It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.”
Parallel Translations
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It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.”
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And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
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And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing; fear not, but let your hands be strong.
Cross-references (43)
Passages linked to Zechariah 8:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 12:2-3 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Psalms 72:17 His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.
- Zephaniah 3:20 At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says Yahweh.
- Zechariah 8:9 Yahweh of Armies says: “Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Armies was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.
- 1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!
- Ruth 4:11-12 All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring which Yahweh will give you by this young woman.”
- Ezekiel 5:15 So it will be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes—I, Yahweh, have spoken it—
- Jeremiah 29:18 I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,
- Zechariah 10:6-9 “I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off: for I am Yahweh their God, and I will hear them. Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice as through wine; yes, their children will see it, and rejoice. Their heart will be glad in Yahweh. I will signal for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them; and they will increase as they have increased. I will sow them among the peoples; and they will remember me in far countries; and they will live with their children, and will return.
- Galatians 3:28-29 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
- Genesis 26:4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed,
- Psalms 44:13-14 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us. You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
- Isaiah 19:24-25 In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing within the earth; because Yahweh of Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
- Isaiah 35:3-4 Strengthen the weak hands, and make the feeble knees firm. Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution. He will come and save you.
- Jeremiah 24:9 I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.
- Daniel 9:11 Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice. “Therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.
- Haggai 2:19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t produced. From today I will bless you.’ ”
- 2 Chronicles 7:20-22 then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land and to this house?’ They shall answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took other gods, worshiped them, and served them. Therefore he has brought all this evil on them.’ ”
- Psalms 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
- Jeremiah 42:18 For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’
- Zechariah 8:20-23 Yahweh of Armies says: “Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come; and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, ‘Let’s go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I will go also.’ Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Armies in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh.” Yahweh of Armies says: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”
- Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
- Deuteronomy 29:23-28 that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. Even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”
- Psalms 44:16 at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses, because of the enemy and the avenger.
- Isaiah 41:10-16 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish. You will seek them, and won’t find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing. For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’ Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff. You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 65:15-16 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, so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
- Lamentations 2:15-16 All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?” All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.”
- Ezekiel 37:11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.’
- 1 Kings 9:7-8 then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’
- 2 Kings 17:18-20 Therefore Yahweh was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah didn’t keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. Yahweh rejected all the offspring of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hands of raiders, until he had cast them out of his sight.
- Isaiah 9:20-21 One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Jeremiah 25:18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, with its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is today;
- Jeremiah 26:6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 32:30-32 “For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says Yahweh. For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day, so that I should remove it from before my face, because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger: they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 33:24 “Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.”
- Jeremiah 44:12 I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They will fall in the land of Egypt. They will be consumed by the sword and by the famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine. They will be an object of horror, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
- Jeremiah 44:22 Thus Yahweh could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today.
- Lamentations 4:15 “Go away!” they cried to them. “Unclean! Go away! Go away! Don’t touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, “They can’t live here any more.”
- Ezekiel 37:16-19 “You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.’ Then take another stick, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.’ Then join them for yourself to one another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. “When the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Won’t you show us what you mean by these?’ tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand.
- Micah 5:7 The remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples, like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, that don’t wait for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
- Zechariah 1:19 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
- Zechariah 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.
- Galatians 3:14 that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He goes on with the same subject, and in…
He goes on with the same subject, and in this verse he states two contrary things, in order to render more clear what he teaches here — that while God was angry the earth was barren, and all things went on unhappily with the Jews; but that when God had begun to be reconciled, the earth had as it were changed its nature, and brought forth plentifully, and that they were in every way made blessed.
Hence he says, As ye have been a curse, etc. Here again he mentions and reminds them how miserable they were while they minded only their private interest, and by neglecting the temple manifested their impiety and ingratitude; for what ought they to have been more ready to do when they returned to their country than to build the temple, and to offer there sacrifices to God, in order to avow him as the author of their deliverance? But the temple was neglected; and the Prophet concludes that they must have been extremely forgetful, if they did not consider what their condition was as long as they had no care for the temple; and he says that they had been a curse among the nations; that is, that they were an example of a curse, according to the threatening of the law. For it is a mode of speaking frequent in Scripture, that the people were a curse; and the common formula of cursing was — “Let the Lord curse thee as he does the Jews.” Zechariah then says that the Jews had been a curse, that they had not only been smitten by God’s hand, but that they had been given up to calamities, in order that they might become to all detestable, and bear in a manner signs of God’s wrath imprinted on them. Whoever then at that time looked on a Jew, he might see that he had the appearance of bearing a curse. In short, Zechariah means that the Jews had been punished in a manner not common or usual, but that God had executed on them dreadful judgments, which made it evident to all that he was grievously offended with them. Ye have been then a curse among all nations
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He then adds, So I will save you, as ye shall be a blessing. The word save is introduced that God might more clearly set forth his favor, lest the Jews should think that the change had been effected by fortuitous change; for we know that men’s thoughts soon change, and they feign this or that cause that they may obscure God’s providence. God then, before he promises that they should be a blessing, says that he would save them. What it is to be a blessing may be easily learnt from the opposite clause. They are then said to be a blessing who bear evident tokens of God’s favor and kindness. So the Prophet means, that when people wished to be prayed for, or when they wished well to one another, this would be the common form of their requests — “May God bless us as he blesses his chosen people: as the Jews are dear to God, so may he favor us with the same or similar kindness.” Thus then we see that the Jews were a curse, when exposed to extreme reproaches; and that they became a blessing when God manifested towards them tokens of favor, and showed in reality, or by the effect, that he was pacified towards them.
