Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

Zechariah 9

There are 37 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 113, footnote 7 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Ignatius (HTML)

Epistle to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch (HTML)

Chapter I.—Exhortations to earnestness and moderation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1272 (In-Text, Margin)

... altogether abstain from wine and flesh, for these things are not to be viewed with abhorrence, since [the Scripture] saith, “Ye shall eat the good things of the earth.” And again, “Ye shall eat flesh even as herbs.” And again, “Wine maketh glad the heart of man, and oil exhilarates, and bread strengthens him.” But all are to be used with moderation, as being the gifts of God. “For who shall eat or who shall drink without Him? For if anything be beautiful, it is His; and if anything be good, it is His.”[Zechariah 9:17] Give attention to reading, that thou mayest not only thyself know the laws, but mayest also explain them to others, as the earnest servant of God. “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 175, footnote 3 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Justin Martyr (HTML)

The First Apology (HTML)

Chapter XXXV.—Other fulfilled prophecies. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1840 (In-Text, Margin)

... they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate. And we will cite the prophetic utterances of another prophet, Zephaniah, to the effect that He was foretold expressly as to sit upon the foal of an ass and to enter Jerusalem. The words are these: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”[Zechariah 9:9]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 222, footnote 1 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Justin Martyr (HTML)

Dialogue with Trypho (HTML)

Chapter LIII.—Jacob predicted that Christ would ride on an ass, and Zechariah confirms it. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2116 (In-Text, Margin)

... Christ, and as the fulfilment was recognised, it became a clear proof that He was the Christ. And though all this happened and is proved from Scripture, you are still hard-hearted. Nay, it was prophesied by Zechariah, one of the twelve [prophets], that such would take place, in the following words: ‘Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, and declare, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King shall come to thee, righteous, bringing salvation, meek, and lowly, riding on an ass, and the foal of an ass.’[Zechariah 9:9] Now, that the Spirit of prophecy, as well as the patriarch Jacob, mentioned both an ass and its foal, which would be used by Him; and, further, that He, as I previously said, requested His disciples to bring both beasts; [this fact] was a prediction ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 449, footnote 8 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Irenæus (HTML)

Against Heresies: Book III (HTML)

Chapter XIX.—Jesus Christ was not a mere man, begotten from Joseph in the ordinary course of nature, but was very God, begotten of the Father most high, and very man, born of the Virgin. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3676 (In-Text, Margin)

... have attained to even a small portion of the truth. Now, the Scriptures would not have testified these things of Him, if, like others, He had been a mere man. But that He had, beyond all others, in Himself that pre-eminent birth which is from the Most High Father, and also experienced that pre-eminent generation which is from the Virgin, the divine Scriptures do in both respects testify of Him: also, that He was a man without comeliness, and liable to suffering; that He sat upon the foal of an ass;[Zechariah 9:9] that He received for drink, vinegar and gall; that He was despised among the people, and humbled Himself even to death and that He is the holy Lord, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Beautiful in appearance, and the Mighty God, coming on the clouds ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 506, footnote 14 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Irenæus (HTML)

Against Heresies: Book IV (HTML)

Chapter XXXIII.—Whosoever confesses that one God is the author of both Testaments, and diligently reads the Scriptures in company with the presbyters of the Church, is a true spiritual disciple; and he will rightly understand and interpret all that the prophets have declared respecting Christ and the liberty of the New Testament. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4256 (In-Text, Margin)

... have a Deliverer present [with them]; but they pretend, at a time unsuitable [for such conduct], to serve, [with observances] beyond [those required by] the law, God who stands in need of nothing, and do not recognise the advent of Christ, which He accomplished for the salvation of men, nor are willing to understand that all the prophets announced His two advents: the one, indeed, in which He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass,[Zechariah 9:9] and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek; while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father’s fold the children who were scattered abroad, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 510, footnote 6 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Irenæus (HTML)

Against Heresies: Book IV (HTML)

Chapter XXXIII.—Whosoever confesses that one God is the author of both Testaments, and diligently reads the Scriptures in company with the presbyters of the Church, is a true spiritual disciple; and he will rightly understand and interpret all that the prophets have declared respecting Christ and the liberty of the New Testament. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4314 (In-Text, Margin)

12. Some of them, moreover—[when they predicted that] as a weak and inglorious man, and as one who knew what it was to bear infirmity, and sitting upon the foal of an ass,[Zechariah 9:9] He should come to Jerusalem; and that He should give His back to stripes, and His cheeks to palms [which struck Him]; and that He should be led as a sheep to the slaughter; and that He should have vinegar and gall given Him to drink; and that He should be forsaken by His friends and those nearest to Him; and that He should stretch forth His hands the whole day long; and that He should be mocked and maligned by ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 213, footnote 2 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Instructor (HTML)

Book I (HTML)
Chapter V.—All Who Walk According to Truth are Children of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1065 (In-Text, Margin)

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; tell aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh, just, meek, and bringing salvation; meek truly is He, and riding on a beast of burden, and a young colt.”[Zechariah 9:9] It was not enough to have said colt alone, but He added to it also young, to show the youth of humanity in Christ, and the eternity of simplicity, which shall know no old age. And we who are little ones being such colts, are reared up by our divine colt-tamer. But if the new man in Scripture is represented by the ass, this ass is also a colt. “And he bound,” it is said, “the colt to the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 415, footnote 5 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book IV. In Which Tertullian Pursues His Argument. Jesus is the Christ of the Creator. He Derives His Proofs from St. Luke's Gospel; That Being the Only Historical Portion of the New Testament Partially Accepted by Marcion. This Book May Also Be Regarded as a Commentary on St. Luke. It Gives Remarkable Proof of Tertullian's Grasp of Scripture, and Proves that “The Old Testament is Not Contrary to the New.“ It Also Abounds in Striking Expositions of Scriptural Passages, Embracing Profound Views of Revelation, in Connection with the Nature of Man. (HTML)
Concerning Those Who Come in the Name of Christ. The Terrible Signs of His Coming. He Whose Coming is So Grandly Described Both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, is None Other Than the Christ of the Creator. This Proof Enhanced by the Parable of the Fig-Tree and All the Trees.  Parallel Passages of Prophecy. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5025 (In-Text, Margin)

... these,” He foretells that persecutions and sufferings were to come upon them, which indeed were “to turn for a testimony to them,” and for their salvation. Hear what is predicted in Zechariah: “The Lord of hosts shall protect them; and they shall devour them, and subdue them with sling-stones; and they shall drink their blood like wine, and they shall fill the bowls as it were of the altar. And the Lord shall save them in that day, even His people, like sheep; because as sacred stones they roll,”[Zechariah 9:15-16] etc. And that you may not suppose that these predictions refer to such sufferings as await them from so many wars with strangers, consider the nature (of the sufferings). In a prophecy of wars which were to be waged with legitimate arms, no one ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 356, footnote 1 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen De Principiis. (HTML)

IV (HTML)
Chapter I., Sections 1-23 translated from the Latin of Rufinus:  That the Scriptures are Divinely Inspired. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2731 (In-Text, Margin)

... of the holy writ­ings, is unknown to many. The Jews, in fine, owing to the hardness of their heart, and from a desire to appear wise in their own eyes, have not believed in our Lord and Saviour, judging that those statements which were uttered respecting Him ought to be understood literally, i.e., that He ought in a sensible and visible manner to preach deliverance to the cap­tives, and first build a city which they truly deem the city of God, and cut off at the same time the chariots of Ephraim,[Zechariah 9:10] and the horse from Jerusalem; that He ought also to eat butter and honey, in order to choose the good before He should come to know how to bring forth evil. They think, also, that it has been predicted that the wolf—that four-footed animal—is, at ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 356, footnote 5 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen De Principiis. (HTML)

