Zechariah 14:20

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁶Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁷And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, the rain will not fall on them. ¹⁸And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter in, then rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague the LORD inflicts on the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁹This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. ²⁰On that day, HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the house of the LORD will be like the sprinkling basins before the altar.²¹Indeed, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD of Hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take some pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of Hosts.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

shall there: Proverbs 21:3, Proverbs 21:4, Isaiah 23:18, Obadiah 1:17, Zephaniah 2:11, Malachi 1:11, Luke 11:41, Acts 10:15, Acts 10:28, Acts 11:9, Acts 15:9, Romans 14:17, Romans 14:18, Colossians 3:17, Colossians 3:22-24, Titus 1:15, Titus 1:16, 1 Peter 4:11

bells: or, bridles, Exodus 28:33-35

HOLINESS: Exodus 28:36, Exodus 39:30, Leviticus 8:9, Psalms 110:3, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 3:17, 1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 20:6

and the: Leviticus 6:28, 1 Samuel 2:14, Ezekiel 46:20-24

the bowls: Zechariah 9:15, Exodus 25:29, Exodus 37:16, Numbers 4:7, Numbers 4:14, Numbers 7:13, Numbers 7:19, Numbers 7:84, Numbers 7:85, 2 Chronicles 4:8,*marg.

Reciprocal: Exodus 10:26 - cattle Leviticus 6:18 - every one Joshua 6:19 - consecrated 2 Chronicles 4:16 - pots also Psalms 93:5 - holiness Isaiah 4:3 - shall be Isaiah 12:1 - And in that Isaiah 35:2 - the excellency Isaiah 35:8 - the unclean Isaiah 60:21 - people Isaiah 65:25 - my Jeremiah 2:3 - holiness Jeremiah 29:11 - thoughts Jeremiah 31:40 - shall be Ezekiel 43:7 - no more Ezekiel 43:12 - Upon Ezekiel 45:1 - an holy portion Joel 3:17 - Jerusalem Zephaniah 3:13 - not Zechariah 8:3 - a city Zechariah 14:21 - in the Malachi 3:4 - the offering

Cross-References

Genesis 9:26
He also declared: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the servant of Shem.

Genesis 14:3
The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

Genesis 14:4
For twelve years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

Genesis 14:6
and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El-paran, which is near the desert.

Genesis 14:9
against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar-four kings against five.

Genesis 14:17
After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

Genesis 14:19
and he blessed Abram and said: "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

Genesis 24:27
saying, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's kinsmen."

Genesis 28:22
And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

In that day,.... After the destruction of antichrist and all the antichristian party, and a new state of things will take place, either the spiritual or personal reign of Christ:

shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS TO THE LORD; as was upon the mitre of the high priest, Exodus 28:36 to which there seems to be an allusion here: or, "upon the trappings of the horses" e, as the Targum renders it; and this intends either the horses slain in war, whose bells or trappings should be devoted and applied to holy uses; or the horses that carried the people up to Jerusalem to worship there, or horses in common. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, "on the bridle of the horse shall be Holiness to the Lord"; that is, they should be devoted to his service, which sometimes were very richly adorned; yea, were of gold; as those described by Virgil f; nay, they were adorned with precious stones, with pearls, emeralds, and jacinths, insomuch that the Romans were obliged to restrain this luxury by a law g. The conceit of some of the fathers, that this refers to one of the nails in the cross of Christ, which Constantine put into his horse's bridle, is justly ridiculed and exploded by most commentators. It seems best to render the word as we do, "bells", as Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it; since it is used of cymbals made of brass, which were to make a sound to be heard,

1 Chronicles 15:19 and of the same metal were the horses' bells made; though those which the mules at the funeral of Alexander had at each jaw were made of gold h; as were those Aaron had at the hem of his robe. The use of these bells on horses, according to Gussetius i, in the eastern countries, where they travelled through deserts, and had no beaten track, was to keep them together, and that they might be known where they were when parted; and of like use are they now to horses of burden or packhorses with us; though in common use they seem to serve to give horses a pleasure, and quicken them in their work: but the original of them seems to be for the training of horses for war, and therefore they hung bells to their bridles, to use them to a noise, and to try if they could bear a noise, and the tumult of war, so as not to throw their riders, or expose them to danger k; hence one that has not been tried or trained up to anything is called by the Greeks