He says, in the last place, Fear ye not; strengthened be your hands. He exhorts them to entertain hope, for fear stands opposed to confidence; and fear, proceeding from unbelief, cannot be otherwise dissipated but by God’s promises made to us, which chase away all doubts. Rightly then does the Prophet teach us that the Jews had no reason to fear, for he declares that God was propitious to them. We indeed know that all fear cannot be wholly driven away from the hearts of men; for it would be necessary to deprive us of every feeling before we could regard dangers without fears. But though fear is natural to us, and occasions of fear ever occur to us, yet the fear of unbelief may be dispelled by faith; and hence it is no wonder that God condemns fear, when he promises salvation to his elect. But as I have said, we ought to observe that there is here a contrast between condemnable fear and that confidence which relies on God’s word. We must also add, that the confidence of God’s children is never so complete that they are free from all fear, even the fear of unbelief; but still we ought to struggle against it, so as not to be hindered in the course of our calling. And this we learn more fully from the end of the verse.
Strengthened be your hands. But why does the Prophet forbid the Jews to fear? even for this purpose, — that they might arouse themselves for the work which the Lord had allotted to them, and not allow fear to retard them or to prevent them to persevere.
We now then perceive how the faithful become prepared and ready to render service to God: sloth must first be shaken off — but how? even by having fear removed. What is the remedy for healing fear? even to recomb on the promises of God; for when our minds are composed, the hands and the feet and all the members will be ready to do their office. Alacrity both of mind and heart and of all the members follows, when fear is shaken off, and when men begin so to rely on God’s word, as to know that his help is enough for them against all dangers, and to dread nothing, being convinced that the Lord will by his power remove all hindrances.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 8:13 And it shall come to pass, [that]…
Zec 8:13 And it shall come to pass, [that] as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, [but] let your hands be strong.
Ver. 13. As ye were a curse among the heathen] The people of God’s wrath, and of his curse, Isa 34:5, abhorred and accursed by all nations, Jer 24:9; lastly, a proverb and a pattern for any fearful imprecation, Eze 14:8, as those that had the bloody weals of God’s visible vengeance on their backs, and, Cain-like, had his manifest mark upon their persons and proceedings. The Turks at this day so hate the Jews for crucifying Christ, that they use to say, in detestation of a thing, I would I might die a Jew, then; Let me be a Jew if I defraud thee, &c. Such a taunt and a curse this wretched people are still. As they curse Christ and his followers continually every day, so it comes into their heart like water, and like oil into their bones, Psa 109:18.
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O house of Judah, and house of Israel] i.e. Besides the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, many of the ten tribes that revolted, for religion’s sake, unto Judah were carried captive with them, and afterwards returned out of captivity also in their company. To them, therefore, as well as to the house of Judah, is made the promise. Twelve thousand of these ten tribes returning are found by computation in that summa totalis set down Ezr 2:64, as the Jewish doctors have concluded. There are those who understand the words of the general conversion of all the Jews in the time of the gospel; and this may very well be, for aught that I see to the contrary.
So will I save you] Lest you should say, in the language of Ashdod, It is a chance, I will do it, saith God, 1Sa 6:9.
And ye shall be a blessing] Not only a name and a praise, as Zep 3:20, but a form to be used in blessing of others; such as was that, Rth 4:11-12. And not altogether unlike is that prayer of David, Psa 119:132 "Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name."
Fear not, but let your hands be strong] Be not diffident, but diligent in well doing: in due season you shall reap, if you faint not, Gal 6:9. {See Trapp on "Zec 8:9"} Base fear expectorates and unmans us; banish it, therefore, or ye will be betrayed by it.
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 As ye were a curse; as threatened Deu 28:37;…
As ye were a curse; as threatened Deu 28:37; Jer 24:9; 29:18, all which came upon them in this seventy years’ captivity, and the miseries that preceded.
