Zechariah 1 · Verse 15

Zechariah 1:15

And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
Zechariah 1:15, King James Version

Zechariah 1:15 in other translations

BSBbut I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
WEBI am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”
ASVAnd I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
YLTAnd with great wrath I am wroth against the nations who are at ease, For I was a little wroth, and they assisted--for evil.
DARBYand I am wroth exceedingly with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little wroth, and they helped forward the affliction.
BBEAnd I am very angry with the nations who are living untroubled: for when I was only a little angry, they made the evil worse.
WebsterAnd I am very greatly displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

What does Zechariah 1:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
15. very sore displeased with the heathen--in contrast with "I was but a little displeased" with My people. God's displeasure with His people is temporary and for their chastening; with the heathen oppressors, it is final and fatal (Jr 30:11). God's instruments for chastising His people, when He has done with them, He casts into the fire. are at ease--carnally secure. A stronger phrase than "is at rest" (Zec 1:11). They are "at ease," but as I am "sore displeased" with them, their ease is accursed. Judah is in "affliction," but as I love her and am jealous for her, she has every reason to be encouraged in prosecuting the temple work. helped forward the affliction--afflicted My people more than I desired. The heathen sought the utter extinction of Judah to gratify their own ambition and revenge (Is 47:6; Eze 25:3, 6; Ob 10-17).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 15 I was but a little displeased - I was justly displeased with my people, and I gave their enemies a commission against them; but they carried this far beyond my design by oppression and cruelty; and now they shall suffer in their turn.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Zechariah 1:7-17

The prophet saw a dark, shady grove, hidden by hills. This represented the low, melancholy condition of the Jewish church. A man like a warrior sat on a red horse, in the midst of this shady myrtle-grove. Though the church was in a low condition, Christ was present in the midst, ready to appear for the relief of his people. Behind him were angels ready to be employed by him, some in acts of judgment, others of…

Read the full comment on Zechariah 1:7-17 →

Zechariah 1:15 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְקֶ֤צֶףve.Ke.tzefand angerH7110
גָּדוֹל֙ga.dOlgreatH1419
אֲנִ֣י'a.NiIH589
קֹצֵ֔ףko.Tzef[am] angryH7107
עַל\־'al-towardsH5921
הַגּוֹיִ֖םha.go.Yimthe nationsH1471
הַשַּֽׁאֲנַנִּ֑יםha.sha.'a.na.Nim<the> at easeH7600
אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.SherwhichH834
אֲנִי֙'a.NiIH589
קָצַ֣פְתִּיka.Tzaf.tiI was angryH7107
מְּעָ֔טme.'Ata littleH4592
וְהֵ֖מָּהve.He.mahand theyH1992
עָזְר֥וּ'a.ze.Ruthey have helpedH5826
לְרָעָֽה\׃le.ra.'Ahfor evilH7451

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Zechariah 1:15

  • Jeremiah 51:24

    And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.

  • Ezekiel 25:12-17

    Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; …

  • Isaiah 54:8

    In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

  • Isaiah 47:6-9

    I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

  • Isaiah 10:5-7

    O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

  • Psalms 123:4

    Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

  • Obadiah 1:10-16

    For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; …

  • Psalms 69:26

    For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

  • Zechariah 1:2

    The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers.

  • Jeremiah 48:11-13

    Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth–el their confidence.

  • Zechariah 1:11

    And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

  • Psalms 83:2-5

    For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2,11; Isa 47:7-9; Jer 48:11-13; Am 6:1; Re 18:7,8
for.
Isa 54:8; Heb 12:6,7
and.
Ps 69:26; 83:2-5; 137:7; Isa 10:5-7; 47:6; Jer 51:24,34,35
Eze 25:3-7,12-17; 26:2; 29:6,7; 25:3-9; 36:4,5; Am 1:3-13; Ob 1:10-16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Zechariah 1:14

    So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

  • Zechariah 1:15

    And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

  • Zechariah 1:16

    Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

Read all of Zechariah 1

Zechariah 1:15 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y con grande enojo estoy airado contra las gentes que están reposadas; porque yo estaba enojado un poco, y ellos ayudaron para el mal.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et je suis courroucé d’un grand courroux contre les nations qui sont à leur aise; car j’étais un peu courroucé, et elles ont aidé au mal.
German
Elberfelder 1871
und mit sehr großem Zorne zürne ich über die sicheren Nationen; denn ich habe ein wenig gezürnt, sie aber haben zum Unglück geholfen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
et ira magna ego irascor super gentes opulentas, quia ego iratus sum parum, ipsi vero adjuverunt in malum.