As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
Parallel Translations
-
As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
-
As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
-
As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I send forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Cross-references (29)
Passages linked to Zechariah 9:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 51:14 The captive exile will speedily be freed. He will not die and go down into the pit. His bread won’t fail.
- Exodus 24:8 Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”
- Psalms 102:19-21 For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth; to hear the groans of the prisoner; to free those who are condemned to death; that men may declare Yahweh’s name in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
- Isaiah 42:7 to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
- Psalms 40:2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.
- Isaiah 49:9 saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “They shall feed along the paths, and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.
- Matthew 26:28 for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
- 1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
- Hebrews 10:29 How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
- Psalms 30:3 Yahweh, you have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
- Psalms 69:33 For Yahweh hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.
- Psalms 107:10-16 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains. Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men! For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron.
- Isaiah 61:1 The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound,
- Mark 14:24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.
- Luke 22:20 Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
- Deuteronomy 5:31 But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.”
- Isaiah 42:22 But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become captives, and no one delivers, and a plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’
- Isaiah 58:12 Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.
- Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,
- Acts 26:17-18 delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
- Colossians 1:13-14 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
- Hebrews 9:10-26 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it. For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” Moreover he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood. According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
- Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
- Jeremiah 38:6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
- Revelation 20:3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.
- 2 Samuel 13:13 As for me, where would I carry my shame? And as for you, you will be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:17 “As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;
- Daniel 2:29 “As for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed, what should happen hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what will happen.
- Luke 16:24 He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here he applies his former doctrine to its right…
Here he applies his former doctrine to its right use, so that the faithful might emerge from their sorrow, and come to that joy which he had before encouraged them to entertain. He then addresses Jerusalem, as though he had said, “There is no reason for thee to torment thyself with perplexed and anxious thoughts, for I will accomplish what I have promised — that I would become a deliverer to my people.” For this doubt might have occurred to them — “Why does he exhort us to rejoice, while the Church of God is still in part captive, and while those who have returned to their country are miserably and cruelly harassed by their enemies?” To this objection Zechariah answers in the person of God — that God would be able to deliver them, though they were sunk in the deepest gulf. We hence see how this verse harmonises with the other verses: he had before spoken of the happy state of the Church under Christ as its king; but as the condition of the people then was very hard and miserable, he adds, that deliverance was to be expected from God.
But we must observe, that a pronoun feminine is here used, when he says, even thou, or, thou also. Both the Latins and Greeks have been deceived by the ambiguity of the language used, and have thought that the words are addressed to Christ, as though he was to draw his captives from a deep pit; but God here addresses his Church, as though he had said, “Hear thou.” And the particle גם, gam, is emphatical, meaning this — “I see that I do not prevail much with you, for ye are in a manner overwhelmed by your calamities, and no hope refreshes you, as you think yourselves visited, as it were, with a thousand deaths; but still, though a mass of evils disheartens you, or at least so far oppresses you as to render inefficacious what I say — though, in short, ye be of all men the most miserable, I will yet redeem your captives.” But God addresses the whole Church, as in many other places under the character of a wife.
Read full note →
He says, By the blood of thy covenant. This seems not to belong properly to the Church, for there is no other author of the covenant but God himself; but the relation, we know, between God and his people, as to the covenant, is mutual. It is God’s covenant, because it flows from him; it is the covenant of the Church, because it is made for its sake, and laid up as it were in its bosom. And the truth penetrated more fully into the hearts of the godly, when they heard that it was not only a divine covenant, but that it was also the covenant of the people themselves: Then by the blood of thy covenant, etc. Some refer this, but very unwisely, to circumcision, for the Prophet no doubt had regard to the sacrifices. It was then the same as though he had said — “Why do ye offer victims daily in the temple? If ye think that you thus worship God, it is a very gross and insane superstition. Call then to mind the end designed, or the model given you from above; for God has already promised that he will be propitious to you, by expiating your sins by the only true sacrifice: And for this end offer your sacrifices, and that blood will bring expiation with it. Now since God has not in vain appointed your sacrifices, and ye observe them not in vain, no doubt the benefit will come at length to light, for I have sent forth thy captives. For God does not reconcile himself to men, that he may destroy or reduce them to nothing, or that he may suffer them to pine away and die; for why does God pardon men, but that he may deliver them from destruction?”
We now perceive why the Prophet thus speaks of the blood of the covenant in connection with the salvation of the whole people. “Ye daily offer victims,” he says, “and the blood is poured on the altar: God has not appointed this in vain.” Now since God receives you into favor, that ye may be safe, he will therefore deliver the captives of his Church; I will send forth, he says, or, have sent forth thy captives: for he expresses here in the past tense what he would do in future.
I will send forth thy captives from the pit in which there is no water. He means a deep gulf, where thirst itself would destroy miserable men without being drawn forth by a power from above. In short, he means, first, that the Jews were sunk in the deep; and secondly, that thirst would consume them, so that death was nigh at hand, except they were miraculously delivered by God: but he reminds them, that no impediment would prevent God from raising them to light from the deepest darkness. We then see that this was added, that the Jews might learn to struggle against all things that might strengthen unbelief, and feel assured that they would be preserved safe, for it is God’s peculiar work to raise the dead. This is the meaning. He now adds —
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 Meaning, Jerusalem, or the Church which is saved by…
Meaning, Jerusalem, or the Church which is saved by the blood of Christ whereof the blood of the sacrifices was a figure, and is here called the covenant of the Church, because God made it with his Church: and left it with them for the love that he bare unto them.
God showeth that he will deliver his Church out of all dangers, seem they never so great.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood…
Zec 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein [is] no water.
Ver. 11. As for thee also] O daughter of Sion, O my Church; not, O Christ, the King of the Church, as the Greek and Latin Fathers, and after them the Popish commentators, will needs have it, the better to establish their chimera {a} of Limbus Patrum, Christ here, by an aposiopesis (an ordinary figure), or keeping back something unspoken through earnestness of affection, bespeaks his people in this sort; Etiam tu, As for thee also, I will surely impart unto thee the benefits of that of my kingdom, as I have already begun to do in delivering you out of that waterless pit, that dirty dungeon of the Babylonish thraldom.
Read full note →
By the blood of thy covenant] By the blood of Christ figured, by the blood that was sprinkled upon the people, Exo 24:8 Psa 74:20 Heb 13:20; and by virtue of the government confirmed thereby.
I have sent forth thy prisoners] I have enlarged thy captives.
Out of the pit wherein is no water] But mud only, as in Joseph’s pit and Jeremiah’s dungeon, Gen 37:24 Jer 38:6. The saints have temporal deliverances also by virtue of the covenant; and if any of Christ’s subjects fall into desperate distresses and deadly danger, yet they are prisoners of hope, and may look for deliverance by the blood of the covenant.
{a} A fabled fire-breathing monster of Greek mythology, with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail (or according to others with the heads of a lion, a goat, and a serpent), killed by Bellerophon. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain As for thee, O Zion, and Jerusalem, thou Jewish…
As for thee, O Zion, and Jerusalem, thou Jewish church: these words are Christ’s words to her, not the prophet’s words to Christ, though papists would have it so, to countenance a limbus patrum.
By the blood, by my blood, saith Christ,
Read full note →
of thy covenant, in which thy covenant is confirmed: it is God’s covenant as made by him, it is Zion’s covenant as made for her, it is Christ’s also as made in him.
I have sent forth thy prisoners; I have delivered and released. Cyrus indeed by his edict sent the Jews home, but in this he was Christ’s servant, and Christ was mindful of the covenant, and, to perform this, brought them up.
