A revelation. Yahweh’s word 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;
Parallel Translations
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A revelation. Yahweh’s word 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;
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The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.
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The burden of the word of the LORD. In the land of Hadrach, and in Damascus shall be His resting-place; for the LORD'S is the eye of man and all the tribes of Israel.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Zechariah 9:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 25:15 My eyes are ever on Yahweh, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
- Isaiah 9:8-21 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls on Israel. All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart, “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.” Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies, The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Armies. Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day. The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through Yahweh of Armies’ wrath, the land is burned up; and the people are the fuel for the fire. No one spares his brother. 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 49:23-27 Of Damascus: “Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news. They have melted away. There is sorrow on the sea. It can’t be quiet. Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail. How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy? Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says Yahweh of Armies. “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
- Amos 1:3-5 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron; but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad. I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir,” says Yahweh.
- Genesis 14:15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
- 2 Chronicles 20:12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us. We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
- Psalms 145:15 The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season.
- Isaiah 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
- Isaiah 17:1-3 The burden of Damascus. “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid. The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 17:7-8 In that day, people will look to their Maker, and their eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, either the Asherah poles, or the incense altars.
- Isaiah 45:20-22 “Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save. Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is no one besides me. “Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Isaiah 52:10 Yahweh has made his holy arm bare in the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
- Jeremiah 16:19 Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and will say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit.
- Jeremiah 23:33-38 “When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, asks you, saying, ‘What is the message from Yahweh?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘ “What message? I will cast you off,” says Yahweh.’ As for the prophet, the priest, and the people, who say, ‘The message from Yahweh,’ I will even punish that man and his household. You will say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, ‘What has Yahweh answered?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh said?’ You will mention the message from Yahweh no more: for every man’s own word has become his message; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of Yahweh of Armies, our God. You will say to the prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ Although you say, ‘The message from Yahweh;’ therefore Yahweh says: ‘Because you say this word, “The message from Yahweh,” and I have sent to you, telling you not to say, “The message from Yahweh;”
- Amos 3:12 Yahweh says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.”
- Zechariah 5:4 I will cause it to go out,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.”
- Zechariah 8:21-23 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.’ ”
- Malachi 1:1 A revelation, Yahweh’s word to Israel by Malachi.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain One thing had escaped my notice in the words…
One thing had escaped my notice in the words of the Prophet — that great people and strong nations would come. We have said that “great” rather than “many” ought to be adopted. The latter meaning may indeed be allowed that the worshipers of God would come from various cities; but as the word עצומים, otsumim properly signifies strong, and as it is certain that the Prophet means the same thing by the two words, it is more probable that he speaks of strong and valiant people, as they are not so easily subdued; for the more any one excels in prowess, the more stiff is his neck to undertake the yoke. As then the strong and the brave, and such as are eminent in the world, are not so easily brought to submit to God, the Prophet expressly says, that they shall become teachable, and be made willing, so that pride, as it is usually the case, shall not be a hindrance to them.
I come now to the passage in which the Prophet announces a heavy burden, or a severe and fearful prophecy respecting Syria and other neighboring nations. I prefer to retain the word “burden,” rather than to render it prophecy, as many expositors have done; for though משא, mesha, is sometimes taken simply for prophecy, yet there is here, as it appears to me, something particular intended; for the Prophet denounces God’s judgment both on Syria and on the surrounding countries, and the word prophecy is not suitable; for to say “the prophecy of the word,” would be strange and without meaning. But when he says, The burden of the word of God, the sentence is full, and flows well; for he reminds us that his word would not be ineffectual, but full of effect, as it would lie as a burden on Syria and on other countries, which they should not be able to shake off. The burden then of the word of Jehovah; that is, “I have now a prediction which will be grievous and severe to those heathens who now disturb the Jews, the chosen people.”
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But this doctrine contains consolation to the godly; for they may hence know that they are safe under God’s protection, as he carries on war with their enemies; nay, his vengeance was now prepared against all those who harassed the Jews. As then he had before promised that incredible favor of God which we have noticed, so now he declares that the Church would be safe under the protection of God, inasmuch as vengeance was in readiness for all the ungodly.
But the Prophet mentions here only the cities known to the Jews, for it was enough to refer to them as an example, that the Jews might hence conclude that God would be always the protector of his Church, so that no enemies shall escape unpunished. The Prophet then no doubt mentioned these few cities to the Jews, that they might feel assured that nothing is so strong and impetuous in the world which God cannot easily subdue and lay prostrate. Now as we apprehend the Prophet’s object, we shall come to the words.
Some think that the word חדרך, chedrak, includes the whole of Syria, which seems to me probable. Others suppose that some notable city is meant, as Damascus is immediately subjoined. But as the matter is uncertain, and as there is no doubt but that the Prophet speaks of the kingdom of Syria, I will not contest the point. Be it then the name of a city or of a country, it is all the same, for the Prophet means that the vengeance of God was impending over the Syrians, and impending in such a manner, that it would not depart from them until they were wholly destroyed. For when he adds that its rest would be Damascus, he intimates that God’s judgment would not be like a storm, which soon passes away, but that it would be a heavy and burdensome mass, which could not be dissipated, according to what Isaiah says —
“The word came on Jacob and fell on Israel;” (Isaiah 8:9;)
that is, what God pronounced against Jacob fell on Israel. He indeed changes the name, but it is the same as though he had said — “When God shall punish Jacob, can the Israelites escape?” for they were the same. The sentence then shall fall, that is, it shall find its own place: in vain will they run here and there to escape. The Jews then will gain nothing by their flight; for the vengeance now denounced by the Lord shall lay hold on them. So also in this place he says, the burden of the word of Jehovah on the land of Chadrak and Damascus, the royal city, the metropolis, shall be its rest, its dwelling; for the Lord’s vengeance will fix its station there, and it cannot be thence removed. In vain then will the Syrians try in various ways to escape, for they must be pressed down by God’s hand, until they be laid prostrate. We now then understand in what sense the Prophet says that Damascus would be the rest, the habitation, or the abode of God’s vengeance.
He afterwards adds, For to Jehovah the eye of man. The particle כי, ki is to be taken here, I think, as an adverb of time, “When”. There is indeed in reality but little difference, except that the common rendering of it greatly obscures the meaning of the Prophet. But if it be taken as an adverb of time, the passage will read better, When the eye of man shall be to Jehovah, and of all the tribes of Israel; that is, when the Jews shall begin to turn to God without any dissimulation, but with real sincerity; then he says, God will in every way bless them, and raise up his hand against their enemies. The Prophet had before exhorted the Jews to repentance; for they had been too much given to sacrifices and fastings, while no integrity existed among them. So also he shows again that their hypocrisy was an hindrance, which prevented God to manifest his favor to them; and thus he reminds them, that the gate would be opened, and the way made plain and even for God’s favor and blessings, whenever they raised their eyes to him, that is, whenever they derived their hopes from him, and fixed on him their dependence. For to direct the eyes to God is nothing else than to look to him so as to fix on him all our thoughts. Some understand by “man” all mortals, but of this I approve not; nor do I doubt but that the Prophet refers to the Jews alone; and doubtless it is not consistent with the context to regard any but the Jews. It is indeed true, that the Prophet speaks here of the calling of the Gentiles, but so as to begin with the Jews; for as they were the first-born, so it was necessary for them to have the precedence. The Prophet then here declares that God would be glorious in his chosen people, and would lay prostrate all the bordering enemies. Then the eye of man signifies the same as the eye of the whole people; as though he had said, that after the Jews had begun to lay aside all dissimulation and devoted themselves to God, and cast all their hopes on him, they would then find God sufficiently powerful to lay in the dust all their enemies.
But he afterwards adds, by way of explanation, and of all the tribes of Israel. Some give this rendering, “How much more,” as though the Prophet reasoned here from the less to the greater. But, as I have already said, this cannot be maintained. First, this explanation is strained, “The eye of man, and especially of all the tribes of Israel;” for the Jews ought to have had the first place: and secondly, the particle waw has no amplifying sense. In short, he intended by a small particle to show that precedence belonged to the Jews. I do not then understand what they mean, who would include all nations in the word “man,” and then regard the Prophet as proceeding to mention the tribes of Israel. Now what I have stated, that the true servants of God were then few, is probable enough; hence the Prophet here exhorts the whole people to a union in religion. Whenever then the whole tribes of Israel directed their eyes to God, the burden of his word would then come upon Damascus and all the Syrians.
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 When the Jews shall convert and repent, then God…
When the Jews shall convert and repent, then God will destroy their enemies.
Whereby he meaneth Syria.
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God’s anger shall abide upon their chief city, and not spare so much as that.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 9:1 The burden of the word of the…
Zec 9:1 The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus [shall be] the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, [shall be] toward the LORD.
Ver. 1. The burden] i.e. The bitter and burdensome prophecy. {See Trapp on "Mal 1:1"}
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In the land of Hadrach] Better, on the land of Hadrach; because Messiah is chad, sharp, to the nations, but rach, gentle, to the Israelites; whereby is meant, not thy land, O Immanuel, or O Messiah (as Jerome, after Rabbi Benaiah), nor a country that is near or lying round about another country, as Junius and Danaeus expound the Syrian word; but either a province or a city of some note in Syria, not far from Damascus. Diodati maketh it to be an idol of the Syrians, which represented the sun; from which the country took its name, as Isa 8:8 Jer 48:46 Hos 10:5.
And Damacus] The metropolis of Syria, built, say some, in the place where Cain slew Abel; and there hence called Damesech, or a bag of blood; a great scourge to Israel; chiefly famous for Saint Paul’s conversion there, and his rapture into the third heaven, during that three days’ darkness, Act 9:9 cf. 2Co 12:2.
Shall be the rest thereof] sc. Of that bitter burden which shall here abide, and be set upon its own base, as Zec 5:11. See a like expression Joh 3:36, the wrath of God abideth upon an unbeliever, tanquam trabali clavo fixa; he can neither avert nor avoid it.
When the eyes of man, &c.] That is, of other men, the Gentiles also, who as yet are carnal, and walk as men, shall be toward the Lord, lifted up in prayer and confident expectation of mercy. See Psa 122:2.
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 The burden, i.e. the heavy, sad, and grievous, the…
The burden, i.e. the heavy, sad, and grievous, the menacing prediction of future evils coming upon a people; so burden in prophetic style, Isa 13:1; 15:1; Nah 1:1; Hab 1:1, signifieth.
The word; in which from God’s own mouth Zechariah threateneth. This might be read in apposition thus, The burden the word, for when the word of the Lord threateneth sad afflictions, they will come as a heavy burden, which they cannot decline without repentance, nor shake off by their own strength.
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Of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who determines what he will do against Israel’s enemies, and none can alter his purpose.
In, or, on, against, Heb.,
the land of Hadrach; not Messiah’s land, as some, nor the land of an idol called Hadrach, i.e. the sun, as others, nor yet the land or countries that lie round about Judea, as others, nor yet is Arabia here meant, as others; but it is the name both of a city in Coelosyria, and here signifieth the country also. This town was not far from Damascus, and about twenty-five miles distant from Bostra, a sea town of Phoenicia, which is not far from Byblos, now called Giblee, or Gibelletto, says my author; no further mention is made of it in Scripture. It was likely all enemy to the Jews, and had sinned therein, and now must account for it and be punished.
And Damascus; chief city of that part of Syria; and whether Abel were slain there or not, or whether that murder gave it the name, or whether the etymology be rightly given, (dam, blood, sack, a bag,) I say not; but it was no friend to God’s people, Isa 7, and here it is threatened among other their enemies: the country is intended here as well as the city.
Shall be the rest thereof; this burden shall lie long as well as heavy on Damascus.
When; rather, for, Heb.
The eyes, Heb. eye: as we read it, it is of some difficult interpretation, but more easy if read, as it may be, thus, for unto the Lord is the eye of man, and of the tribes of Israel; i.e. unto the Lord it belongeth in look to, and by his providence to dispose of, all men as well as of Israel, and all men’s appeals in cases of wrong are to Heaven; so they who have been wronged by Syrian injustice look to Heaven for right, and to be avenged, and God will do it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain After the precious promises we had in the foregoing…
After the precious promises we had in the foregoing chapter of favour to God's people, their persecutors, who hated them, come to be reckoned with, those particularly that bordered close upon them.
I. The Syrians had been bad neighbours to Israel, and God had a controversy with them. The word of the Lord shall be a burden in the land of Hadrach, that is, of Syria, but it does not appear why it was so called. That that kingdom is meant is plain, because Damascus, the metropolis of that kingdom, is said to be the rest of this burden; that is, the judgments here threatened shall light and lie upon that city. Those are miserable upon whom the burden of the word of the Lord rests, upon whom the wrath of God abides (Joh 3:36); for it is a weight that they can neither shake off nor bear up under. There are those whom God causes his fury to rest upon. Those whom the wrath of God makes its mark it will be sure to hit; those whom it makes its rest it will be sure to sink. And the reason of this burden's resting on Damascus is because the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel (or rather, even of all the tribes of Israel), are towards the Lord, because the people of God by faith and prayer look up to him for succour and relief and depend upon him to take their part against their enemies. Note, It is a sign that God is about to appear remarkably for his people when he raises their believing expectations from him and dependence upon him, and when by his grace he turns them from idols to himself. Isa 17:7, Isa 17:8, At that day shall a man look to his Maker. It may be read thus, for the Lord has an eye upon man, and upon all the tribes of Israel; he is King of nations as well as King of saints; he governs the world as well as the church, and therefore will punish the sins of other people as well as those of his own people. God is Judge of all, and therefore all must give account of themselves to him. When St. Paul was converted at Damascus, and preached there, and disputed with the Jews, then the word of the Lord might be said to rest there, and then the eyes of men, of other men besides the tribes of Israel, began to be towards the Lord; see Act 9:22. Hamath, a country which lay north of Damascus, and which we often read of, shall border thereby (Zac 9:2); it joins to Syria, and shall share in the burden of the word of the Lord that rests upon Damascus. The Jews have a proverb, Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his neighbour, who is in danger of partaking in his sins and in his plagues. Woe to the land of Hadrach, and woe to Hamath that borders thereby.
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II. Tyre and Zidon come next to be called to an account here, as in other prophecies, Zac 9:2-4. Observe here,
1. Tyrus flourishing, thinking herself very safe, and ready to set God's judgments, not only at a distance, but at defiance: for, (1.) She is very wise. It is spoken ironically; she thinks herself very wise, and able to outwit even the wisdom of God. It is granted that her king is a great politician, and that her statesmen are so, Eze 28:3. But with all their wit and policy they shall not be able to evade the judgments of God when they come with commission; there is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord; nay, it is his honour to take the wise in their own craftiness. (2.) She is very strong, and well fortified both by nature and art: Tyrus did build herself a strong-hold, which she thought could never be brought down nor got over. (3.) She is very rich; and money is a defence; it is the sinews of war, Ecc 7:12. By her vast trade she has heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets, that is, she has an abundance of them, heaps of silver as common as heaps of sand, Job 27:16. Solomon made silver to be in Jerusalem as the stones of the streets; but Tyre went further, and made fine gold to be as the mire of the streets. It were well if we could all learn so to look upon it, in comparison with the merchandise of wisdom and grace and the gains thereof.