Among the heathen; nations who knew the misery which they heaped on the Jews, nations among whom they were scattered.
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House of Judah; two tribes.
House of Israel; ten tribes, or rather some of them which escaped Shalmaneser’s hand, and adhered to Judah; or some that from the division of the tribes did keep close to the house of David, and the temple worship.
So will I save you; in such a manner will I save you. so wonderfully, so graciously.
Ye shall be a blessing; a form or model of blessing, as Zep 3:19,20.
Fear not, but let your hands be strong; be not discouraged, neither slack your hands, in the building of the temple, and restoring the worship of God, for God will be with you, and finish all by and for you.
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 For thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... In order…
For thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... In order to assure them of the truth of what he promised, he observes the fulfilment of what he had threatened, he being as true and faithful in the one as in the other:
As I thought to punish you: determined to do it, by suffering them to be carried captive:
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when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts; by their immorality, idolatry, and contempt of his prophets:
and I repented not; the Targum adds, "of my word"; of the resolution he had taken up in his heart, and of the declaration of it by his prophets, that he would punish them; this he did not repent of, revoke, change, and alter, but steadily abode by it, and executed it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. As ye were a curse] Instead of…
Verse 13. As ye were a curse] Instead of being execrated among the people, ye shall be blessed; instead of being reproached, ye shall be commended. Ye shall be a blessing to all the nations round about. All these promises we may expect to be completely fulfilled when the Jews acknowledge their Messiah.
O house of Judah, and house of Israel] The restoration shall be complete, when both Israel and Judah are brought back.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As ye were a curse among the nations, O…
As ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you - The ten tribes bore the name of Israel, in contrast with the two tribes with the name of Judah, not only in the history but in the prophets; as Hosea says, “I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, and on the house of Judah I will have mercy” Hos 1:6-7. Here he unites both; both, in the time of their captivity, were a curse, were held to be a thing accursed, as it is said, “He that is hanged is the curse of God” Deu 21:23, that is, a thing accursed by Him; and God foretold of Judah, that they should be “a desolation and a curse” 2Ki 22:10, and by Jeremiah, “I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for hurt, a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places whither I shall drive them” ; and in deed, when it was so, “therefore is your land a desolation and an astonishment and a curse without an inhabitant, as at this day” Jer 44:22.
Now the sentence was to be reversed as to both. “As ye were a curse, among the nations, naming each, so I will save you.” There would have been no proportion between the curse and the blessing, unless both had been included under the blessing, as they were under the curse. But Israel had no share in the temporal blessing, not returning from captivity, as Zechariah knew they were not returned hitherto. Therefore the blessings promised must be spiritual. Even a Jewish commentator saw this. “It is possible, that this may have been spoken of the second temple, on condition that they should keep the commandments of the Lord; or, it is still future, referring to the days of the Messiah: and this is proved by the following verse which says, ‘O house of Judah and house of Israel.’ During the second temple the house of Israel did not return.”
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And ye shall be a blessing - This is a revival and an application of the original promise to Abraham, “thou shalt be a blessing” Gen 12:2; which was continued to Jacob, “God give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee” Gen 28:4. And of the future king, of whom it is said, “Thou gavest him length of days forever and ever,” David says, “Thou hast made him blessings forever” Psa 21:4, Psa 21:6, and again, “They shall be blessed in Him” Psa 72:17). So Isaiah had said of the days of Christ, “In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land;” Isa 19:24; and symbolically of the cluster of grapes, “Destroy it not: for a blessing is in it” Isa 65:8; and Ezekiel, “I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing” Eze 34:26. They were this; for of them, “according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever” Rom 9:5; of them were the Apostles and Evangelists, of them every writer of God’s word, of them those who carried the Gospel throughout the world. Osorius: “Was this fulfilled, when the Jews were under the Persians? or when they paid tribute to the Greeks? or when they trembled, hour by hour, at the mention of the Roman name? Do not all count those who rule much happier than those oppressed by the rule of others? The prediction then was fulfilled, not then, but when Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, shone on the earth, and He chose from the Hebrews lights, through whom to dissipate darkness and illumine the minds of people who were in that darkness. The Jews, when restored from the captivity, seemed born to slavery.” They were reputed to be of slaves the most despised. “But when they had through Christ been put in possession of that most sure liberty, they overthrew, through their empire, the power and tyranny of the evil spirits.”
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 Blessing. As the nations could wish no greater curse…
CHAPTER VIII.
Blessing. As the nations could wish no greater curse than what you have experienced, so you shall now be regarded as a most happy people.