Out of the pit wherein is no water; Babylon, compared to a pit in which no water was, wherein the Jews must have perished, had not mercy from Christ visited them; here is no limbus patrum, though some say so among the popish commentators.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As for thee also,.... These words are not spoken…
As for thee also,.... These words are not spoken to Christ, for "thee", is of the feminine gender; but the congregation of Israel, as Kimchi observes; or the church of God: nor are they the words of Christ to her; he is the person before spoken of; but of God the Father, who, having given out prophecies concerning the coming of Christ, and the peaceableness and extensiveness of his kingdom, declares to the church the benefits that she and those that belonged to her should receive by the incarnation, sufferings, and death of Christ:
by the blood of thy covenant; not of the covenant of works, nor of circumcision, nor of that that was made at Sinai, as the Jewish writers interpret it; all which were a yoke of bondage; but of the covenant of grace, namely, the blood of Jesus, which is a considerable article in that covenant; that by which it is ratified and confirmed, and through which all the blessings of it come, as redemption, peace, pardon, justification, and admission into heaven: and this covenant is called the church's covenant, because it is made with her in Christ, her covenant Head, in whom she was considered; and it was made on her account, and she has an interest in it, and in all things contained therein. God is her covenant God and Father; Christ her surety, Mediator, Redeemer, and Saviour, and the covenant itself unto her; and all things in it, the blessings of grace and promises of good things, are hers: and though the covenant at Sinai is not the covenant here intended, that being a covenant which gendered to bondage, and under which men were held as convicted and condemned malefactors; and so cannot be that, the blood of which is the cause of a release from prison, and of bringing into a state of liberty; yet the allusion is unto it, which was a typical covenant; and the blood of the sacrifices then sprinkled on the people is called "the blood of the covenant", Exo 24:8. It was not unusual with the Heathens, at making covenants, to use blood, even human blood: it was a custom with them to draw it from each other, and drink it, at least lick and taste of it, as particularly with the Medes and Lydians (k); and was reckoned by them the most sacred bond of covenants; and such covenants with the Carmeni and Scythians were accounted the chief covenants of friendship, and their mutual blood they used the greatest bond of concord (l); and the surest pledge of keeping faith, and that it would abide (m): but the blood of Christ shed is a far greater proof, as well as cement, of love, concord, and friendship; and a much firmer bond of the covenant of grace; and a surer pledge of the continuance of it, and of its being faithfully performed; and which, having the nature of a will or testament, becomes of force through the death of him the testator; see Dan 9:27,
Read full note →
I have sent forth thy prisoners: that is, the church's prisoners; not prisoners to her, or in her; for the church of Christ is no prison; nor are those that have a name and a place in her prisoners; they walk at large, and walk at liberty; are fellow citizens with the saints; are Christ's freemen, and are possessed of many privileges and immunities: but these design such persons as are in a secret relation to her, and yet, being in a state of nature, are prisoners; and so are such as are not members of any visible church; nor as yet converted persons and believers in Christ, who have an open relation to the invisible church; but they are such who secretly belong to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, written in heaven, whose names are in the Lamb's book of life; or are chosen in Christ, and also redeemed by his blood: but, being as yet in a state of unregeneracy, are prisoners to sin; are under the power, dominion, and guilt of it; and, being transgressors of the law, are arraigned by it as guilty persons; are convicted and condemned, and shut up in it, and held under it; and are also the captives of Satan, being led as such by him, at his will; and thus they are prisoners, though there is a secret connection between the church and them: and sooner or later, by virtue of the blood of that covenant, which she and they have an interest in, they are brought
out of the pit wherein is no water; which is expressive of the state and condition men are in by sin, and while in unregeneracy; they are in mire and clay, in a most filthy and famishing condition, in a very wretched and uncomfortable one; as in a dark and lonesome dungeon, and where no refreshment can be had; where there are no true peace, joy, and comfort. The allusion is to the custom of the eastern countries, and still continues, who, in the nighttime, put their slaves into a well or pit, and there shut them up till the morning, when they are let out for business: now, from this state of captivity and bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, and from all the miseries of such a state, are the Lord's people, and who belong to Zion, the general assembly and church of the first born, delivered by virtue of the blood of Christ, shed for the redemption of them; in consequence of which it is said to these prisoners of sin, Satan, and the law, go forth; these are made sensible of their wretched condition, and are called and drawn out of it, and delivered from it, and brought into a state of liberty. Ben Melech interprets this pit of the captivity of the Jews.
(k) Herodot. Clio, sive l. 1. c. 74. (l) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 3. (m) Mela de situ Orbis, l. 2. c. 1.
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 As for thee - Oh Jerusalem; these words are…
As for thee - Oh Jerusalem; these words are Christ's words to her. By the blood - By my blood, in which thy covenant as confirmed; 'tis God's covenant as made by him, 'tis Zion's covenant as made for her, 'tis Christ's also as made in him. Sent forth - I have delivered the Jews out of Babylon: compared to a pit in which no water was, wherein the Jews must have perished, had not God visited them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. As for thee also (Jerusalem) by the…
Verse 11. As for thee also (Jerusalem) by the blood of thy covenant] The covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites in general, and ratified by the blood of many victims; until the time should come in which the Messiah should shed his blood, as typified by the ancient sacrifices.
I have sent forth thy prisoners] Those who were under the arrest of God's judgments; the human race, fast bound in sin and misery, and who by the pitifulness of his tender mercy were loosed, he dying in their stead.
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 9:11. As for thee also — O Jerusalem,…
Zec 9:11. As for thee also — O Jerusalem, or church of God; for the prophet, speaking in the name of God, must be supposed to direct his discourse to her, the pronoun and the affixes, in the Hebrew, being in the feminine gender; by the blood of thy covenant — By the blood of the Messiah, in which thy covenant is confirmed: for though it is God’s covenant as made by him, and Christ’s as made in and through him, it is Zion’s covenant as made for her. I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, &c. — By the prison here, Blayney thinks the land of Egypt is metaphorically intended, in which Israel were heretofore detained as in a prison, until God delivered them out of it, and at the same time entered into covenant with them. But it seems more probable the deliverance from Babylon, so lately experienced, is referred to. So most interpreters understand the passage. Bishop Hall paraphrases it thus: “As for thee, O Zion, whose covenant with me is made, and confirmed by the precious blood of the Messiah. I do herein give thee a type of thy future deliverance from all thy spiritual miseries, in that I have brought forth thy captives out of the miserable captivity at Babylon.” Deep, dry pits, says Capellus, were frequently prisons in the East. Or by the pit here may be meant the lowest part of the prison, called the dungeon, (see Isa 51:14,) as the Hebrew word בורis translated; Jer 37:16; Jer 38:6; Lam 3:53-55, where see the notes. Into one of these prisons Jeremiah was cast. But something further, and more interesting to the human race than the deliverance of God’s ancient people either from Egypt or Babylon, is evidently here intended to be signified, even the deliverance of mankind in general from the bondage of sin and guilt, and of depravity, weakness, and wretchedness, that miserable prison in which all are naturally detained, into the glorious liberty of the children of God, by virtue of the covenant sealed with the blood of Christ the Mediator: see Isa 61:1-3; Heb 13:20. Observe well, reader, a state of sin and guilt is a state of bondage; it is a spiritual prison; it is a pit, or a dungeon, in which there is no water, no comfort to be had: we are all by nature prisoners in this pit; the Scripture has concluded us all under sin, and bound us over to the justice of God. God has been pleased to deal with these prisoners upon new terms, to enter into another covenant with them; the blood of Christ is the blood of that covenant, having purchased it and all its benefits for us; and by that blood effectual provision is made for the sending forth of these prisoners upon easy and honourable terms: and a proclamation of liberty to the captives is issued from the court of heaven, followed by the opening of the prison to them that were bound, (like Cyrus’s proclamation to the Jews in Babylon,) which all those, whose spirits God stirreth up, ought to come and take the benefit of.
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 As for thee also - The prophet turns from…
As for thee also - The prophet turns from the deliverance of the whole world to the former people, the sorrows which they should have in the way, and the protection which God would bestow upon them for the sake of Him, who, according to the flesh, was to be born of them. “Thou too;” he had spoken of the glories of the Church, such as her king, when He should come, should extend it, embracing earth’s remotest bounds: he turns to her, Israel after the flesh, and assures her of the continued protection of God, even in her lowest estate. The deliverance under the Maccabees was, as those under the judges had been, an image of the salvation of Christ and a preparation for it. They were martyrs for the One God and for the faith in the Resurrection, and, whether by doing or by suffering, preserved the sacred line, until Christ should come.
