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 people, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’ 4Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’ “Where are your ancestors now? They and the prophets are long dead. 6But everything I said through my servants the prophets happened to your ancestors, just as I said. As a result, they repented and said, ‘We have received what we deserved from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He has done what he said he would do.’” 7Three months later, on February 15, the Lord sent another message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo.

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 14:10“But when people die, their strength is gone. They breathe their last, and then where are they?
• Psalms 90:10Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.
• Ecclesiastes 1:4Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
• Ecclesiastes 9:1This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor.
• Ecclesiastes 12:5Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.
• Acts 13:36This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed.
• Hebrews 7:23There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office.
• Hebrews 9:27And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
• 2 Peter 3:2I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.

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