2. Tyrus falling, after all. Her wisdom, and wealth, and strength, shall not be able to secure her (Zac 9:4): The Lord will cast her out of that strong-hold wherein she has fortified herself, will make her poor (so some read it); there have been instances of those that have fallen from the height of plenty to the depth of poverty, and great riches have come to nothing. God will smite her power in the sea; her being surrounded by the water shall not secure her, but she shall be devoured with fire, and burnt down to the ground. Tyrus, being seated in the midst of the water, was, one would have thought, in danger of being some time or other overflowed or washed away by that; yet God chooses to destroy it by the contrary element. Sometimes he brings ruin upon his enemies by those means which they least suspect. Water enough was nigh at hand to quench the flames of Tyre, and yet by them she shall be devoured; for who can put out the fire which the breath of the Almighty blows up?
III. God next contends with the Philistines, with their great cities and great lords, that bordered southward upon Israel.
1. They shall be alarmed and affrighted by the word of the Lord lighting and resting upon Damascus (Zac 9:5); the disgraces of Israel had many a time been published in the streets of Ashkelon, and they had triumphed in them; but now Ashkelon shall see the ruin of her friends and allies, and shall fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron, concluding that their own turns come next, now that the cup of trembling goes round. What will become of their house when their neighbour's is on fire? They had looked upon Tyre and Zidon as a barrier to their country; but, when those strong cities were ruined, their expectations from them were ashamed, as our expectation from all creatures will be in the issue.
2. They shall themselves be ruined and wasted. (1.) The government shall be dissolved: The king shall perish from Gaza, not only the present king shall be cut off, but there shall be no succession, no successor, (2.) The cities shall be dispeopled: Ashkelon shall not be inhabited; the rightful owners shall be expelled, either slain or carried into captivity. (3.) Foreigners shall take possession of their land and become masters of all its wealth (Zac 9:6): A bastard shall dwell in Ashdod; a spurious brood of strangers shall enter upon the inheritances of the natives, which they have no more right to than a bastard has to the estates of the legitimate children. And thus God will cut off the pride of the Philistines, all the strength and wealth which they prided themselves in, and which were the ground of their confidence in themselves and their contempt of the Israel of God. This prophecy of the destruction of the Philistines, and of Damascus, and Tyre, was accomplished, not long after this, by Alexander the Great, who ravaged all these countries with his victorious army, took the cities, and planted colonies in them, which Quintus Curtius gives a particular account of in the history of his conquests. And some think he is meant by the bastard that shall dwell in Ashdod, for his mother Olympia owned him begotten in adultery, but pretended it was by Jupiter. The Jews afterwards got ground of the Philistines, Syrians, and others of their neighbours, took some of their cities from them and possessed their countries, as appears by the histories of Josephus and the Maccabees, and this was foretold before, Zep 2:4, etc.; Oba 1:20.
3. Some among them shall be converted, and brought home to God, by his gospel and grace; so some understand Zac 9:7, as a promise, (1.) That God would take away the sins of these nations - their blood and their abominations, their cruelties and their idolatries. God will part between them and these sins which they have rolled under their tongue as a sweet morsel, and are as loth to part with as men are to part with the meat out of their mouths, and which they hold fast between their teeth. Nothing is too hard for the grace of God to do. (2.) That he would accept of a remnant of them for his own: He that remains shall be for our God. God would preserve a remnant even of these nations, that should be the monuments of his mercy and grace and be set apart for him; and the disadvantages of their birth shall be no bar to their acceptance with God, but a Philistine shall be as acceptable to God, upon gospel-terms, as one of Judah, nay, as a governor, or chief one, in Judah, and a man of Ekron shall be as a Jebusite, or a man of Jerusalem, as a proselyted Jebusite, as Araunah the Jebusite, Sa2 24:16. In Christ Jesus there is no distinction of nations, but all are one in him, all alike welcome to him.
IV. In all this God intends mercy for Israel, and it is in kindness to them that God will deal thus with the neighbouring nations, to avenge their quarrel for what is past and to secure them for the future.
1. Thus some understand the seventh verse, as intimating, (1.) That thus God would deliver his people from their bloody adversaries, who hated them, and to whom they were an abomination, when they were just ready to devour them and make a prey of them: I will take away his blood (that is, the blood of Israel) out of the mouth of the Philistines and from between their teeth (Amo 3:12), when, in their hatred of them and enmity to them, they were greedily devouring them. (2.) That lie would thus give them victory and dominion over them: And he that remains (that is, the remnant of Israel) shall be for our God, shall be taken into his favour, shall own him and be owned by him, and he shall be as a governor in Judah; though the Jews have been long in servitude, they shall recover their ancient dignity, and be victorious, as David and other governors in Judah formerly were; and Ekron (that is, the Philistines) shall be as the Jebusites, and the rest of the devoted nations, who were brought into subjection under them.
2. However, this is plainly the sense of Zac 9:8, that God will take his people under his special protection, and therefore will weaken their neighbours, that it may not be in their power to do them a mischief: I will encamp about my house because of the army. Note, God's house lies in the midst of an enemy's country, and his church is as a lily among thorns; and therefore God's power and goodness are to be observed in the special preservation of it. The camp of the saints, being a little flock in comparison with the numerous armies of the powers of darkness that are set against it round about, would certainly be swallowed up if the angels of God did not encamp about it, as they did about Elisha, to deliver it, Rev 20:9; Psa 34:7. When the times are unusually perilous, when armies are marching and counter-marching, and all bearing ill-will to Zion, then Providence will as it were double its guards upon the church of God, because of him that passes by and because of him that returns, that whether he return a conqueror or conquered he may do it no harm. And, as none that pass by shall hurt them, so no oppressor shall pass through them any more; they shall have no enemy within themselves to rule them with rigour, and to make their lives bitter to them with sore bondage, as of old in Egypt. This was fulfilled when, for some time after the struggles of the Maccabees, Judea was a free and flourishing state, or perhaps when Alexander the Great, struck with an awe of Jaddus the high priest, favoured the Jews, and took them under his protection, at the same time when he wasted the neighbouring countries. And the reason given for all this is, "For now have I seen with my eyes, now have I carefully distinguished between my people and other people, with whom before they seemed to have their lot in common, and have made it to appear that I know those that are mine," This agrees with Psa 34:15, The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous; now his eyes, which run to and fro through the earth, shall fix upon them, that he may show himself tender of them, and strong on their behalf, Ch2 16:9.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The burden of the word of the Lord,.... A…
The burden of the word of the Lord,.... A prophecy, as in Pro 31:1 which is sometimes of things sorrowful and distressing, as the destruction of people, as in Isa 31:1 and sometimes of things joyful, as in Zac 13:1 and here it contains good news to the church of Christ, Zac 9:9, &c.; and is called a "burden", because the word of the Lord is often so to carnal men; see Jer 23:33 the words may be rendered, a "declaration", or "a publication", of "the word of the Lord" (u); it signifies a publishing of it or bringing it forth; and so the Arabic version renders it "a revelation of the word of the Lord"; a carrying of it about: which was made
in the land of Hadrach; this is either the name of a man; of some king, as Aben Ezra observes; and some Jewish writers (w) say the King Messiah, who is "sharp" to the nations of the world, and "tender" to the Israelites: or rather the name of a place, and may design Syria, to which Damascus belonged; see Isa 7:8 or some place near it: says R. Jose (x),
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"I am of Damascus, and I call heaven and earth to witness that there is a place there, the name of which is Hadrach.''
Hillerus (y) takes it to be the same with Coelesyria, or hollow Syria, a vale which lay between Libanus and Antilibanus, and goes by many names; the same that is called Hoba, Gen 14:15 the plain of Aren, and the house of Eden, Amo 1:5 and here Hadrach; and thinks it had its name from Hadar, a son of Ishmael, Gen 25:15 and observes what is said, Gen 25:18, that the "Ishmaelites dwelt from Havilah", which is to the south of Palestine, "unto Shur", a town situated over against Egypt, "as you go to Assyria"; that is, to the Agra of Ptolemy in Susiana. The Targum renders it
"in the land of the south.''
There was a city in Coelesyria, called Adra by Ptolemy (z); which, as Jerom says (a), was distant from Bostra twenty five miles; since called the city of Bernard de Stampis; where were Christian churches in the fourth and fifth centuries, whose bishops were present at councils held in those times (b); and, according to this prophecy, here the word of the Lord was to be published; and it may have respect to the conversion of the inhabitants of it in future times: though some take it to be not the proper name of a place, but an appellative, and render it, "the land about", or "the land about thee" (c); that is, about Judea; the nations round about it, particularly Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.
And Damascus shall be the rest thereof; either of the Lord himself; his glorious Shechinah shall rest there, as Kimchi interprets it; and so the Targum paraphrases it,
"and Damascus shall be converted, that it may be of the house of his Shechinah;''
see Isa 11:10 or of the word of the Lord, which should be declared and published there, as it was by the Apostle Paul, who was converted near it, and preached in it, Act 9:3 or of Hadrach, or the adjacent country: unless it is to be understood of the burden of the Lord resting on it, or of the taking of this city in the times of Alexander the great; which, with the destruction of the cities after mentioned, some make a type or symbol of the abolition of Paganism in the Roman empire; but the former sense seems best.
When the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be towards the Lord; or, "when the eyes of men shall be to the Lord, and to all the tribes of Israel"; so Kimchi and Ben Melech; that is, as they interpret it, when the eyes of all men shall be to the Lord, and not to their idols; and also to all the tribes of Israel, to go along with them in their ways; as it is said above Zac 8:23, "we will go with you": or they shall look to the Lord, even as the tribes of Israel themselves do; and which is true of sinners when converted, whether Jews or Gentiles; and particularly was true of that great man, the Apostle Paul, who was converted near Damascus, when the eyes of his understanding being enlightened, and he seeing the insufficiency of all other objects, looked to the Lord alone for pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation; even as all true Israelites do, who are after the Spirit, and not after the flesh. Though some understand these words of the eyes of the Lord being upon every man, as well as upon the tribes of Israel; upon wicked men to punish them, as upon his people to protect and defend them: and to this sense the Targum inclines, paraphrasing the words thus,
"for before the Lord are manifest the works of the children of men, and he is well pleased with all the tribes of Israel.''
(u) "prolatio verbi Jehovae", Cocceius. (w) R. Judah in Jarchi, & R. Benaiah in Kimchi in loc. & R. Nehemiah in Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 24. 1. (x) Shirhashirim ib. Siphre in Yalkut Simeoni in loc. (y) Onomast. sacr. p. 578. (z) Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. (a) De locis Hebr. fol. 97. I. (b) Reland. Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. p. 548. (c) "in terram circumstantem te", Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius; "super terram quae te circuit", Grotius; "in terra circa te", Cocceius; "ad verbum, in terram circuitus tui", De Dieu.
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 A prophecy against the Syrians and others, ver. 1-7.…
A prophecy against the Syrians and others, ver. 1-7. God will protect his people, ver. 8. A prophecy of the Messiah, ver. 9, 10. Of the deliverance and victories of the Jews, ver. 11-17.
Hadrach - This is the name of a city in Celosyria, and here signifies the country also. It was not far from Damascus. The rest thereof - This burden shall lie long as well as heavy on Damascus. Towards the Lord - For as all men's appeals in cases of wrong are to heaven, so they who have been wronged by Syrian injustice, look to heaven for right.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, were conquered by
CHAPTER IX
Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, were conquered by
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Nebuchadnezzar, and afterwards by Alexander. Some apply the
beginning of this chapter (1-7) to the one event, and some to
the other. The close of the seventh verse relates to the number
of Philistines that should become proselytes to Judaism; (see
Joseph. Antiq. xiv. 15, 4;) and the eighth, to the watchful
providence of God over his temple in those troublesome times.
From this the prophet passes on to that most eminent instance
of God's goodness to his Church and people, the sending of the
Messiah, with an account of the peaceable tendency and great
extent of his kingdom, 9, 10.
God then declares that he has ratified his covenant with his
people, delivered them from their captivity, and restored them
to favour, 11, 12.
In consequence of this, victory over their enemies is promised
them in large and lofty terms, with every other kind of
prosperity, 13-17.
Judas Maccabeus gained several advantages over the troops of
Antiochus, who was of Grecian or Macedonian descent. But
without excluding these events, it must be allowed that the
terms of this prophecy are much too strong to be confined to
them; their ultimate fulfilment must therefore be referred to
Gospel times.
NOTES ON CHAP. IX
Verse 1. The burden of the word of the Lord] The oracle contained in the word which Jehovah now speaks.
This is a prophecy against Syria, the Philistines, Tyre, and Sidon, which were to be subdued by Alexander the Great. After this the prophet speaks gloriously concerning the coming of Christ, and redemption by him.
Most learned men are of opinion that this and the succeeding chapters are not the work of Zechariah, but rather of Jeremiah; Hosea, or some one before the captivity. It is certain that Zec 11:12-13, is quoted Mt 27:9-10, as the language of Jeremiah the prophet. The first eight chapters appear by the introductory parts to be the prophecies of Zechariah: they stand in connection with each other, are pertinent to the time when they were delivered, are uniform in style and manner, and constitute a regular whole; but the six last chapters are not expressly assigned to Zechariah, and are unconnected with those that precede:-the three first of them are unsuitable in many parts to the time when Zechariah lived; all of them have a more adorned and poetical turn of composition than the eight first chapters, and they manifestly break the unity of the prophetical book.
I conclude, from internal marks, that these three chapters, (Zec 9, Zec 10, Zec 11) were written much earlier than the time of Jeremiah, and before the captivity of the ten tribes. They seem to suit Hosea's age and manner; but whoever wrote them, their Divine authority is established by the two quotations from them, Zec 9:9; Zec 11:12-13. See below.
The twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth chapters form a distinct prophecy, and were written after the death of Josiah, Zec 12:11; but whether before or after the captivity, and by what prophet, is uncertain, although I incline to think that the author lived before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. See on Zec 13:2-6. They are twice quoted in the New Testament, Zec 12:10; Zec 13:7. -Newcome.
My own opinion is, that these chapters form not only a distinct work, but belong to a different author. If they do not belong to Jeremiah, they form a thirteenth book in the minor prophets, but the inspired writer is unknown.
The land of Hadrach] The valley of Damascus, or a place near to Damascus. Alexander the Great gained possession of Damascus, and took all its treasures; but it was without blood; the city was betrayed to him.
Damascus shall be the rest thereof] The principal part of this calamity shall fall on this city. God's anger rests on those whom he punishes, Eze 5:13; Eze 16:42; Eze 24:13. And his rod, or his arm, rests upon his enemies, Ps 125:3; Isa 30:23. See Newcome.
When the eye of man] Newcome translates thus:
"For the eye of Jehovah is over man,
And over all the tribes of Israel."
