I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.
Parallel Translations
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I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.
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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.
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And I will encamp about My house against the army, that none pass through or return; and no oppressor shall pass through them any more; for now have I seen with Mine eyes.
Cross-references (35)
Passages linked to Zechariah 9:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 54:14 You will be established in righteousness. You will be far from oppression, for you will not be afraid, and far from terror, for it shall not come near you.
- Isaiah 52:1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for from now on the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you.
- Isaiah 60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor desolation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.
- Jeremiah 31:12 They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all.
- Joel 3:16-17 Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel. “So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.
- Genesis 32:1-2 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.
- Exodus 3:9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
- 2 Samuel 16:12 It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and that Yahweh will repay me good for the cursing of me today.”
- Psalms 34:7 Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
- Psalms 72:4 He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.
- Psalms 125:1-2 Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Yahweh surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more.
- Isaiah 31:5 As birds hovering, so Yahweh of Armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it. He will pass over and preserve it.”
- Isaiah 52:12 For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
- Ezekiel 39:29 I won’t hide my face from them any more; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
- Daniel 11:27-29 As for both these kings, their hearts will be to do mischief, and they will speak lies at one table; but it won’t prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. Then he will return into his land with great wealth. His heart will be against the holy covenant. He will take action, and return to his own land. “He will return at the appointed time, and come into the south; but it won’t be in the latter time as it was in the former.
- Daniel 11:40-45 “At the time of the end the king of the south will contend with him; and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships. He will enter into the countries, and will overflow and pass through. He will enter also into the glorious land, and many countries will be overthrown; but these will be delivered out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He will also stretch out his hand on the countries. The land of Egypt won’t escape. But he will have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. The Libyans and the Ethiopians will be at his steps. But news out of the east and out of the north will trouble him; and he will go out with great fury to destroy and utterly to sweep away many. He will plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
- Amos 9:15 I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
- Exodus 3:7 Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
- 2 Kings 23:29 In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh Necoh killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
- 2 Kings 24:1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
- Psalms 46:1-5 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas; though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High. God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.
- Isaiah 4:5 Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all the glory will be a canopy.
- Isaiah 26:1 In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks.
- Isaiah 33:20-22 Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of wide rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there. For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.
- Jeremiah 46:2 Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 46:13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.
- Ezekiel 28:24-25 “ ‘ “There will be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them that scorned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.
- Daniel 11:6-7 At the end of years they will join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement; but she will not retain the strength of her arm. He will also not stand, nor will his arm; but she will be given up, with those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times. “But out of a shoot from her roots one will stand up in his place, who will come to the army, and will enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and will deal against them, and will prevail.
- Zechariah 2:1-13 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him, and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. For I,’ says Yahweh, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her. Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says Yahweh; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says Yahweh. ‘Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.’ For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me. Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell within you,’ says Yahweh. Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!”
- Zechariah 12:8 In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and David’s house will be like God, like Yahweh’s angel before them.
- Zechariah 14:11 Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.
- Acts 7:34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’
- Revelation 20:1-3 I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, 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.
- Revelation 20:9 They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them.
- Daniel 11:10-16 His sons will wage war, and will assemble a multitude of great forces, which will come on, and overflow, and pass through. They will return and wage war, even to his fortress. “The king of the south will be moved with anger, and will come out and fight with him, even with the king of the north. He will send out a great multitude, and the multitude will be given into his hand. The multitude will be lifted up, and his heart will be exalted. He will cast down tens of thousands, but he won’t prevail. The king of the north will return, and will send out a multitude greater than the former. He will come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance. “In those times many will stand up against the king of the south. Also the children of the violent among your people will lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they will fall. So the king of the north will come and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city. The forces of the south won’t stand, neither will his chosen people, neither will there be any strength to stand. But he who comes against him will do according to his own will, and no one will stand before him. He will stand in the glorious land, and destruction will be in his hand.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He concludes what he had been speaking of, —…
He concludes what he had been speaking of, — that God would be the guardian of his chosen people, so as to repel on every side the violent assaults of enemies. It is then the same as though he had said, “though the Church is not strongly fortified, it shall yet be impregnable, for God’s protection is of more value than all human strength, than all aids and helps.” God then compares himself here to a moat and a bulwark, and other kinds of fortresses, I will be, he says, a camp to my house. He mentions here house rather than city, that the Jews might feel confident that there was sufficient help in God alone, though they might dwell in a private house or in a cottage. “My Church, though it be a small house, will I yet surround with my defences, so as to render it safe from all harm.”