ακωδωνιστος, one not used to the noise of a bell, by a metaphor taken from horses, that have never been tried by the sound of bells, whether they can bear the noise of war without fear l: and so it may signify, that these, and all the apparatus of war, all kind of armour, should no more be made use of for such purposes, there being now universal peace in the kingdom of Christ; wherefore these, and the like, should be converted to sacred uses, just as swords, at the same time, shall be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks, for civil uses, Isaiah 2:4 or, since Holiness to the Lord is said to be upon them, the sense may be, that holiness will be very general among all men; all professing people will be righteous; it will appear in all their actions, civil as well as religious; it will be as visible as the bells upon the horses, by their frequent going to the house of God; their constant attendance on public worship; their walking in the ways of the Lord, and their love to one another.

And the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar; the "pots" in which they boiled the sacrifices shall be like "the bowls before the altar", which held the blood of the sacrifices to be sprinkled; either like them for number; they shall be many, like them, as the Targum paraphrases it; or for goodness, being made of the same metal: and the whole denotes the number, holiness, and excellency of the saints in the latter day, who will direct all their actions to the glory of God, whether in eating or drinking, or in whatever they do.

e על מצלות "in phaleris", Tigurine version. f "Aurea pectoribus demissa monilia pendent, Tecti auro, fulvum mandunt sub dentibus aurum." Virgil. Aeneid. l. 7. "Fraenaque bina meus, quae nunc habet aurea Pallas." Aeneid. l. 3. g Vid. Salmuth in Pancirol. Rer. Memorab. par. 1. tit. 48. p. 231. h See Calmet's Dictionary, in the word "Bella". i Ebr. Comment. p. 715. k Scholiast. Aristophan. in Ranis, Act. 1. Sc. 2. p. 214. Salmuth in Pancirol. par. 2. tit. 9. De Campanis, p. 161. Hospinian. de Templis, l. 2. c. 26. p. 333. l Vid. Scapulae Lexic. in voce κωδων, "et alios lexicograph".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord - He does not say only, that they should be consecrated to God, as Isaiah says of Tyre, “Her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord” Isaiah 23:18; he says that, “the bells of the horses,” things simply secular, should bear the same inscription as the plate on the high priest’s forehead. Perhaps the comparison was suggested by the bells on the high priest’s dress ; not the lamina only on his forehead, but bells (not as his, which were part of his sacred dress), bells, altogether secular, should be inscribed with the self-same title, whereby he himself was dedicated to God.

Holiness to the Lord - He does not bring down what is sacred to a level with common things, but he uplifts ordinary things, that they too, should be sacred, as Paul says, “whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” 1 Corinthians 10:31.

And the pots of the Lord’s house shall be like bowls before the altar - The pots are mentioned, together with other vessels of the Lord’s house Ezekiel 38:3; 1Ki 7:45; 2 Kings 25:14; 2 Chronicles 4:11, 2 Chronicles 4:16; Jeremiah 52:18-19, but not in regard to any sacred use. They were used, with other vessels, for dressing the victims 2 Chronicles 35:13 for the partakers of the sacrifices. These were to be sacred, like those made for the most sacred use of all, “the bowls for sprinkling,” whence, that sacrificial blood was taken, which was to make the typical atonement.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 14:20. Upon the bells of the horses — They appear, formerly, to have had bells on horses, camels, c., as we have now, to amuse the animals, and encourage them in their work. In some very fine Asiatic paintings now before me, I see bells both on horses, mules, and camels little bells tied to their legs, and larger ones about their necks, particularly in the representation of a caravan passing through the valley of serpents, in the island of Serendib, now Ceylon. The margin reads bridles.

HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD — As the Gospel is a holy system, preaching holiness and producing holiness in those who believe, so all without, as well as within, shall bear this impress; and even a man's labour shall be begun and continued, and ended in the Lord; yea, and the animals he uses, and the instruments he works with, shall be all consecrated to God through Christ.

The pots — "The meanest utensil in the house of God, Nehemiah 10:29, shall be as the vessels of silver, and gold used in solemn sacrifice; they shall be like the bowls before the altar." - See Newcome.