By the blood of thy covenant - Osorius: “Not by the blood of those victims of old, but by the blood of thy covenant, wilt thou be united to the empire of Christ, and so obtain salvation. As the Lord Himself says, This is the blood of covenant, which is shed for you.” “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” Rom 11:29. That symbolic blood, by which, fore-signifying the New Covenant, He made them His own people, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words,” Exo 24:8, endured still, amid all their unfaithfulness and breaches of it. By virtue of it God would send forth her imprisoned ones “out of the” deep, dry “pit,” “the dungeon” wherein they could be kept securely, because life was not threatened (as in Gen 37:24). Out of any depth of hopeless misery, in which they seemed to be shut up, God would deliver them; as David says, “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings” Psa 40:2; and Jeremiah, “They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. I called upon Thy Name, O Lord; out of the low dungeon Thou hast heard my voice” Lam 3:53, Lam 3:55-56. Augustine, de Civ. Dei. xviii. 35. 3): “The dry and barren depth of human misery, where are no streams of righteousness, but the mire of iniquity.”
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 Water; from limbo, (St. Jerome; &c.; Worthington; St. Thomas…
Water; from limbo, (St. Jerome; &c.; Worthington; St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologiae] iii. p. q. 52. a. 1; Calmet) and purgatory. See St. Augustine, de Genesis xii. 23., & ep. 99. (Menochius) --- Christ delivered the ancient patriarchs by virtue of his covenant, just sealed with his blood. Hebrew at present reads, "and as for thee, Sion, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners," &c., delivering the Hebrews out of Egypt by the paschal lamb. (Chaldean) But this text is suspected, as St. Jerome remarks no variation.
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. Deliverance promised (vers.11, 12). B. Name of the…
3. VICTORY OVER THE SONS OF JAVAN
Zec_9:11-17
Read full note →
A. Deliverance promised (vers.11, 12). B. Name of the Foe (Zec_9:13). C. Jehovah fights for his People (Zec_9:14-15). D. Salvation (Zec_9:16). E. General Prosperity (Zec_9:17).
11 As for thee also,—for the sake of thy covenant-blood,19
I send forth20 thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water.
12 Return to the strong hold,21 O prisoners of hope,
Even to-day I declare, I will repay double22 to you.
13 For23I bend for me Judah, fill the bow24 with Ephraim,
And stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Javan,
And make thee like the sword of a hero.
14 And Jehovah shall appear above them,
And like lightning shall his arrow go forth,
And the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet
And go forth in the storms of the South.
15 Jehovah of Hosts shall protect25 them,
And they devour, and tread down sling-stones,26
And they drink and make a noise as from27 wine,
And become full as the sacrificial bowl,28 as the corners of the altar,
16 And Jehovah their God saves them in that day,
(Saves) like a flock29 his people,
For jewels of a crown shall they be,
Sparkling over his land,
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
Corn makes the young men thrive,30 and new wine the maidens.
EXEGETIGAL AND CRITICAL
A new scene opens. The prophet turns away from the beautiful picture of a peaceful king extending his beneficent sway over all the earth, to describe a period of distress and weakness, to which, however, he gives a promise of full deliverance, to be gained by actual conflict. This warlike period evidently belongs to a nearer future than the one just described, and the prevalent opinion justly refers it to the Maccabean age. The passage begins with a general assurance of deliverance (Zec_9:11-12); the foe is mentioned by name (Zec_9:13); the Lord fights for his chosen (Zec_9:14-15); the result is salvation (Zec_9:16); this is followed by general prosperity (Zec_9:17).
Zec_9:11-12 contain a promise of deliverance. As for thee also. The person addressed is the whole nation, as is apparent from the mention of Ephraim and Jerusalem in Zec_9:10, and of Zion in Zec_9:13, and also from the phrase “blood of the covenant,” which belonged to the twelve tribes; see Exo_24:8. גַּמ־אַתְּ, even thou, stands absolutely at the head of the sentence for the sake of emphasis (cf. Gen_49:8), and the sense is, Even though you are in such a forlorn condition, seemingly lost, yet I have mercy in store for you. The ground of this promise is stated before the promise itself, in the peculiar Mosaic expression covenant blood, the force of which is well expressed by Hengstenberg. “The covenant-blood, which still separates the Church from the world, was a sure pledge to the covenant nation of deliverance out or all trouble, provided, that is, that the nation did not make the promises of God nugatory by wickedly violating the conditions He had imposed.” Thy prisoners resumes and explains the thou at the opening of the verse. It does not mean “such of the Jews as were still captives in foreign lands” (Henderson, Köhler), but the entire people. The pit without water, an allusion to the history of Joseph (Gen_37:24), denotes not so much a condition of captivity as of general distress. The escape from this condition to one of security and prosperity is predicted under the form of a command, Return to the strong hold. See the same figure in Psa_40:2, where the rock and the pit are put in sharp contrast. Since the people had this prospect, they were justly entitled prisoners of hope, a beautiful expression which explains itself. Even to-day, i.e., in spite of all threatening circumstances (Ewald, Hengstenberg). Repay double, namely, double the prosperity you formerly enjoyed. Cf. Isa_40:2; Isa_41:7.
Ver.13. The prophet proceeds to show more particularly how the deliverance just promised is to be effected. It is to be by a glorious victory over their oppressors. The method of this victory is represented by a bold and beautiful figure. Judah is the extended bow; Ephraim the arrow which the Lord shoots at the foe. Israel therefore is to carry on the conflict, and Jehovah to give them success. For I bend for me Judah, i.e., as a bow. The word rendered bend, literally means tread; because a bow was often stretched by setting the foot upon it, this term came into use. Fill the bow. As only one arrow ran be shot at a time from a bow, it is full when this is placed upon it. The complete sense of both clauses is, Judah and Ephraim are bow and arrow in the hand of Jehovah. I stir up, not brandish as a lance (Hitzig, Köhler), which would require the object to be expressed. Javan, the name of the fourth son of Japhet (Gen_10:2), is the Hebrew word for Greece, usually identified with Ion or Ionia. Some suppose the persons meant by the sons of Zion are the Hebrews held as slaves in Greece (Ewald, Hitzig), who are now incited to insurrection. It is enough to say in reply that the contest here spoken of is manifestly carried on in the Lord’s own land. A comparison with Dan_8:21 shows that we must regard Greece here as a formidable secular power, the Græco-Macedonian monarchy, especially in its successor in Syria, the Seleucidæ. To refer the passage to the days of Uzziah on account of the mention of Greece in Joel 4:6 (cf. Amo_1:6; Amo_1:9), is wholly unreasonable; since that passage does not allude to any conflict with the Greeks, but simply speaks of them as the parties to whom the Tyrians had sold certain Jewish captives. And it is the Tyrians, not the Greeks, who are there censured.
Ver.14. Will appear above them, because He fights from heaven on their behalf. The remainder of the verse is a poetical description of a battle in the imagery of a tempest. The lightnings are Jehovah’s arrows, the thunderblast is the signal of his trumpet, and He Himself marches in a furious storm sweeping up from the great southern desert. Storms of the South (cf. Isa_21:1; Hos_13:15) were always the most violent.
Ver.15. Jehovah shall protect, etc. The Lord not only fights for his people, but is also their shield, covering their heads in the day of battle. And they devour, etc. The image is that of a lion who eats the flesh and drinks the blood of his victim. Cf. Num_23:24. The figure is vigorous, but need not be called “a heathenish abomination” (Pressel). Tread down sling stones= subdue the enemy, contemptuously styled sling-stones or mere pebbles from the brook. Flesh is to be supplied as the object of devour, and blood as that of drink. The vessel mentioned in the last clause denotes, not any bowl, but one in which the priests catch the blood of a sacrifice. Corners, of course, include the horns which stood upon them. These figures are priestly, and intimate a holy war and victory.
Ver.16 gives the result of this victory,—salvation. By an exquisite change of figure this is represented as bestowed upon them in the character of the Lord’s flock, which at once suggests the peaceful blessings recounted in the 23d Psalm. In the next clause, with a designed antithesis to the sling stones in the previous verse, the prophet compares Zion’s sons to jewels of a crown, which sparkle over his land, i. e., Jehovah’s. Hengstenberg takes the participle here in the same way as in Psa_60:6= rising up. But, as Keil says, crown stones do not lift themselves up. It is better to take the word in the sense of shining, glittering (Ewald, Maurer, Köhler, Fürst). The reference is to precious gems set in a crown and flashing from the brow of a conqueror as he stalks over the land.