He says, from the army; and then, from him that passes through, and from him that returns. He places the army in opposition to the house; and thus he exhorts the Jews, not to regard their own strength, but to know that God alone is far better shall all armies. Though then the whole world united together and collected all its forces, he still bids them to be calmly confident, for God alone would be sufficient to put to flight all armies. And according to the same meaning he refers to him that passes through and who returns; as though he had said, “Though enemies may wander through the whole earth and occupy it from one end to the other, yet I will cause my house to remain safe.” By him that returns, he intimates, that though enemies renewed their armies the second and the third time, yet God’s strength would be always sufficient to check their assaults. In a word, what is here taught is the perpetuity of the safety of God’s people, for he will never be wearied in defending them, nor will his power be ever lessened. It often happens that those who with the best intention succor their neighbors, by degrees grow wearied, or they may have their efforts prevented by various events; but the Prophet tells us, that God is not like men, wearied or unable, after having once helped his people and repelled their enemies; for he will be always ready to aid his people, were enemies to renew the battle a hundred times.
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By enemy then he means forces; by passing through, the obstinate cruelty of enemies; and by returning, new wars, which one undertakes, when disappointed of his hope, by collecting a new army and repairing his strength.
At length he adds, And pass shall no more the extortioner through them. This sentence explains what he had figuratively expressed, — that though the Jews had been exposed to the will of their enemies, yet God would not hereafter suffer them to be unjustly treated and to be plundered as they had been: for under the name of extortioner he includes all plunderers who had spoiled the miserable Jews of their goods. Then he says, For I have seen with mine eyes. It would be frigid, nay insipid, to explain this clause as some do, that is, as though the Prophet had said, — that he related what had been made known to him from above: for on the contrary God testifies here, that he had seen with his eyes how cruelly and disgracefully the Jews had been treated. And some, while they regard God as the speaker, very unwisely give this explanation, — that God already foresaw what he would do. But evidently God assigns here, as I have said, a reason why he purposed to deliver the Jews from injuries, and for the future to keep them safe and defend them; and the reason given is, because he saw what grievous wrongs they were suffering. And the Prophet speaks according to the usual manner adopted in Scripture; for though nothing is hid from God’s eyes, yet he is rightly said to see what he takes notice of, and what he declares must be accounted for before his tribunal. Though then God saw even before the creation of the world what was to take place afterward in all ages, yet he is rightly said to see what he begins to call to judgment. The Jews indeed thought they were neglected by him; for the Scripture everywhere says, that God closes his eyes, is asleep, lies down, forgets, cares not, when he hides himself and appears not as the avenger of wrongs. Hence, on the other hand, the Lord declares here, that he saw with his eyes those things which were not to be tolerated, inasmuch as enemies had passed all bounds, and had so far advanced and indulged in wantonness, that their pride and cruelty were become intolerable.
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 He showeth that God’s power only shall be sufficient…
He showeth that God’s power only shall be sufficient to defend his Church against all adversaries be they never so cruel, or assemble their power never so often.
That is, God hath now seen the great injuries and afflictions wherewith they have been afflicted by their enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 9:8 And I will encamp about mine house…
Zec 9:8 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.
Ver. 8. And I will encamp about mine house] Though it be otherwise but ill fenced and fortified; yet I will see it safeguarded and secured from the inroads and incursions of enemies, who are ranging up and down, and not only robbing, but ravishing, Psa 10:9. For what was Alexander but an arch-pirate, a strong thief, as the pirate whom he had taken told him to his teeth? And whether here be intimated by these words,
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because of him that passeth by, and him that returneth] something of Alexander’s voyages, who passed by Judaea into Egypt, and to Ammon’s oracle with his army, and thence returned to Persia by the same way, not hurting the Jews, or something about the many expeditions of the Seleucidae and Lagedae to and fro from Egypt to Syria, and back again, among which hurly burly the Jews’ state stood fast, though sometime a little shaken; I dare not say (saith a learned interpreter), it may be both those and all other the like dangers are here generally comprised.
And no oppressor shall pass through them any more] Chald. No sultan; not the Turkish tyrant, Lord of Greece, as Zec 9:13, say those that take the text of the Jews’ glorious state at last. Calvin thinks that by this clause be only expounds what he had figuratively said before. Danaeus takes it of violence and opression among themselves, or of wringing and vexing by their own rulers; they shall be free from violence both abroad and at home.
For now have I seen with mine eyes] i.e. I have taken good notice of it, I have seen, I have seen, as Exo 3:7, and mine eye hath affected mine heart. I have well observed that the enemy is grown unsufferably insolent, and am therefore come to rescue and relieve my people. The Chaldee hath it thus, I have now revealed my power to do them good; Aben Ezra makes these to be the prophet’s words of himself, q.d. I have seen all this in a manifest vision. But this is frigidum imo insulsum, saith Calvin, an odd conceit; unless we refer it (with Montanus) to the following words, and make this the sense (which yet I like not so well), Behold, I see in the spirit, with the eyes of my mind, the Lord Christ coming and entering, with state, the city and temple.
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 I will encamp about; pitch, not the tents of…
I will encamp about; pitch, not the tents of travellers and shepherds. but of an army, God in the midst of his own hosts, and angels among them, guardians, too.
Mine house; this material temple, but as it is an emblem of the church.
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Because of the army; of the Persian and Grecian army, whose march lay either through or near to Judea and Jerusalem. Armies are very troublesome, costly, and dangerous in all their marches; the people of God, his city, and temple, shall be as garrisoned and fortified, as if secured by an host; God will have angels pitch their tents round about those that fear the Lord. Judea was a thoroughfare to the Egyptian and Syrian armies, to the Grecian and Persian; an unadvised attempt to stop Pharaoh-necho in his passage through once cost Josiah his life; but God will be a guard to his people, whilst their enemies are moving. All this was accomplished in the times of Alexander and his successors; in midst of those wars, though the Jews suffered somewhat, yet they were mightily defended by their God.
No oppressor shall pass through them any more; as formerly, when they had ingress, egress, regress at their pleasure, as if lords of the soil, and of the people too.
For now have I seen with mine eyes; I ever saw it, but now I manifest that I take notice of it purposely to redress it: I see how vilely they use my people; they shall do so no more. I behold
mischief and spite, to requite it, as Psa 10:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And I will encamp about my house, because of…
And I will encamp about my house, because of the army,.... Of profane and wicked men, persecutors and heretics, who rose up in great numbers in the first ages of Christianity against the church, the house of God, where he dwells, which consisted of persons called from among the Gentiles as before; in order to protect and defend them from that great company which opposed them, the Lord encamped about them, partly by his angels, Psa 34:7 and partly by his ministers, set for the defence of the Gospel; but chiefly by his own power and presence, who is as a fire round about them. The Targum is,
"and I will cause my glorious Shechinah to dwell in the house of my sanctuary, and the strength of the arm of my power shall be as a wall of fire round about it.''
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Because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth; either that his people might pass and repass with safety, who attended the worship and service of his house; or because of Satan and wicked men, who go to and fro, seeking to do all the mischief they can to the saints of the most High. This may, in a literal sense, respect the care of God over the Jewish nation, his church and people, in the times of Alexander, who passed to and fro without distressing them; or in the times of the Lagidae and Seleucidae, the kings of Egypt and Syria, during whose commotions, and their passing to and fro against each other, and against them, were still continued a kingdom.
And no oppressor shall pass through them any more; or "exactor" (q); satisfaction for the sins of God's people being exacted, required, and demanded of Christ their surety, it has been given; wherefore no exactor shall pass through them, or over them, to require it of them; not the law, for they are freed by Christ from the exaction, curse, and condemnation of it; not justice, for that is fully satisfied, and infinitely well pleased with the righteousness of Christ; nor Satan, the accuser of the brethren, requiring punishment to be inflicted, which, though he may do it, will be of no avail against them; nor the Jewish tutors and governors, who exacted of the people obedience, not only to the law of Moses, but to the traditions of the elders; since Christ has redeemed his from this vain conversation, Christians are entirely free from that yoke of bondage. This shows that this prophecy is not to be literally understood, since it is certain, that, after the delivery, of it, there were oppressors or exactors among the Jews in a literal sense: Antiochus and others oppressed them before the birth of Christ; they paid tribute to the Romans in his time; he was born at the time of a Roman tax; and, after his death, Titus Vespasian destroyed their nation, and city and temple: or, if it is, "any more" must be understood of a long time, as it were, before they were utterly oppressed.
For now I have seen with mine eyes; these are either the words of God the Father, looking with pleasure upon his church and people, about whom he encamps; and upon the satisfaction his Son has given to the divine justice for their sins, whereby they are free from all exactions and oppressions: or of the Prophet Zechariah, as Aben Ezra thinks, who saw with his eyes, in the visions of the night, all that is contained in this prophecy: and now, inasmuch as all this predicted was to be fulfilled in, or near, or about the times of Christ, therefore next follows a glorious prophecy of his coming.
(q) "exactor", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius.
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 I will encamp - To defend it from all…
I will encamp - To defend it from all its enemies. Mine house - This temple, but as it is an emblem of the church. The army - Of the Persian and the Grecian army, whose march lay through Judea.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. I will encamp about mine house] This…
Verse 8. I will encamp about mine house] This may apply to the conquests in Palestine by Alexander, who, coming with great wrath against Jerusalem, was met by Jaddua the high priest and his fellows in their sacred robes, who made intercession for the city and the temple; and, in consequence, Alexander spared both, which he had previously purposed to destroy. He showed the Jews also much favour, and remitted the tax every seventh year, because the law on that year forbade them to cultivate their ground. See this extraordinary account in Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi., c. 8, s. 5. Bishop Newcome translates: "I will encamp about my house with an army, so that none shall pass through or return."
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 9:8. I will encamp about my house —…
Zec 9:8. I will encamp about my house — About this temple, and my church, of which this temple is an emblem, that I may defend it from all its enemies. Because of the army — The Persian and Grecian army marching to and fro through Judea. The Hebrew is literally, I will encamp about my house as a garrison, the word מצבה, here used, meaning properly a military guard set to keep watch and ward against any hostile approach. “The purport of this passage is, that, while these revolutions were taking place in the neighbouring states, God would act as a guard in favour of his household, or family, against the armies that were marching forward and backward, so as not to suffer any enemy to come near to molest them; for which purpose his eyes, he says, were now, that is, at the time he was speaking of, continually upon the watch.” — Blayney. Many think this alludes to the Maccabees, who were defenders of the house of God against Antiochus Epiphanes. They were as a wall of brass round about the sanctuary. From their days God preserved the temple against the profanation of strangers, till after the death of Jesus Christ, when he forsook it entirely; choosing the Christian Church for his temple, and making it his peculiar care to watch over, encamp round about, and protect it. And no oppressor shall pass through any more — Or rather, any longer. None of those that now threaten to invade or oppress them shall prosper in their attempts against them. For now have I seen with mine eyes — I am not regardless of my people, but look upon their condition with an eye of pity and compassion.
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 And I will encamp about my house - (for…
And I will encamp about my house - (for my house’s sake) because of the army “Because,” it is added in explanation, “of him that passeth by and of him that returneth;” Alexander, who passed by with his army, on his way to Egypt, and “returned,” having founded Alexandria.
It was a most eventful march; one of the most eventful in the history of mankind. The destruction of the Persian empire, for which it prepared, was in itself of little moment; Alexander’s own empire was very brief. As Daniel had foretold, he came, cast down Persia “to the ground, waxed very great, and when he was strong, the great horn was broken” Dan 8:7-8. But with the marvelous perception which characterized him, he saw and impressed upon his successors the dependibleness of the Jewish people. When he came into Judaea, he sent to the high priest for aid against Tyre and for the like tribute as he used to pay to Darius, promising that he would not repent of choosing the friendship of the Macedonians . The high priest refused on the ground of the oath, by which his people were bound in fealty to the earthly king of kings, whom Alexander came to subdue.
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Alexander threatened to teach all, through its fate, to whom fealty was due. This, after the conquest of Gaza, he prepared to fulfill. He came, he saw, he was conquered . Jaddua and his people prayed to God. Taught by God in a dream not to fear, he went to meet the conqueror. The gates of the city were thrown open. There marched out, not an army such as encountered the Romans, but as he had been taught, a multitude in white garments, and the priests going belove in their raiment of fine linen. The high priest, in his apparel of purple and gold, having on his head the mitre, and on it the golden plate , whereon was written the name of God, advanced alone, and the Conqueror, who was expected to give the city to be plundered, and the high priest to be insulted and slain, kissed the name of God, recognizing in the priest one whom lie had seen in the like dress in a dream, who had bidden him, when hesitating, cross to Asia; for that he would go before his army and deliver the Persian empire to him.
The result is related to have been, that Alexander promised to allow the Jews in Judea to live according to their own laws, remitted the tribute of every seventh year, acceded beforehand to the terms to be proposed by those in Babylonia and Media, and that many Jews joined his army, under condition that they might live under their own laws.
Rationalism, while it remains such, cannot admit of Daniel’s prophecies which the high priest showed him, declaring that a Greek should destroy the Persian empire, which Alexander rightly interpreted of himself. But the facts remain; that the conqueror, who, above most, gave way to his anger, bestowed privileges almost incredible on a nation, which under the Medes and Persians had been “the most despised part of the enslaved;” made them equal in privileges to his own Macedonians , who could hardly brook the absorption of the Persians, although in inferior condition, among themselves .
The most despised of the enslaved became the most trusted of the trusted. They became a large portion of the second and third then known cities of the world. They became Alexandrians, Antiochenes, Ephesians , without ceasing to be Jews. The law commanded faithfulness to oaths, and they who despised their religion respected its fruits.
The immediate successors of Alexander, Ptolemy Lagi and Antiochus Nicator, followed his policy; Ptolemy especially on the ground of the fealty shown to Darius; Nicator, as having observed their faithfulness as soldiers, who had served with him ; but they were so enrolled on this visit to Jerusalem. The pagan kings multiplied, in their own purpose, faithful subjects to themselves; in God’s design, they prepared in Asia and Egypt a seed-plot for the Gospel. The settlement of the Jews at Alexandria formed the language of the Gospel; that wonderful blending of the depth of the Hebrew with the clearness and precision of the Greek. Everywhere the seed of the preparatory dispensation was sown, to be fostered, grow and ripen with the harvest of the Gospel.
For now have I seen with Mine eyes - This is the counterpart of what the Psalmists and pious people so often pray, “Awake to help me and behold” Psa 59:4; “Look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine” Psa 80:14; Psa 9:13; “Look upon my trouble from them that hate me” “Look upon my affliction and my trouble; look upon my enemies, for they are many” Psa 25:18-19; “Look upon my adversity and deliver me” Psa 119:153; “O Lord, behold my affliction” (Lam 1:9, add 11; Lam 2:20); “Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress” Lam 1:20; “Look and behold my reproach” Lam 5:1; “Open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see” Isa 37:17; Dan 9:18; “Look clown from heaven, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and glory” Isa 63:15. With God, compassion is so intrinsic an attribute, that He is pictured as looking away, when He does not put it forth. With God, to behold is to help.
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 War; the Machabees. (Challoner) --- They stood up like…
War; the Machabees. (Challoner) --- They stood up like a wall for the people and the temple. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "my house, on account of those going," &c. I will protect it better than an army. (Haydock) --- After the Machabees, God preserved the temple from profanation till he abandoned it after the death of Christ. (Calmet) --- Yet Pompey penetrated into the most holy place, and Crassus plundered the treasury. Both felt the effects of their impiety, and had no farther success. --- Oppressor; tax-gatherer, (Haydock) sent by foreign tyrants. (Menochius) --- Till the Machabees, particularly Hircan, (Calmet) or Simon, his father, (Haydock) threw off the yoke, the Jews were always subject (Calmet) either to the Persians, to Syria, or to Egypt. (Haydock) --- Hircan’s son, Aristobulus, took the title king, and governed in peace. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain encamp about-- (Psa 34:7).
encamp about-- (Psa 34:7).
mine house--namely, the Jewish people (Zac 3:7; Hos 8:1) [MAURER]. Or, the temple: reassuring the Jews engaged in building, who might otherwise fear their work would be undone by the conqueror [MOORE]. The Jews were, in agreement with this prophecy, uninjured by Alexander, though he punished the Samaritans. Typical of their final deliverance from every foe.
