Passage Research
Zechariah 7 — Sermon Preparation
A delegation asking about fasting is answered with a question: why fast if you disregard justice and compassion for the vulnerable? — that was the cause of the exile. Below is a research summary for Zechariah 7, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 14
- verses
- 187 / 97
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 11
- classic sermon excerpts
- 4
- preachers & commentators
Zechariah 7 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צָבָא | tsâbâʼ | H6635 | 6 | mass, army |
| צוּם | tsûwm | H6684 | 3 | cover, fast |
| דָּבָר | dâbâr | H1697 | 5 | word, matter |
| שַׁרְאֶצֶר | Sharʼetser | H8272 | 2 | Sharetser |
| שָׁמַע | shâmaʻ | H8085 | 4 | hear, tell |
| נָבִיא | nâbîyʼ | H5030 | 3 | prophet, inspired man |
| זְכַרְיָה | Zᵉkaryâh | H2148 | 2 | Zecarjah |
How preachers through history handled this text
11 public-domain excerpts on Zechariah 7, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“God's judgements upon Israel of old for their sins, were written to warn Christians. The duties required are, not keeping fasts and offering sacrifices, but doing justly and loving mercy, which tend to the public welfare and peace. The law of God lays restraint upon the heart. But they filled their minds with prejudices against the word of God. Nothing is harder than the heart of a presumptuous sinner. See the fatal consequences of this to their fathers. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Zechariah 7:8–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Bethel 3— Zech 7:2
- Jerusalem— Zech 7:7
- Shephelah— Zech 7:7
- South 1— Zech 7:7
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