It shall happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.
Parallel Translations
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It shall happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.
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And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
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And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
Cross-references (31)
Passages linked to Zechariah 13:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 5:12 A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword around you. A third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
- Revelation 16:19 The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
- Ezekiel 5:2-4 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the middle of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. You shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it. A third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. You shall take of it a few in number, and bind them in the folds of your robe. Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the middle of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From it a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.
- Malachi 4:1-3 “For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall. You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Revelation 8:7-12 The first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. One third of the earth was burned up, and one third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the sea became blood, and one third of the living creatures which were in the sea died. One third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of the waters. The name of the star is called “Wormwood.” One third of the waters became wormwood. Many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter. The fourth angel sounded, and one third of the sun was struck, and one third of the moon, and one third of the stars; so that one third of them would be darkened, and the day wouldn’t shine for one third of it, and the night in the same way.
- Matthew 24:21-22 for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
- Luke 23:28-30 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don’t please God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
- Deuteronomy 28:49-68 Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you. You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH your God, then Yahweh will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you until you are destroyed. You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.
- Isaiah 6:13 If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stump remains when they are cut down; so the holy seed is its stock.”
- Daniel 9:27 He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, wrath will be poured out on the desolate.”
- Joel 2:31-32 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
- Amos 9:8-9 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says Yahweh. “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.
- Zechariah 11:6-9 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says Yahweh; “but, behold, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.” So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor”, and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock. I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.”
- Zechariah 14:1-2 Behold, a day of Yahweh comes, when your plunder will be divided within you. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
- Matthew 23:35-37 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
- Mark 13:20 Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days.
- Luke 19:41-44 When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation.”
- Isaiah 65:12-15 I will destine you to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer. When I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.” Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed; Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit. You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
- Isaiah 66:4-6 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them; because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn’t listen; but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.” Hear Yahweh’s word, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name’s sake, have said, ‘Let Yahweh be glorified, that we may see your joy;’ but it is those who shall be disappointed. A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that repays his enemies what they deserve.
- Isaiah 66:24 “They will go out, and look at the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
- Jeremiah 30:11 For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
- Malachi 3:1-2 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies. “But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap;
- Malachi 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Matthew 3:10-12 “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”
- Matthew 21:43-44 “Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”
- Matthew 22:7 When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
- Luke 20:16-18 He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard that, they said, “May that never be!” But he looked at them and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the chief cornerstone?’ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.”
- Luke 21:20-24 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the middle of her depart. Let those who are in the country not enter therein. For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! For there will be great distress in the land, and wrath to this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Romans 11:1-5 I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God didn’t reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have broken down your altars. I am left alone, and they seek my life.” But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
- Romans 9:27-29 Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved; for He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” As Isaiah has said before, “Unless the Lord of Armies had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He goes on with the same subject; for he…
He goes on with the same subject; for he reminds the faithful, that though God had resolved to restore his Church, and though his blessing would be evident, yet very heavy afflictions were not far distant; as though he had said, “God will give you a serene heaven and a bland air, that the land may bring forth its fruit; but still there is a heavy tempest impelling, and ye shall not be exempt from storms and hail. But when God has laid waste a part of the land, he will bless you with corn and wine, so that you shall have sufficient support.” So also in this place he says, “God will protect his Church, and will also be propitious to it, for he will wash away all the filth of wickedness, and will give to you faithful pastors, when he has removed the impostures of Satan: but in the meantime most grievous afflictions await you, and a hard state of things, and difficult to be borne, must be expected; for God will appear as though he intended to destroy his people: such will be the scattering.”
For this reason he says, that there will be through the whole land the most grievous calamities: Two parts, he says, shall die; the third only shall remain
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We now see how all these things agree, and how the Prophet’s words harmonise. In short, he means, that what he had before promised respecting the future favor of God, does not belong indifferently to all, or to the whole body of the people, but to the faithful, whom God will in a wonderful manner deliver from ruin; for of the people God will only save the third part, as he had already resolved to destroy the other two parts. The intention of the Prophet is now by no means doubtful.
