The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 601

4:12. And I answered again, and said to him: What are the two olive branches, that are by the two golden beaks, in which are the funnels of gold?

4:13. And he spoke to me, saying: Knowest thou not what these are? And I said: No, my lord.

4:14. And he said: These are two sons of oil who stand before the Lord of the whole earth.

Two sons of oil... That is, the two anointed ones of the Lord; viz., Jesus the high priest, and Zorobabel the prince.

Zacharias Chapter 5

The vision of the flying volume, and of the woman in the vessel.

5:1. And I turned and lifted up my eyes: and I saw, and behold a volume flying.

A volume... That is, a parchment, according to the form of the ancient books, which, from being rolled up, were called volumes.

5:2. And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I see a volume flying: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

5:3. And he said to me: This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the earth: for every thief shall be judged as is there written: and every one that sweareth in like manner shall be judged by it.

5:4. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts: and it shall come to the house of the thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof.

5:5. And the angel went forth that spoke in me, and he said to me: Lift up thy eyes, and see what this is, that goeth forth.

5:6. And I said: What is it? And he said: This is a vessel going forth.

And he said: This is their eye in all the earth.

This is their eye... This is what they fix their eye upon: or this is a resemblance and figure of them, viz., of sinners.

5:7. And behold a talent of lead was carried, and behold a woman sitting in the midst of the vessel.

5:8. And he said: This is wickedness. And he cast her into the midst of the vessel, and cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

5:9. And I lifted up my eyes and looked: and behold there came out two women, and wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a kite: and they lifted up the vessel between the earth and the heaven.

5:10. And I said to the angel that spoke in me: Whither do these carry the vessel?

5:11. And he said to me: That a house may be built for it in the land of Sennaar, and that it may be established, and set there upon its own basis.

The land of Sennaar... Where Babel or Babylon was built, Gen. 11., where note, that Babylon in holy writ is often taken for the city of the devil: that is, for the whole congregation of the wicked: as Jerusalem is taken for the city and people of G.o.d.

Zacharias Chapter 6

The vision of the four chariots. Crowns are ordered for Jesus the high priest, as a type of Christ.

6:1. And I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four chariots came out from the midst of two mountains: and the mountains were mountains of bra.s.s.

Four chariots... The four great empires of the Chaldeans, Persians, Grecians, and Romans. Or perhaps by the fourth chariot are represented the kings of Egypt and of Asia, the descendants of Ptolemeus and Seleucus.

6:2. In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses.

6:3. And in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot grisled horses, and strong ones.

6:4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me: What are these, my lord?

6:5. And the angel answered, and said to me: These are the four winds of the heaven, which go forth to stand before the Lord of all the earth.

6:6. That in which were the black horses went forth into the land of the north, and the white went forth after them: and the grisled went forth to the land the south.

The land of the north... So Babylon is called; because it lay to the north in respect of Jerusalem. The black horses, that is, the Medes and Persians: and after them Alexander and his Greeks, signified by the white horses, went thither because they conquered Babylon, executed upon it the judgments of G.o.d, which is signified, ver. 8, by the expression of quieting his spirit.-Ibid. The land of the south... Egypt, which lay to the south of Jerusalem, and was occupied first by Ptolemeus, and then by the Romans.

6:7. And they that were most strong, went out, and sought to go, and to run to and fro through all the earth. And he said: Go, walk throughout the earth: and they walked throughout the earth.

6:8. And he called me, and spoke to me, saying: Behold they that go forth into the land of the north, have quieted my spirit in the land of the north.

6:9. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

6:10. Take of them of the captivity, of Holdai, and of Tobias, and of Idaias; thou shalt come in that day, a shalt go into the house of Josias, the son of Sophonias, who came out of Babylon.

6:11. And thou shalt take gold and silver: and shalt make crowns, and thou shalt set them on the head of Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest.

6:12. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: BEHOLD A MAN, THE ORIENT IS HIS NAME: and under him shall he spring up, a shall build a temple to the Lord.

6:13. Yea, he shall build a temple to the Lord: and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit, and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Between them both... That is, he shall unite in himself the two offices or dignities of king and priest.

6:14. And the crowns shall be to Helem, and Tobias, and Idaias, and to Hem, the son of Sophonias, a memorial in the temple of the Lord.

6:15. And they that are far off, shall come and shall build in the temple of the Lord: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me to you. But this shall come to pa.s.s, if hearing you will hear the voice of the Lord your G.o.d.

Zacharias Chapter 7

The people inquire concerning fasting: they are admonished to fast from sin.

7:1. And it came to pa.s.s in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu.

7:2. When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of G.o.d, to entreat the face of the Lord:

7:3. To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself as I have now done for many years?

The fifth month... They fasted on the tenth day of the fifth month; because on that day the temple was burnt. Therefore they inquire whether they are to continue the fast, after the temple is rebuilt. See this query answered in the 19th verse of the following chapter.

7:4. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

7:5. Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?

7:6. And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7:7. Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain?