I will cut off the names of the idols. Idols should be so utterly abolished that their very names should perish (Hosea 2:17; Micah 5:12, Micah 5:13; Zephaniah 1:4). The prophet names the two chief sins which had brought ruin on the old theocracy—idolatry and false prophetism, and declares that these shall not be found in the new theocracy.
As these two sins were not specially prevalent after the Captivity, some see in their mention here an argument for the pre-exilian authorship of this part of Zechariah. But the prophet, grounding his message on past history, does well to give assurance that such lapses shall not happen again.
Nor is it altogether certain that the warning against these errors was not needed after the return. There were false prophets in Nehemiah's time (Nehemiah 6:14); and we read in the Book of Maccabees that many Jews adopted heathen rites and customs, among which the worship of idols must have been included (1 Macc.
1:11, etc.; 2 Macc. 4:13, etc.), and the people and even priests contracted marriages with heathen wives (Ezra 9:2; Nehemiah 13:23); so that there was real danger of relapse. The prophets. The false prophets are meant, as is evident from their being associated with idols and the unclean spirit, and from verses 3-6.
The Septuagint has, "the false prophets;" so the Vulgate. The unclean spirit. This is the lying spirit which works in the false prophets (see 1 Kings 22:19-23), and which we find later denounced by apostles (Acts 16:18; 1 Corinthians 10:20, 1 Corinthians 10:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 1 Timothy 4:1).
Septuagint, τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀκάθαρτον (comp, Matthew 12:43; Revelation 18:2).