It follows, For before these days there was no hire for man, and no hire for beast, no peace to passengers, because I had sent forth all men, each one against his friend. The Prophet mentions here, as I have already said, evidences of God’s curse, by which the Jews might have learnt that he was displeased with their neglect in disregarding the building of the temple, for while omitting that they paid attention to their domestic affairs. He therefore reminds them of what might have made them to fear, lest they should go on still to provoke God; for they had been taught, to their great loss, not to excite in this manner his displeasure: and Zechariah, no doubt, as well as Haggai and Malachi, had often addressed the people on this subject; for we see how prone is the disposition of us all to relapse into forgetfulness when God in any measure relaxes in his discipline. We presently shake off every fear when exempt from evils. This is the reason why it is needful for us to be often reminded of those judgments of God which we have experienced, according to what is done here by Zechariah.
Before these days, he says, there was no hire for man, and no hire for beast; that is, there was no profit from the labor of men or of beasts. He takes it as granted, that men were not tardy in their work, and that beasts performed their labors, but that no fruit appeared. And whence was it the labor of men and of beasts was unprofitable, except from God’s curse, as the law testifies? (Deuteronomy 28:8.) For when the Prophets speak of God’s curse they refer to the law, and only apply to their present purpose what is stated generally in the law. As then God declares in the law that he will bless the work of the hands, Zechariah draws this inference that God was displeased when men and beasts toiled laboriously without any advantage.
He then adds, There was no peace. When men labor in vain, thirst and want of all things must follow; for though the labor of man, we know, is of itself of no value, yet when blessed by God it is the means of promoting fertility, so that the earth may supply us with food. On the other hand, when the labor of man is barren, even the earth itself refuses to bring forth fruit. It was then no light calamity when God visited the people with poverty and famine. But another evil is added, no less dreadful and even more grievous that the land was so harassed by enemies that no travelling was safe. Hence he says, that there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in; that is, there was no free or peaceable travelling, but they were exposed to pillage and plunder. In a word, Zechariah teaches us here, that the Jews were under a curse both within and without, for the land disappointed those who cultivated it, as it yielded no fruit, and then they were exposed to hostile assaults.
With regard to the words, מן הצר, men etsar, some render them, on account of distress, “there was no peace on account of distress.” But we may retain the proper meaning of the preposition מן, mem, “there was no peace from distress;” that is, there were none safe from inconvenience and molestation. (85)
The reason is added, Because God had sent forth all men, each one against his neighbor. The Prophet designedly subjoined this, that the Jews might know that these evils could not be ascribed to fortune, as though men did rise up thoughtlessly one against another. Hence he reminds them that their quietness was disturbed by the just and hidden judgment of God, for he can turn as he pleases the hearts of men; he now inclines them to humanity or to mercy, and then he turns them to madness and ferocity. That the Jews might know that they had to do with God, the Prophet declares here that men had been sent forth, that they might mutually rage and assault one another.
Hence they who use the word permit, not only take away from what the Prophet means, but wholly pervert his doctrine and extinguish its light altogether: for God does not say here that he was still when the Jews ill-treated one another; but he meant to have this attributed to his judgment. For when almost the whole world was hostile to a few men, and those related to one another, they ought surely to have been united among themselves; for necessity conciliates even the most alienated, and even pacifies those who have been previously the most violent enemies. Since, then, the Jews were assailed by foreign enemies, they ought to have been friends among themselves, or at least to have been so softened as not to be so hostile towards one another. As then they raged against their own bowels, so that no one spared his own friends, God more fully shows by this circumstance that he was the author of these confusions. And how God kindles the hearts of men to ferocity, and is yet free from all blame, has been explained elsewhere. God indeed executes his righteous judgments, when he sets men one against the other; and if we inquire into the cause and the end, we shall find that men are in this way justly punished. As then in God’s judgments there ever shines forth the highest equity, there is no reason for men to try to implicate him in their own perdition, or to devolve on him a part of the blame. God then justly excites the hearts of men into madness, and yet men themselves bear the whole blame, though God draws them here and there against their will, and makes use of them as his instruments; for the hidden purpose of God does not excuse them, while nothing is less their object than to obey his word, though they are guided by his hidden operation. We know that no work pleases God, but when there is a willing obedience, which none of the reprobate ever render; and we also know that all works are to be judged according to the end designed. We must therefore consider what was the reason that God thus set men against one another, and what end he had in view. But we have elsewhere discussed this subject at large.
Let us then now, in short, bear this in mind, that the Jews mutually harassed and distressed one another, not by chance, but because the Lord, who was their enemy and whose wrath they had provoked, had sent them forth as enemies among themselves.
(85) Calvin has in this instance followed the Septuagint, and so has Newcome; but the Targum has “ propter hostem — on account of the enemy;” and the same is the most common meaning of the Hebrew; and such is the rendering of Drusius, Marckius, Dathius, and Henderson. We may give this literal version of the whole verse,—
10. For before those days, The hire of man, it was nothing; And the hire of beast, not any; And to the goer and the comer, No peace from the enemy; And I sent forth every man, Each one against his neighbor.
The word [ צר ] is perhaps more strictly an oppressor than an enemy, though it be often rendered by the latter word. The verb means to straiten, to confine, and thus to distress, to afflict, or to oppress. Not a foreign but a domestic enemy is here meant, as intimated in the two last lines. The “sending forth” shows that these enemies were robbers; and this is also evident from the statement that “goers” and “comers” were not safe. Hence our version and that of Newcome are wrong, in which “I set” is found instead of “I sent forth,” the proper meaning of the verb used here. “I sent” of Henderson is not quite correct, for the idea is not fully expressed. — Ed.