As I thought to punish you - (Literally, to do evil to you) "and repented not." In like way God says in Jeremiah, "I have purposed and will not repent." Jeremiah 4:28.

For thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... In order to assure them of the truth of what he promised, he observes the fulfilment of what he had threatened, he being as true and faithful in the one as in the other:

As I thought to punish you: determined to do it, by suffering them to be carried captive:

when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts; by their immorality, idolatry, and contempt of his prophets:

and I repented not; the Targum adds, "of my word"; of the resolution he had taken up in his heart, and of the declaration of it by his prophets, that he would punish them; this he did not repent of, revoke, change, and alter, but steadily abode by it, and executed it.

The ground upon which this promise rests is given in Zechariah 8:14 and Zechariah 8:15, and it is closed in Zechariah 8:16 and Zechariah 8:17 by the addition of the condition upon which it is to be fulfilled. Zechariah 8:14. "For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers were angry with me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and repented not; Zechariah 8:15. So have I purposed again in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Fear ye not. Zechariah 8:16. These are the words that ye are to do: speak truth every one to his neighbour; truth and judgment of peace judge ye in your gates. Zechariah 8:17. And let not one devise the evil of his neighbour, and love not the oath of deceit: for all this, I hate it, is the saying of Jehovah." As the time of punishment by exile came upon Israel through the decree of God, so is it now a decree of the Lord to show good to Judah. In שׁבתּי זממתּי the שׁבתּי takes the place of the adverbial idea "again." The people have therefore no need to fear, if they are only diligent in practising truth, righteousness, and love to their neighbour. God required the same of the fathers (Zechariah 7:9-10). Mishpat shâlōm is such an administration of justice as tends to promote peace and establish concord between those who are at strife. "In your gates," where courts of justice were held (cf. Deuteronomy 21:19; Deuteronomy 22:15, etc.). The את before כּל־אלּה in Zechariah 8:17 may be accounted for from a kind of attraction, inasmuch as by the insertion of אשׁר the object "all this" is separated from the verb, to bring it out with emphasis: "As for all this, it is what I hate." Compare the similar use of 'ēth in Haggai 2:5, and Ewald, 277, d.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish {h} you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:

(h) Read Eze 18:20.

8:14 I repented not - I did not fail to do it.

[2] repented

Repentance (O.T.), Summary: In the O.T., repentance is the English word used to translate the Heb. nacham, to be "eased" or "comforted." It is used of both God and man. Notwithstanding the literal meaning of nacham, it is evident, from a study of all the passages, that the sacred writers use it in the sense of metanoia in the N.T.--a change of mind. Mt 3:2 See Scofield Note: "Acts 17:30". As in the N.T., such change of mind is often accompanied by contrition and self-judgment. When applied to God the word is used phenomenally according to O.T. custom. God seems to change His mind. The phenomena are such as, in the case of man, would indicate a change of mind.

14. I thought-I determined.

you-that is, your fathers, with whom ye are one; the Jewish Church of all ages being regarded as an organic whole (compare Hag 2:5; Mt 23:31, 32).

repented not-I changed not My purpose, because they changed not their mind (2Ch 36:16). With the froward God shows Himself froward (Ps 18:26). If the threatened punishment has been so unchangeably inflicted, much more will God surely give the promised blessing, which is so much more consonant to His nature (Jer 31:28).

8:9-17 Those only who lay their hands to the plough of duty, shall have them strengthened with the promises of mercy: those who avoid their fathers' faults have the curse turned into a blessing. Those who believed the promises, were to show their faith by their works, and to wait the fulfilment. When God is displeased, he can cause trade to decay, and set every man against his neighbour; but when he returns in mercy, all is happy and prosperous. Surely believers in Christ must not trifle with the exhortation to put away lying, and to speak every man peace with his neighbour, to hate what the Lord hates, and to love that wherein he delights.