IV (HTML)
Chapter I., Sections 1-23 translated from the Greek:  On the Inspiration of Holy Scripture, and How the Same is to be Read and Understood, and What is the Reason of the Uncertainty in it; and of the Impossibility or Irrationality of Certain Things in it, Taken According to the Letter. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2857 (In-Text, Margin)

... examined; not having been discovered by the multitude. For both the hardened in heart, and the ignorant persons belonging to the circumcision, have not believed on our Saviour, thinking that they are follow­ing the language of the prophecies re­specting Him, and not perceiving in a manner palpable to their senses that He had proclaimed liberty to the captives, nor that He had built up what they truly con­sider the city of God, nor cut off “the chariots of Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem,”[Zechariah 9:10] nor eaten butter and honey, and, before knowing or preferring the evil, had selected the good. And thinking, moreover, that it was prophesied that the wolf—the four-footed animal—was to feed with the lamb, and the leopard to lie down with the kid, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 527, footnote 5 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
That He will reign as a King for ever. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4120 (In-Text, Margin)

In Zechariah: “Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: just, and having salvation; meek, sitting upon an ass that hath not been tamed.”[Zechariah 9:9] Also in Isaiah: “Who will declare to you that eternal place? He that walketh in righteousness, and holdeth back his hands from gifts; stopping his ears that he may not hear the judgment of blood; and closing his eyes, that he may not see unrighteousness: this man shall dwell in the lofty cavern of the strong rock; bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure. Ye shall see the King with glory.” Likewise in ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 396, footnote 3 (Image)

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius

Methodius. (HTML)

Oration on the Palms. (HTML)

Oration on the Palms. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3145 (In-Text, Margin)

... God; the very thing itself which is being done bears witness that it is God that is thus hymned by uninstructed tongues. Search the Scriptures, as ye have heard from the Lord; for they are they which testify of Him, and be not ignorant of this miracle. Hear ye men without grace, and thankless, what good tidings the prophet Zechariah brings to you. He says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; behold thy King cometh unto thee: just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon the foal of an ass.[Zechariah 9:9] Why do ye repel the joy? Why, when the sun shineth, do ye love darkness? Why do ye against unconquerable peace meditate war? If, therefore, ye be the sons of Zion, join in the dance together with your children. Let the religious service of your ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 434, footnote 3 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book IV (HTML)

Sec. I.—On Helping the Poor (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2938 (In-Text, Margin)

... and all pious reverence, and to return thanks to God who gives food to the needy, and to lift up their eyes to Him. For, says He, “Which of you shall eat, or who shall drink without Him? For He openeth His hand, and filleth every living thing with His kindness: giving wheat to the young men, and wine to the maidens, and oil for the joy of the living, grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men, flesh for the wild beasts, seeds for the birds, and suitable food for all creatures.”[Zechariah 9:17] Wherefore the Lord says: “Consider the fowls of heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, and your Father feedeth them. Are not ye much better than they? Be not therefore solicitous, saying, What shall we ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 448, footnote 19 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book V (HTML)

Sec. III.—On Feast Days and Fast Days (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3147 (In-Text, Margin)

... mountains were fastened; He begat me before all the hills.” And again: “Wisdom built herself an house.” Concerning Him also Isaiah said: “A Branch shall come out of the root of Jesse, and a Flower shall spring out of his root.” And, “There shall be a root of Jesse; and He that is to rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles trust.” And Zechariah says: “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, just, and having salvation; meek, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.”[Zechariah 9:9] Him Daniel describes as “the Son of man coming to the Father,” and receiving all judgment and honour from Him; and as “the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and becoming a great mountain, and filling the whole earth,” dashing to pieces ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 469, footnote 7 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book VII. Concerning the Christian Life, and the Eucharist, and the Initiation into Christ (HTML)

Sec. II.—On the Formation of the Character of Believers, and on Giving of Thanks to God (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3442 (In-Text, Margin)