Ver.17. For how great, etc. The passage closes with an exulting exclamation. The pronouns in the first clause refer to Jehovah (Hengstenberg, Ewald, Pressel), but mean the goodness and the beauty which He bestows (Henderson). This avoids the difficulty of ascribing beauty to the Lord,31 and yet retains the full force of the apostrophe. Corn and new wine are the customary expressions of abundance (Deu_33:28; Psa_4:8), and are here rhetorically divided between the youths and the maidens. Copious supplies of food lead to a rapid increase of population. Psa_72:16. “The drinking of must by young females is peculiar to this passage; but its being here expressly sanctioned by divine authority, furnishes an unanswerable argument against those who would interdict all use of the fruit of the vine” (Henderson). “We know that when there is but a small supply of wine, it ought by right of age to be reserved for the old, but when wine so overflows that young men and young women may freely drink of it, it is a proof of great abundance” (Calvin).
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL
1. Few words are so precious to a devout believer as covenant. It suggests thoughts of grace, privilege, and security which are not easily attained in any other way. Our trust for this world and the next rests not upon voices of nature or conclusions of reason, but upon the promise of God,—a promise which He has chosen to present in the form of a compact with stipulations (and sometimes even when the stipulations were all on one side, Gen_9:9), and not only so, but to confirm it by sacrifice. This was vividly set before Israel when the law was given on Sinai. Moses sprinkled the blood of the offerings both upon the altar and upon the people, saying, “Behold the blood of the covenant which Jehovah has made with you concerning all these words.” Now it is true that the Mosaic dispensation was a national compact with the Hebrew people, and that it also contained a complete and absolute rule of human duty, but besides these aspects it was a covenant of grace, representing the merciful provision God had made for the salvation of his people, and in this sense its relation to the Gospel economy was that of sunrise to the blaze of noon. It confirmed the promise made to Abraham, and rendered the believer’s hope still more firm and clear, as resting upon an immutable bond. The force of that bond continued unimpaired down through the generations. “The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers [only], but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day” (Deu_5:3). Again and again, in times of emergency or doubt, did the Old Testament saints reassure their souls and reanimate their hopes by recurring to that old covenant, “the word which He commanded for a thousand generations” (Psa_105:8). They might be involved in gloom and perplexity, and the eye of sense could see no way out; but they knew that God had made with them a covenant ordered in all things and sure, and this was all their salvation, and all their desire. The same blessed assurance continues to believers under the Gospel. Nay, it is stronger now, for we have the blood of a new covenant (Mar_14:24), i. e., of a new administration of the old covenant, to confirm our faith. The covenant blood, on which the faith of Christians lays hold, is not that of bulls and goats, but of a lamb without spot, not the crimson stream of a typical sacrifice, but that which poured from the gaping wounds of the incarnate Son of God. The compact which has been ratified by such an oblation as was made at Golgotha, is necessarily imperishable. It can never fail. The blood of the cross is the blood of an everlasting covenant (Heb_13:20). Here the devout soul rests in peace and security. The malice of the world, the roar of Satan, the clamor of conscience, all are still before the thought of the pledged and ratified word of Jehovah. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God abideth forever. The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for He is not a man that He should repent.
2. This portion of the chapter presents a remarkable contrast to the two verses which precede it. There we read of an eminently peaceful king under whom all weapons of war are destroyed. Without noise or conflict he quietly extends his dominion till it becomes universal. Here, on the contrary, Judah is the Lord’s bow and Ephraim his arrow, and there is a terrible struggle set forth by images taken from the storm, the lightning, and the whirlwind. The language is not an exaggeration of what occurred in the heroic struggle for Judæan independence under the sons of the aged priest Mattathias. That struggle was essentially a religious one. It began in a determined resistance to the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to exterminate the faith of the Jews and impose the impure and idolatrous worship of the Greeks; and although other elements were developed in the course of time, this always was the chief consideration. During the course of it, the “good report through faith” of which the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks (Heb_11:36-39), was obtained by many who “were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were slain with the sword.” The atrocities of heathen persecution roused a flame which was irresistible. Neither Antiochus nor any of his successors on the Syrian throne was able to subdue the zeal of the Jews for their ancestral faith. Again and again the armies of the alien were put to rout in pitched battles, and veterans of many a Well-fought field were no match for men who fought for God as well as their native land. The Maccabees really earned the name (Maccabœus=hammerer) by which they are now generally known, and although disregarded by the haughty heathen, still they shine as jewels of a crown among all disinterested observers. “None have surpassed them in accomplishing a great end with inadequate means; none ever united more generous valor with a better cause” (Milman). They began with a few personal followers, and they ended with a strong and well-organized nation. The struggle lasted for a quarter of a century (B. C. 168–143), and notwithstanding the unequal resources of the parties, Jehovah of Hosts made feeble Jews like the sword of a hero, while the mailed warriors of Syria were trodden down like the small stones of a sling.
3. For more than one half of the four centuries which elapsed between the close of the Old Testament and the opening of the New, the history of the Jews is almost a total blank, and of the other half there is much less information to be drawn from Ethnic sources than might have been anticipated. But it is very apparent from many scattered indications that Israel had often occasion to say, How great is his goodness and how great his beauty! The population multiplied with a rapidity like that of their forefathers in Egypt. The few feeble struggling colonists gradually emerged into a strong, energetic, and well-organized commonwealth. Their land resumed its ancient fertility. Just as in the palmy days of old, its rocks were crowned with mould and its sands covered with verdure, and a wide-spread commerce on both seas furnished the conditions of growing wealth. At the same time a spirit of enterprise, or a love of adventure, led many to distribute themselves all over the Roman world, so that there was scarcely a province either in the east or the west, where they were not found in numbers. Still in every quarter, under every form of government, and in the midst of every social system, they retained their national faith and usages with unconquerable tenacity. This was manifested not only by a persistent refusal to amalgamate with the various peoples among whom they lived, but by their regular and liberal contributions to the temple. A curious illustration of the latter is seen in the fact mentioned by Cicero, that Flaccus was compelled to forbid such offerings from the province of Asia, because the enormous export of gold affected the markets of the world. Thus even the emigrating Jews contributed to the prosperity of those who remained at home. It is evident then that the statements of increase contained in this chapter and the one that follows were verified to the letter. Parts of the land were as thickly settled as any portions of modern Europe. And notwithstanding all the outward conflicts in which they were engaged, or the suffering they may have experienced, from the contentions of rival kingdoms around, “corn made the young men thrive, and new wine the maidens,” and the covenant people were preserved in their integrity and distinctness, until He came, for whose appearing they had been appointed and preserved for more than twenty centuries.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Moore: Ver.11. The covenant love of God and his faithful promises that are sealed with blood are the hope of the Church in time of trouble.—“Ver.12. Let sinners who are also prisoners of hope, turn to the stronghold Christ, ere it be forever too late, and God will give them a double blessing.
Pressel: Vers.11, 12. How wide is the range of God’s covenant with man! It extends so far that it forms, as our Lord said to the Sadducees, the immovable basis of our hope of eternal life. But if the salvation of this covenant, whether in its older or newer form, is ever to become ours, the first condition and the last is—Turn to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope. Again: (1) There is no imprisonment without hope, for the covenant-blood speaks louder than our sins, and the Lord can break every fetter; but (2) There is no hope without conversion, for without conversion we are still in the pit without water, and fall short of the strong-hold which alone secures return to fellowship with God.
Cowles: Ver.12. It is altogether the way of the Lord to send grief and affliction only in single measure, but joy and blessing in double, weighing out the retributions of justice carefully, and the inflictions of his rod very tenderly; but pouring forth the bounties of his mercy as if He could not think of measuring them by any rule less than the impulses of infinite love!
Wordsworth. [This learned man spiritualizes the entire passage, but is not quoted here, because, as Hengstenberg says, “While the outward conflict was undoubtedly the prelude of a still grander conflict between Israel and Greece, to be fought with spiritual weapons, it is opposed to all the principles of sound interpretation to refer the words immediately to the latter.”]
Jay: Ver.16. Here we see the dignity of the Lord’s people. They are “stones,” precious stones, set in the “crown” of the King of kings. Here is also their exhibition; these stones of a crown are “lifted up.” They are not to be concealed. Here is also their utility; these stones are to be lifted up “as an ensign upon the land.” An oriflamme suspended over the royal tent; designed to attract followers to the cause in which he is engaged.
