians 10:31Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
• 2 Corinthians 5:15and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose 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