XX. Now concerning the several sorts of food, the Lord says to thee, “Ye shall eat the good things of the earth;” and, “All sorts of flesh shall ye eat, as the green herb;” but, “Thou shalt pour out the blood.” For “not those things that go into the mouth, but those that come out of it, defile a man;” I mean blasphemies, evil-speaking, and if there be any other thing of the like nature. But “do thou eat the fat of the land with righteousness.”[Zechariah 9:17] For “if there be anything pleasant, it is His; and if there be anything good, it is His. Wheat for the young men, and wine to cheer the maids.” For “who shall eat or who shall drink without Him?” Wise Ezra does also admonish thee and say: “Go your way, and eat ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 395, footnote 3 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Book X. (HTML)
Matthew's Story of the Entry into Jerusalem.  Difficulties Involved in It for Those Who Take It Literally. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5064 (In-Text, Margin)

... taken by command of the Lord and found by the two disciples whom he sent from Bethphage into the village over against them. These two disciples loose the ass which was tied, and they have orders, if any one says anything to them, to answer that “the Lord has need of them; and immediately he will send them.” By these incidents Matthew declares that the prophecy was fulfilled which says, “Behold, the King cometh, meek and sitting on an ass and a colt the foal of an ass,” which we find in Zechariah.[Zechariah 9:9] When, then, the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, they brought the ass and the colt, and placed on them, he says, their own garments, and the Lord sat upon them, clearly on the ass and the colt. Then “the most part of the multitude ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 395, footnote 4 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Book X. (HTML)
Matthew's Story of the Entry into Jerusalem.  Difficulties Involved in It for Those Who Take It Literally. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5065 (In-Text, Margin)

... called a house of prayer; but ye make it a den of robbers.” Let us ask those who consider that Matthew had nothing but the history in his mind when he wrote his Gospel, what necessity there was for two of the disciples to be sent to the village over against Bethphage, to find an ass tied and its colt with it and to loose them and bring them? And how did it deserve to be recorded that He sat upon the ass and the foal and entered into the city? And how does Zechariah prophesy about Christ when he says,[Zechariah 9:9] “Rejoice greatly, thou daughter of Zion, proclaim it, thou daughter of Jerusalem. Behold thy king cometh unto thee, just is He and bringing salvation, meek and sitting on an ass and a young foal”? If it be the case that this prophecy predicts simply ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 399, footnote 1 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Book X. (HTML)
The Ass and the Colt are the Old and the New Testament.  Spiritual Meaning of the Various Features of the Story.  Differences Between John's Narrative and that of the Other Evangelists. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5076 (In-Text, Margin)

... let us see if there was not a necessity that the daughter of Zion should rejoice greatly and that the greater than she, the daughter of Jerusalem, should not only rejoice greatly but should also proclaim it when her king was coming to her, just and bringing salvation, and meek, having mounted an ass and a young colt. Whoever, then, receives Him will no longer be afraid of those who are armed with the specious discourses of the heterodox, those chariots of Ephraim said to be destroyed by the Lord,[Zechariah 9:10] nor the horse, the vain thing for safety, that is the mad desire which has accustomed itself to the things of sense and which is injurious to many of those who desire to dwell in Jerusalem and to attend to the sound word. It is also fitting to ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 399, footnote 3 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Book X. (HTML)
The Ass and the Colt are the Old and the New Testament.  Spiritual Meaning of the Various Features of the Story.  Differences Between John's Narrative and that of the Other Evangelists. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5078 (In-Text, Margin)

... the vain thing for safety, that is the mad desire which has accustomed itself to the things of sense and which is injurious to many of those who desire to dwell in Jerusalem and to attend to the sound word. It is also fitting to rejoice at the destruction by Him who rides on the ass and the young foal of every hostile dart, since the fiery darts of the enemy are no longer to prevail over him who has received Jesus to his own temple. And there will also be a multitude from the Gentiles with peace[Zechariah 9:9-10] at the Saviour’s coming to Jerusalem, when He rules over the waters that He may bruise the head of the dragon on the water, and we shall tread upon the waves of the sea and to the mouths of all the rivers on the earth. Mark, however, writing about ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 381, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine

City of God (HTML)

A parallel history of the earthly and heavenly cities from the time of Abraham to the end of the world. (HTML)

Of the Prophecy of the Three Prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1202 (In-Text, Margin)

Zechariah says of Christ and the Church, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout joyfully, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King shall come unto thee, just and the Saviour; Himself poor, and mounting an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass: and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.”[Zechariah 9:9-10] How this was done, when the Lord Christ on His journey used a beast of burden of this kind, we read in the Gospel, where, also, as much of this prophecy is quoted as appears sufficient for the context. In another place, speaking in the Spirit of prophecy to Christ Himself of the remission of sins through His blood, he says, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 381, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine

City of God (HTML)

A parallel history of the earthly and heavenly cities from the time of Abraham to the end of the world. (HTML)

Of the Prophecy of the Three Prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1203 (In-Text, Margin)

... from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” How this was done, when the Lord Christ on His journey used a beast of burden of this kind, we read in the Gospel, where, also, as much of this prophecy is quoted as appears sufficient for the context. In another place, speaking in the Spirit of prophecy to Christ Himself of the remission of sins through His blood, he says, “Thou also, by the blood of Thy testament, hast sent forth Thy prisoners from the lake wherein is no water.”[Zechariah 9:11] Different opinions may be held, consistently with right belief, as to what he meant by this lake. Yet it seems to me that no meaning suits better than that of the depth of human misery, which is, as it were, dry and barren, where there are no ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 314, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

On the Catechising of the Uninstructed. (HTML)

Of the Prophecies of the Old Testament in Their Visible Fulfillment in the Church. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1510 (In-Text, Margin)

... spectacles, or charms, or divinations of devils, or be living in the pomp and inflated arrogance of covetousness and pride, or be pursuing any sort of life which the law condemns and punishes. But rather connect yourself with the good, whom you will easily find out, if you yourself were once become of that character; so that you may unite with each other in worshipping and loving God for His own sake; for He himself will be our complete reward to the intent that we may enjoy His goodness and beauty[Zechariah 9:17] in that life. He is to be loved, however, not in the way in which any object that is seen with the eyes is loved, but as wisdom is loved, and truth, and holiness, and righteousness, and charity, and whatever else may be mentioned as of kindred ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 249, footnote 7 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LXI (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2343 (In-Text, Margin)

... enemy, who is also the Rock whereon hath been builded the Church. Art thou taking heed that thou be not smitten of the devil? Flee to the Tower; never to that tower will the devil’s darts follow thee: there thou wilt stand protected and fixed. But in what manner shalt thou flee to the Tower? Let not a man, set perchance in temptation, in body seek that Tower, and when he shall not have found it, be wearied, or faint in temptation. Before thee is the Tower: call to mind Christ, and go into the Tower.[Zechariah 9:12]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 29, footnote 12 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Eustochium. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 465 (In-Text, Margin)

Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one of free will. “There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.” Now that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles God has raised up children unto Abraham, they begin to be “holy stones rolling upon the earth.”[Zechariah 9:16] They pass through the whirlwinds of the world, and roll on in God’s chariot on rapid wheels. Let those stitch coats to themselves who have lost the coat woven from the top throughout; who delight in the cries of infants which, as soon as they see the light, lament that they are born. In paradise Eve was a virgin, and it ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 44, footnote 14 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Marcella. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 722 (In-Text, Margin)

... words of Scripture, “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all.” They may choose to read, “It is a man’s saying, and worthy of all acceptation;” we are content to err with the Greeks, that is to say with the apostle himself, who spoke Greek. Our version, therefore, is, it is “a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation.” Lastly, let them take as much pleasure as they please in their Gallican “geldings;”[Zechariah 9:9] we will be satisfied with the simple “ass” of Zechariah, loosed from its halter and made ready for the Saviour’s service, which received the Lord on its back, and so fulfilled Isaiah’s prediction: “Blessed is he that soweth beside all waters, where ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 101, footnote 9 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Paulinus. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1501 (In-Text, Margin)