Footnotes:
[19]Zec_9:11. —בְדַם׳ being in thy covenant-blood=being sprinkled with it. The covenant of Jehovah with his people was sealed with sprinkled blood. Exo_24:8. The compound term covenant-blood best represents the form and force of the original phrase.
[20]Zec_9:11.—שִׁלַּחְתִי is the common prophetic preterite.
[21]Zec_9:12.— בִצָּרוֹן, a cut off place, h. inaccessible, fortified, ὀχύρωμα (LXX.), munitio (Vulg.).
[22]Zec_9:12. —מִשְׁנֶה. Pressel seems to be alone in giving to this word the sense, the second place. The rendering of the E. V. is sustained both by usage and the connection.
[23]Zec_9:13. —The E. V. needlessly continues here the sentence of the previous verse, and renders כִי when. A literal rendering is at once more forcible and more accurate.
[24]Zec_9:13. —קֶשֶׁת. Some connect this with what precedes, but nothing is gained by departing from the Masoretic interpunction.
[25]Zec_9:15. —יָגֵן= covers protectingly. Cf. Zec_12:8.
[26]Zec_9:15. —“With sling-stones,” in the text of E. V., introduces a needless preposition. The marginal rendering is to be preferred.
[27]Zec_9:15.— כְמוֹ־יַיִן is an abbreviated comparison. Cf. Zec_10:7.
[28]Zec_9:15.—“Sacrificial bowl.” The qualifying epithet must be introduced in order to give the full force of מִזְרק. Cf. Zec_14:20.
[29]Zec_9:16.—The E. V. “flock of his people,” is grammatically impossible.
[30]Zec_9:17. —יִנוֹבב The first marginal rendering of the B. V., make grow, is better than its text, make cheerful. The word is derived from the sprouting of plants, and evidently refers to a prolific increase. Fürst gives to make eloquent, which is conjectural and inept.
[31]“The beauty of the Lord,” In Psa_90:17, represents a different word (נֹעם), which, however, is best explained thus: May the loveliness of Jehovah—all that renders Him an object of affection and desire—be made known to us in our experience. Cf. Psa_27:4.
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.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain As for thee also--that is, the daughter of Zion,"…
As for thee also--that is, the daughter of Zion," or "Jerusalem" (Zac 9:9): the theocracy. The "thee also," in contradistinction to Messiah spoken of in Zac 9:10, implies that besides cutting off the battle-bow and extending MESSIAH'S "dominion to the ends of the earth," God would also deliver for her her exiled people from their foreign captivity.
by the blood of thy covenant--that is, according to the covenant vouchsafed to thee on Sinai, and ratified by the blood of sacrifices (Exo 24:8; Heb 9:18-20).
Read full note →
pit wherein . . . no water--Dungeons were often pits without water, miry at the bottom, such as Jeremiah sank in when confined (Gen 37:24; Jer 38:6). An image of the misery of the Jewish exiles in Egypt, Greece, &c., under the successors of Alexander, especially under Antiochus Epiphanes, who robbed and profaned the temple, slew thousands, and enslaved more. God delivered them by the Maccabees. A type of the future deliverance from their last great persecutor hereafter (Isa 51:14; Isa 60:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Deliverance and exaltation of the exiled Jews, 11-17.
Deliverance and exaltation of the exiled Jews, 11-17.
The advent of the Messianic king will be followed by a restoration of the Jews still in exile, and their exaltation to highest glory.
Read full note →
In Zec_9:11-12 deliverance is promised to the captives.
As for thee — The daughter of Zion (Zec_9:9).
Also — Is to be taken not with thee, but with the verb: “As for thee, I have also sent forth.” In addition to the blessings promised in Zec_9:9-10 Jehovah will set free the captives (G.-K., 153).
By the blood of thy covenant — R.V., “because of the blood of thy covenant.” Made at the time of the exodus (compare Exo_24:8), and kept alive throughout the entire history by means of sacrifices and offerings. To this covenant, and even to the earlier covenant with Abraham, Jehovah will remain true, and because of it he will bring back the scattered exiles.
I have sent forth — Better, R.V., “I have set free.” The tense is the perfect of prophetic certainty, equivalent to “I shall surely set free.”
Thy prisoners — Prisoners of war and exiles in foreign lands (Joe_3:1 ff.; Oba_1:20).
Out of the pit — The place of imprisonment (Exo_12:29; Jer_37:16).
Wherein is no water — This adds to the horrors. Death stares the prisoners in the face. The whole is a picture of the horrors of an enforced exile.
In Zec_9:12 the prophet turns directly to the prisoners, exhorting them to return, for the time of their deliverance is at hand.
Turn — Better, margin R.V., “Return.”
Stronghold — Where they may find safety from the enemy; here, the promised land, where they will be under the protection of Jehovah (Zec_9:8).
Prisoners of hope — Since they are members of the covenant nation (Zec_9:11), their depressed condition cannot continue forever; though in exile, they may live in hope of a restoration. Israel is pre-eminently a nation of hope. The promise of deliverance is followed by another.
I will render double — There will be a twofold recompense for all loss and affliction (compare Isa_61:7; Isa_40:2).
Unto thee — If the text is correct Zion is addressed as in Zec_9:11; however, the change is surprising; one would expect “unto you.”
Even today — In the face of all the difficulties which seem to make fulfillment impossible.
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 11. As for thee also] Lit. also thou, i.e.…
11. As for thee also] Lit. also thou, i.e. as regards thee (O daughter of Sion), I will also (in addition to all that has been promised, Zec_9:9-10) liberate thy captives.” So Maurer: “Gaude, Sionia! veniet rex tuus tibi, justus cet.; removebuntur instrumenta belli, alta pax erit; auctum erit imperium tuum mirum in modum; etiam captivos tuos, qui in terris exteris detinentur, tibi restituam memor fœderis facti cum majoribus.”
by the blood of thy covenant] because of, &c. R. V., i.e. the covenant which I have made with thee. Exo_24:5-8. Comp. for the higher reference, Mat_26:28; Heb_9:15.
Read full note →
the pit wherein is no water] The “pit,” Gen_40:15, or “house of the pit,” Exo_12:29; Jer_37:16, as denoting the nature of its dungeons, which may in some cases have been actually empty wells (comp. Gen_37:24), is a common name for a prison in the O. T. The expression, “wherein is no water,” is probably added to emphasize the horrors of such a dungeon. “The prisoner in the land of his enemies was left to perish in the pit (Zec_9:11). The greatest of all deliverances is that the captive exile is released from the slow death of starvation in it (Isa_51:14). The history of Jeremiah, cast into the dungeon or pit (Jer_38:6; Jer_38:9), let down into its depths with cords, sinking into the filth at the bottom (here also there is no water), with death by hunger staring him in the face, shews how terrible an instrument of punishment was such a pit. The condition of the Athenian prisoners in the stone-quarries of Syracuse (Thuc. vii. 87), the Persian punishment of the σπόδος (Ctesias, Pers. 48), the oubliettes of mediæval prisons present instances of cruelty more or less analogous.” Bible Dict., Art. “Pit.”
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 (11) Thee—i.e., Zion.
(11) Thee—i.e., Zion.
By the blood of thy covenant.—Comp. Exo_24:3-8.
Read full note →
By means in consideration of.
The pit.—i.e., Babylon.
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 Vers. 11-17. All Israel, united into one people, shall…
Vers. 11-17. All Israel, united into one people, shall wage successful war against adversaries, and attain to high glory, and increase largely in numbers.
As for thee also. The prophet addresses the daughter of Zion, the covenant people (comp. vers. 10, 13). "Also" is inserted to intimate that this deliverance is given in addition to the blessings promised in the two preceding verses. All who are living far from their native Zion are invited to come to her and partake of her good things. By (because of) the blood of thy covenant. The covenant is that made at Sinai, sealed and ratified by blood, (Exo_24:4-8) which still held good, and was the pledge to the nation of deliverance and help. This was a token of that everlasting covenant sealed with the blood of Christ, by which God"s people are delivered from the bondage of sin. (comp. Mat_26:28 Heb_9:15 Heb_10:14-23 Heb_13:20) I have sent forth; I send forth the prophetic perfect. The Greek and Latin Versions render, "thou sentest forth," not so correctly. Thy prisoners. Those members of the nation who were still oppressed or captives in foreign lands, as Babylon and Egypt. (comp. Oba_1:20 Joe_3:6, etc.; Amo_1:6, Amo_1:9, etc.) The pit wherein is no water. "Pit," or cistern, is a common name for a prison. (Gen_40:15 Exo_12:29 Jer_37:16) The absence of water may be notified either to imply that the tortures of thirst were added to the horror of the situation, or to intimate that the prisoners were not hopelessly drowned therein. We Christians see in this paragraph a figure of the redemption of a lost world by the blood of Christ.
