pposes the going up from the land of the
captivity. But if the day of sowing be great, if it be regarded by God
as high and important, then the going up, which is the condition of
sowing, must necessarily take place.

Ver. 3. "_Say ye unto your brethren, My people_ (Ammi); _and to your
sisters, Who has obtained mercy_ (Ruhamah)."

The words, "My people," are a concise expression for: "You whom the
Lord has called. My people." The mention of the brothers and sisters is
explained by the reference to the [Pg 230] male and female members of
the prophet's family. The phrase, "Say ye," is in substance equivalent
to: "Then will ye be able to say." The prophet sees before him the
people of the Lord who have experienced mercy; and calls upon the
members to salute one another joyfully with the new name given to them
by God. Such is the simple meaning of the verse, which has been
darkened by a multitude of forced interpretations.

Footnote 1: In Hab. ii. 1, where the prophet is standing upon his
watch, and watches to see what the Lord will say _unto_ him, it would
be rather strange to translate "in me." There is nothing else to lead
us to conceive that the apparition of angels in Zech. is internal. But
Num. xii. 8 is quite decisive. The Lord there says, with reference to
His relation to Moses, "Mouth to mouth I speak to him ([Hebrew: bv]);"
and immediately afterwards it is said, "Wherefore, then, were ye not
afraid to speak to My servant ([Hebrew: bebdi]), to Moses?" It is
evident that the [Hebrew: b] cannot be explained by "in" in the one
case, and by "through" in the other. It is remarkable, however, that
[Hebrew: dbr] with [Hebrew: b] occurs very frequently when the Lord
Himself, or, as in Zechariah, _the_ Angel, speaks. This may, perhaps,
be explained from the circumstance, that the heavenly discourses have
an especially penetrating power, and sink very deeply into the heart.

Footnote 2: This is very natural, for the proper name has originally a
cheering signification. It is apparent from the remarks of _Schubert_
(_Reise_ iii. S. 164-166), and of _Ritter_ (_Erdkunde_ 16, i. S. 693),
on the natural condition of the plain of Jezreel, how it happened that
it received this name, which means: "God sows." _Schubert_ calls the
soil of Jezreel a field of corn, the seed of which is not sown by any
man's hand, the ripe ears of which are not reaped by any reaper. The
various kinds of corn appeared to him to be wild plants; the mul