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passeth by . . . returneth--Alexander, when advancing against Jerusalem, was arrested by a dream, so that neither in "passing by" to Egypt, nor in "returning," did he injure the Jews, but conferred on them great privileges.
no oppressor . . . pass through . . . any more--The prophet passes from the immediate future to the final deliverance to come (Isa 60:18; Eze 28:24).
seen with mine eyes--namely, how Jerusalem has been oppressed by her foes [ROSENMULLER] (Exo 3:7; Exo 2:25). God is said now to have seen, because He now begins to bring the foe to judgment, and manifests to the world His sense of His people's wrongs.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. about mine house] Rather, for my house. It…
8. about mine house] Rather, for my house. It is a kind of dativus commodi. I will pitch my camp for (the sake of, the protection of) my house, i.e. either of the Temple, or of the people. Comp. Zec_3:7, note.
because of] Lit. from, which may mean, so as to defend it from the army, from him that passeth by, &c. The R. V. renders, against the army, that none pass through or return.
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that passeth by, and … that returneth] This is referred by Pusey to “Alexander, who passed by with his army on his way to Egypt, and returned having founded Alexandria.” But the use of the phrase in the more general sense of “going backward and forward,” both in this Book (Zec_7:14, note) and in the only other places where it occurs in the O. T. (Exo_32:27; Eze_35:7), shews that the reference is more general, to the overrunning of the land by an invading army. The fact that of the four places in which alone this phrase occurs two are in this Book and one in each division of the Book, is in favour, so far as it goes, of a single authorship.
now have I seen with mine eyes] God is said to “see,” when He so takes notice of the actions of men as to interpose, as He here promises to do, for the deliverance of His people and the destruction of their enemies. Exo_2:25; Exo_3:7; Exo_3:9. Comp. Zec_9:1 supra. “Nihil aliud exprimere verba possunt, quam velle Jovam in populum suum ejusque hostes jamjam intentos habere oculos, ut illum servet, hos perdat.” Maurer.
The story of Alexander’s visit to Jerusalem, as it is gathered from Josephus (Ant. Bk. xi. c. 8) and from the Talmud is thus related by Dean Stanley. After the conquest of Tyre and Gaza, Alexander had approached Jerusalem, when “suddenly from the city emerged a long procession, the whole population streamed out, dressed in white. The priestly tribe, in their white robes; the High Priest, apparently the chief authority in the place, in his purple and gold attire, his turban on his head, bearing the golden plate on which was inscribed the ineffable name of Jehovah … It was at the sunrise of a winter morning, long afterwards observed as a joyous festival, when they stood before the king. To the astonishment of the surrounding chiefs Alexander descended from his chariot and bowed to the earth before the Jewish leader. None ventured to ask the meaning of this seeming frenzy, save Parmenio alone. ‘Why should he, whom all men worship, worship the High Priest of the Jews?’ ‘Not him,’ replied the king, ‘but the God whose High Priest he is I worship. Long ago, when at Dium in Macedonia, I saw in my dreams such an one in such an attire as this, who urged me to undertake the conquest of Persia and succeed’ … Hand in hand with the High Priest, and with the priestly tribe running by his side, he entered the sacred inclosure, and offered the usual sacrifice, saw with pleasure the indication of the rise of the Grecian power in the prophetic books, granted free use of their ancestral laws, and specially of the year of jubilee inaugurated so solemnly a hundred years before under Nehemiah, promised to befriend the Jewish settlements of Babylonia and Media, and invited any who were disposed to serve in his army with the preservation of their sacred customs.” Jewish Church, Vol. iii., Lect. xlvii. Without denying that the story is in a legendary dress, we may admit the “probability” of Alexander’s visit to Jerusalem, and the certainty that the city was spared, and the people favoured by him, in accordance with the terms of Zechariah’s prophecy.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Amid all these dangers, Israel is promised, under…
(8) Amid all these dangers, Israel is promised, under Divine protection, a certain immunity.
Because of the army.—This is the meaning of the word as pointed in the Hebrew text, but some, altering the vocalisation, would render it “as a garrison;” and others, as LXX., “a column.”
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Him that passeth . . . returneth.—Pusey refers these words directly to “Alexander, who passed by with his army on the way to Egypt, and returned, having founded Alexandria,” but this appears to us to be too special an application of an expression which occurs in a general sense in Zec_7:14; Exo_32:27; Eze_35:7. The promise, however, was undoubtedly fulfilled when Alexander entered Jerusalem, prostrated himself before the high priest, and treated the Jews with peculiar favour.