This is an easy sense, and is followed by the versions.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Zec 9:1. The burden, &c. — A heavy judgment…
Zec 9:1. The burden, &c. — A heavy judgment appointed of God to be borne: or, a prophecy of a calamitous kind. See the note on Isa 13:1. The word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach — Hadrach is not elsewhere mentioned as the name of a country; the context however shows it must have been some part of Syria, of which Damascus was the capital city. According to some Jewish rabbis it was a place near Damascus. The prophecy is thought to relate to Alexander the Great conquering Syria; Damascus being at the same time betrayed to him, and all Darius’s treasure, which was laid up there, delivered into his hands. And Damascus shall be the rest thereof — Or, It shall rest upon Damascus; that is, the burden of the word of the Lord. Damascus shall in particular be afflicted with the judgment now threatened; when — Or rather, for the eyes of man, as of all Israel, shall be toward the Lord — For as all men’s appeals, in case of wrong, are made to Heaven, so they who have been wronged by Syrian injustice shall look to Heaven for right, and the Lord will right them. The words however may be better translated: When the eyes of men, even of all the tribes of Israel, &c.; when the Jews saw the conqueror approach Jerusalem it was proper for them to look up to God, and to implore his protection. This, according to Josephus, (Antiq., lib. 11. cap. 8,) when Alexander was besieging Tyre, Jaddua the Jewish high-priest did, and was directed by a vision to meet the conqueror in his pontifical robes, by whom he was received very graciously. The clause however will admit of yet another translation, namely, For the eyes of the Lord are upon man, as well as upon all the tribes of Israel. That is, God is the ruler and judge of all the nations of the earth, as well as of the tribes of Israel, and will punish the heathen for their sins, as well as his professing people. This, considering the context, seems to be the most probable interpretation.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The burden - o of the word of the…
The burden - o of the word of the Lord in (or, upon) the land of Hadrach The foreground of this prophecy is the course of the Victories of Alexander, which circled round the holy land without hurting it, and ended in the overthrow of the Persian empire. The surrender of Damascus followed first, immediately on his great victory at the Issus; then Sidon yielded itself and received its ruler from the conqueror, Tyre he utterly destroyed; Gaza, we know, perished; he passed harmless by Jerusalem. Samaria, on his return from Egypt, he chastised.
It is now certain that there was a city called Hadrach in the neighborhood of Damascus and Hamath, although its exact site is not known. “It was first found upon the geographical tablets among the Assyrian inscriptions.” “In the catalogue of Syrian cities, tributary to Nineveh, (of which we have several copies in a more or less perfect state, and varying from each other, both in arrangement and extent) there are three names, which are uniformly grouped together and which we read Manatsuah, Magida (Megiddo) and Du’ar (Dor). As these names are associated with those of Samaria, Damascus, Arpad, Hamath, Carchemish, Hadrach, Zobah, there can be no doubt of the position of the cities” . In the Assyrian Canon, Hadrach is the object of three Assyrian expeditions , 9183 (b.c. 818), 9190 (811) and 9200 (801). The first of these follows upon one against Damascus, 9182 (817). In the wars of Tiglath-pileser II. (the Tiglath-pileser of Holy Scripture,) it has been twice deciphered;
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(1) In the war b.c. 738, 737, after the mention of “the cities to Saua the mountain which is in Lebanon were divided, the land of Bahalzephon to Ammana” (Ammon), there follows Hadrach ; and subsequently there are mentioned as joined to the league, “19 districts of Hamath, and the cities which were round them, which are beside the sea of the setting sun.”
(2) In his “War in Palestine and Arabia” , “the city of Hadrach to the land of Saua,” and six other cities are enumerated, as “the cities beside the upper sea,” which, he says, “I possessed, and six of my generals as governors over them I appointed.” No other authority nearly approaches these times. The nearest authority is of the second century after our Lord, 116 a.d. : “R. Jose, born of a Damascene mother, said,” answering R. Yehudah ben Elai, , “I call heaven and earth to witness upon me, that I am of Damascus, and that there is a place called Hadrach.” Cyril of Alexandria says that “the land of Hadrach must be somewhere in the eastern parts, and near to Emath (now Epiphania of Antioch) a little further than Damascus, the metropolis of the Phoenicians and Palestine.” A writer of the 10th century says that there was “a very beautiful mosque there, called the Mesjed-el-Khadra, and that the town was named from it.” The conjecture that Hadrach might be the name of a king , or an idol , will now probably be abandoned, nor can the idea, (which before seemed the most probable and which was very old), that it was a symbolic name, hold any longer.
For the prophets do use symbolic names ; but then they are names which they themselves frame. Micah again selects several names of towns, now almost unknown and probably unimportant, in order to impress upon his people some meaning connected with them , but then he does himself so connect it. He does not name it (so to say), leaving it to explain itself. The name Hadrach would be a real name, used symbolically, without anything in the context to show that it is a symbol.
The cities, upon which the burden or heavy prophecy tell, possessed no interest for Israel. Damascus was no longer a hostile power; Hamath had ever been peaceable, and was far away; Tyre and Sidon did not now carry on a trade in Jewish captives. But the Jews knew from Daniel, that the empire, to which they were in subjection, would be overthrown by Greece Dan 8:20-21. When that rapid attack should come, it would be a great consolation to them to know, how they themselves would fare. It was a turning point in their history and the history of the then known world. The prophet describes (see below at Zec 9:8) the circuit, which the conqueror would take around the land which God defended; how the thunder-cloud circled round Judaea, broke irresistibly upon cities more powerful than Jerusalem, but was turned aside from the holy city “in going and returning,” because God encamped around it.
“The selection of the places and of the whole line of country corresponds very exactly to the march of Alexander after the battle of Issus, when Damascus, which Darius had chosen as the strong depository of his wealth, of Persian women of rank, confidential officers and envoys, , was betrayed, but so opened its gates to his general, Parmenio. Zidon, a city renowned for its antiquity and its founders, surrendered freely; Tyre, here specially marked out, was taken after a 7 months’ siege; Gaza too resisted for 5 months, was taken, and, as it was said, ‘plucked up.’”
And Damascus shall be the rest thereof - God’s judgment fell first upon Damascus. But the word “resting-place” is commonly used of quiet peaceful resting, especially as given by God to Israel; of the ark, the token of the Presence of God, after its manifold removals, and of the glorious dwelling-place of the Christ among people . The prophet seems then purposely to have chosen a word of large meaning, which should at once express (as he had before) Zec 6:8, that the word of God should fall heavily on Damascus and yet be its resting-place. Hence, about the time of our Lord, the Jews interpreted this of the coming of the Messiah, that “Jerusalem should reach to the gates of Damascus. Since Damascus shall be the place of His rest, but the place of His rest is only the house of the sanctuary, as it is said, “This is My rest for ever; here will I dwell.” Another added, , “All the prophets and all prophesied but of the years of redemption and the days of the Messiah.” Damascus, on the conversion of Paul, became the first resting-place of the word of God, the first-fruits of the Gentiles whom the Apostle of the Gentiles gathered from east to west throughout the world.
When (or For) the eyes of man - As (literally, and that is, especially beyond others) “of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord.” This also implies a conversion of Gentiles, as well as Jews. For man, as contrasted with Israel, must be the pagan world, mankind . “The eyes of all must needs look in adoration to God, expecting all good from Him, because the Creator of all provided for the well-being of all, as the Apostle says, “Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yea, of the Gentiles also” Rom 3:29. God’s time of delivering His people is, when they pray to Him. So Jehoshaphat prayed, “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we have no strength against this great company, which is come against us, and we know not what we shall do; but our eyes are on Thee” 2Ch 20:12; and the Psalmist says, “The eyes of all wait toward Thee; and, “toward them that fear Him.” Psa 33:18, or in Ezra’s Chaldee, “The eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews” Ezr 5:5., or, “the eyes of the Lord thy God are upon it” (the land), Deu 11:12; but there is no construction like “the Lord hath an eye on (obj.) man” (as 70: Jonathan, Syr.) The passages, “whose eyes are opened upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give etc.” Jer 32:19, “his eyes behold the nations,” are altogether different. “The eye of” must be construed as “his own eye.”) “as the eyes of servants are unto the hand of their masters, add as the eyes of a maiden are unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy upon us.”
“For in those days,” says a Jew, who represents the traditional interpretation, (Rashi), man shall look to his Creator, and his eyes shall look to the Blessed One, as it was said above, we will go with you, and they shall join themselves, they and their cities, to the cities of Israel.” And another; (Kimchi), “In those days the eyes of all mankind shall be to the Lord, not to idols or images; therefore the land of Hadrach and Damascus, and the other places near the land of Israel - shall be included among the cities of Judah, and shall be in the faith of Israel.”
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 Burden. Preaching of the truth is disagreeable to infidels,…
Burden. Preaching of the truth is disagreeable to infidels, and light to the faithful. (Worthington) --- Hadrach; Syria, (Challoner) or a city near Damascus, on which it rested. The victories of Alexander and of the Machabees are here described. The former defeated the Arabs near Damascus, (which was betrayed to Parmenio) and having gained the victory at Issus, became master of Celosyria, of which he made Parmenio governor. (Calmet) --- Rest. Septuagint, "his sacrifice, for the Lord looks on men and on all the tribes of Israel." (Haydock) --- He wished for the conversion of all, and those who turn to him are not rejected. (St. Jerome)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain A. A destructive Visitation befalls Hadrach and Damascus (Zec_9:1).…
1. JUDGMENT UPON THE LAND OF HADRACH
Zec_9:1-8
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A. A destructive Visitation befalls Hadrach and Damascus (Zec_9:1). B. It destroys also Hamath, Tyre, and Sidon (Zec_9:2-4). C. The Philistine Cities suffer likewise, but a Remnant is saved (Zec_9:5-7). D. The Covenant People are protected from all Harm (Zec_9:8).
1 The burden of the word of Jehovah upon the land of Hadrach,
And Damascus is its resting place;1
For Jehovah has an eye2 upon man,
And upon all the tribes of Israel—
2 And Hamath also [which]3 borders thereon,
Tyre and Sidon, because4 it is very wise.
3 And Tyre built for herself a stronghold,5
And heaped up silver as dust,
And gold as the mire of the streets.
4 Behold the Lord will seize6 her,
And smite her bulwark in7 the sea,
And she herself shall be consumed by fire.
5 Ashkelon sees it and is afraid,
Gaza also, and trembles exceedingly,
And Ekron, for her hope is put to shame,8
And the king perishes from Gaza,
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
6 And a mongrel9 dwells in Ashdod,
And I cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7 And I take away his blood out of his mouth
And his abominations from between his teeth;
And even he10 remains to our God,
And he becomes like a prince11 in Judah,
And Ekron like the Jebusite,
8 And I encamp for my house against12 an army,13
Against him that goeth hither and thither,14
And no oppressor shall come over them any more,
For now I see with mine eyes.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Zec_9:1. The burden of the word. The ancient interpretation of מַשָֹּא,=divine declaration, oracle, or vision (LXX., Vulgate), has been adopted by most modern interpreters (Cocceius, Vitringa, Gesenius, Ewald, Fürst); but the other,=minatory prophecy (Targum, Aquila, Peshito), has been accepted by Jerome, Luther, Calvin, Umbreit, Kliefoth, Pressel, and has especially been vindicated by Hengstenberg (Christology). Burden is the admitted meaning of the word in other connections; it is never joined with the name of God, or of any other person but the subject of the prophecy; and undeniably is in most instances prefixed to a threatening prediction. See Isa_22:1; Isa_14:28; Isa_15:1, etc., and especially Jer_23:33 ff. The phrase, “burden of the word of Jehovah,” is peculiar to the post-exile prophets (Zec_12:1, Mal_1:1). The land of Hadrach is a very obscure ἅπαξ λεγομενον Pressel recounts no less than seventeen different explanations of it. They may be thus classified: (1.) It is the name of an ancient city or land (Theodoret Mops., Michaelis, Rosenmüller, Pressel), but this has arisen from a confusion of the word with Edrei. (2.) An appellative noun denoting the South (Targum), or the surrounding region (Jun. and Tremellius), or the interior (Hitzig), or the depressed region=Cœle-Syria (Maurer). (3.) A corruption of the text is assumed, חַדרַךְ for חַוְרַךְ=Αὐρανῖτις (Ortenberg, Olshausen). (4.) The name of a Syrian king (Gesenius, Bleek, Vaihinger, Fürst). (5.) The name of a Syrian god (Movers, Van Alphen). (6.) Id is a symbolical name, like Ariel (Isa_29:1), Rahab (Psa_87:4). This, the oldest interpretation (Jerome, Raschi, Kimchi), is sustained by the fact that the others are all purely conjectural. No such name as Hadrach is now or ever has been known. The translators of the LXX. and Vulgate were ignorant of it. All the other proper names in the passage are well understood; this one, the first, has resisted the efforts of the acutest scholars to give it any historical identification. We must, therefore, either say that it denotes a region now unknown, near Damascus, which is surely most unlikely in a country so long and thoroughly known as northern Syria; or else give it a figurative meaning. Assuming the latter, Hengstenberg, Kliefoth, Keil, after Calvin, explain it as a compound term denoting strong-weak or harsh-gentle,15 which the prophet employs as a mystical designation of the Persian Empire, which for prudential reasons he was unwilling to specify more distinctly, the epithet meaning, that the land now strong and mighty shall hereafter be humbled and laid low. The subsequent statements are then only enlargements or specifications of the general visitation directed against the great empire under which the Jews were now in subjection. Its resting-place. This clause commences the detail of the several parts of the whole designated as Hadrach. The burden is to abide permanently upon Damascus. Its native rule, which ceased on the Great Conquest, was never afterwards recovered. Has an eye, etc. Man, here, as in Jer_32:20, signifies the rest of mankind as contrasted with Israel. The latter half of the verse gives the reason of the former, namely, that God’s providence extends over the whole earth, and He therefore cannot allow the existing disproportion between his people and the heathen to continue permanently. Some (Kimchi, Calvin, Henderson) render “the eye of man,” gen. subj., as E. V., but this requires an unusual rendering of כִי, and besides, does not suit the context.
Zec_9:2. And Hamath also. Hamath, the Greek Epiphania on the Orontes, shall also be a resting-place of the burden. Nearly all expositors concur in construing the last two words as a relative clause. Hamath and Damascus are closely connected as together representing Syria. Contiguous in territory, they were alike in doom. From them the prophet turns to Phoenicia. Tyre and Sidon is=Tyre with Sidon, as the following verb in the singular shows. Tyre was a colony of Sidon, but the daughter soon outstripped the mother, and as early as Isaiah’s time the elder city was viewed as an appendage of the younger. Because it is. There is no need of giving to the conjunction, the rare and doubtful meaning, although (Calvin, Henderson, E. V.), since its normal sense suits perfectly. Tyre was very wise, as the world counts wisdom, multiplying wealth and strength, and trusting in them; but this very pride of earthly wisdom brought the divine retribution (Eze_28:2-6. Cf. 1Co_1:19; 1Co_1:27).
Zec_9:3. Describes the resources of the insular city. The stronghold doubtless refers to the immense double sea-wall which made the place apparently impregnable. For her vast accumulations of wealth, see Isaiah 23, Ezekiel 27. הרוּץ—shining, is simply a poetical name of gold.
Zec_9:4. Jehovah will seize. An earthly conqueror may perform the work, but the ultimate agency is the Lord, who beholds and controls all things. Her bulwark. It is of little consequence whether חֵילָהּ be rendered rampart, or might, so long as in is not converted into into. The point of the clause is that the insular position, which apparently rendered the city invincible, should feel the weight of Jehovah’s hand, and prove no protection. The prodigious power and wealth of the Tyrians, and their utter overthrow, are among the most familiar of historical truths.
Zec_9:5. The prophet turns to Philistia. Ashkelon sees, etc. A vivid description of the effect of the fall of Tyre upon the cities on the coast southward (cf. Isa_23:5). Only four of the Philistine capitals are mentioned, Gath being omitted, as in Amo_1:6-8, Jer_25:20, Zep_2:4. The omission seems due to the fact that Gath, after being dismantled by Uzziah (2Ch_26:6), sank into political insignificance. “Sees” is to be supplied after Gaza, and both “sees” and “fears” after Ekron. The king, in Hebrew, lacks the article, and the sense is not simply that the reigning king perishes, but that Gaza henceforth has no king. Of course, such monarchs as it had at this time, were only vassal kings. תֵשֵׁב. Hengstenberg strenuously contends against the common passive rendering, but apparently without reason. He (with Ewald and Köhler) renders, it shall sit or remain, in opposition to passing on or passing away. But compare Isa_13:20, where the verb is used as exactly parallel with שָׁכַן. (J. A. Alexander in loc.)
