But now I will not be as in the former days But now, seeing that ye have proceeded in rebuilding my temple, I will order, by my divine providence, that things shall happen otherwise to you than they did before, or that your affairs shall be more prosperous. For the seed shall be prosperous This in the Hebrew is, For the seed shall be of peace, which seems intended to express that they should have peaceable times, or be a seed or nation at peace. And, as ye were a curse A standing form of imprecation; among the heathen Who wished that their enemies might be as miserable as the Jews. This was to be changed into a blessing, to the contrary effect; May you be as happy as the Jews who are restored. See Grotius and Calmet. O house of Judah and house of Israel By Israel may be understood here those of the ten tribes who returned to Judea with the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. But the mentioning both Judah and Israel, which had been so long separated, shows that both the curse and the blessing here spoken of, in their ultimate sense, belong to the whole body of the Jews, who, as they are public instances of God's judgments now, so shall they be hereafter of his blessings; namely, at the general restoration and conversion of that nation, to which several promises in this chapter relate.
Related Commentaries of Zechariah 8:11
Zechariah 8:11-13
11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 For the seed shall be prosperous;e the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.