Oppressor.—The same word that is used in Zec_10:4. (Comp. Isa_3:12; Isa_60:17.)
Have I seen.—Compare Exo_3:7. In the estimation of the man of little faith, God only sees when He actively interferes.
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 While the heathen world suffers the judgment of God,…
While the heathen world suffers the judgment of God, he protects his own people. I will encamp about (for the protection of) my house. God"s house, or family, is the kingdom and Church of Israel, as Hos_8:1. Septuagint, Uposthsomai tw oikw mou anasthma , "I will erect a fortification for my house." Because of the army. It may also be translated "against," or "from;" i.e. to defend it from the hostile army. Others, pointing differently, render, "as a garrison," or "rampart." Because of (against) him that passeth by, etc. Against all hostile attacks. The phrase, "him that passeth by and him that returneth," is used of an enemy making incursions, or attacking at various points. (see note on Zec_7:14) The Vulgate gives the whole clause thus: Circumdabo domum meam ex his, qui militant mihi euntes et revertentes, "I will defend my house with a guard chosen from those who serve me and do my will," i.e. angels. But this seems far from the signification of the Hebrew. Pusey restricts the meaning to the proceedings of Alexander, who passed by Judaea on his way to Egypt, and returned by the same route, without doing any injury to Jerusalem. Here comes in the Talmudic story related by Josephus ("Ant.," 11:8). The Jews "repaid the protection of Persia with a devoted loyalty, which prompted them to refuse the demand of submission made by Alexander during the siege of Tyre. He marched to chastise them after the fall of Gaza, and the beautiful city had already risen before his view on the hill of Zion, when he found the high priest Jaddua waiting his approach at the watch station of Sapha, clad in his robes of gold and purple, and followed by a train of priests and citizens in pure white. The conqueror bowed in reverence to the Holy Name upon the high priest"s frontlet; and, being asked by Parmenio the reason of his conduct, said that in a dream at Dium, he had seen the God of Jaddua, who encouraged him to pass over into Asia, and promised him success. Then entering Jerusalem, he offered sacrifice in the temple, heard the prophecy of Daniel about himself; and granted certain privileges to all the Jews throughout his empire. The desire to honour a shrine so celebrated as, the Jewish temple is quite in accordance with the conduct of Alexander at Ilium and Ephesus, Gordium and Tyre. The privileges he is said to have conferred upon the Jews were enjoyed under his successors, and some minor matters have been adduced in confirmation of the story. On the other hand, the classical writers are entirely silent on the subject, and the details of Josephus involve grave historical inconsistencies. It seems not an unreasonable conjecture that the story is an embellishment of some incident that occurred when the high priest came to Gaza to tender the submission of the Jews. But we must not dismiss it without a remark on the vast influence which the conquests of Alexander had in bringing the Jews into closer relations with the rest of Asia, and so preparing them to fulfil their ultimate destiny as Christians" (P. Smith, "History of the World," 1:60, etc). Oppressor. The word is used for "taskmaster" in Exo_3:7. Septuagint, exelaunwn , "one who drives away;" Vulgate, exactor. This latter rendering would imply that Israel would no longer have to pay tribute to foreign nations, but should henceforward be independent. For now have I seen with mine eyes. It is as though, during Israel"s calamities, God had not looked upon her; but now he notices her condition, and interposes for her succour. (comp. Exo_2:25 Exo_3:7, 9 Act_7:34) This is done by sending the personage mentioned in the following section.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain because of him
because of him
There seems to be a reference here to the advance and return of Alexander (Zec 9:13) after the battle of Issus, who subdued the cities mentioned in Zec 9:1-6, and afterward returned to Greece without harming Jerusalem. But the greater meaning converges on the yet future last days (See Scofield "Act 2:17") as the last clause of verse Zec 9:8 shows, for many oppressors have passed through Jerusalem since the days of Alexander.
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 I will camp around my land
I will camp around my land
God is speaking about himself as if he were an army that was protecting his land. AT: "I will protect my land" (See: Metaphor)
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for now
"For at that time"
I see with my own eyes
Here "my own eyes" represent Yahweh's personal attention. AT: "I will personally watch over my land" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
oppress
watch
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.