Zechariah Chapter 9

From The Open Bible Project

9:1 An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus; for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;

• (a) By which he means Syria.
• (b) God’s anger will remain upon their chief city, and not spare even as much as that.
• (c) When the Jews will convert and repent, then God will destroy their enemies.

9:2 and Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

• (d) That is, by Damascus: meaning, that Harnath or Antiochia would be under the same rod and plague.
• (e) He secretly shows the cause of their destruction, because they deceived all others by their craft and subtilty, which they cloaked with this name of wisdom.

9:3 Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.

9:4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.

• (f) Though those of Tyre think themselves invincible by reason of the sea that surrounds them, yet they will not escape God’s judgments.

9:5 Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

9:6 Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

• (g) Meaning, that all would be destroyed, save a very few, that would remain as strange

9:7 I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

• (h) He promises to deliver the Jews when he will take vengeance on their enemies for their cruelty, and the wrongs they did to them.
• (i) As the Jebusites had been destroyed, so would Ekron and all the Philistines.

9:8 I will encamp around my house against the army, that none pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.

• (k) He shows that God’s power alone will be sufficient to defend his Church against all adversaries, be they ever so cruel, or assert their power ever so often.
• (l) That is, God has now seen the great injuries and afflictions with which they have been afflicted by their enemies.

9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

• (m) That is, he has righteousness and salvation in himself for the use and benefit of his Church.
• (n) Which declares that they should not look for such a king as would be glorious in the eyes of man, but should be poor, and yet in himself have all power to deliver his own: and this is meant of Christ, as in (Matthew 21:5).

9:10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

• (o) No power of man or creature will be able to stop this kingdom of Christ, and he will peaceably govern them by his word.
• (p) That is, from the Red Sea, to the Sea called Syriacum: and by these places which the Jews knew, he meant an infinite space and area over the whole world.
• (q) That is, from the Euphrates.

9:11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.

• (r) Meaning Jerusalem, or the Church which is saved by the blood of Christ, of which the blood of the sacrifices was a figure. And it is here called the covenant of the Church, because God made it with his Church: and left it with them because of the love that he had for them.
• (s) God shows that he will deliver his Church out of all dangers, no matter how great they may seem.

9:12 Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.

• (t) That is, into the holy land where the city and the temple are, where God will defend you.
• (u) Meaning the faithful, who seemed to be in danger of their enemies on every side, and yet lived in hope that God would restore them to liberty.
• (x) That is, double benefits and prosperity, in respect of that which your fathers enjoyed from David’s time to the captivity.

9:13 For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

• (y) I will make Judah and Ephraim, that is, my whole Church, victorious against all enemies, which he here means by the Greeks.

9:14 Yahweh will be seen over them; and his arrow will go flash like lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.

9:15 Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.

• (z) He promises that the Jews will destroy their enemies, and have abundance and excess of all things, as there is abundance on the altar when the sacrifice is offered. And these things are not to move them to excess, but to sobriety, and a thankful remembrance of God’s great liberality.

9:16 Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over his land.

• (a) The faithful will be preserved, and reverenced by all, that their very enemies will be compelled to esteem them: for God’s glory will shine in them, as Josephus declares of Alexander the great when he met Jadi the high priest.

9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.