Zec_9:6. And a mongrel dwells. מַמְזִרִ. A word of uncertain origin, which occurs in only one other place in Scripture, namely, Deu_23:3, where it means bastard. The rendering in the version is from Fürst (Dictionary), who deduces the verb from an assumed root, signifying to mix the sexes. It is used in the text to denote a person of blemished birth. Ashdod should lose its native population, and have their place supplied by a mongrel brood. The pride of the Philistines, i. e., all that constitutes their pride. This clause resumes what precedes in relation to the several cities, and applies it to the nation as a whole. In the next verse a further advance is made, and the conversion of the people is set forth.
Zec_9:7. And I take … blood. The singular suffixes refer to the ideal unity in which the Philistines are conceived of as a single person. See a similar case in Zec_7:2-3. The blood mentioned is that of sacrifices, which the heathen sometimes drank, and the abominations=not idols, as if he were going to hold on to them mordicus (Hengstenberg), but idolatrous offerings. The whole clause strikingly depicts the abolition of idolatry. The rest of the verse sets forth what comes in its place. And even he, i. e., the nation of the Philistines regarded as a person. To our God=the God of Israel. They shall become his worshippers. Like a prince, a tribe prince. אַלֻּף is a denominative from אֶלֶף, and denotes the head of a thousand (cf. Mic_5:2). In the earlier books it is applied only to the tribe-princes of Edom, but is transferred by Zechariah to the tribal heads of Judah. The remnant of the Philistines is to become like a chiliarch in Judah. The statement is completed by the final clause. And Ekron. This is mentioned not in and for itself, but simply to individualize the declaration; any other city would have answered as well. Like the Jebusite, i. e., like the ancient inhabitants of Jebus, who became incorporated with the covenant people and shared all their privileges. See the case of Araunah, 2Sa_24:18.
Zec_9:8. Not only shall a judgment fall on the neighboring heathen and the remnant of them be converted, but the Lord will carefully protect his own people. And I encamp for my house. House, dat. comm., stands for people or family of God (Hos_8:1). An army is more precisely defined in the next clause as passing through and returning, i. e., marching to and fro. No oppressor, such as Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon. For now I see=am exercising my providential control. “In the estimation of men of little faith, God sees only when He is actually interfering” (Hengstenberg). But in fact He sees all the time.
“There can be no doubt that we have here as graphic an account of the expedition of Alexander the Great as is consistent with the permanent distinction between prophecy and history.” (Hengstenberg). The capture of Damascus, of Tyre, and of Gaza, are well-known historical facts; and these carry with them assurance that there was also a fulfillment of the prediction in reference to Hamath and the other cities of Philistia, of the fate of which we have no express account. This fulfillment, however, was manifestly only incipient, inasmuch as the incorporation of the Philistines with Israel did not take place until a later period. On the other hand, the attempt of the so-called later criticism to refer the passage to the conquests of Uzziah mentioned in 2Ch_26:6-7, completely fails; because Uzziah did not attack Damascus and Hamath nor Tyre, which are here mentioned, while he did subdue other neighboring heathen, Edomites, Arabians, Maonites, who are not mentioned. The rapid celerity of these conquests is most appropriate to the agency of the “he-goat” whom Daniel saw (Zec_8:5) coming from the west “on the face of the whole earth, and he touched not the ground.” All the great captains from Sesostris down yield to Alexander in the swiftness and extent of his conquests. Even Tyre, with all its immense advantages and resources, stayed his march for only what was comparatively a short period.
DOCTRINAL AND MORAL
1. The word of the Lord endureth forever. Here is a prediction of a heavy calamity, which falls in succession upon Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Zidon, and the sea-coast cities of Philistia; yet the people of God are safe, guarded not by any human power, but by the unseen presence of their God. Even so it came to pass. The Syrian conquests of Alexander the Great fulfilled the prophecy to the letter. After the battle of Issus, he captured Damascus, which Darius had chosen as the strong depository of his wealth, and this opened to him all Cœle-Syria. Zidon soon surrendered. Tyre, strong in its position, its defenses, its wealth, and its wisdom, made a stubborn resistance, yet after a seven months’ siege was taken and “devoured by fire.” Gaza, too, although it was, as its name imports, the strong, was conquered after five months’ effort, and destroyed. The whole region fell a prey to the imperious conqueror, but the armies passed and repassed by Jerusalem without doing the least injury. Josephus accounts for this remarkable fact by the statement that when the conqueror drew near the city the high priest went forth to meet him, in his official robes, followed by a train of priests and citizens arrayed in white; and that Alexander was so impressed by the spectacle that he did reverence to the holy name on the high priest’s mitre; and when Parmenio expressed surprise at the act, he answered that he had seen in a vision at Dium in Macedon, the god whom Jaddua represented, who encouraged him to cross over into Asia and promised him success. Afterwards he entered the city, offered sacrifice, and heard a recital of the prophecies of Daniel which foretold his victory, in consequence of which he bestowed important privileges upon the Jews. (See Hengstenbreg, Genuineness of Daniel, 224–233; Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, p. 60.) The truth of this narrative, although much questioned by Prideaux and others, has of late come to be considered extremely probable, on the ground of both its external evidence and its consistency with the character and policy of Alexander. But there is no doubt whatever of the main fact, that amid the storm of conquest which swept over the entire coterminous region, Jerusalem escaped unharmed. The holy city experienced what David said (Psa_34:7) “The angel of the Lord encampeth around them that fear Him and delivereth them.” This “captian of Lord’s host” (Jos_5:15) kept at bay the otherwise irresistible foe.
2. Bloodshed and carnage prepare the way for the Prince of Peace. The conquest of Alexauder had aims and results far beyond any contemplated by himself even in the most extensive of his farreaching views. He tore down that others might build up. The humiliation of the Syrian powers and provinces was preliminary to their conversion to the true faith. Their cruel and debasing worship disappeared, and the remnant became incorporated with the Christian Church. They exhibited on a small scale what the entire career of Alexander exhibited on the world’s broad stage,—a secular preparation for the new and final form of the kingdom of God on earth. Well says Wordsworth, “We speak of the connection of sacred and profane history; but what history can rightly be called profane? What history is there, rightly studied, which is not sacred? What history is there in which we may not trace the footsteps of Christ?” A heathen historian (Arrian) said that Alexander, who was like no other man, could not have been given to the world without the special design of Providence. But what to Arrian was an inference from a narrow induction is to us a broad fact stamped upon the face of the world’s history, and confirmed by the concurrent testimonies of two divine seers, Daniel and Zechariah.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Wordsworth: Zec_9:1. Hadrach is the designation of the powers of this world generally (of which Persia was a specimen), strong for a while and proudly exulting in their strength, and opposing God and persecuting his Church, and in due time to be laid low and broken in pieces by Him. How many Hadrachs are now vaunting themselves as if they were all-powerful! how many are raging against Him, and how terrible will be their downfall!
Moore: Never has sin more proudly entrenched herself than in godless but magnificent Tyre. Yet all was swept like chaff before the whirlwind of the wrath of God, when the time for the fulfillment of his threatenings had come. Two hundred years passed away after these threatenings were uttered, and Tyre seemed stronger than ever; yet when the day of doom dawned, the galleys that had left her the queen of seas, when they returned found her but a bare and blackened rock, a lonely monument of the truth that our God is a consuming fire.… God will not make Himself a liar to save man in his sins.
Jay: Ekron as the Jebusite. 1. It is a great thing to be a Jebusite. 2. Jebusites may be derived from Ekronites. Hence let none despair, either for themselves or for their fellows. God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
Footnotes:
[1]Zec_9:1.—מְנֻחָתוֹ= resting-place, permanent abode.
[2]Zec_9:1.—עֵין אָדָם, gen. obj., an eve upon man. So LXX. and most critics.
[3]Zec_9:2.— Before תִגְבָל we must supply אֲשֶׁר. The latter half of Zec_9:1 is parenthetical. “Hamath also,” i. e. as well as Damascus, is a resting-place of the burden.
[4]Zec_9:2.—כִי takes its usual sense, because. To render although is enfeebling as well as needless.
[5]Zec_9:3.—The paronomasia in עוֹר מָצוֹר cannot be reproduced in English.
[6]Zec_9:4.—יוֹרשׁנּח is not will dispossess (Burg., Hend.), nor impoverish (Hitzig, Ewald), nor deliver up (Heng., Kliefoth), but seize, conquer, as in exactly similar connection, Jos_8:7; Jos_17:12 (Maurer, Kohler).
[7]Zec_9:4.—בַיָּם. In, not into, as Henderson and Noyes render.
[8]Zec_9:5.—הוֹבִישׁ. Here, as elsewhere (Jer_2:26), the Hiphil takes a passive sense: the subject of the verb is not Ekron (as some editions of the E. V. punctuate the clause), but מֶבָּטָהּ.
[9]Zec_9:6.—מַמְזֵר. Mongrel is a better, because more significant rendering than alien (Genevan, stranger), adopted by most critics, after the LXX. ἀλλογενής Dr. Van Dyck, in the Arabic Bible, gives ׂ׀םד =bastard.
[10]Zec_9:7.—נשְׁאַר גַם־הוּא. The E. V., he that remaineth, is not warranted by grammar nor by the connection.
[11]Zec_9:7.—“prince,” literally, tribe-prince or head of a thousand, a Pentateuch word.
[12]Zec_9:8.—מִן, lit., because of, here is= against.
[13]Zec_9:8.—מִצָּבָה. The keri undoubtedly given the true text, מִצָּבָא, nor is there any need of adopting the vowel changes proposed by Ortenberg and Ewald.
[14]Zec_9:8.—מֵעֹבֵר וּמשּׁב, the same phrase that occurs in Zec_8:14, where however, the connection requires a variation in the rendering.
[15]Pressel derides this view, saying, Diese elymologischen Versucht sind in dtr That audi Bcides, gar zu scharf und gar zu zart, gat zu stark und gar zu schwach. But where all are groping in the dark, ridicule is scarcely in place.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Judgment upon the surrounding nations; preservation of Jerusalem, 1-8.
Judgment upon the surrounding nations; preservation of Jerusalem, 1-8.
A judgment, proceeding from the north or northeast, will fall in succession upon Syria, Phoenicia, and Philistia (Zec_9:1-7). While these nations are wiped out, Jerusalem will rest in safety (8).
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1. Burden — For the meaning of the word see on Nah_1:1. Its construction in the sentence is obscure. The English translation makes it a part of the title (compare Zec_12:1), “The burden of the word of Jehovah in [better, R.V., “upon”] the land of Hadrach”; the rest of the verse it takes as the beginning of the oracle itself. But even the English reader can see that the result is an exceedingly awkward sentence. It seems better to take “burden,” which is without article in Hebrew, by itself as the title, “A burden,” or “An oracle,” and to begin the oracle itself with “The word of Jehovah.” In 1b the translation of margin R.V. is to be preferred. With these changes Zec_9:1 will read, “An oracle: The word of Jehovah shall be upon the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be its resting place; for Jehovah hath an eye upon men and upon all the tribes of Israel.” The title may not be in its original form; with “burden” or “oracle” may have been connected originally the name of the author and, perhaps, of the subject of the prophecy; but these names had disappeared when the oracle fell into the hands of the compiler (p. 589).
The word of Jehovah — See on Hos_1:1.
Hadrach — In ancient and even more recent times, previously to the discoveries of archaeology, Hadrach received various interpretations; some took it as a name of the Messiah, some as the name of an otherwise unknown Syrian king, or of a deity; but archaeology has placed it beyond reasonable doubt that it is the name of a city called Hatarika in the Assyrian inscriptions, mentioned in connection with Damascus and other cities of Syria; hence it is quite likely that it should be located in the north. Well-hausen suggests the region around the later Antioch.
Damascus — See on Amo_1:3. Its resting place (R.V.) — Damascus is the goal of the divine word of judgment; there it will fall with destructive force.
The rest of the verse appears to be a parenthetical clause, stating the reason why the word has gone forth. As already indicated, the marginal translation is to be preferred. Jehovah hath an eye (margin R.V.) — Nothing is hidden from the eyes of Jehovah, hence he knows what each individual nation deserves.
Man… Israel — His interest is world-wide, it is not confined to Israel (Amo_9:7; Jer_32:19-20). In this case he has seen the wrong done by men to Israel, therefore he will send judgment upon the evil doers, represented by Hadrach and Damascus. Though this interpretation is not impossible, the text of 1b is considered corrupt by many commentators, and various emendations have been suggested. Instead of man, Hebrews adham, many read Syria, Hebrews aram, which involves the interchange of two letters which are not infrequently confused in the Old Testament; for eyes many read cities or people, which again involves only a slight change. With these changes 1b would read, “For Jehovah’s are the cities (or people) of Syria as well as all the tribes of Israel.” These emendations would not alter the thought materially. Some go further; they omit “as well as all the tribes of Israel,” and join the remaining words of 1b closely with Zec_9:2 : “For Jehovah’s are the cities of Syria, and Hamath also, which bordereth thereon”; which gives good sense. The present Hebrew text of Zec_9:1 sounds rather peculiar, and it may be corrupt, but, if so, it is not possible to speak with certainty concerning its original form. Marti reads Zec_9:1-2 as follows: “Burden of the word of Jehovah: Jehovah is in Hadrach, and Damascus is his resting place; for Jehovah’s are the cities of Syria, and Hamath also which bordereth thereon; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.”
If the present text is retained Zec_9:2 is the continuation of 1a. Hamath also shall be the resting place of the word of Jehovah.
Hamath — See on Amo_6:2 (compare Eze_47:16).
Tyrus [“Tyre”]… Zidon — The two chief cities of Phoenicia (see on Joe_3:4; compare Amo_1:9; Eze_26:2; Eze_28:21).
Though it be very wise — R.V., “because they are very wise.” The latter expresses the thought that the boast in their great wisdom (Eze_28:1 ff.) provokes the divine judgment; A.V., on the other hand, expresses the idea that all their wisdom will not be sufficient to save them. R.V. is more accurate and is favored by the context. The latter is undoubtedly right in applying wise to both cities (so LXX.), though the Hebrew text applies it only to Zidon.
Tyre was the more important of the two; during the greater part of Phoenician history it was the real capital and representative of Phoenicia (compare Amo_1:9), therefore it alone is spoken of in Zec_9:3-4. In Zec_9:3 is given an illustration of the wisdom of Tyre.
A stronghold — According to ancient testimony Tyre was built originally on the mainland; later it was transferred to a neighboring rocky island (compare Eze_26:3-4), where it was strongly fortified, so that it became almost impregnable.
Silver… fine gold — Secure from hostile attacks, Tyre heaped up immense treasures (Eze_28:4-5). But her power and wealth will not continue.
Cast her out — R.V., “dispossess her”; which is a threat that Jehovah will rob her of her wealth and make her poor (1Sa_2:7).
Power — Not fortifications, but, as in Eze_28:4-5, equivalent to riches, and all the strength and influence derived from these
Devoured with fire — The city herself, her palaces, storehouses, and magnificent buildings, will go up in flames (compare Amo_1:10). To secure a climax some translate the first verb “conquer,” as frequently in the Old Testament. This gives the order conquer, smite her riches, devour the city.
The divine executioner is evidently thought of as coming from the north or northeast. Syria, represented by Hadrach, Damascus, and Hamath, will be the first to suffer, then powerful Phoenicia; from there he will pass down the Maritime Plain and fall upon Philistia. With the strong Phoenician cities gone, nothing can prevent the further advance of the enemy; therefore Philistia may well tremble.
THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, Zec_9:1 to Zec_14:21.
With Zec_9:1, begins the second main division of the Book of Zechariah, which consists of various oracles, loosely connected, dealing for the most part with events leading up to the final triumph of the kingdom of God. It opens with an announcement of the overthrow of the nations surrounding Palestine (Zec_9:1-8), which will prepare the way for the advent of the Messianic king (9, 10) and the restoration and exaltation of the exiled Jews (11-17). This restoration is described more fully in Zec_10:1 -xi, 3. The promises are followed by an allegory which is intended to warn the people that the realization of the glorious promises depends upon their attitude toward Jehovah (Zec_11:4-17; +Zec_13:7-9). The remaining portion of the book naturally falls into two parts. The first (Zec_12:1 to Zec_13:6) opens with a picture of a marvelous deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem (Zec_12:1-9); but this triumph is only the preparation for the bestowing of rich spiritual gifts. In order to enjoy these fully, they must pass through a process of spiritual preparation (10-14). Then Jehovah will remove all spiritual uncleanness, and a life of intimate fellowship with Jehovah will ensue (Zec_13:1-6). In chapter xiv the prophet pictures a new conflict between Jerusalem and the nations. At first the latter will be successful, then Jehovah will interfere, save a remnant, and set up his kingdom upon earth (1-7). From Jerusalem he will dispense blessing and prosperity (8-11); the hostile nations will be smitten and their treasures will become the possession of the Jews (12-15). Those who escape will turn to Jehovah (16); any who fail to do him proper homage will be smitten with drought (17-19), but Judah and Jerusalem will be holy unto Jehovah (20, 21).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. The burden] It is difficult to decide between…
1. The burden] It is difficult to decide between the meanings burden and utterance (onus and effatum) for this word, which is of frequent occurrence, especially in Isaiah. If we translate burden, it will mean the heavy judgment of Jehovah. In favour of this is the fact that the word is almost always used (Zec_12:1; Mal_1:1, are referred to as exceptions, but the second of these passages can hardly be called so) to introduce a prophecy of judgment. “The sentence issued against an individual or a community hung as a heavy weight, which at last dragged them down.” (Speak. Com. on Isa_13:1. Comp. 2Ki_9:25.) On the other hand, from the use of the cognate verb in the sense of “taking up,” i.e. “uttering,” a word or speech (as, “thou shalt not take up the name of Jehovah, thy God, in vain,” Exo_20:7; “He took up his parable,” Num_23:18), many prefer to render utterance, or oracle.
in the land] upon the land, R. V.
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Hadrach] This word, which occurs nowhere else in the O. T., caused, till recently, much perplexity to commentators. Some of them explained it to be the name of a king, others of an idol, while others regarded it as a symbolical name composed by the prophet. The question, however, as to the meaning of the word appears to have been satisfactorily set at rest, by its being discovered in the Assyrian inscriptions “in the catalogue of Syrian cities tributary to Nineveh.” Sir H. Rawlinson, quoted by Pusey, says, “It is now certain that there was a city called Hadrach in the neighbourhood of Damascus and Hamath, although its exact site is not known … In the Assyrian Canon Hadrach is the object of three Assyrian expeditions.”
the rest thereof] Or, its resting place, R. V., i.e. the place on which it (the burden, or utterance, of the word of the Lord) shall light and settle. See Zec_6:8, and note there.
when the eyes of man, &c.] Or, for the eye … is, R. V. This has been explained as implying “a conversion of Gentiles, as well as Jews. For man, as contrasted with Israel, must be the heathen world, mankind. ‘The eyes of all must needs look in adoration to God, expecting all good from Him, because the Creator of all provided for the well-being of all.’ ” Pusey. Or, since the context, which is minatory in tone, seems not to admit of this interpretation, the words have been thus paraphrased: “When the fulfilment of the oracles takes place upon Hadrach and Damascus, and the wrath of God descends upon those cities and districts, the eyes of the nations as well as those of the people of Israel will look towards Jehovah, and marvel at the wonders of judgment which will then be performed in their sight in accordance with the solemn warnings of the prophet.” Rev. C. H. H. Wright. It is, possible, however, to render, for to Jehovah is (i. e. Jehovah has) an eye on man, and on all the tribes of Israel, the sense being that of such passages as Jer_32:19, and Psa_10:14.
Chap. Zec_9:1-8. The punishment of Israel’s enemies
The first section opens with a prediction (Zec_9:1-8), from which the title of the whole of this first group of prophecies is derived, of the judgments of God upon the enemies of Israel and of the deliverance of Jerusalem, as a preparation for the coming of her King. Jehovah, whose eye is on the affairs of men, will punish the neighbours and enemies of His people on every side, the Syrians (Zec_9:1), the Phœnicians, in spite of their resources and their wisdom (Zec_9:2-4), and the Philistines (Zec_9:5-6). This last nation shall be converted from idolatry and incorporated into the family of God (Zec_9:7). Judah and Jerusalem shall be protected from the invading armies by which the surrounding nations are scourged, and shall await in safety the advent of their King (Zec_9:8).
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 (1) In the land.—Better, on the land.
(1) In the land.—Better, on the land.
Hadrach.—Until lately this word has been an insuperable difficulty to commentators, but now it is known, from various Assyrian inscriptions, that Hadrach (Ha-ta-ri-ka) was the name of a town or district in the neighbourhood of Damascus and Hamath. (Records of the Past, Vol. V.)
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The rest[ing place] thereof.—viz., of the prophecy: i.e., the judgments of God should begin at that city. LXX., θυσία αὐτοῦ, “his sacrifice,” reading different vowels.
When the eyes . . . the Lord.—Various renderings of these words have been proposed, but the best is, for to the Lord [will] the eye of man [be directed], and [that of] all the tribes of Israel: i.e., when God’s judgments are fulfilled against these districts, the eyes of all will be turned towards Him in wonder. LXX., διότι Κύριος ἐϕορᾷ ἀνθρώπους, ἀνθρώπους, καὶ πάσας ϕυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, taking “to” as possessive, and “man” as the objective genitive, “For to the Lord is an eye on man.”
Instead of Adam, “man,” some propose to read Aram, “Syria,” the letters d and r being easily interchanged in the Asshurith (square Hebrew), and many other Oriental characters.
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 Ver. 1-ch. Nah_1:1) (On the circumstances connected with this…
Ver. 1-ch. Nah_1:1) (On the circumstances connected with this prophecy, see Introduction, Destructive critics attribute ch. 9-11, to an anonymous prophet, whose utterances have been by mistake appended to the genuine work of Zechariah. We have given reasons for disputing this conclusion in the Introduction, In (upon) the land of Hadrach. This expression is found nowhere else, and has occasioned great trouble to the commentators. But Assyrian inscriptions have cleared away the difficulty, and shown that it was the name of a city and district near Damascus, called in the monuments Hatarakha or Hatarika (see Schrader, "Keilinschr. und das Alt. Test," p. 453). Expeditions against this place are mentioned as occurring in various years, e.g. B.C. 772. 765, 755 (see G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon," pp. 46, etc., 63; "Records of the Past," 5:46; Schrader, pp. 482, 484, etc., 2nd edit.). Damascus shall be the rest thereof. The "burden" shall light upon Damascus in wrath, and settle there. (comp. Eze_5:13) This district should be the first to suffer. The LXX has, Kai Damaskou yusia autou , "In the land of Sedrach and Damascus is his sacrifice." When the eyes of man, etc.; literally, for to Jehovah (is, or will be) the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel. This gives the reason why Hadrach and Damascus are thus united. Because Jehovah has his eye on men and on Israel. Septuagint, "because the Lord looketh upon men". (comp. Zec_4:10; and ver. 8 below) We may then translate, "For to Jehovah is an eye over man," etc. He sees their evil doings and their oppression of Israel, and therefore the judgment falls upon them. (comp. Jer_32:19) The Authorized Version intimates a conversion of the Gentiles, of which, however, the context says nothing: and there is no sense in saying that judgment shall fall upon a particular nation when, or because, the eyes of all men look to the Lord. Wright explains thus: When the wrath of God falls on Damascus, the eyes of the heathen, as well as those of Israel, will look to the Lord, and they will marvel at the judgment and the close fulfilment of the prediction. This would be a very sound and probable exposition of the passage if the expression, "the eye of man being towards Jehovah," can mean that man marvels at his doings. All the tribes of Israel. God watches over them to guard them from evil. (Deu_11:12 Ezr_5:5 Psa_33:18)
Vers. 1-6. A visitation of judgment.
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"The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach," etc. Whatever view is taken of the exact time of the fulfilment of the glorious promises with which the last chapter concludes, it was necessarily a time still future when those promises were uttered. Other things of a very different nature were first to occur. On some of these, accordingly, as constituting a kind of "burden" (ver. 1) on some of the lands and people contiguous to Israel, the tongue of the prophet, in the verses before us, next speaks something, probably, after the fashion of Luk_19:11 2Th_2:3. Most commentators believe that what he thus predicts was fulfilled in connection with the Syrian conquests of Alexander the Great. Certainly we shall find this predicted "visitation of judgment" to correspond very strikingly with the history of those conquests in three principal ways, viz. in regard
(1) to the circumstances it came in;
(2) to the path it followed; and
(3) to the marks it left.
I THE CIRCUMSTANCES IT CAME IN. It was a time when the "eyes of man," and especially (so Pusey, in loc. ) "of all the tribes of Israel," should be "toward the Lord." This seems to describe, first and generally, a condition of expectation and wonder perhaps also of fear. (see Luk_21:26) Secondly, and more particularly, and it may be of the "tribes of Israel" especially, a spirit of trust and reverence. (see Psa_5:3 2Ch_20:12 Psa_145:15 Psa_123:2 Isa_17:7, Isa_17:8) If so, we may find that in the history supposed to be referred to which corresponds in both respects very exactly. How certainly great, for example, was the expectation and wondering fear of the inhabitants of the East at large, after the astounding victory of Alexander at Issus, when he first sent his general and turned his attention to Syria and Damascus! How exceedingly natural, also, that the marvellous speed and completeness of his triumph should remind "the tribes of Israel" of Dan_8:1-8, Dan_8:20, Dan_8:21, and so fix their eyes on their own Jehovah in adoration and trust! This almost certain, indeed, if we believe what Josephus tells us of the prophecies of Daniel being afterwards shown to Alexander.
II THE PATH WHICH THIS VISITATION FOLLOWED. Three principal stages are mentioned in the prophecy.
1. Where the visitation began; viz. (see ver. 1) in the land of Damascus and Hadrach, a principal city, as only lately known (see Pusey), of Syria, towards the northeast.
2. Where it went next; viz. to Tyrus and Zidon (vers. 2-4), cities of Phoenicia, travelling west.
3. Where it went last; viz. to the cities of the Philistines (vers. 5, 6), travelling south. Three corresponding stages are also traceable in the history referred to. So Pusey writes ("Daniel the Prophet," pp. 277, 278), "The selection of the places and of the whole line of country corresponds very exactly to the march of Alexander after the battle of Issue, when the capture of Damascus, which Darius had chosen as the strong depository of his wealth, etc., opened Coele-Syria; Zidon surrendered; Tyre was taken; Gaza resisted, was taken, and, it is said, plucked up." Also Eichhorn, as there quoted, "All the chief places, which Alexander, after the battle of Issue, either took possession of or conquered, are named one by one the land of Hadrach, Damascus and Hamath, Tyre and Zidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod.
III THE MARKS IT LEFT. Here, again, in the prediction, the description is threefold. In the country of Hadrach and Damascus and their neighbouring city Hamath ("Hamath, which bordereth thereby," so some), the great mark was the abiding character of the visitation, or "burden." There judgment was to come first, and them to remain. In the case of Tyrus (Zidon being only mentioned parenthetically), the result, notwithstanding all her wisdom, (Eze_28:2, Eze_28:3) strength, wealth, and power, would be her total overthrow and destruction by fire. In the cities of Philistia the results would be fear, sorrow, disappointment; in one case, the loss of the ruler (ver. 5); in another (ver. 5), the loss of inhabitants; in all, the abasement of "pride." More briefly still "ruined," "humbled so would this visitation, according to this prediction, leave these three lands. According to the history, we read the same. "The Syrians, not as yet tamed by the losses of war, despised the new empire; but, swiftly subdued, they did obediently what they were commanded" (Q. Curtius, quoted by Pusey). Of Tyre we read, in the pages of history, as to her "stronghold" and her "power on the sea," and wealth, that the inhabitants "determined to resist Alexander, trusting in the strength of the island, and the stores laid up," as also that they "mocked at the king, as though he thought to prevail against Neptune." As to her "wisdom," we read of "unwearied inventiveness of defence," etc. As to the result, that "Alexander, having slain all save those who fled to the temples, ordered the houses to be set on fire." Of Gaza, which had had kings for fifteen hundred years, that Betis, its "king," after a two months" siege, was dragged to death at the chariot wheels of his conqueror (see further Pusey and Wardlaw, in loc.). This passage, thus interpreted, may seem to illustrate, in conclusion:
1. The imperfection of man"s knowledge. This city, Hadrach, which turns out to have been most conspicuous and important for many generations, afterwards for many generations is so forgotten that its very name is a riddle. How much beside, therefore, has doubtless been so buried by time that all traces of it are gone!
2. The perfection of Gods knowledge. He knows even the future infinitely better than we do the past. Doubtless, on this account, there are some touches in this prediction which we cannot appreciate, but which may, however, have been of peculiar interest to devout Jews at this time.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Vers. 1-8. God"s judgments.
I THE DARK SIDE. "Burden." Word of ill omen to God"s enemies. God"s eye is on all. Storm gathering. Will soon burst in fury, just, universal, overwhelming. None so small as to be overlooked. None so great as to secure immunity. The wisdom of the wise, the resources of the rich, and the fame of ancient days will prove as vanity.
II THE BRIGHT SIDE. Eye of kindness. Hand of gracious interposition. Incorporation of Jews and Gentiles in one glorious Church.
1. Divine protection. "Encamp," etc.
2. Righteous freedom. No more taskmasters, as in Egypt.
3. Grateful service. F.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1-8. The dark and the bright side of God"s revelation to mankind.
"The burden of the word of the Lord," etc. This chapter begins that portion of the book whose genuineness, though denied by some, is accepted by most unbiassed expositors. As it is our main purpose, in preparing these sketches, to use the statements, whether prosaic or poetic, prophetic or historic, to illustrate truths of universal application, it comes not within our purpose to discuss the questions of genuineness, authenticity, and inspiration. In the preceding chapters the prophet had in vision seen and said much concerning many of the more remarkable events connected with the continued rule of the Persians; he advances now to foretell some of the more striking circumstances which would transpire under that of the Greeks, during the military expeditions of Alexander and his successors, so far as they had a bearing upon the affairs of the Jewish people. "He describes," says Dr. Henderson, "in this chapter the conquest of Syria after the battle of Issus (ver. 1), and the progress of the army of Alexander along the coast of the Mediterranean, involving the capture of the principalities of the Phoenicians and Philistines, but leaving the Jews unmolested, through the protecting care of Jehovah (vers. 2-8). He then contrasts with the character and military achievements of that conqueror the qualities which should distinguish the Messiah and his kingdom, whom he expressly predicts (vers. 9, 10). After which he resumes the thread of his historical discourse, and describes the wars of the Maccabees with Antiochus Epipbanes, and the victory and prosperity with which they were followed (vers. 11-17)." These verses may be taken to illustrate the dark and the bright side of God"s revelation to mankind. Here are threatenings and promises. The Bible, in relation to humanity, is something like the mystic pillar in the wilderness, as it appeared on the Red Sea; it threw a radiance on the chosen tribes as they advanced, and a black cloud upon their pursuing foes, overwhelming them in confusion. Notice, then
I THE DARK SIDE OF THE DIVINE WORD. Notice two things.
