Zechariah 8:5

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Again the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying: ²This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "I am jealous for Zion with great zeal; I am jealous for her with great fervor." ³This is what the LORD says: "I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain." ⁴This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "Old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age. ⁵And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing there."⁶This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in My eyes?" declares the LORD of Hosts. ⁷This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "I will save My people from the land of the east and the land of the west. ⁸I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem, where they will be My people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

playing: Zechariah 2:4, Psalms 128:3, Psalms 128:4, Psalms 144:12-15, Jeremiah 30:19, Jeremiah 30:20, Jeremiah 31:27, Jeremiah 33:11, Lamentations 2:19, Matthew 11:16, Matthew 11:17

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 3:16 - when Jeremiah 31:13 - shall Lamentations 1:1 - full Ezekiel 37:26 - multiply Luke 7:32 - children

Cross-References

Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls,.... Denoting a large increase of inhabitants, in a literal sense; and may spiritually signify the large numbers of converts, of new born babes, who are regenerated by the grace and Spirit of God, and are accounted of by the Lord for a generation:

playing the streets thereof; being in health and rigour, and in great security. The Targum renders it, "singing" or "praising in the spacious places thereof"; singing the praises of God in Gospel strains; saying their Hosannas to the Son of David; rejoicing in the great salvation by Christ, and magnifying the grace of God, and setting forth the glories of it in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; see

Matthew 11:16. In Jerusalem, literally taken, there were various streets, besides the street of the temple, which led to it,

Ezra 10:9 mention is made of others in Jewish writings, as of the upper street k, and of the street of the butchers, and of the street of those that dealt in wool l.

k Misn. Shekalim, c. 8. sect. 1. l Misn. Erubin, c. 10. sect. 9.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 8:5. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls — The progeny shall be numerous, healthy, and happy. Their innocent gambols and useful exercises shall be a means of health, and a proof of happiness. To be healthy, children must have exercise. But they cannot take exercise, except in the way of play and diversion: ergo, such playfulness cannot be sinful. Let them be kept from evil words, lying, swearing, and scurrility; and all the rest may be innocent.