Zec 13:2-6 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 2. I will cut off the names of the idols ] There shall not only be no idolatry , but the very names of the idols shall be forgotten, or be held in such abhorrence that no person shall mention them. This prophecy seems to be ancient, and to have been delivered while idolatry had prevalence in Israel and Judah. I will cause the prophets ] All false teachers. And the unclean spirit ] That which leads to impurity, the spirit of divination ; the lust of the flesh, and of the eye, and the pride of life. Satan shall have neither a being in , nor power over , the hearts of sincere believers in Christ.

‏ Zechariah 13:2-6

Verse 2. I will cut off the names of the idols] There shall not only be no idolatry, but the very names of the idols shall be forgotten, or be held in such abhorrence that no person shall mention them. This prophecy seems to be ancient, and to have been delivered while idolatry had prevalence in Israel and Judah.

I will cause the prophets] All false teachers.

And the unclean spirit] That which leads to impurity, the spirit of divination; the lust of the flesh, and of the eye, and the pride of life. Satan shall have neither a being in, nor power over, the hearts of sincere believers in Christ.

Verse 3. When any shall yet prophesy] Falsely; such shall be the horror of such an evil, that there shall be no toleration of it. Itself, and they who practise it, shall be everywhere destroyed.

Verse 4. Neither shall they wear a rough garment] A rough garment made of goats' hair, coarse wool, or the coarse pile of the camel, was the ordinary garb of God's prophets. And the false prophets wore the same; for they pretended to the same gifts, and the same spirit, and therefore they wore the same kind of garments. John Baptist had a garment of this kind.

Verse 5. But he shall say, I am no prophet] This must be the case of a false prophet or diviner, who had been obliged to give up his infamous practice, and become even a labourer in the land. But having been known to be such, he is questioned by the people to see if he still were addicted in heart to the same practices. He declares he is no prophet, neither true nor false; that he is now a husbandman, and was brought up a herdsman.

Verse 6. What are these wounds in thine hands?] Marks which he had received in honour of his idols. But he shall excuse himself by stating that he had received these marks in his own family; when, most probably, they had been dedicated to some of those idols. See Clarke on Isa 44:5. I do not think that these words are spoken at all concerning Jesus Christ. I have heard them quoted in this way; but I cannot hear such an application of them without horror. In quoting from the Old Testament in reference to the New, we cannot be too cautious. We may wound the truth instead of honouring it.