1. In this aspect it is here called a burden." The word "burden" is almost invariably used to represent a calamity. Thus we read of the burden of Babylon, the burden of Moab, the burden of Damascus, the burden of Tyre, the burden of Egypt, etc. The general meaning is a terrible sentence. God"s sentence of condemnation is indeed a terrible thundercloud.
2. In this aspect it bears upon wicked men. The doomed peoples are here mentioned. They are in "the land of Hadrach." Whether Hadrach here means the land of Syria or the common names of the kings of Syria, it scarcely matters; the people of the place of which Damascus was the capital were the doomed ones. Besides these, there are the men of "Hamath," a country lying to the north of Damascus and joining the districts of Zobah and Rehub. And still more, there are "Tyrus" and "Zidon," places about which we often read in the Bible, and with whose history most students of the Bible are acquainted. "Ashkelon," "Gaza," and "Ekron" are also mentioned. These were the chief cities of the Philistines, and the capitals of different districts. All these peoples were not only enemies of the chosen tribe, but enemies of the one true and living God. History tells us how, through the bloody conquests of Alexander and his successors, this "burden of the word of the Lord" fell with all its weight upon these people. Observe:
(1) That the Bible is heavy with black threatenings to the wicked. It has not one word of encouragement to such, but all menace; not one gleam of light, but a dark mass of cloud. (Quote passages.)
(2) That these black threatenings will inevitably be fulfilled. All the threatenings here against the land of Hadrach, Hamath, Tyrus, Zidon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashkelon, and the Philistines were fulfilled.
II THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE DIVINE WORD. There is a beam of promise here. "And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes." The following is Dr. Keil"s translation of these verses: "And I shall take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth, and he will also remain to our God, and will be as a tribe prince in Judah, and Ekron like the Jebusite. I pitch a tent for my house against military power, against those who go to and fro, and no oppressor will pass over them any more; for now have I seen with my eyes." The promise in these words seems to be twofold.
1. The deprivation of the Tower of the enemy to injure. "I will take away his blood from between his teeth," etc. "The Philistines and other enemies of the Jews," says Scott, "world be deprived of their power to waste them any more; and the spoils they had taken by violence and the most abominable rapine would be taken away from them as prey from a wild beast." The Bible promises to the good man the subjection of all his foes. "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly;" "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
2. Divine protection from all their enemies. "I will encamp about mine house," etc. "They were not to be injured," says Henderson, "by the army of Alexander, on its march either to or from Egypt a promise which was fulfilled to the letter, for while that monarch punished the Samaritans, he showed great favour to the Jews. Nor was any foreign oppressor to invade their land, as the Assyrians and Chaldeans had done, during the period that was to intervene before the advent of the Messiah. predicted in the verse immediately following. They were, indeed, subject to much suffering, both from the Egyptian and the Syrian kings, especially from Antiochus Epiphanes; but their nationality was not destroyed; and the evils to which they were exposed only paved the way for the Maccabean victories and for the establishment of the Asmonean dynasty. For this preservation they were indebted to the providence of God, which watched over them for good. This is emphatically expressed in the last clause of the verse." The Bible promises eternal protection to the good. "God is our Refuge and Strength," etc. D.T.
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 The burden of the Word of the Lord
Zec_9:1-8
The burden of the Word of the Lord
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The dark and bright side of God
s revelation to mankind
I.
The dark side of the Divine Word. Notice two things--
1. In this aspect it is here called a burden. The word burden is almost invariably used to represent a calamity. Thus we read of the burden of Babylon, the burden of Moab, the burden of Damascus, the burden of Tyre, the burden of Egypt, etc.
2. In this aspect it bears upon wicked men. The doomed peoples are here mentioned. They are in the land of Hadrach. Whether Hadrach here means the land of Syria or the common names of the kings of Syria, it scarcely matters; the people of the place of which Damascus was the capital were the doomed ones. Besides these, there are the men of Hamath, a country lying to the north of Damascus and joining the districts of Zobah and Rehub. And still more, there are Tyrus and Zidon, places about which we often read in the Bible, and with whose history most students of the Bible are acquainted. Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron, are also mentioned. These were the chief cities of the Philistines, and the capitals of different districts. All these peoples were not only enemies of the chosen tribe, but enemies of the one true and living God. History tells us how, through the bloody conquests of Alexander and his successors, this burden of the Word of the Lord fell with all its weight upon these people. Observe--
(1) That the Bible is heavy with black threatenings to the wicked.
(2) That these black thrcatenings will inevitably be fulfilled.
All the threatenings here against the land of Hadrach, Hamath, Tyrus, Zidon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashkelon, and the Philistines were fulfilled.
II. The bright side of the Divine Word. There is a beam of promise here (Zec_9:7-8). The following is Dr. Keils translation of these verses: And I shall take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth, and he will also remain to our God and will be as a tribe prince in Judah, and Ekron like the Jebusite. I pitch a tent for My house against military power, against those who go to and fro, and no oppressor will pass over them any more, for now have I seen with My eyes. The promise in these words seems to be twofold--
1. The deprivation of the power of the enemy to injure. The Bible promises to the good man the subjection of all his foes.
2. Divine protection from all their enemies. The Bible promises eternal protection to the good. (Homilist.)
Prophetic fulfilments
1. Every fulfilled prophecy is a distinct proof of the truth of the Bible--of its having been given by inspiration of God, Prophecy is a miracle. We generally apply the word miracle to supernatural manifestations of power; but it is equally applicable to supernatural manifestations of knowledge. Knowledge of futurity belongs only to God. Jehovah frequently appeals to such foreknowledge of the future as one of His distinctive attributes. The accomplishment of Divine predictions stands out, incontestably, in the records of ancient history.
2. The true value of the evidences of revelation arises from the value of what is revealed. Were it of trivial importance, that would be itself a strong presumptive proof--almost, indeed, a conclusive one--that what professed to be a revelation had no real title to be so regarded. That which revelation does make known has in it to us a value beyond the powers of man or angel to estimate. It shows unto us the way of salvation. This is its great discovery. It is no mere republication of the lessons of nature. It is not a mere volume of precepts. It does confirm all that nature teaches. It does set before us a perfect code of morals. But it does more: it addresses us not as creatures merely, but as sinners. It makes provision for us in this capacity--for our deliverance from the guilt, condemnation, and punishment of sin, and our restoration to the favour, the image, the enjoyment of God; and that for the eternity of our being. It is this that stamps every proof of the divinity of the Bible with such importance,--every species of evidence, and every variety of each species. The investigation of the evidence is what every man in his sane mind should feel to be the most momentous inquiry in which he can possibly be engaged.
3. The past fulfilment of prophecy should establish our faith in God regarding all that is yet future; and especially our faith in God as still in all His providential administration, having His eye upon the Church. His entire, extensive, and complicated administration is ever working out the development of the plan of salvation.
4. The enemies of God and of His people have cause to tremble. He will not leave either Himself or His people unavenged. He that toucheth them toucheth the apple of His eye. It may at times be difficult to see on which side lies His favour; in seasons when the ungodly prosper in the world, while waters of a full cup are wrung out to the faithful. In such seasons, love seems to be hidden, and even as inverting the order of its manifestations, and tempting the Christian to say--How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? But when the whole comes to be set by God, and seen by men in the light of the final judgment, all will be clear. The distinction, then, between His people and His enemies, will be fully, finally, and irreversibly marked; an everlasting separation made, and the great gulf, fixed between them. (Ralph Wardlaw, D. D.)
National judgments
1. The condition of all men is laid open to the eye of God, and He will appoint judgment or mercy according to that condition (Zec_9:1).
2. Worldly wisdom is at last greatly inferior to that wisdom, the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord (Zec_9:2).
3. However secure nations or men may think themselves in sin, their sin will be sure to find them out. Never has sin more proudly entrenched herself than in godless, but magnificent Tyre. Never has every element of earthly prosperity seemed more completely under control than in her case. And yet they were all swept like chaff before the whirlwind of the wrath of God, when the time for the fulfilment of His threatenings had come. Hence though nations now trample on law and right, and seem long to flourish in their sin, let not the child of God be impatient. Let him remember that two hundred years passed away after the utterance of these threatenings against Tyre, and she seemed stronger than over, and yet when the day of doom had dawned, the galleys that left her on their stated voyages the peerless queen of the seas, when they returned found her but a bare and blackened rock, a lonely monument of the truth, that our God is a consuming fire. If then, God thus executes His threats, even on a mighty commonwealth, in spite of His delay, let not the fact that judgment against an evil work is not executed speedily cause the hearts of the sons of men to be fully set in them to do evil. Let men remember that it is a falsehood to violate a threatening as much as to violate a promise, and that God will not make Himself a liar to save man in his sins (Zec_9:3-7).
4. Amidst all the tumults of nations, the true people of God are safe, being guarded by the arm of Almightiness (Zec_9:8). (T. V. Moore, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain This passage runs exactly in the style of the…
1. THE COMING OF THE GREEKS
Zec_9:1-8
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This passage runs exactly in the style of the early prophets. It figures the progress of war from the north of Syria southwards by the valley of the Orontes to Damascus, and then along the coasts of Phoenicia and the Philistines. All these shall be devastated, but Jehovah will camp about His own House and it shall be inviolate. This is exactly how Amos or Isaiah might have pictured an Assyrian campaign, or Zephaniah a Scythian. It is not surprising, therefore, that even some of those who take the bulk of "Zechariah" 9-14, as post-exilic should regard Zec_9:1-5 as earlier even than Amos, with post-exilic additions only in Zec_9:6-8. This is possible. Zec_9:6-8 are certainly post-exilic, because of their mention of the half-breeds, and their intimation that Jehovah will take unclean food out of the mouth of the heathen; but the allusions in Zec_9:1-5 suit an early date. They equally suit, however, a date in the Greek period. The progress of war from the Orontes valley by Damascus and thence down the coast of Palestine follows the line of Alexanders campaign in 332, which must also have been the line of Demetrius in 315 and of Antigonus in 311. The evidence of language is mostly in favor of a late date. If Ptolemy I took Jerusalem in 320, then the promise, no assailant shall return (Zec_9:8), is probably later than that.
In face, then, of Alexanders invasion of Palestine, or of another campaign on the same line, this oracle repeats the ancient confidence of Isaiah (Zec_9:1). God rules: His providence is awake alike for the heathen and for Israel. "Jehovah hath an eye for mankind, and all the tribes of Israel." The heathen shall be destroyed, but Jerusalem rest secure; and the remnant of the heathen be converted, according to the Levitical notion, by having unclean foods taken out of their mouths.
Oracle
"The Word of Jehovah is on the land of Hadrach, and Damascus is its goal-for Jehovah hath an eye upon the heathen, and all the tribes of Israel-and on Hamath, which borders upon it, Tyre and Sidon, for they were very wise. And Tyre built her a fortress, and heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. Lo, the Lord will dispossess her, and strike her rampart, into the sea, and she shall be consumed in fire. Ashklon shall see and shall fear, and Gaza writhe in anguish, and Ekron, for her confidence is abashed, and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon lie uninhabited. Half-breeds shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut down the pride of the Philistines. Ana I will take their blood from their mouth and their abominations from between their teeth, and even they shall be left for our God, and shall become like a clan in Judah, and Ekron shall be as the Jebusite. And I shall encamp for a guard to My House, so that none pass by or return, and no assailant again pass upon them, for now do I regard it with Mine eyes."
6. WAR UPON THE SYRIAN TYRANTS
Zec_9:1-3
This is taken by some with the previous chapter, by others with the passage following. Either connection seems precarious. No conclusion as to date can be drawn from the language. But the localities threatened were on the southward front of the Seleucid kingdom. "Open, Lebanon, thy doors" suits the Egyptian invasions of that kingdom. To which of these the passage refers cannot of course be determined. The shepherds are the rulers.
"Open, Lebanon, thy doors, that the fire may devour in thy cedars. Wail, O pine-tree, for the cedar is fallen; wail, O oaks of Bashan, for fallen is the impenetrable wood. Hark to the wailing of the shepherds! for their glory is destroyed. Hark how the lions roar! for blasted is the pride of Jordan."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain CRITICAL NOTES.] Hadrach] Part of Syria, near Damascus. Rest]…
CRITICAL NOTES.] Hadrach] Part of Syria, near Damascus. Rest] On which God’s wrath shall rest, and permanently abide. Eyes] of Israel, and of other people, would mark the providence of God; or, “Jehovah has an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel” (cf. Jer_32:20).
Zec_9:2. Hamath] as adjoining Damascus partook in “the burden.” Tyre and Sidon lay directly in Alexander’s march along the Syrian coast towards Egypt (see Isaiah 23). Wise] in building strong holds, and heaping up silver (Eze_28:3-17).
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Zec_9:3.] A description of new Tyre, an island 700 paces from the shore.
Zec_9:4. Cast] Heb. dispossess, drive out her inhabitants. Alexander captured Tyre after seven months’ siege; some few escaped; others put to death, or enslaved, and the city was burned.
HOMILETICS
JUDGMENTS UPON SYRIA AND PHŒNICIA.—Zec_9:1-4
Judgments are now threatened upon the lands of Syria, Phœnicia, and Philistia. Nations from which Israel greatly suffered, typical of worldly powers exulting in their strength, and broken to pieces by the might of Jehovah.
I. Judgments upon the land of Syria. “In the land of Hadrach.”
1. Their nature. “The burden of the word.” The punishment of the land is burdensome; no light trifling matter. It is bitter and crushing.
2. Their centre. “Damascus,” the capital, “shall be the rest thereof.” On this city the burden was permanently to settle. Eminent places generally share in the guilt, and procure the punishment, of the land. After Alexander’s victory over Darius in the battle of Issus, one of his generals was sent to the city, who took its immense wealth, treasured up by the Persian monarch, and carried away its satraps and princely families (cf. Jer_49:23; Amo_1:3-5).
3. Their extent. “Hamath also, which borders thereon,” did not escape. Near in situation, it shared in the burden of wrath resting upon Damascus. Contiguous in territory, they were alike in doom. The proverb of the Jews was realized, “Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his neighbour.”
II. Judgments upon the land of Phœnicia. Tyre and Sidon, the two capitals of Phœnicia, are next mentioned. Tyre was originally a colony of Sidon, but soon outgrew the mother city, and became the capital of all Phœnicia. Hence Tyre is only spoken of here. But the fate of both places is interwoven (cf. Isa_23:4-12; Eze_28:21).
1. Tyre could not be saved by its worldly wisdom. “Though it be very wise.” Volney says, that it was “a nursery of arts and science.” Its wisdom consisted in building fortifications, multiplying riches, and trusting to them. It was worldly wisdom, the source of her pride and the means of her destruction.
2. Tyre could not be saved by its worldly wealth. “Though silver was heaped up as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets,” yet this availed not
3. Tyre could not be saved by its mighty strongholds. “Tyrus did build herself a stronghold.” She had “the greatest confidence” in herself, says a historian, “owing to her insular position and fortifications, and the abundant stores she had prepared.” She was “the crowning city,” rivalling the world in strength, beauty, and riches. Her fleet was sunk in the sea, her fortifications overturned, and she was “devoured with the fire.” The waves girt her round, buried her ruins, and now roll over her site. “I will make her like the top of a rock; it shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it.”
