Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Yahweh's plan to terminate Ahab 22:1-28
  Another significant battle occurred between the battle of Ramoth-gilead that the writer recorded in chapter 22 (853 B.C.) and the battles he recorded in chapter 20. Ahab and his Aramean ally Ben-Hadad II (860-841 B.C.) defeat...
• The leaders 2:1-2a
  The "province"referred to was probably Judah38rather than Babylonia39in view of the context. Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin and the nephew of Sheshbazzar, the leader of this return (1 Chron. 3:17-19). Zerubbab...
• 1. God's goodness to His people 34:1-10
  34:1-3 David exulted in the Lord and called on his people to praise God with him.34:4-7 The psalmist's recent experience of God's answering his prayer for help and delivering him (vv. 4, 6) was only one example to him. Those ...
• 2. The prayer to bless David's descendents 132:6-10
  132:6-8 The antecedent of "it"(v. 6) is the ark (v. 8). Ephrathah (Ephratah) is an old name for the area around Bethlehem (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7). Jaar evidently refers to Kiriath-jearim, the town where the ark rested for 20 y...
• A. The prophet's cleansing 6:1-8
  6:1 Why did Isaiah date this passage since he did not date most of his others?70Probably he did so because King Uzziah had been the best king of Judah since Solomon. Nevertheless during the last part of his reign he suffered ...
• Prophecies about false prophets 23:9-40
  Having given a true prophecy about the future, Jeremiah proceeded to announce God's judgment on the false prophets who were misleading His people with false prophecies (cf. v. 1). This section consists of six different messag...
• Genre
  Daniel is a book of prophecy."Among the great prophetic books of Scripture, none provides a more comprehensive and chronological prophetic view of the broad movement of history than the book of Daniel. Of the three prophetic ...
• Title and Writer
  The title of this book comes from its traditional writer, as is true of all the prophetical books of the Old Testament. The name "Zechariah"(lit. Yahweh remembers) was a common one among the Israelites identifying as many as ...
• Genre
  Zechariah consists of a combination of exhortations (sermon material), prophetic-apocalyptic visions, and oracles concerning eschatological salvation. Some of the oracles introduce or follow visions, and others stand alone. A...
• Structure
  "The shape' of a poem, the artistic arrangement of a book are instruments used by the Holy Spirit to convey His message."24In the case of Zechariah, there are three large chiastic sections (1:7-6:15; 7:1-8:19; and chs. 9-14)....
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-6II. The eight night visions and four messages 1:7-6:8A. The horseman among the myrtle trees 1:7-171. The vision proper 1:7-152. The oracle about God's jealousy for Israel 1:16-17B. The four horns and the ...
• I. Introduction 1:1-6
  That this pericope introduces the whole book seems clear since verse 7 introduces the eight night visions that follow it (1:7-6:8). Its content is also foundational to all that follows."It strikes the keynote of the entire bo...
• II. The eight night visions and four messages 1:7--6:8
  Zechariah received eight apocalyptic visions in one night (1:7). As the text will show, they concerned God's purpose for the future of Israel, particularly Jerusalem, the seat of the Davidic dynasty and the site of the temple...
• 1. The vision proper 1:7-15
  1:7 Zechariah received another revelation from the Lord three months after his previous one in Darius' second year, 520 B.C.35"On the same day (24 Shebat), five months earlier, the rebuilding of the temple had been resumed (c...
• D. The cleansing and restoration of Joshua ch. 3
  The Lord explained that Joshua and his friends were men who had prophetic significance (v. 8). As will become clear, Joshua, Israel's high priest, represents Israel in this vision, specifically Israel in her divinely appointe...
• 1. The symbolic act 3:1-5
  3:1 Zechariah's guiding angel next showed the prophet, in his vision, Joshua (lit. Yahweh saves), Israel's current high priest (6:11; Ezra 5:2; Neh. 7:7; Hag. 1:1), standing before the angel of the Lord (1:11-12). "The accuse...
• E. The gold lampstand and the two olive trees ch. 4
  This vision would have encouraged the two leaders of the restoration community, Zerubbabel and Joshua, by reminding them of God's resources, and it would have vindicated these leaders in the eyes of the Israelites. Chapter 3 ...
• The second oracle 4:8-10
  4:8-9 Another word from the Lord also came to Zechariah about Zerubbabel. This appears to be another oracle that the writer inserted here because it is appropriate at this point. He promised that as Zerubbabel had laid the fo...
• H. The four chariots 6:1-8
  There are several similarities between this last vision and the first one (1:7-17) indicating a return to ideas introduced at the beginning of this chiastic series of revelations. Again there is a group of horses of various c...
• III. The symbolic crowning of Joshua 6:9-15
  The visions ended and Zechariah awoke from his dream-like state. What follows is a symbolic act that took place in Jerusalem at the Lord's command."The position of this actual ceremony after the eight visions is significant. ...
• V. Oracles about the Messiah and Israel's future chs. 9--14
  This part of Zechariah contains two undated oracles that are almost entirely eschatological. They expand the eschatological vision in chapters 1-8 and modify its generally optimistic view with emphasis on Israel's purificatio...
• Jesus' deliverance of a demoniac in Gadara 8:28-34 (cf. Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39)
  The central theme of this incident is Jesus' authority over evil spirits.8:28 Gadara was the regional capital of the Decapolis area that lay southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Its population was strongly Gentile. This may accou...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• A Vision Of Judgment And Cleansing
  And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen...
• I. The Symbolical Vision (Zechariah 3:1-5).
  The scene of the vision is left undetermined, and the absence of any designation of locality gives the picture the sublimity of indefiniteness. Three figures, seen he knows not where, stand clear before the Prophet's inward e...