But we hence conclude, that what God daily promises to his Church is not to be extended indiscriminately to all, for many falsely profess his name: but he knows his own, as Paul says, and therefore exhorts them to depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:16.) Let us then know that promises of God’s favor do not appertain to hypocrites: for though he has decreed to deal kindly and graciously with his Church, he yet continues to diminish it, so that the third part only remains safe. Whenever then we speak of God’s mercy towards his Church, and of his aid and help, let us ever bear in mind the cleansing of which Zechariah now speaks, that God will reserve the third part, while the greater portion ever runs headlong into ruin. It is then enough that the third part should be delivered from destruction. But this verse, as it has already appeared, ought to be applied to the kingdom of Christ.
Literally we read, the mouth of the two; but פי, pi, is to be taken metaphorically for part or portion. A part then of the two in it, or two parts in it, (the plural is joined with the singular, as often is the case,) shall perish, shall be cut off. The verb כרת, caret, means to cut off; and then גוע, guo, signifies to die or to sink. Though he understands the same things by the two words, it is not yet an unmeaning repetition; for it might have seemed hard and unreasonable that only a third part of God’s people should remain. This diminution of the Church might have disturbed the minds of many, and might have appeared incredible: hence the Prophet, in order to confirm what in itself seemed a paradox, says, they shall die, they shall perish; it has been so decreed, and you are not to contend with God; for given up to ruin shall the greater number be, while a few only shall remain: the third part then shall remain in it. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The greatest part shall have no portion of these…
The greatest part shall have no portion of these blessings, and yet they that shall enjoy them, shall be tried with great afflictions, so that it shall be known that only God’s power and his mercies do preserve them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, [that]…
Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein.
Ver. 8. Two parts therein shall be cut off and die] q.d. They shall, they shall, however strange or incredible this sad tidings seems to you; it shall be even so, take my word for it. "Behold the severity of God," Rom 11:22. In the Greek it is the resection, or, cutting off (αποτομιαν), as a surgeon cutteth off proud and dead flesh. "The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity," &c., Zep 3:5. Fiat iustitia, ruat coelum, Let justice be done, let the heavens be destroyed, may seem to be his motto. In point of justice he stands not upon multitudes, Psa 9:17. It is all one to him "whether against a nation or against a man only," Job 34:29. National sins bring national plagues; heinous sins heavy punishments. In the universal deluge God swept away all, as if he had blotted out that part of his title, "The Lord, the Lord, gracious, merciful," &c., and had taken up that of Attilas, Orbis flagellum, the world’s scourge. Sodom’s sins were multiplied above measure; "therefore God took them away as he saw good," Eze 16:49-50; and hath thrown them out (προκεινται), as St Jude speaketh, for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Herodotus, a heathen historian, saith the very same of the destruction of Troy, viz. that the ruins and rubbish thereof are set forth for an example of that noted rule, that God greatly punisheth great offences, and that heinous sins bring hideous plagues. Here we have two parts of three cut off in the land of Judea; as it happened at the last destruction thereof by the Romans; at which time more than a million of men perished, see Mat 24:21. {See Trapp on "Mat 24:21"} And what think we shall become of Babylon the Great? Her sins reach up to heaven, whereunto they are even glued and fastened, as the word εκολληθησαν signifies, Rev 18:5, therefore she shall be brought down to hell with Capernaum (for flagitium et flagellum sicut acus et filium), therefore shall her plagues come in one day to confute their fond conceit of an eternal empire, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be utterly overthrown with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her, full able to effect it, seem it to Babel’s brats never so improbable or impossible, Rev 18:18. It was never besieged since it became Papal, but it was taken; whereas before it was held invincible. Sin that lieth at the bottom will easily undermine and overturn the walls, though never so strong built; as the voice from heaven told Phocas the murderer. The blood of that innocent Lamb of God lies heavily upon the whole nation of the Jews to this day. Their last devastation and present dismal dispersion is such, as that one of their own Rabbis concludes from thence that their Messiah must needs be come; and they must needs suffer so much for killing him.
