Zechariah 7 5

Zechariah 7:5 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?

Zechariah 7:5 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?

Zechariah 7:5 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?

Zechariah 7:5 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?

Zechariah 7:5 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?

Zechariah 7 verses

Zechariah 7 5 Meaning

The Lord, through Zechariah, addresses both the common people and the priests, questioning the sincerity and ultimate purpose of their fasting during the seventy years of the Babylonian exile. The rhetorical query directly challenges whether their sorrow and deprivation in the fifth and seventh months were truly directed toward Him, highlighting a potential self-focused or ritualistic motivation rather than genuine devotion and brokenness before God.

Zechariah 7 5 Context

Zechariah 7 is set in the fourth year of King Darius's reign (c. 518 BC), about eighteen years after the first return of the exiles from Babylon. The people of Bethel send a delegation, including their prominent leader Sharezer, to Jerusalem to inquire of the priests and prophets. Their primary question, posed to "the house of the LORD of hosts," concerns whether they should continue the customary fasts, particularly that of the fifth month, which commemorated the destruction of the Temple. This question comes at a pivotal time as the second Temple is actively being rebuilt, leading to an understandable uncertainty about the ongoing relevance of mourning rituals associated with its desolation. The Lord's response, through Zechariah, cuts directly to the heart of their religious practice, not just regarding the fasts but their entire spiritual disposition. The chapter bridges the concern for rituals with God's overarching demand for justice, mercy, and true obedience from His people.

Zechariah 7 5 Word analysis

• Say (אֱמֹר, `emor`): This is an imperative, a direct command from God through the prophet. It indicates the divine authority behind the message and that it is not a suggestion but a declaration.
• to all the people of the land and to the priests: This phrase emphasizes the universal reach of God's message within the community. "All the people of the land" refers to the entire Israelite community that has returned and is residing in the land. Including "the priests" specifically highlights their unique responsibility as spiritual leaders and interpreters of the law, suggesting they too were culpable in potentially superficial observances.
• ‘When you fasted (צַמְתֶּם, `tzamtem`) and mourned (סָפוֹד, `safod`):
  • `Tzamtem`: Refers to the act of fasting, voluntarily abstaining from food and drink, usually for religious or spiritual reasons such as repentance, petition, or lament.
  • `Safod`: Implies a deeper, outward expression of sorrow and lamentation, often accompanied by wailing, weeping, or beating one's breast. These are traditional acts of mourning for the dead or national calamity.
  • Group analysis: The combination "fasted and mourned" describes their customary, prescribed religious practices observed during the exile. It represents their acts of supposed humility and sorrow before God.
• in the fifth (בַּחֲמִשִּׁי, `bachamishi`) and seventh (וּבַשְּׁבִיעִי, `uvashvi'i`) months:
  • These refer to two specific annual fasts instituted during the Babylonian exile. The fast of the fifth month (Av, specifically Tisha B'Av) commemorated the burning of Solomon's Temple by the Babylonians. The fast of the seventh month (Tishri, commemorating the Fast of Gedaliah) remembered the assassination of Gedaliah, the governor appointed by Babylon, which led to a further scattering of the remaining Jews (2 Kgs 25:8-10, 2 Kgs 25:25).
  • Group analysis: The specific mention of these months situates the question within the particular history and practices of the exilic community, signifying their consistent and enduring rituals of lament.
• for these seventy years (זֶה שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, `zeh shiv'im shanah`): This refers to the duration of the Babylonian exile, a period foretold by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11, 29:10). It highlights the longevity and ingrained nature of these fasting practices as responses to national tragedy and the Temple's desolation.
• was it actually for Me, for Me, that you fasted? (הֲצוֹם צַמְתֻּנִי אָנִי, `hâ-tzom tzam-tunî ʾānî`):
  • `hâ-`: The interrogative particle introducing a direct question, expecting a "yes" or "no" answer, but here, it functions rhetorically to imply a negative.
  • `tzom`: An infinitive absolute form of the verb "to fast," used here to intensify the verb `tzam-tunî`, making it "Did you truly fast..." or "Was it a fast..." It draws attention to the act itself.
  • `tzam-tunî`: The verb "you fasted" with the first-person singular pronominal suffix "-unî" attached to it, meaning "fasted for me." This is a strong and unusual construction.
  • `ʾānî`: The independent first-person singular pronoun "Me" (I/Me), explicitly repeating the recipient.
  • Group analysis: The full phrase, especially the double emphasis of "for Me, for Me" (`tzam-tunî ʾānî` or implicitly `lî ʾānî`), represents a powerful rhetorical question. It confronts the people with the true motivation behind their religious actions. God questions whether their long-standing fasting and mourning were truly God-directed, performed out of devotion, repentance, and a desire to honor Him, or rather for their own benefit, self-pity, or merely out of customary ritual without a genuine heart for God. It exposes a potential disconnect between external performance and internal intention.

Zechariah 7 5 Bonus section

This verse serves as a timeless theological principle: God prioritizes the internal posture of the heart over outward religious observance. It reflects a recurring theme throughout the prophetic tradition, where acts of worship devoid of love, justice, and sincere obedience are deemed unacceptable. This passage also implicitly foreshadows the New Covenant emphasis on inward transformation and genuine spiritual worship "in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:24), which is contrasted with legalistic ritualism. The fasts, originally symbols of mourning for sin and its consequences, risked becoming an end in themselves, a practice that detached from the very God they were meant to honor.

Zechariah 7 5 Commentary

Zechariah 7:5 acts as a sharp rhetorical question, piercing the surface of the people's religious practice to expose the condition of their hearts. God, through the prophet, does not condemn the act of fasting itself, but challenges its motivation. For seventy years, in response to their national tragedy and the exile, the Israelites had consistently observed specific fasts. Yet, in the absence of genuine devotion, justice, and mercy (as detailed in the surrounding verses of Zechariah 7), these actions had become mere external rituals. God implies that their fasts were largely self-centered, expressions of their own grief rather than true repentance or seeking Him. The repetition of "for Me, for Me" powerfully underscores God's desire to be the sole and true object and purpose of all worship and religious observances, distinguishing between perfunctory obligation and heartfelt, sincere seeking.