Zechariah 1:13
“And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The LORD responds to the intercession with good and comforting words.
What Does Zechariah 1:13 Mean?
God answers the angel's 'how long' not with silence or rebuke but with 'good words and comfortable words.' The reply is tender, full of consolation, and the substance of it spills into the verses that follow. After the long sorrow of exile, the first thing the people hear from heaven is kindness.
How God answers matters as much as that He answers. He could have spoken of judgment; instead He speaks comfort. This is the character of the God who 'comforts those who are cast down,' whose final word over His repentant people is grace. When we bring our weariness to Him, we are met not by a stern reckoning but by a Father whose words are good and full of hope.
In the Original Language
nacham (נָחַם), 'comfort' -- to console deeply, the same tenderness later sounded in 'comfort ye my people.'