THREE ASPECTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.—Zec_9:1
When the eyes of man. Taking these words as they stand, they may mean that the events of God’s providence would be such as to constrain men to acknowledge God’s hand in them, or that the dangers would be so great to Israel that other nations would watch whether Jehovah, in whom they trusted, would be their protector. They are generally taken as indicating God’s providence over all mankind, to punish the ungodly, and defend his people. In this sense—
I. Divine providence is universal. “The Lord hath an eye to man,” i.e. to all mankind, as well as to the tribes of Israel. He controls and disposes the conquests of armies, and the destinies of nations, for the advancement of his glory. The providence is the eye of God. His look is not careless and transient; but scrutinizing and constant. “His eyes behold,” without slumber or fatigue, the actions, words, and thoughts; “his eyelids try the children of men,” as one intently examining some objects to the exclusion of all others (Psa_11:4). “All things are naked,” stripped of all covering and concealment, “and opened before him”—laid prostrate, and exposed before his eye (Heb_4:13).
II. Divine providence is protective. “As of all the tribes of Israel.” He may chastise, but he will ever protect, his own. The victorious progress of Alexander terrified Israel, but Jerusalem escaped unhurt amid the storm. “This ‘captain of the Lord’s host’ (Jos_5:15) kept at bay the otherwise irresistible foe” [Lange].
III. Divine providence is retributive. It is a defence to Israel, and a punishment to others. Damascus was the rest; the region on which God’s anger settled. He who chastises his people will not fail to visit other men’s sins. Love seems hidden at times, and it may be difficult to see on which side favour lies; but the disproportion will not continue long. A distinction, an eternal separation, will be made at length. “Every eye shall see him” then, and all reap their reward. A difference will be made “between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zec_9:1. The eyes of man, &c.
1. Times of trouble sent to direct men’s eyes to God.
2. As God’s providence is universal, those only can escape who trust him.
3. The punishment upon those who do not trust him will be heavy. Divine wrath is sure to hit its mark, and sink those on whom it rests.
Zec_9:2-4. Vain confidences.
1. Reputed wisdom, which is not “counsel against the Lord” (Pro_21:30).
2. Immense wealth, which “profits not in the day of wrath” (Pro_11:4). “Misery assails riches, as lightning does the highest towers” [Burton].
3. Outward fortifications. High walls and deep seas, instruments of power, may be elements of destruction. God can destroy the wisest, the wealthiest, and the strongest nation. Tyre said in her pride, “I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas” (Eze_28:2); but she was devoured with fire. “How art thou destroyed, which wast strong in the sea” (Eze_26:17).
Zec_9:4. Mark the language. Who was to “smite her power in the sea, burn her with fire, and cast her out?” Alexander the Great, says history; Jehovah, says Divine revelation. Both are true. Only revelation keeps us in mind that “men are God’s hand”—a truth which profane history is too prone to overlook and forget; as indeed we ourselves—all of us—naturally are [Wardlaw].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Zec_9:1-6. The foreground of this prophecy is the course of the victories of Alexander, which circled round the Holy Land without hurting it, and ended in the overthrow of the Persian Empire. The surrender of Damascus followed first, immediately on his great victory at the Issus; then Sidon yielded itself and received its ruler from the conqueror. Tyre he utterly destroyed; Gaza, we know, perished; he passed harmless by Jerusalem. Samaria, on his return from Egypt, he chastised. History gives no other explanation of Zechariah’s prophecy than this conquest by Alexander: that conquest agrees minutely with the prophecy. No other event in history does [cf. Pusey’s Lectures on Daniel].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain The prophet is speaking to those who are emphatically…
Zec 9:12
The prophet is speaking to those who are emphatically called "Christ’s prisoners," those for whom, by His kingly power, He has gone up on high, and given to them repentance, that He might make them spiritual captives.
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I. No words could be framed more appropriate, or expressive of souls under spiritual distress, than those which the prophet here uses: "prisoners of hope." Why does the believer’s soul feel so fast bound and so miserable? He was not always so; but he has felt so ever since he began to hope, ever since a nobler and a loftier feeling came into his mind. From that hour, when the love of God first awoke in his soul, he has longed to go forth into a wider field than he can ever compass, and to expatiate on the image and the work and the glory of his God. Therefore, because his desires are so large, his soul feels so imprisoned. "Hope" has made this world feel so narrow, his body so cumbersome, those sins so heavy, and that nature such a great hindrance.
II. The prisoners of hope should "turn to the stronghold," keep close to the Lord Jesus. Pass your waiting time inside the fortress of Jesus. Let Him be your tower for ever, and in that stronghold He will bury your fears and keep your joys.
III. God Himself has graciously added the reason of the confidence of those who have by His grace exchanged the prison for the stronghold. "Even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee." It appears evident that in these words God is continuing the address which He was making in the preceding verse, and that He speaks to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is part of the engagement which the Father has made to the Son. When Christ sees of the travail of His soul He is satisfied, as when one delights in a purchase, and thinks that the price was not to be compared with the value received.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 10th series, p. 149.
Fear and hope have two things in common. (1) They are both prospective. They have to do with things future. (2) They regard that future as possible. With these two points of resemblance, hope and fear are in all else opposite and contradictory to each other. Fear is the apprehension of a future possible evil; hope is the anticipation of a future possible good.
I. What is the place of hope in the Gospel? We believe that Christ makes it everything. St. Paul even says, "We are saved by hope." And if there could be stronger words than these, we find them in that brief and touching account of Christ’s own life below, "For the joy which was set before Him, He endured the Cross." What is that but saying that the anticipation of a blessed future, which is the definition of hope, supported our Lord Jesus Christ in working our redemption?
II. Consider two of these future good things which God has promised, and which therefore the Christian hopes for. (1) One of these is growth, progress, at last perfection, in holiness. This is a hope peculiar to the Gospel. It is also a promise. If Christ be true, He offers us holiness. That is what makes His religion a Gospel. (2) I knit into one the hope of holiness and the hope of heaven. What is happiness, what is glory, but the being perfectly holy, like God, filled with the Spirit? The Holy Spirit is called "the earnest of our inheritance." Why? Because the inheritance itself is the Spirit; the having the Spirit at last not by measure, the being satisfied with God’s likeness, the being made to drink abundantly of what the Psalmist calls "the river of His pleasures." That is heaven. And so the one hope runs up into the other, and he who is athirst for holiness is on his way to heaven.
C. J. Vaughan, Last Words at Doncaster, p. 54.
References: Zec 9:12.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xxii., p. 213; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 101; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 175. Zec 9:13.—Ibid., p. 333. Zec 9:16, Zec 9:17.—H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 388.
Zec 9:17
I. These visions of earthly blessing have their heavenly substance. They show us the joy and the feast of the old creation; God’s people rejoicing under His benign Fatherhood, eating the fruits of the earth with a holy gladness. But what are all these—the joy of God’s people in Jerusalem, the holy mountain, the cities of peace, the fair lands, the fruitful vineyards, the corn and the wine, the harvest and the vintage, the shouting and the feast of ingathering—what are they all but one great prophecy, a symbol and a sacrament, the old creation in its earthly festival witnessing and waiting for the new? The text is a luminous prophecy of the Word made flesh, revealed first by personal manifestation upon earth, and then by His Spirit through the Church. What is this goodness and this beauty but the perfect mystery of His Divine manhood? They are not so much two attributes as two aspects of His Person. Goodness is inward beauty; beauty is outward goodness. They are inseparable, and express to us the perfection of Him who is God and man; perfect alike in both; in majesty and meekness, in love and in humility, in His passion and in His power.
II. And as it is a prophecy of the incarnation, so it is also of the Holy Eucharist, the feast of the new creation. Consider the blessings which the Lord of the harvest pours out on those who come to this supper, where He is both the Master and the Feast. (1) The first grace He gives is rest. He gives rest from the burden of sin, assuring us of forgiveness. The consciousness of past guilt remains, but it is suspended in the consciousness of present rest. The holy communion also sets the heart and will free from the misery of inward faults. (2) When God gives rest, He gives also refreshment. He renews our strength for labours yet to come. The soul wastes faster than the body. Every night gives back to the body what every day takes from it; but with the soul, not so. The spiritual decays run on into to-morrow, and to-morrow begins with an inclination to a lower tone; its own temptations swell the evil; one day heaps its sin upon another, and our spiritual decline gains in speed as it gains in time. These decays are always advancing in every soul not supported by habitual communion with Christ. (3) In this great feast of joy He gives us the constant perception of His love. Love alone, by its own kindred perception, feels love. And this crowning grace the Master gives to His servants at this feast of rest. His love falls as a light of fire, making hearts that long for Him to burn.
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 228.
References: Zec 10:6.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 374. Zec 10:12.—Ibid., p. 377; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx., No. 1805. Zech 10—W. Lindsay Alexander, Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 356. Zec 11:1-8.—Ibid., vol. ix., p. 178.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Judgments on the Nations. The Prince of Peace
Judgments on the Nations. The Prince of Peace
1-8. A judgment is about to fall on Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, and the cities of the Philistines. A remnant from Philistia will acknowledge God. God will encamp around His sanctuary.
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9, 10. The coming of Messiah and His kingdom of peace.
11-17. Hope for Israel. God will enable her to contend successfully with Greece. He will aid and bless her.
1. Burden] oracle, or prophecy: see Jer_23:33-40. In the land] RV 'upon the land.'
Hadrach] not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. On the Assyrian tablets it is associated with Damascus, and must have been somewhere in that quarter, in the valley of the Orontes. The various places mentioned follow the course pursued by Alexander the Great in his campaign in 332 b.c., viz. through Syria, Phœnicia, and Philistia. The rest thereof] RV 'its' (the prophecy's) 'resting-place.' When the eyes of man, etc.] better, 'for the Lord hath an eye upon man (i.e. the heathen) and all the tribes of Israel.' If the prophecy belongs to the beginning of the 2nd cent. b.c. (see Intro.), then the reference is to the kingdom of the Seleucidæ, in whose territories lay all the places mentioned.
2. Hamath] a city in the valley of the Orontes, in Upper Syria. It was renamed Epiphaneia by Antiochus Epiphanes. Shall border thereby] RV 'which bordereth thereon.' Tyre (Tyrus) and Sidon were famous cites on the coast of Syria, inhabited by the Phœnicians, who were renowned, like their descendants the Carthaginians, for their cunning. Though it be very wise] RV 'she is very wise.' This false wisdom of the world God will visit in judgment.
4. In the sea] i.e destroy her commerce.
5. Ashkelon, etc.] cities of the Philistines. After taking Tyre, Alexander marched down the coast to these cities. He captured Gaza after a two months' siege. For her expectation shall be ashamed] i.e. her pride will be humbled.
6. A bastard] probably a son of a mixed race. The idea evidently is that the city would be depopulated by war, and aliens would be installed by the conquerors.
7. This mixed race will be purified from their idolatry. The second half of this v. might be rendered as follows: 'But there shall be a remnant (i.e. of the Philistines) for our God, and one shall be as a chief in Judah, and Ekron (shall be) as a Jebusite.' Jebusite] The Jebusites were the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem. The word is used for 'a native of Jerusalem.'
8. Because of the army] RM 'for a guard or garrison.' Because of him, etc.] RV 'that none pass through or return.' Oppressor] better, perhaps, 'invader'; the reference is either to Alexander or some similar conqueror. Have I seen with mine eyes] viz. the iniquity of the oppressing heathen.
9. The advent of the Prince of Peace, a striking contrast to a ravaging warrior like Alexander the Great, who visited the surrounding nations with fire and sword. Just, and having salvation] better, '(declared to be) righteous and victorious.' Riding upon an ass] the symbol, not of lowliness, but of peace, as the horse was of war: cp. Matthew 21, etc.
10. The chariot.. the horse.. the battle bow] These too-familiar objects will have no place in Messiah's kingdom. He shall speak peace unto the nations. From sea even to sea] from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean.
From the river] the Euphrates.
11. To the Jews in exile specially does the message of peace come. By that well-known relationship (covenant) with God, sealed by the blood of sacrifices, making them His own adopted people, He will restore them all to their own city (Jerusalem). By the blood of thy covenant] the blood sprinkled in the sacrifices whereby the covenant was ratified: cp. Exo_24:8. Pit] an empty cistern: cp. Gen_37:22.
12. Strong hold] probably Jerusalem.
Prisoners of hope] i.e. the Jews, who by their covenant with God had a sure hope of deliverance. Double] cp. Isa_61:7 evidently a reference to restoration from exile.
13. The prophet again plunges into a vision of war. The vision is figurative; God is to use Judah as a bow, and fit Ephraim as an arrow to the bow. Some who assign this prophecy to an early date believe that the words against thy sons, O Greece, may be a gloss of a later scribe.
Greece] Heb. Javan, so called from Javan, a son of Japheth, the supposed ancestor of the Europeans: cp. Gen_10:2, Gen_10:4. According to Sayce, the word 'Javan' (to indicate 'Greeks') is found in various forms on the monuments both of Egypt and Assyria from a very early date, and is the same word as 'Ionian' (Iáïâ). The thought of Greece as a power hostile to Judaism would hardly be possible prior to the Macedonian invasion of Alexander in the 4th cent. b.c. From that age onward, even in Jerusalem itself, the great struggle went on between Judaism and the invading influence of Greek culture. This struggle was specially keen, at the beginning of the 2nd cent. b.c. From a Jewish standpoint the Maccabæan wars were really between Jews and Greeks: cp. Jer_51:20.
14, 15. And subdue with sling stones] RV 'and shall tread down the sling stones'; but the text is obscure. It is a vision of war as a storm in which God is the moving Power: cp. Habakkuk 3 Psalms 29.
15b. By a slight change in the Heb. text we might render, 'And they shall drink blood like wine, and they shall be filled (with it) like bowls, and as the corners of the altar (are filled with the blood of the sacrifices).'
16, 17. God will save Israel in honour and prosperity. His goodness] RM 'prosperity.' The pronoun is uncertain, but the reference is to Israel.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Isa 13:1"), note 1.
burden
(See Scofield "Isa 13:1"), note 1.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain I. The First Burden (9-11)
II. THE TWO PROPHETIC BURDENS--THE GREAT PROPHECIES OF THE FUTURE
I. The First Burden (9-11)
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CHAPTER 9
1. The burden of the land of Hadrach (Zec 9:1-8)
2. Zion’s King of Peace (Zec 9:9-12)
3. The near-event of the invasion by Antiochus Ephiphanes (Zec 9:13-17; Zec 10:1)
Zec 9:1-8. The final section of Zechariah is of still greater interest. The Deliverer, King Messiah, is revealed in this section as suffering, rejected, pierced, slain. The great finale leads us up to the great conflict and final siege of Jerusalem. We do not enter into the inventions of criticism, which claim that these great prophecies are less authentic than the first part of Zechariah.
