Should ye not hear the words, etc.? A verb must be supplied. "Do ye not know the words?" or "Should ye not obey the words?" Syriac, Septuagint, and Vulgate, "Are not these the words?" By the former prophets (Zechariah 1:4).
It had been a common cry of the prophets from early times that men must not put their trust in the observance of outward ceremonies, but attend to the cultivation of moral obedience and purity (see 1 Samuel 15:22; Proverbs 21:3; Isaiah 1:11, Isaiah 1:12, Isaiah 1:16, Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 58:3, etc.
; Jeremiah 7:22, Jeremiah 7:23; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:8, where see note). When Jerusalem was inhabited. Before its destruction and the deportation of its inhabitants. He recalls the former prosperity to their memory, contrasting it with the present low estate, to remind them of all they had lost in punishment of disobedience.
The south (Negeb). The southern part of Judaea was so called (see on Obadiah 1:19; and comp. Numbers 13:17; Joshua 15:21). The plain (Shephelah); the low land, along the coast of the Mediterranean (Joshua 15:33; 1 Macc.
12:38). The above districts comprise two of the three divisions of Judaea ( 1:9); the third, the mountain or hill country (Luke 1:39), is intended in the expression, "Jerusalem and the cities round about her."
There was still a great dearth of population in the country, and the towns were not half inhabited, nor was the]and half cultivated.