Read full note →
Vers. 11, 12. The sinner in three aspects.
I SELF-RUINED. Joseph, Daniel, Jeremiah, were cast into "the pit" by wicked hands. The sinner has himself to blame. if there is gloom, chains, and misery, it is because of revolt from God. It is not the body but the soul that is "in prison," and no soul can be imprisoned save by its own deed and consent.
II GOD-PITIED. Though we have cast off God, he has not cast off us. He is long suffering and merciful. His voice to us is fall of pity and inspires hope. "Prisoners of hope." Why? Specially:
1. As called of God.
2. Roused to a sense of danger.
3. Encouraged to seek deliverance.
III CHRIST-RESCUED. Refuge is provided. "Stronghold.
1. Near.
2. Open to all.
3. Ample for the reception and defence of all who come.
Hence the urgent and loving appeal, "Flee" Happy they who have responded, "who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before us"! (Heb_6:19) F.
Vers. 11, 12. Historical facts illustrations of spiritual realities.
"As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do declare that I will render double unto thee." In these verses we have three subjects which demand and will repay thought.
I HERE IS A STATE OF WRETCHEDNESS WHICH REMINDS US OF MAN"S MISERABLE CONDITION AS A SINNER. "As for thee also that is, as for thee, daughter of Zion and Jerusalem the blood of thy covenant that is, according to the covenant vouchsafed to thee on Mount Sinai, and ratified by the blood of sacrifices (Exo_24:8) have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." The Jewish people are here represented as having been prisoners in a pit without water. "Dungeons were often pits without water, miry at the bottom, such as Jeremiah sank in when confined. (Gen_37:24 Jer_38:6) This image is employed to represent the misery of the Jewish exiles in Egypt, Greece, etc, under the successors of Alexander, especially under Antiochus Epiphanes, who robbed and profaned the temple, slew thousands, and enslaved more. In Zechariah"s time, the time of the Persian rule, the practice was common to remove conquered peoples to distant lands, in order to prevent the liability to revolt in their own lands." Very fairly may this be taken as an illustration of that miserable moral condition in which all unregenerate men are found. They are in a "pit" of ignorance and depravity, shut out from the true light, and destitute of true liberty. It is a "pit" in which the soul is. A man"s body may be in a "pit," and yet he may possess light and liberty within. Men have sung in dungeons ere now. But when the soul is in "a pit," the man himself is enthralled in darkness and bondage.
II HERE IS AN ADMONITION WHICH REMINDS US OF MAN"S DUTY AS A SINNER. "Turn yea to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope." The prisoners here undoubtedly signify the Jewish exiles who were in bondage in Egypt and Greece and other countries, and whose restoration is here promised. Though they were prisoners, they were "prisoners of hope." God was on their side, and had made to them the promise of redemption.
1. All sinners are prisoners of hope. " Though bound by the chains of guilt and corruption, there is "hope" for them; means of deliverance have been provided, and millions upon millions of prisoners have reached to the full enjoyment of that deliverance. There is hope; for"While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest sinner may return.
2. They are "prisoners of hope" for whom a "stronghold" has been provided. If these exiles would return to Jerusalem, they would be safe. Jehovah himself would be their Guard and Defence. Christ is the "Stronghold" of sinners; he is their "Refuge and Strength;" "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth;" "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!
3. They are "prisoners of hope" who should flee to the "Stronghold" at once. "Even today." When the prospect seems most gloomy, when the cloud of despair seems spreading over the heavens, and things are at the worst, "even today." This is the "accepted time," today is the "day of salvation.
III HERE IS A PROMISE THAT GIVES ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE SINNER. "I will render double unto thee." As if Jehovah had said to the daughter of Zion Great as has been thine adversity, thy prosperity shall be doubly greater. (Isa_61:7) "Turn you to the Stronghold," and you shall not only be saved, but more than saved. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. " "God"s boundless mercy is to sinful man Like to the ever-wealthy ocean; Which, though it sends forth thousand streams, "tis ne"er Known, or else seen, to be the emptier: And though it takes all in, "tis yet no more Full and filled full, than when full-filled before. (R. Herrick) 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 By the blood of thy covenant i have sent…
Zec_9:11
By the blood of thy covenant i have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water
Read full note →
The delivered prisoners
Enlarge on the Gospel promise in immediate connection with the text.
It calls on the daughter of Zion to rejoice in the coming of the Saviour. It describes His character; the nature of His kingdom; the means by which it shall be spread; and the extent of it. The deliverance of the Jews from captivity was a step towards the coming of Messiah, and the earnest of it. Just as, through the remembrance of His covenant with Israel by blood, God delivered the Jewish Church, so through the blood of the everlasting covenant does He deliver His people under the Gospel.
I. The prisoners and their prison house. Thy prisoners. This most aptly describes the state of those who are convinced by the Spirit of God of their lost and undone condition, and who are looking only for wrath. The prison house of such is described as the pit wherein there is no water; i.e. no comfort, no peace. No way of escape is apparent, and if the prisoner remain in it, he dies. But, though the pit is deep and horrible, yet the prisoners voice can be heard, when he calls for deliverance; and his voice is never unheeded. Therefore let all prisoners cry mightily unto Him that is able to save.
II. The way of deliverance. Justice must be satisfied ere the mouth of the pit can be opened. This is implied in the expression--the blood of the covenant. Jesus covenanting to shed His blood for their ransom--the Father covenanting to accept this ransom, and to set the prisoners free on account of it. Enlarge on this covenant as a covenant of promise, the greatness, the freeness, the sureness. How is this belief, this trust in the promise, brought about? Faith by hearing, hearing by the Word--the Spirit of God applying. (John D. Lawe, M. A.)
The blood of the covenant
1. The deeper any of the people of God be in trouble, they lie nearer His heart and help: and He would have them look on the comforts of the kingdom of Christ and the covenant, as especially intended for them, therefore doth He apply the general comforts of Christs kingdom to the distressed Jews.
2. As the afflictions of the Lords people may be very bitter, and so ordered aa they may be trials indeed; so there will be special notice taken of them when their rods become so insupportable that there is no subsisting under them; for He eyes them, when they are prisoners in a pit, wherein is no water, as some time they may be.
3. God entering in a covenant with His people, condescends to take in all their outward necessities, and engages to have a care of them in these as well as in things spiritual; and so all their mercies come by covenant; for it is by the covenant that the prisoners are sent forth.
4. The mercies of the Church are not only rich and refreshful in themselves, and in their original, that they come through a covenant of love, but in their purchase, that they are bought, and the covenant concerning them made sure by the blood of the Son of God. By the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners.
5. The Lord minds His covenant, and through and for Christ makes the promises of it forthcoming for His peoples good, when they have broken it on their part; for, though for their perfidiousness they were scattered, yet the covenant stands to bring them back. (George Hutcheson.)
What Christ has done for, and what He is to His people
Though this passage may refer to many temporal blessings bestowed upon Gods ancient Church; yet its spiritual significance is immediately connected with the kingdom of Messiah.
I. The ruined state of the Church. Prisoners in a pit wherein is no water.
1. The degradation of this state.
2. The pollution of this state.
3. The misery of this state.
4. The hopelessness of our state.
II. The means of accomplishing our salvation.
1. God is the Author of redemption.
2. Redemption was effected by the blood of the covenant.
3. By the covenant blood the circumstances of the Church are altered.
III. The present state of Gods redeemed people according to their names. Prisoners of hope.
1. Until delivered they are actually prisoners--to sin, Satan, the law; and they are delivered also from the bondage of a corrupt and stubborn will. Under the Gospel dispensation every vessel of mercy is delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ, and is brought into a lively hope of eternal glory by faith of the operation of the Spirit.