The land of Hadrach against which the first burden in chapter 9 commences cannot be correctly located. Its closer connection with Damascus and Hamath shows that the land of Hadrach must have been a province of the Syrian kingdom then in existence. The Phoenician Cities Tyre and Sidon are next, and then mention is made of four Philistine cities. Against these, Syria, Phoenicia and the cities of the Philistines a great calamity and overthrow is prophesied by Zechariah. They are conquered by the hosts of an enemy, and the rich treasures of Tyre are heaped together in the streets--silver as the dust and gold as the mire--the bulwarks are smitten, and she herself consumed by fire. From there the conquest goes on rapidly to the Philistinian cities, and the King of Gaza perishes. The question arises, What conquest and calamity is this? Is it accomplished or is it still future? History records one great conqueror who rapidly overthrew the countries and cities mentioned in this burden. Alexander the Great and his expedition so successfully carried on is undoubtedly meant here. All students of the prophetic Scriptures know how prominently he likewise stands out in the book of Daniel. The young monarch, after the battle of Issus, besieged and quickly captured Damascus. Sidon was easily taken, but Tyre resisted him some seven months and was burned to the ground. Gaza and the other cities came next. Thus the burden of the word of Jehovah as uttered here by Zechariah was literally fulfilled in the Syrian conquest of Alexander the Great. However, history tells us that the armies of the youthful monarch passed by Jerusalem a number of times without doing harm to the city. This is remarkable, and in accord with the prophecy of Zechariah, for we read in the eighth verse, “And I will encamp against mine house, against the army, against him that passes through and returns, and no oppressor shall come over them any more, for now I have seen it with mine eyes.”
But this prophetic burden leads us up also to the final days, for we read here the promise that “no oppressor shall come over them any more.” This brings it in connection with the final coming deliverance of Israel, and the final destructive visitation upon their enemies.
Zec 9:9-12. A great prophecy follows. The true King of Israel comes here before us in His humiliation, and coming exaltation.
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, Shout aloud, daughter of Jerusalem; Behold thy king cometh to thee, Just and having salvation; Meek and riding upon an ass, Even upon a colt, the she-ass’s foal; And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, And the battle bow shall be cut off, And He shall speak peace unto the nations, And His dominion shall be from sea to sea, And from the river to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, for the sake of thy covenant blood, I send forth thy prisoners from the waterless pit, Return to the stronghold--Prisoners of hope Even today I declare I will render double unto thee.
This stands in contrast to the Grecian conqueror, and it needs no proofs that the coming King whom Zechariah beholds is the King Messiah. The Jews acknowledge it as such. One of the greatest Jewish commentators (Rashi) says: It is impossible to interpret it of any other than King Messiah. An interesting fable is based upon this prophecy, and well known among orthodox Jews. Rabbi Eliezer says, commenting on the words lowly and riding upon an ass, “This is the ass, the foal of that she-ass which was created in the twilight. This is the ass which Abraham our father saddled for the binding Of Isaac his son. This is the ass upon which Moses our teacher rode when He came to Egypt, as it is said, And he made them ride upon the ass Exo 4:20. This is the ass upon which the Son of David shall ride.” Other interesting quotations could be given from Jewish writings, but this is sufficient to show that the Jews believe it to be a Messianic prophecy. And what blindness that they do not see Him who is the Messiah; but is not the so-called “higher criticism” existing today in Christendom being taught in churches and schools, and that there are no Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, much greater blindness? Alas! so it is, and the outcome can be nothing else in the end than the denial of the divinity of our Lord, or Unitarianism.
Every reader of the New Testament knows that this prophecy is quoted in the Gospels. In the Gospel of Matthew we read (Mat 21:5) : “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Sion, Behold thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, upon a colt the foal of an ass.” The context shows a great multitude crying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. But soon the cry is changed unto, This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. Notice the Holy Spirit quoting from Zechariah leaves out the sentence, “He is just, having salvation.” This is not an error, but it is the divine right of the Spirit who gave the prophecies in olden times to apply them correctly in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Mark in the eleventh chapter there is likewise the description of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, but Zechariah is not quoted. The same is true of the account given by Luke, chapter 19, and here He is mentioned as the King that cometh in the name of Jehovah, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. In the fourth Gospel, Joh 12:15, the account of His coming to Jerusalem is much shorter than in the other Gospels. It says there, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, thy King cometh, sitting upon an ass’s colt.” We see from this that the four Gospels give each an account of the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem; two of them quote from Zechariah and the other two do not. The quotations themselves are different from the prophecy in Zec 9:1-17 in two respects. The first words, Rejoice greatly, are not at all used. In Matthew it is, Tell the daughter of Zion, and in John, Fear not, daughter of Zion. The sentence, “He is just and having salvation”, is left out in both.
A superficial exposition of the Word claims that Zechariah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the event recorded by the Gospels. As far as His entry into Jerusalem is concerned, riding upon the colt the foal of an ass (and note in Matthew it is shown that both the colt and the ass are brought to Him. He could ride, of course, only upon one, but the she-ass had to go along in fulfillment of prophecy), and the way He came, meekly, in this respect the prophecy was fulfilled. This entry of the Son of Man into Jerusalem was His formal presentation to Jerusalem as its King, but, as stated above, the Messianic cry of welcome, Blessed is He, soon changed into, Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, and that again in the final cry of rejection, Crucify Him, crucify Him! There was no salvation for Israel then, and no kingdom for Him, hence no rejoicing is mentioned in the quotations.
It is His second coming to Jerusalem as the Son of Man in His glory which will bring the fulfillment of Zec 9:9-11. True, the colt, the she ass’s foal, will not be the animal He rides, but He will come upon a white horse followed by the armies of heaven. He comes then truly for Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy, “Just is He having salvation” (marginal reading, victory). There will be again the welcome cry of the one hundred eighteenth Psalm, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of Jehovah,” preceded by the plea, “Hosanna, save now.”
The tenth and eleventh verses (Zec 9:10-11) show clearly that the prophecy is yet to be fulfilled and can be only fulfilled in the coming of the Son of Man in His glory. One of the reasons why modern Judaism rejects Jesus of Nazareth, and does not believe Him to be the promised Redeemer, is in this prophecy. Rabbi F. De Sola Mendes, of New York, brings in a little book, “A Hebrew’s Reply to the Missionaries,” the following argument: “We reject Jesus of Nazareth as our Messiah on account of His deeds. He says of Himself, ‘Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace but a sword,’ etc. But we find that our prophets ascribed to the true Messiah quite different actions. Zechariah says (Zec 9:10), He shall speak peace to the nations. Jesus says He came to send the sword on the earth; whereas, Isaiah says of the true Messianic time, ‘They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.’“
Of course the Jew is right in expecting the literal fulfillment of this prophecy, and it will be fulfilled when He comes again and the restoration of all things will follow, as spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets.
When He appears again, in like manner as He went into heaven, that is not for His saints but with His saints, there will be peace for Ephraim and for Jerusalem, and the kingdom is then restored to Israel, that is, to the house of Judah and the house of Israel. The chariot, the horse, and the battle-bow will be cut off. Not alone will He bring peace to the covenant people but to the nations. He will speak peace. “And He shall stand, and shall feed His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God, and they shall abide; for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be our peace” Mic 5:4-15. There will be abundance of peace Psa 72:7. His dominion will be from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth.
The prisoners of hope to be released, by the blood of the covenant, from the pit wherein there is no water, is the nation whose captivity is now ended. How strange that people should take a passage like this and interpret it as meaning the restitution of the wicked and the ungodly from the pit. There is nothing taught in the Word like that which some people term a larger hope. The restitution (restoration) of all things is not left to the fanciful interpretation of the human mind, but is clearly defined by the Word itself, as spoken by the prophets. In the vision of the dry bones in Eze 37:1-28, Israel’s complaint is, Our hope is lost. But when He is manifested, who is indeed the Hope of Israel, the prisoners (the captives), will be released and cleansed. “Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears.... there is hope for thy latter end, saith the LORD, and thy children shall come again to their own border” Jer 31:17. The exhortation to return to the stronghold follows. Israel will then sing, “He brought me up out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” Psa 40:2. Double will be rendered unto them, as promised, “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins” Isa 40:22. “For your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in that portion; therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be unto them” Isa 41:7.
Zec 9:13-17; Zec 10:1. The scene changes once more. One of Alexander’s successors, Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Maccabean victory is the topic of these verses. On this invader see Dan 8:1-27, where he is predicted as the little horn and his abominable work there is fully described. He entered “the pleasant land,” the land of Israel. A bitter struggle commenced, for Antiochus tried to exterminate the Jews, and their religion as well. Every observance of the Jewish religion was forbidden, the Sabbath had to be profaned, and unclean food had to be eaten. Idols were set up in the temple. Instead of the Jewish feasts, the feasts of idols, with all their shocking abominations and immoralities, were introduced, and the Jews were forced to join in them. Thousands suffered martyrdom. But all at once a few people stood up against the abominations, the Maccabeans, and in a struggle lasting about twenty-five years, they fought successfully against the enemies.
This terrible visitation of the land and the wonderful victory of the Maccabeans are foretold by the prophet in the closing verses of the ninth chapter. We will quote the passage:
I bend for me Judah and fill the bow with Ephraim, And I will stir up thy sons, Zion, against thy sons, Greece, And make thee like the sword of a mighty man. Jehovah shall be seen over them, And His arrow shall go forth like lightning-- And the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet. He shall go with whirlwinds of the South. The LORD of Hosts shall cover them; They shall devour and tread down slingstones, And they drink and make a noise as from wine, And they shall be filled like bowls, as the corners of the altar. And Jehovah their God saves them in that day, as the flock of His people; For jewels of a crown shall they be, glittering over His land, For how great is His goodness and how great His beauty! Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine maidens.
But again we have to remark that this prophecy is only partially fulfilled. The terrible tribulation of the land of Judah when Antiochus Epiphanes invaded the land is but a type of the great tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble. The remnant of Israel will then be victorious. Thus everything is seen in this chapter in a past fulfillment, but only partial, and in it a future fulfillment, which will be complete.
We cannot leave this chapter without calling attention to the blessed statement:
For jewels of a crown they shall be, glittering over His land.
The slain who suffered martyrdom are meant, and all those who fought for Jehovah’s name and honor. May not the statement in Heb 11:1-40 refer to this time? “Others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins: being destitute, afflicted, evil entreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and in mountains and caves and the holes of the earth” Heb 11:36-40.
And all will find a repetition during the coming tribulation. But the time for reward has not yet come. The throne of glory is not yet revealed, and the jewels, the saints made up in a crown, glittering over the land, are not yet seen. But the assurance is given, “They shall be Mine, saith the LORD of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels” Mal 3:17.
The first verse of the next chapter is misplaced; it belongs to the close of chapter 9. When the time of blessing comes, the latter rain will fall upon the land and produce the promised fruitfulness.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Judgment upon the Land of Hadrach
Judgment upon the Land of Hadrach
v. 1. The burden of the word, the sentence of judgment, of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, a term which seems to apply to the entire Medo-Persian empire, as the world-power opposed to the people of God, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof, the Syrian capital being the place on which the burden of the Lord’s wrath rests; when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord, both the people outside of Israel, and Israel itself, being directed to the Lord at this evidence of His anger, when He goes about to establish a more equitable proportion between His people and the heathen.
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v. 2. And Hamath also shall border thereby, or, "Hamath," the district bounding Palestine on the north, "which borders thereon," this, together with Damascus, representing Syria; Tyrus and Zidon, the cities of Phenicia, though it be very wise, or, "because their inhabitants were wise in their own conceit," multiplying wealth and power and trusting in them.
v. 3. And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, the city proper being on an island surrounded by a double sea-wall, which made it practically impregnable in those days, and heaped up silver as the dust and fine gold as the mire of the streets, for the commerce of Tyre had made her immensely wealthy.
v. 4. Behold, the Lord will cast her out, seizing her through the agency of some earthly conqueror, in this case Alexander, and He will smite her power in the sea, as represented by her army and her navy; and she shall be devoured with fire, so that everything on which her inhabitants depended was consumed and exterminated.
v. 5. Ashkelon shall see It, namely, the punishment descending upon Tyrus, and fear; Gaza also shall see It and be very sorrowful, be exceedingly troubled, and Ekron, for her expectation shall be ashamed, her hope, that in which she trusted, being taken from her; and the king shall perish from Gaza, the ruler being removed entirely, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited, its citizens being killed or dragged into captivity.
v. 6. And a bastard, or mongrel, one of blemished birth, shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistlnes, four of whose city-states are mentioned here, as representative of the entire country.
v. 7. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, the term describing an idolater who is engaged in eating the flesh of his sacrifice, and his abominations from between his teeth, striking him down while he is engaged in his idolatrous behavior; but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, a few of the heathen being gained for the true religion, and he shall be as a governor In Judah, like the prince of one of the tribes, and Ekron as a Jebusite, for as the Jebusites were amalgamated with the children of Judah, so these heathen, and others, would be joined to the true Church.
v. 8. And I will encamp about Mine house, not merely the Temple, but the renewed people, as representative of the Church which was to be established, because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth, enemies marching to and fro, looking for an opportunity to attack; and no oppressor shall pass through them any more, no enemy daring to disturb the Lord’s people, His holy Church; for now have I seen with Mine eyes, He was exercising His providential control and the power of His mercy. Thus the Lord reigns in the midst of His enemies, over-throwing those who refuse to submit, but always gaining some also for His adherents.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 This is a declaration of Yahweh's word concerning
This is a declaration of Yahweh's word concerning
"This is Yahweh's message about"
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the land of Hadrak and Damascus
Here "Hadrak" and "Damascus" refer to the people who live in those places. AT: "the people of the land of Hadrak and the city Damascus" (See: Metonymy and How to Translate Names)
Hadrak
The location of Hadrak is unknown today.
its resting place
"the resting place of the people of Hadrak"
for the eyes of all humanity and all the tribes of Israel are toward Yahweh
Some versions translate this as "for Yahweh's eye is on all mankind and on the tribes of Israel."
the eyes of all humanity and all the tribes of Israel are toward Yahweh
Here "eyes" refers to what they look at. AT: "all humanity and all the tribes of Israel look toward Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
Hamath
This refers to the people who live in that land. AT: "the people of the land of Hamath" (See: Metonymy)
Tyre and Sidon
This refers to the people who live in those cities. AT: "the people of Tyre and Sidon" (See: Metonymy)
for they are very wise
Possible meanings are 1) the people are wise for looking at Yahweh for help or 2) Zechariah did not really mean that the people of Hamath were wise and was using irony. AT: "though they think they are very wise" (See: Irony)
translationWords
declare
word of God
Damascus
twelve tribes of Israel
Tyre
Sidon
wise
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 9:1–14:21 The second part of Zechariah stands apart from…
9:1–14:21 The second part of Zechariah stands apart from the first in several ways. Zechariah 9–14 is distinctively apocalyptic, combining cryptic historical allusions with futuristic visions. The messages alternate between threats of judgment for other nations and promises of deliverance for Israel. The section contains no explicit references to Zechariah, but uses God’s direct speech. The messages probably date from a later period in Zechariah’s ministry.
9:1–11:17 This is the message: This is the superscription (introductory heading) for the entire section; it includes the technical term message (or oracle, burden), a prophetic pronouncement of judgment; the use of this word invests the message with divine authority. These prophecies can be related to events between Zechariah’s time and the coming of Christ.
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9:1-8 This encouraging message told the Judeans that they had nothing to fear from their three most prominent neighbors—Syria (Aram), the Phoenicians (Tyre and Sidon), and the Philistines. All three were rivals of Judah; they were always trying to take commercial and territorial advantage. God said that their efforts would be in vain.
9:1 The land of Aram was a city-state on the northern boundary of Israel, on the caravan route connecting Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean coast. Aram was sometimes an ally and sometimes an enemy to Israel and Judah. • Damascus, the capital of Aram, was the northern boundary of the ideal Hebrew state (Ezek 47:16-18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.