Zechariah 7:12

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

Yea, 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.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְלִבָּ֞ם שָׂ֣מוּ שָׁמִ֗יר מִ֠שְּׁמוֹעַ אֶת־הַתּוֹרָ֤ה וְאֶת־הַדְּבָרִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר שָׁלַ֜ח יְהוָ֤ה צְבָאוֹת֙ בְּרוּח֔וֹ בְּיַ֖ד הַנְּבִיאִ֣ים הָרִֽאשֹׁנִ֑ים וַֽיְהִי֙ קֶ֣צֶף גָּד֔וֹל מֵאֵ֖ת יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃

Transliteration

And wə-libbām śāmû šāmîr from miššəmôaʿ ʾeṯ-hattôrāh and ʾeṯ-haddəḇārîm which šālaḥ YHWH ṣəḇāʾôṯ in bərûḥô by hand the nəḇîʾîm hārîʾšōnîm. And wa-yəhî qeṣep̄ gāḏôl from mēʾēṯ YHWH ṣəḇāʾôṯ.

Grammar Details

• *wə-libbām*: conjunction + noun, masculine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix - and their heart
• *śāmû*: qal perfect, 3rd common plural - they made/set
• *šāmîr*: noun, masculine singular - adamant stone/diamond/flint
• *miššəmôaʿ*: preposition + qal infinitive construct - from hearing
• *ʾeṯ-hattôrāh*: direct object marker + definite article + noun, feminine singular - the law
• *ʾeṯ-haddəḇārîm*: direct object marker + definite article + noun, masculine plural - the words
• *šālaḥ*: qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - sent
• *bərûḥô*: preposition + noun, feminine singular + 3rd masculine singular suffix - by his spirit
• *nəḇîʾîm hārîʾšōnîm*: noun, masculine plural + definite article + adjective, masculine plural - the former prophets
• *wa-yəhî*: conjunction + qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and there was/came
• *qeṣep̄*: noun, masculine singular - wrath/anger
• *gāḏôl*: adjective, masculine singular - great
• *mēʾēṯ*: preposition + preposition - from with

Word Meanings

• *libbām*: their heart/their mind
• *šāmîr*: adamant stone/diamond/flint (metaphor for hardness)
• *tôrāh*: law/instruction/teaching
• *dəḇārîm*: words/matters/things
• *bərûḥô*: by his spirit/through his spirit
• *qeṣep̄*: wrath/anger/indignation

Referenced Verses

• Neh 9:29-30 : 29 And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments,(which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. 30 Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
• 2 Chr 36:16 : 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
• Ezek 11:19 : 19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
• Ezek 36:26 : 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
• Dan 9:11-12 : 11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
• Ezek 2:4 : 4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
• Ezek 3:7-9 : 7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. 8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
• Isa 6:10 : 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
• Isa 48:4 : 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
• Jer 5:3 : 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
• Jer 17:1 : 1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
• Jer 26:19 : 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
• Job 9:4 : 4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
• Ps 50:17 : 17 Seeing thou hatest{H8804)} instruction, and castest{H8686)} my words behind thee.
• Zech 7:7 : 7 Should 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?
• Matt 13:15 : 15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
• Mark 4:12 : 12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
• Luke 8:12 : 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
• John 3:19-20 : 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
• Acts 7:51-52 : 51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
• Acts 28:27 : 27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
• 1 Thess 2:15-16 : 15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: 16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
• 2 Thess 2:10-12 : 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
• 1 Pet 1:11-12 : 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
• 2 Pet 1:21 : 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.