2. Then this hope is in Christ.
3. This hope is according to the Word.
4. It is a sure hope of eternal life.
5. It is a present security to the soul.
IV. Christ is a stronghold to all His people.
1. From error and unbelief.
2. From sin and Satan.
3. To God they turn generally.
4. To God in Christ especially. I will render unto thee double.
(1) Pardon and righteousness.
(2) Great peace of mind.
(3) Full assurance of understanding.
(4) Joy here, and certainty of glory hereafter.
(5) Salvation of soul and body, from sin, death, and hell. (T. B. Baker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Zec_9:12. Strong hold] Fortress, forcibly contrasting with pit (Psa_40:2).…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zec_9:12. Strong hold] Fortress, forcibly contrasting with pit (Psa_40:2). To-day] No need to despair; their condition miserable, yet not hopeless. Double] Not strictly of twice the quantity, but simply of great abundance. A large amount of blessing far outweighing the misery of bòndage [cf Wardlaw].
Read full note →
Zec_9:13.] The method of victory represented figuratively. Judah, the extended bow; Ephraim, the arrow by which Jehovah would overcome the Grecians.
Zec_9:14-16.] God’s presence with his people. Seen] Conspicuously displaying power, like the pillar of old: seen like lightning, the arrows of God in a thunderstorm. South] (cf. Isa_21:1; Hos_13:5). Southern storms always most violent.
Zec_9:15. Eat] the flesh and drink the blood of the enemy, like a lion devouring its victim (Num_23:24). Subdue] Lit. “tread underfoot the sling-stones,” hurled by the foe. Missiles will not hinder their progress, but fall at their feet, and be trampled to the dust. Bowls] of sacrifices. Corners] Horns of the altar, sprinkled with blood from the bowls (Exo_29:12; Lev_4:18); priestly figures intimating holy war and victory.
Zec_9:16. Stones] Gems in the crown of the conqueror; not the sling-stones trodden by the foot.
Zec_9:17. How great] (exulting exclamation) in bestowing victory and fruitful seasons. Corn and wine] indicate peace and plenty to those pressed by the foe and pinched in circumstances (Deu_33:28; Psa_4:8).
HOMILETICS
PRISONERS OF HOPE.—Zec_9:11-12
With the promise of release is connected the duty of the captives to embrace the opportunity of returning to their own land, where they would enjoy the protection and favour of Jehovah.
I. There is no imprisonment without hope. “Prisoners of hope.”
1. To saints in trouble. In trials and straits they must maintain hope.
2. To sinners in wickedness. A stronghold is provided for all; secure from the stroke of offended justice, and from the attack of the foe. “No case is desperate. None should despair or say, “Our hope is lost.” “I would not despair unless I knew the irrevocable decree was passed, saw my misfortune in the book of fate, and signed and sealed by necessity” [J. Collier].
II. There are grounds for hope in the provisions of Divine mercy.
1. In the atonement of Christ. In the covenant blood we have every hindrance removed, and every means provided for the salvation of man.
2. In the promise of Scripture. “I will render double unto thee.” Grace to convert and strengthen, the Holy Spirit to teach and direct, are offered. Blessings double in themselves, and as pledges of others.
3. In the stronghold provided. The height (Psa_18:30) is prepared the rock contrasting with the pit. The Rock of our Salvation immovable and inaccessible. Low defences are soon scaled, and weak ones soon destroyed. But this refuge is eternally secure. Its sanctity none can invade, its power none destroy.
III. Men are urged to avail themselves of these provisions. Hope should inspire our hearts in danger, and prompt us to get out of it.
1. They are commanded to escape. “Turn ye to the stronghold.” Divine authority and affection are set forth in the prediction.
2. Escape should be made immediately. “Even to-day.” The Jews were not to wait for future opportunity, when all might return together. While there was hope, individually they must hasten, and make no delay. To-morrow may be too late. To see the light of day fade away is sad, but much worse to lose hope for eternity. Flee “for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before you.”
Ye prisoners of hope. This title is not a fanciful one. To the Jew it had a triple significance.
1. He was under the yoke of a foreign despot, and longed to regain his freedom.
2. He was under the yoke of an unfulfilled promise, and yearned for the “day star to arise.”
3. He was under the the yoke of the unrealized prophecies concerning the glory of the Messiah’s kingdom, and the eternal felicity of his followers. The words of the text are the true designation of every Christian.
I. We are prisoners to an unredeemed body (cf. Rom_8:23). Observe—
1. There is a sense in which the body is already redeemed.
2. There is another sense in which our bodies are not redeemed. (a) They are not yet free from manifold infirmities. (b) Not yet redeemed from sensuous appetites. (c) Not yet redeemed from the dominion of death.
3. Hope anticipates the possession of an immortal body. (a) From which every element of weakness and infirmity is excluded. (b) In which carnal appetites shall have no place. (c) Which shall be no more subject to death.
II. We are prisoners to a limited and superficial knowledge. “Now I know in part”—there is bondage. “Then shall I know even as I am known”—there is freedom.
1. Our knowledge touches not the essence, but only the phenomena.
2. Reaches men not as they are, only as they appear
3. Is limited by the brevity of life, and the conditions of its existence.
4. Hope anticipates the solution of the dark enigma of human life.
III. We are prisoners to a circumscribed Christian fellowship. The great family of God is sadly dismembered.
1. Doctrinal divergence.
2. Suspicion, the offspring of imperfect knowledge.
3. Social status is a barrier to fellowship.
4. Distance and death contribute to limit the measure of fellowship.
5. Hope anticipates the universal and perfect fellowship of saints. (a) This will include all ages; (b) all climes; (c) all classes and creeds.
IV. We are prisoners to an imperfect vision of Christ. “We see through a glass darkly,” and through “a mirror in an enigma” [Lange]. Yet note—
1. Christ is really apprehended by faith even here.
2. This vision is a test, a dim one.
3. Human nature in its present state is not capable of a more open vision.
4. Hope anticipates not only an immediate vision of Christ, but a nature capable of beholding it. Lessons.
1. This hope inspires the heavenward pilgrim—(a) with patience “to endure as seeing him,” &c. (b) With courage “to war a good warfare.”
2. This hope was a sanctifying virtue.
3. This hope amounts to an assurance [The Homiletic Quarterly]
THE DOUBLE RECOMPENSE TO GOD’S PEOPLE.—Zec_9:13-15
The abundance of the blessings promised after release is expressed by the word double, which conveys the idea of compensation, a measure of glory outweighing all former sufferings. “For your shame ye shall have double.”
I. Victory over the world will be granted. “The sons of Javan are the Greeks, as the world-power, the Græco-Macedonian monarchy (cf. Dan_8:27), against which the Lord will make his people into a hero’s sword” [Keil]. This was fulfilled in some measure in the wars of the Maccabees and Seleucidæ, but must not be confined to that period. The Gospel is destined to overthrow the wisdom of the Greeks, and subdue the world to Christ.
1. Victory by human agency. Ephraim and Judah have to fight. Apostles and ministers have to preach. “Heaven made us agents, free to good or ill” [Dryden].
2. Victory by God’s blessing upon human agency. “I have been raised up,” &c. These words found an echo in Judas Maccabæus, when the company with him asked, “How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, seeing that we are ready to faint with fasting?” “It is no hard matter,” answered Judas, “for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company” (1Ma_3:16-19; cf. 2Ch_14:8-11).
II. The special presence of God will be displayed. “The Lord shall be seen over them,” conspicuously displaying his power for them.
1. As a shield to defend them. “The Lord of Hosts shall defend them,” in the midst of enemies numerous, powerful, and bitter. He delivered “by providential arrangements, by earthquakes, by angelic messengers, by direct punitive and deadly judgments. He released them, to the amazement and confusion of their enemies, from the closest and most vigilant confinement” [Wardlaw].
2. As a conqueror to help them. Taking the sling-stones as a figure of the enemy [Keil], they were trampled beneath the feet of the Jews. “The souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling” (1Sa_25:29). A phrase denoting security from the assaults of the enemy under the special protection of God.
3. As a shepherd to provide for them. “The Lord their God shall save them in that day the flock of his people” (Zec_9:16). Not only victory, but lasting peace. Constant care and tenderness will be exercised over his people (Psalms 23).
