Zechariah 7

Zechariah · Chapter 7

Zechariah 7:4

1And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;2When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,3And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?4Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,5Speak 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?6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?7Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?8And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,9Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:10And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
4Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,Then came the word of Jehovah of hosts unto me, saying,

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Men had come to the house of the LORD to ask the priests and prophets whether they should keep weeping and fasting in the fifth month, as they had done for many years. This verse opens God's answer, given to Zechariah. The answer that follows asks whether their fasts were ever truly for God, and calls them to justice and mercy. Zechariah 7:2Zechariah 7:3Zechariah 7:4Zechariah 7:5Zechariah 7:9

SpeakingThe LORD of hosts speaks, and Zechariah reports it as coming "unto me." Zechariah is the son of Berechiah and a prophet to the returned exiles. Zechariah 7:4Zechariah 7:1Zechariah overview

ToThe word comes first to Zechariah, who is told to pass it on to all the people of the land and to the priests. Zechariah 7:4Zechariah 7:5

Also involvedThe men sent to ask the question, Sherezer and Regemmelech and their men, whose question about fasting in the fifth month prompts the answer. Zechariah 7:2Zechariah 7:3

The verse is a short opening line: the word of the LORD of hosts came to the prophet. It marks that the reply to the fasting question is God's own answer, not the opinion of the priests or of the prophet. Zechariah 7:4Zechariah 7:3Zechariah 7:5

The men came to the house of the LORD. Zechariah wrote from Jerusalem, among the people who had come back from exile. Zechariah 7:2Zechariah 7:3Zechariah overview

JUDAHMediterranean SeaJerusalemTyreSidonDamascusHamath 1GazaAshdodMegiddo

The eventsThe question came in the fourth year of king Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chisleu, about 518 BC. The temple was not yet finished; it was completed in Darius's sixth year. Zechariah 7:1Zechariah overview

WrittenTraditional: Zechariah wrote the book, with dated messages from 520 to 518 BC. Scholarly: most scholars agree chapters 1-8, including this verse, come from Zechariah in 520-518 BC. Many assign chapters 9-14 to later writers, while others hold that Zechariah wrote the whole book. Zechariah overview

HereThe verse introduces God's answer to the question about fasting. The answer that follows looks past the ritual to whom it was for: "did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?" Zechariah 7:4Zechariah 7:5Zechariah 7:6

In the whole of ScriptureGod points the people back to what the former prophets said: do true judgment, show mercy, and do not oppress the widow, fatherless, stranger, or poor. Their fathers refused to hear, and the land became desolate. This fits the book's call to "turn ye unto me." Zechariah 7:7Zechariah 7:9Zechariah 7:10Zechariah 7:11Zechariah 7:12Zechariah 7:14Zechariah overview

For readersWhen asking God how to worship, readers should expect his answer to test whether the worship is truly for him. The same chapter says that means justice and mercy toward others. Zechariah 7:5Zechariah 7:6Zechariah 7:9Zechariah 7:10

  • wordדָּבָר
    Hebrew · da.var · H1697G

    The word means speech, saying, or utterance. The answer is presented as God's spoken message to the prophet, the same way the chapter opens and later says "the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah." Strong's H1697GZechariah 7:1Zechariah 7:8

  • hostsצָבָא
    Hebrew · tsa.va · H6635B

    "Hosts" is part of a name for the LORD, "the LORD of hosts." The chapter uses it again and again for the one who speaks and judges, as Isaiah 10:16 also does. Strong's H6635BZechariah 7:9Zechariah 7:12Zechariah 7:13Isaiah 10:16

Takeaway

This verse is the doorway to God's answer about fasting. What follows asks whether the fasting was done for him, and calls for justice and mercy. Zechariah 7:4Zechariah 7:5Zechariah 7:9

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

Behind this verse

The fasts of mourning
The people asked whether to keep fasting. Their fasts remembered the fall of Jerusalem: the siege began in the tenth month, the wall was broken in the fourth, the temple burned in the fifth, and Gedaliah was murdered in the seventh. Zechariah 7:3-5Zechariah 8:192 Kings 25:1-92 Kings 25:25Jeremiah 39:2Jeremiah 41:1-2

About 520-518 BC. King of Persia: Darius I (522-486 BC). Where Zechariah prophesied. A small, poor community was rebuilding the temple among the ruins of the city Babylon had burned.