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But the third shall be left therein] A holy remnant kept for a reserve. Good husbands cast out all their grain into the oven, but keep some for seed. "But yet in it shall be a tenth," saith another prophet, Isa 6:13 : there shall be "two or three berries in the top of a tree, four or five in the outmost branches," Isa 17:6. God’s elect are so very few, that the world shall wonder, Isa 8:18, and even hoot to see Christ’s flock so very little, little, as our Saviour speaks, Luk 12:22, as Israel stood like two little flocks of kids, when the Syrians filled the country, 1Ki 20:27. There were but a few names in Sardis; and many bad in the best Churches; as at Philippi, Php 3:18. Christ wondered at one good Nathanael, as rara avis in terris; a rare bird in the earth, and when he comes, shall he find faith? How many, think you, shall be saved in this city? saith Chrysostom, in his fourth sermon to the people at Antioch. It will be a hard speech to you, but I will speak it: Though there be so many thousands, yet there cannot be found a hundred that shall be saved. And I doubt about them, too. And again, in his third sermon upon the Acts, he breaks out into this speech, Non arbitror inter sacerdotes multos esse qui salvi fiant, I do not think that there are many, no, not among the ministry, that can be saved, since many are called, but few are chosen; like as all the people were called together by Samuel, but Saul only was chosen king. Only the called according to purpose are elected, and shall be glorified, Rom 8:28-29. Christ at the last day will do as Joshua did to find out who had stolen the Babylonish garment; there were many brought together, and all to find out one, Jos 7:16-21 So, all shall then appear; out of them a small number deducted, that have heard of Christ. Out of them, those that have professed him, and out of them, those that have professed him in sincerity, and these will be Mithe mispar, a small few indeed. Hence they are called pearls, which are but few to the number of pebbles; jewels, which are but little to the lumber; strangers, that are nothing so many as homedwellers; sons of God, and of the royal blood; and of such there are but a few to common subjects. They are as a fold in a wide field; as a garden in a wild waste. Rari quippe boni, saith the poet (Juvenal). And Pauci sunt qui philosophantur, few there are who philosophize, saith Ulpian, the lawyer.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This verse may be a prediction of the great…
This verse may be a prediction of the great slaughter Titus made among the Jews, and also an emblem of the multitudes of them that perish, and paucity of them that are saved.
In all the land of Judea, or the whole world.
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Two parts; not precisely two, but, more largely, the greater part by far.
Shall be cut off and die, a temporal death, by the sword of Titus, or an eternal death under unbelief and rejecting Christ.
But the third, i.e. a remnant, the lesser part, yet as many as are chosen, shall be left therein; shall escape or be preserved and saved.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it shall come to pass, that in all…
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord,.... Either in all the land of Israel, as Kimchi interprets it; or rather in all the world, as Aben Ezra and others; for this prophecy seems to have respect, not to the calamities of the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, after the death of Christ, when a few were saved, a remnant according to the election of grace, yet so as by fire, for whose sake the days of tribulation were shortened; but to the external state of the church, and the trouble of it throughout Christendom, about the time of the destruction of antichrist:
two parts therein shall be cut off and die; all hypocrites, formalists, and outward court worshippers; who seem as if they would be at this time two thirds of the professors of true religion; who will not be able to stand the hour of temptation that will come upon all the earth, to try the inhabitants of it; which will be the last struggle of the beast of Rome, Rev 3:10 but will be twice dead, plucked up by the roots; will die to the profession of religion, and be cut off from the people of God, and have no more a name with them:
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but the third shall be left therein; the few names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; the hundred forty and four thousand that will stand with Christ, and by him, on Mount Zion, being redeemed from among men, Rev 3:4 compare with this Rev 16:19.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Two parts - Not precisely two, but the greater…
Two parts - Not precisely two, but the greater part shall die a temporal death, by the sword of Titus, or in eternal death under unbelief. The third - A remnant, the lesser part, shall escape or be preserved.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Two parts therein shall be cut off]…
Verse 8. Two parts therein shall be cut off] In the war with the Romans.
But the third shall be left] Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be preserved alive; and not one of these perished in the siege, or afterwards, by those wars.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In all the land, two parts therein shall be…
In all the land, two parts therein shall be cut off and die - “In all the land of Israel,” says a Jewish interpreter; (Kimchi); “ - the land, in which the Good Shepherd had been slain and the sheep scattered, “that upon you.” our Lord had said, “may come all the righteous blood.” As David punished Moab, “with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive” 2Sa 8:2; and Ezekiel prophesied, “A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee” Eze 5:12; so now, the greater part should be destroyed, but a remnant should be saved. “But the third part shall be left therein. Even so then at this present time also,” Paul says, “there is a remnant according to the election of grace” Rom 11:5. Osorius: “The third part only shall be saved from the common destruction; yet not so, that they should suppose that glory was to be obtained amid ease.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Third. The greatest part of mankind will be lost.…
Third. The greatest part of mankind will be lost. (Haydock) --- The few Jews who embrace the faith will be absorbed in the Gentile converts, and suffered to live, though proved by persecutions, while the rest shall be exterminated. Both shall lose their name, and be styled Christians. (Calmet) --- Those who adhere to Judaism, or to paganism, cannot be saved. This is the privilege only of Christian Catholics, who live piously, and are selected by God’s grace. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in…
Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in the Roman wars, and a third to survive. Probably from the context (Zac 14:2-9), which has never yet been fulfilled, the destruction of the two-thirds (literally, "the proportion of two," or "portion of two") and the saving of the remnant, the one-third, are still future, and to be fulfilled under Antichrist.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. in all the land] i.e. of Palestine, which…
8. in all the land] i.e. of Palestine, which agrees with the view taken above that “the flock” is the Jewish church and people.
two parts] Comp. 2Sa_8:2. This was terribly fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) The land.—viz., of Israel. (Comp. Zec_14:9.)
(8) The land.—viz., of Israel. (Comp. Zec_14:9.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain In all the land; i.e. Palestine, the country in…
In all the land; i.e. Palestine, the country in which the good Shepherd tended his flock (Zec 11), and which is a figure of the kingdom of God. (comp. Zec_12:12 Zec_14:9, Zec_14:10) Two parts therein shall be cut off and die; literally, the mouth, i.e. the portion of two, as Deu_21:17 2Ki_2:9, where it denotes the double portion inherited by the firstborn. The inheritance is divided into three portions, of which two parts are given over to death. Compare a similar allotment in the case of the Moabites. (2Sa_8:2) The doomed portion is supposed to represent the multitudes who perished at the siege of Jerusalem. This may be; but by analogy it stands for those who shall not accept the Messiah or be purified by suffering, even as Christ said, "Many are called, but few chosen". (Mat_20:16; comp. Mat_3:12) The third. This third part represents the faithful among the Jews, (Rom_11:5) and the Christian Church gathered out of all nations. (comp. Isa_6:13; and especially Eze_5:2, Eze_5:12)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain And it shall come to pass
And it shall come to pass
Zechariah 13 now returns to the subject of Zec 12:10. Zec 13:8; Zec 13:9 refer to the sufferings of the remnant; Isa 1:9; Rom 11:5 preceding the great battle. Zechariah 14. is a recapitulation of the whole matter. The order is:
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(1) The gathering of the nation, Zec 13:2 (see "Armageddon," Rev 16:14 (See Scofield "Rev 19:11")
(2) the deliverance, Zec 13:3;
(3) the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives, and the physical change of the scene, Zec 13:4-8;
(4) the setting up of the kingdom, and full earthly blessing, Zec 13:9-9.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 this is Yahweh's declaration
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Zechariah 1:4. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
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that two-thirds of it will be cut off! Those people will perish; only one-third will remain there
People being killed is spoken of as if they are cut off like cloth is cut from a garment or a branch is cut from a plant. AT: "that two out of every three people will die! Only one person out of three will remain in the land" (See: Metaphor and Fractions)
I will bring that third through the fire
Metal is passed through fire in order to purify or harden it. This expression serves here as a metaphor for exposing the people to suffering in order that they may become more faithful to God. (See: Metaphor)
refine them as silver is refined; I will test them as gold is tested
Refining refers to making precious metals such as silver more pure. Metals such as silver and gold are tested in order to discover how pure or strong they are. Both refining and testing are here metaphors for making the people more faithful to God. (See: Metaphor)
They will call on my name
Here "name" represents Yahweh. AT: "They will call out to me" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
declare
cut off
perish
fire
silver
gold
test
call
name
people group
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 13:8 Two-thirds . . . one-third: The divine judgment…
13:8 Two-thirds . . . one-third: The divine judgment would be catastrophic, but God would preserve a remnant and forgive their sin (see Isa 65:9; Jer 50:20; Ezek 5:2-12; Rev 9:15-18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.