III. Great honours will be conferred upon them. Job’s latter end was better than the beginning. The dignity of God’s people shall be double their shame.
1. Moral beauty. “How great his beauty!” The beauty Christ bestows upon his people in character and conduct is more than human; it is Christ’s own beauty. “Thou art fairer than the children of men.”
“Old friends shall lovelier be,
As more of heaven in each we see” [Christian Year].
2. Unwonted prosperity. Young men shall be made cheerful, and no longer suffer scarcity. Maidens, ready to faint from hunger and thirst, shall have plenty of new wine. This abundance of the fruits of earth typifies the recompense to God’s people. They will be strengthened, and made glad; be led to admire God’s free love and favours, and to commend all past dealings as excellent and good. “For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!”
“Beauty armed with virtue bows the soul,
With a commanding, but a sweet, control” [Percival].
THE MIGHTY STRUGGLE AND THE GLORIOUS VICTORY.—Zec_9:13-17
I. The army is collected. “The Lord God shall blow the trumpet.” The terms are martial. The trumpet blowing naturally represents the proclamation of the Gospel by Divine authority, and with accompanying Divine power; the design being thus the gathering of outcast sinners to Christ’s standard; and thus the enlargement of his spiritual host, and the increased rapidity of his conquests [Wardlaw].
1. The foes. “Against thy sons, O Greece.”
2. The friends. Judah the bow, and Ephraim the arrow.
3. The commander. Jehovah “seen over them,” like the pillar of cloud and fire.
II. The conflict is described. The description is poetical.
1. Terrible as a storm. “His arrow shall go forth as the lightning”—suddenly and irresistibly (cf. Psa_18:14). “The whirlwind of the south” sweeps everything before it. No power in earth or in hell can resist the might of Divine grace. Thousands will yet be subdued.
2. Furious as wild beasts. “They shall devour,” a metaphor from beasts. Like devouring lions, they would eat the flesh and drink the blood of the enemy. “Behold a people like the boness; it rises up, and like the lion does it lift itself up: it lies not down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain” (Num_23:24).
III. The victory is gained. The result is not uncertain. “Conquering and to conquer.”
1. Victory given as a shepherd to his flock. “God shall save them in that day as the flock of his sheep.”
2. Victory recorded in the crown of the conqueror. Precious stones or gems were set in crowns, and the elevation of the crown indicated victory. “A victory is twice itself, when the achiever brings home full numbers” [Shaks.].
3. Victory celebrated in the joy of the conqueror. The general idea is that of sacred joy, the songs and shouts of victory, inward delight and exultation of spirit. “They shall drink, and make a noise as through wine.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Zec_9:11-12. Duty, and encouragements to perform it; or, the stronghold—how to get it, and the blessings of its security; or, salvation may be had. This salvation only gained by effort. “Turn ye,” &c.
Zec_9:12.
1. Available refuge. “The stronghold,” impregnable, secure, and lasting.
2. Access to it free, and should be immediate.
Zec_9:14. Arrows. Strongly express the speed and the resistless power of his converting grace. The arrow of Divine truth, with which the Apostolic bow was fitted, carried conviction to the conscience, and quickening power to the heart. By killing it made alive. We are reminded of the language of Psa_45:3-5 [Wardlaw].
Zec_9:16. God’s people glorified. Here we see the dignity of the Lord’s people. They are “stones,” precious stones, set in the “crown” of the King of kings. Here is also their exhibition: these stones of a crown are “lifted up.” They are not to be concealed. Here is also their utility: these stones are to be lifted up “as an ensign upon the land”—an oriflamme suspended over the royal tent; designed to attract followers to the cause in which he is engaged [Jay].
Zec_9:17. How great his goodness! God’s free love (benevolence) the fountain of all mercies.
1. Great in the gift of Christ.
2. Great in the conversion of sinners.
3. Great in the support of his people. How great were the sacrifices which Christ’s goodness made! How great are the gifts which his goodness bestows! How great the extent to which his goodness spreads! How great is the duration of his goodness! [Sacred Garland]. But it is not the goodness of God alone that is to be seen in the Gospel. “How great is his beauty!” The loveliness of his entire character—its light, as well as its love—the united harmony of all its attributes in the work of Christ! We are not truly under the renewing influence of the Holy Spirit, if it is only his goodness that we admire. The faith of the Gospel imparts a spiritual taste for “the beauty of holiness,” as well as of love. It teaches and disposes us to delight in all that God is [Wardlaw]. Hence, great his beauty—
1. In himself. “The brightness of the Father’s glory,” &c. “The glory of the only begotten,” &c. He is beautiful in his Divine and human nature.
2. In his people. “The king’s daughter all glorious.”
“All human beauties, all Divine,
In my Beloved meet and shine.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Zec_9:11-12. Pit. Some of the pits referred to in the Bible were prisons, one such I saw at Athens, and another at Rome. To these there were no openings, except a hole at the top, which served for the window and door. The bottoms of these pits were necessarily in a filthy and revolting state, and sometimes deep in mud. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay:” one of these filthy prisons being in the Psalmist’s view; in Isa_38:17 called “the pit of corruption,” or putrefaction and filth [John Gadsby].
Zec_9:13-15. Mighty man. It is held that valour is the cheapest virtue, and most dignifies the haver [Shake.]. When a man goes in the fulness of his strength upon any enterprise, how do his blood and spirits triumph beforehand! No motion of hand or foot is without a sensible delight. The strength of a man’s spirit is unspeakably more than that of the outward man; its faculties and powers more refined and raised; and hence are rational or intellectual exercises and operations much more delightful than corporal ones can be [Howe].
Zec_9:16. Flock. What condescension, for the Infinite Lord to assume the office and character of a Shepherd towards his people! It should be the subject of grateful admiration that the great God allows himself to be compared to anything which sets forth his great love and care for his people. No man has a right to consider himself the Lord’s sheep, unless his nature has been renewed, for the Scriptural description of unconverted men does not picture them as sheep, but as wolves or goats. A sheep is an object of property, not a wild animal; its owner sets great store by it, and frequently it is bought with a great price [Spurgeon].
Zec_9:17. Goodness and beauty.
“Oh, he is good,—he is immensely good,
Who all things formed, and formed them all for man:
Who marked the climates, varied every sone,
Dispensing all his blessings for the best,
In order and in beauty!” [Smart].
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain prisoners Cf. Isa 24:17-23 fix the time as the…
Marg
prisoners Cf. Isa 24:17-23 fix the time as the day of the LORD. Rev 19:11-21.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh appears to be the speaker in verses 9-13.
Read full note →
As for you ... Zion
Here "you" is singular, and continues to refer to the city of Jerusalem, also called "Zion."
the pit where there is no water
This dry pit represents the exile in Babylon. (See: Metaphor)
Return to the stronghold
Jerusalem is spoken of as a place of safety. AT: "Come back to your nation where you will be safe" (See: Metaphor)
prisoners of hope
This expression refers to the Israelites in exile who were still trusting in God to rescue them. AT: "prisoners who still hope in Yahweh"
return double to you
"return to you twice as much as was taken from you"
I have bent Judah as my bow
The people of Judah are referred to as if they were a bow carried by God into battle. Here "Judah" refers to the people of that nation. AT: "I will cause the people of Judah to be like my bow" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
filled my quiver with Ephraim
Yahweh speaks of the people of Israel, the northern kingdom, as if they were arrows that he would shoot at his enemies. A quiver is a bag that holds a soldier's arrows. (See: Metaphor)
I have roused your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece
God is speaking to the people of two different nations at the same time. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
blood
covenant
prison
pit
stronghold
hope
bow and arrow
son
Greece
sword
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 9:11 The covenant . . . sealed with blood…
9:11 The covenant . . . sealed with blood probably refers to the blood sacrifice that sealed the Mosaic covenant (Exod 24:8). • The prisoners were Jews still living as exiles in Mesopotamia after the Babylonian exile. The Jews who remained in Persia and Babylon were spiritual exiles because they lived outside the Promised Land of spiritual blessing and rest (see Deut 12:10). One of the Messiah’s defining activities would be to free prisoners (Isa 61:1; Luke 4:17-22; Rom 7:6; Eph 4:8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.