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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comAdam Clarke Commentary - Zechariah 13:7 - 13:7
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd - This is generally understood of Jesus Christ. The sword is that of Divine justice which seemed to have been long asleep, and should long ago have struck either Man, or his Substitute, the Messiah. Jesus is here called God’s Shepherd, because he had appointed him to feed and govern, as well as to save, the whole lost world. This is a prosopopoeia, and the address to the sword is very poetic. There is a fine passage in Aeschylus to the same effect: -
Ξενος δε κληροις επινωμᾳ,
Χαλυβος Σκυθων αποικας,
Κτεανων χρηματοδαιτας
Πικρος, ωμοφρων σιδαρος,
Χθονα ναιειν διαπηλας
Ὁποσαν αν και φθιμενοισι κατεχειν,
Των μεγαλων πεδιων αμοιροις,
Aeschyl. Sept. cont. Hebrews 733.
“The rude barbarian, from the mines
Of Scythia, o’er the lots presides;
Ruthless to each his share assigns,
And the contested realm divides:
To each allots no wider a domain
Than, on the cold earth as they lie,
Their breathless bodies occupy,
Regardless of an ampler reign:
Such narrow compass does the sword -
A cruel umpire - their high claims afford.”
Potter.
The man that is my Fellow - ועל גבר עמיתי veal geber amithi, “upon the strong man,” or “the hero that is with Me;” my neighbor. “The Word was God, and the Word was With God;” Joh 1:1. “I and my Father are One;” Joh 10:30.
Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered - This is quoted by our Lord, Mat 26:31, in relation to his disciples, who should be scattered on his crucifixion: and they were so; for every one, giving up all for lost, went to his own house.
And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones - I will take care of the little flock, and preserve them from Jewish malice and Gentile persecution. And so this little flock was most wondrously preserved, and has been increasing from year to year from that time to the present day.