... dry land; and I will shake all nations and he who is desired of all nations shall come.” Zechariah, he that is mindful of his Lord, gives us many prophecies. He sees Jesus, “clothed with filthy garments,” a stone with seven eyes, a candle-stick all of gold with lamps as many as the eyes, and two olive trees on the right side of the bowl and on the left. After he has described the horses, red, black, white, and grisled, and the cutting off of the chariot from Ephraim and of the horse from Jerusalem[Zechariah 9:10] he goes on to prophesy and predict a king who shall be a poor man and who shall sit “upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Malachi, the last of all the prophets, speaks openly of the rejection of Israel and the calling of the nations. “I have no pleasure ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 101, footnote 10 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Paulinus. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1502 (In-Text, Margin)

... of his Lord, gives us many prophecies. He sees Jesus, “clothed with filthy garments,” a stone with seven eyes, a candle-stick all of gold with lamps as many as the eyes, and two olive trees on the right side of the bowl and on the left. After he has described the horses, red, black, white, and grisled, and the cutting off of the chariot from Ephraim and of the horse from Jerusalem he goes on to prophesy and predict a king who shall be a poor man and who shall sit “upon a colt the foal of an ass.”[Zechariah 9:9] Malachi, the last of all the prophets, speaks openly of the rejection of Israel and the calling of the nations. “I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 203, footnote 9 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Eustochium. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2886 (In-Text, Margin)

... a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins;” and “make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that…they may receive you into everlasting habitations;” and “give alms…and behold all things are clean unto you;” and Daniel’s words to King Nebuchadnezzar in which he admonished him to redeem his sins by almsgiving. She wished to spend her money not upon these stones, that shall pass away with the earth and the world, but upon those living stones, which roll over the earth;[Zechariah 9:16] of which in the apocalypse of John the city of the great king is built; of which also the scripture tells us that they shall be changed into sapphire and emerald and jasper and other gems.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 369, footnote 18 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

Treatises. (HTML)

Against Jovinianus. (HTML)

Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4471 (In-Text, Margin)

... Apostles also were said to be filled with new wine; with new, he says, not with old wine; because new wine is put into fresh wine-skins, and they did not walk in oldness of the letter, but in newness of the Spirit. This is wine wherewith when youths and maidens are intoxicated, they at once thirst for virginity; they are filled with the spirit of chastity, and the prophecy of Zechariah comes to pass, at least if we follow the Hebrew literally, for he prophesied concerning virgins:[Zechariah 9:17] “And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. For what is his goodness, and what is his beauty, but the corn of the elect, and wine that giveth birth to virgins?” They are virgins of whom it is written ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 470, footnote 1 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

Treatises. (HTML)

Against the Pelagians. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5265 (In-Text, Margin)

... heaven has been prepared for me, or rather I have by my virtuous life prepared it for myself. Adam was subject to punishment, and so are others who think themselves guilty after the similitude of Adam’s transgressions; I and my crew alone have nothing to fear. Other men shut up in their cells and who never see women, because, poor creatures! they do not listen to my words, are tormented with desire: crowds of women may surround me, I feel no stirring of concupiscence. For to me may be applied the[Zechariah 9:16] words, ‘Holy stones are rolled upon the ground,’ and the reason why I am insensible to the attraction of sin is that in the power of free will I carry Christ’s trophy about with me.” But let us listen to God proclaiming by the mouth of Isaiah: “O my ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 74, footnote 21 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the words Incarnate, and Made Man. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1386 (In-Text, Margin)