Who ruled
  • King of PersiaDarius I522-486 BC

    Zechariah dates his messages by the years of Darius. Darius confirmed Cyrus's decree and ordered the temple work to go on at royal expense. Zechariah 1:1Zechariah 7:1Ezra 6:1-12Haggai 1:1Behistun Inscription

  • Governor of JudahZerubbabelc. 520 BC

    A descendant of David who led the rebuilding. "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it." Zechariah 4:6-10Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:8

  • High priestJoshua the high priestc. 520 BC

    Called Jeshua in Ezra. He stands in Zechariah's vision clothed in filthy garments, which are taken away, and later receives crowns as a sign. Zechariah 3:1-10Zechariah 6:11Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:2

  • Persian governor "on this side the river"Tattenaic. 520 BC

    The governor of the province west of the Euphrates. He asked who had allowed the building, wrote to Darius, and was told to let the work go on. Ezra 5:3-6Ezra 6:6-13

What was happening, 539 BC to 332 BC
  1. 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus king of Persia took Babylon, ending the empire that had destroyed Jerusalem. Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Cyrus Cylinder

  2. 538 BC
    God's peopleThe first return

    Cyrus let the exiles go home to build the LORD's house. About fifty thousand returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Ezra 1:1-4Ezra 2:1-2Ezra 2:64-65

  3. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe foundation is laid, then the work stops

    The returned exiles laid the temple's foundation with shouting and weeping. Opposition from their neighbors stopped the work until the second year of Darius. Ezra 3:10-13Ezra 4:4-5Ezra 4:24

  4. 525 BC
    WarPersia conquers Egypt

    Cyrus's son Cambyses invaded and took Egypt, bringing the whole region from the Nile to the Indus under one king. Herodotus, Histories 3.1-16

  5. 522-521 BC
    WarDarius crushes the revolts

    When Darius took the throne, provinces across the empire rebelled, Babylon twice. By 520 he had put them all down. Compare the riders' report in Zechariah's first vision: "all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." Behistun InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 3.150-159Zechariah 1:11

  6. 520 BC
    God's peopleHaggai and Zechariah stir the people to build

    In Darius's second year the two prophets urged the people to take up the temple work again, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua began to build. Ezra 5:1-2Haggai 1:1-15Zechariah 1:1

  7. c. 520-519 BC
    RulersDarius confirms Cyrus's decree

    Tattenai questioned the building. A search found Cyrus's decree at Achmetha, and Darius ordered the work to continue and be paid for from royal taxes. Ezra 5:3-6:12

  8. 515 BC
    BuildingThe second temple is finished

    The temple was finished on the third day of Adar in Darius's sixth year and dedicated with joy. Ezra 6:14-18Zechariah 4:9

  9. 490-479 BC
    WarPersia's wars with Greece

    Persia invaded Greece twice and was turned back at Marathon (490), Salamis (480) and Plataea (479). Greece, which Zechariah names in 9:13, was becoming Persia's great rival. Herodotus, Histories 6.102-117Herodotus, Histories 8.40-96Herodotus, Histories 9.1-89Zechariah 9:13

  10. 445 BC
    BuildingNehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem's walls

    Under the Persian king Artaxerxes, Nehemiah came from Shushan and rebuilt the walls in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 2:1-8Nehemiah 6:15

  11. 332 BC
    WarAlexander takes Tyre and Gaza

    Alexander the Great besieged island Tyre for seven months and then Gaza for two, on his way to Egypt. Zechariah 9 speaks of Tyre's "strong hold" and of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron and Ashdod. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.15-27Zechariah 9:3-7

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records (the Behistun Inscription, the Cyrus Cylinder, the Babylonian Chronicles) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and it cameוַיְהִ֛יvay-HIH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

[the] word ofדְּבַר־de-var-H1697G
word

דָּבָר (da.var) : word/speech/command 1) speech, word, speaking, thing 1a) speech 1b) saying, utterance 1c) word, words 1d) business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner (by extension)

Yahwehיְהוָ֥הYAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

of hostsצְבָא֖וֹתtze-va-'otH6635B
Hosts

צָבָא (tsa.va) The Hosts (of the Lord) Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

to meאֵלַ֥י'e-LAIH0413
to(wards)

אֶל (el) 1) to, toward, unto (of motion) 2) into (limit is actually entered) 2a) in among 3) toward (of direction, not necessarily physical motion) 4) against (motion or direction of a hostile character) 5) in addition to, to 6) concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of 7) according to (rule or standard) 8) at, by, against (of one's presence) 9) in between, in within, to within, unto (idea of motion to)

to sayingלֵאמֹֽר׃le-MORH0559
to say

אָמַר (a.mar) 1) to say, speak, utter 1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend 1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called 1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly 1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.