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 a curse--As the heathen have made you another name…
a curse--As the heathen have made you another name for "a curse," wishing to their foes as bad a lot as yours (Jer 24:9; Jer 29:18); so your name shall be a formula of blessing, so that men shall say to their friend, May thy lot be as happy as that of Judah (Gen 48:20). Including also the idea of the Jews being a source of blessing to the Gentile nations (Mic 5:7; Zep 3:20). The distinct mention of "Judah" and "Israel" proves that the prophecy has not yet had its full accomplishment, as Israel (the ten tribes) has never yet been restored, though individuals of Israel returned with Judah.
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 13. a curse … a blessing] Either, the object…
13. a curse … a blessing] Either, the object of cursing and blessing, as men cursed you before so now they shall bless you (Jer_22:9); or a formula of imprecation or benediction, God make thee like them (Jer_29:22; Gen_48:20; Rth_4:11-12).
heathen] nations, R. V.
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house of Judah, and house of Israel] Not only the two tribes but the ten. This has never yet been fulfilled.
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 (13) Comp. Isa_46:9 with Jer_24:9. The contents of this…
(13) Comp. Isa_46:9 with Jer_24:9. The contents of this verse is the converse of that of Jos_23:15.
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 As ye were a curse among the heathen. As…
As ye were a curse among the heathen. As your fate was used as a formula of imprecation among the heathen; e.g. "May your fate be that of the Jews". (see examples of this, 2Ki_22:19 Isa_65:15 Jer_24:9 Jer_29:22) The other way of taking the expression as meaning the object of curse (i.e. as the heathen once used to curse you), is not so suitable. Judah... Israel. This expression includes the twelve tribes, of all of which some members had returned, and continued to return, from the Captivity. They were united now and formed one nation. (see note on Zec_9:10) So will I save you. In as open and significant a manner will I show that I am delivering and favouring you. Ye shall be a blessing. This must be taken correspondingly to the former phrase, being a "curse;" ye shall be used as a formula for blessing; e.g. "God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh". (Gen_48:20; comp. Rth_4:11, Rth_4:12) Fear not. (Zep_3:16) "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom_8:31; comp. Num_14:9) Let your hands be strong (see note on ver. 9). The LXX takes the paragraph differently and erroneously: "And it shall be that in like manner as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing," i.e. a cause of blessing, Hte en katara ... esesye en eulogia .
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain So I will save you
Zec_8:13
So I will save you
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Mans need and Gods provision
I.
Man in the natural and fallen state. As ye were a curse among the heathen. Sinners are under the curse of God. Mankind in general, as transgressors, all whose sins are unpardoned, are under the curse of God. Those who are in their natural and carnal state are a curse to themselves. The dispositions which they cherish, the practices which they adopt, injure their health, blast their reputation, often ruin their circumstances, and lead to sorrow and wretchedness and death. And sinners are a curse to others. They diffuse evil, they propagate mischief, they are corruptors.
II. The gracious purpose of God in reference to man, as made known in the Gospel. So will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing. This salvation has been procured for man by the atonement and intercession of Christ. This salvation is free to all, without any exception, without any limitation. This salvation can only be experienced by those who exercise repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
III. The gracious and delightful result of this design in connection with the children of men. Ye shall be a blessing. Those who are saved inherit the blessing of God. Those who are saved are a blessing to themselves. (J. H. Bumby.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 You were an example to the other nations of…
You were an example to the other nations of a curse
The implied information is that the way Yahweh had allowed the temple to be destroyed and his people to be exiled had been used by other nations as an example of what it meant to be cursed by Yahweh. AT: "When I punished you, the other nations learned what happens when I curse a people" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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house of Judah and house of Israel
The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house. In this case it refers to the people in the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. AT: "people of Judah and Israel" (See: Metonymy)
you will be a blessing
Possible meanings are 1) the implied information is that the people of Judah and Israel would be a blessing to the nations around them. AT: "you will be a blessing to the surrounding nations" or 2) the implied information is that the nations around them would see what it meant to be blessed by Yahweh. AT: when I bless you, the other nations will learn what happens when I bless a people" or 3) Yahweh will bless the people of Judah and Israel. AT: "I will give you many good things" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
let your hands be strong
This is an idiom that means to be courageous for the work. AT: "be strong and courageous" (See: Idiom)
do harm to you
"punish you"
provoked my anger
"angered me"
did not relent
"did not decide to punish them less"
Jerusalem
This is a metonym for the people of Jerusalem. AT: "the people of Jerusalem" (See: Metonymy)
house of Judah and house of Israel
The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house. In this case it refers to the people in the kingdom of Judah. AT: "people of Judah" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
nation
curse
Judah
house
bless
anger
Jerusalem
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.