10. But who is this that cometh down? He says in what follows, And with the sun He endureth, and before the moon generations of generations. And again another of the Prophets saith, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.  Behold! thy King cometh unto thee, just and having salvation[Zechariah 9:9]. Kings are many; of which speakest thou, O Prophet? Give us a sign which other Kings have not. If thou say, A king clad in purple, the dignity of the apparel has been anticipated. If thou say, Guarded by spear-men, and sitting in a golden chariot, this also has been anticipated by others. Give us a sign peculiar to the King whose ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 74, footnote 23 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the words Incarnate, and Made Man. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1388 (In-Text, Margin)

... coming thou announcest. And the Prophet maketh answer and saith, Behold! thy King cometh unto thee, just, and having salvation:  He is meek, and riding upon an ass and a young foal, not on a chariot. Thou hast a unique sign of the King who came. Jesus alone of kings sat upon an unyoked foal, entering into Jerusalem with acclamations as a king. And when this King is come, what doth He? Thou also by the blood of the covenant hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water[Zechariah 9:11].

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 76, footnote 20 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the words Incarnate, and Made Man. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1424 (In-Text, Margin)

... if they still have a prince of the race of Judah and of David, he is not yet come that was expected. For I am ashamed to tell of their recent doings concerning those who are now called Patriarchs among them, and what their descent is, and who their mother: but I leave it to those who know. But He that cometh as the expectation of the Gentiles, what further sign then hath He? He says next, Binding his foal unto the vine. Thou seest that foal which was clearly announced by Zachariah[Zechariah 9:9].

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 91, footnote 18 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the words, Crucified and Buried. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1635 (In-Text, Margin)

34. The Sun was darkened, because of the Sun of Righteousness. Rocks were rent, because of the spiritual Rock. Tombs were opened, and the dead arose, because of Him who was free among the dead; He sent forth His prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water[Zechariah 9:11]. Be not then ashamed of the Crucified, but be thou also bold to say, He beareth our sins, and endureth grief for us, and with His stripes we are healed. Let us not be unthankful to our Benefactor. And again; for the transgression of my people was He led to death; and I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death. Therefore ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 90b, footnote 23 (Image)

Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus

John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)

An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)

Book IV (HTML)
Regarding the things said concerning Christ. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2556 (In-Text, Margin)

Some, again, have a prophetic sense, and of these some are in the future tense: for instance, He shall come openly, and this from Zechariah, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee[Zechariah 9:9], and this from Micah, Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. But others, though future, are put in the past tense, as, for instance, This is our God: Therefore He was seen upon the earth and dwelt among men, and The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways for His works, and Wherefore God, thy God, anointed ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 328, footnote 4 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X. (HTML)

Conference III. Conference of Abbot Paphnutius. On the Three Sorts of Renunciations. (HTML)
Chapter XVI. That faith itself must be given us by the Lord. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1272 (In-Text, Margin)

... again: “for without me ye can do nothing.” How foolish and wicked then it is to attribute any good action to our own diligence and not to God’s grace and assistance, is clearly shown by the Lord’s saying, which lays down that no one can show forth the fruits of the Spirit without His inspiration and co-operation. For “every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” And Zechariah too says, “For whatever is good is His, and what is excellent is from Him.”[Zechariah 9:17] And so the blessed Apostle consistently says: “What hast thou which thou didst not receive? But if thou didst receive it, why boastest thou as if thou hadst not received it?”

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 355, footnote 5 (Image)

Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat

Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)

Aphrahat:  Select Demonstrations. (HTML)

Of Wars. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 755 (In-Text, Margin)

... the children of Judah were called the stones of fire, it was not of my own thought that I said it, but Jeremiah the Prophet spake concerning them; for when he was calling forth tears for them in the Lamentations, he said:— The children of Zion were more excellent than precious stones. And again he said:— How are the stones of the Sanctuary cast down at the head of all the streets? And again He said by the Prophet:— The stones were holy that were cast down in his land.[Zechariah 9:16] And as to these very stones, the fire was burning in them, as Jeremiah said:— The word of the Lord became in my heart like burning fire and it was hot in my bones.   And again He said to Jeremiah:— Lo! I give My word in thy mouth as ...

Online Dictionary & Commentary of Early Church Beliefs