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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Zechariah 9:2 - 9:2
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Zec 9:2. “And Hamath also, which borders thereon; Tyre and Sidon, because it is very wise. Zec 9:3. And Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like dust, and gold like dirt of the streets. Zec 9:4. Behold, the Lord will cause it to be taken, and smite its might in the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.” Chămâth is appended to Damascus by vegam (and also). Tigbol-bâh is to be taken as a relative clause; and bâh refers to chămâth, and not to 'erets chadrâkh (the land of Hadrach). “Hamath also,” i.e., Ἐπιφάνεια on the Orontes, the present Hamah (see at Gen 10:18), which borders on Damascus, i.e., which has its territory touching the territory of Damascus, sc. will be a resting-place of the burden of Jehovah. The relative clause connects Hamath with Damascus, and separates it from the names which follow. Damascus and Hamath represent Syria. Tyre and Sidon, the two capitals of Phoenicia, are connected again into a pair by the explanatory clause כִּי חָֽכְמָה מְאֹד. For although חָֽכְמָה is in the singular, it cannot be taken as referring to Sidon only, because Tyre is mentioned again in the very next verse as the subject, and the practical display of its wisdom is described. The singular חָֽכְמָה cannot be taken distributively in this sense, that being wise applies in just the same manner to both the cities (Koehler); for the cases quoted by Gesenius (§146, 4) are of a totally different kind, since there the subject is in the plural, and is construed with a singular verb; but צִידוֹן is subordinate to צֹר, “Tyre with Sidon,” Sidon being regarded as an annex of Tyre, answering to the historical relation in which the two cities stood to one another, - namely, that Tyre was indeed originally a colony of Sidon, but that it very soon overshadowed the mother city, and rose to be the capital of all Phoenicia (see the comm. on Isaiah 23), so that even in Isaiah and Ezekiel the prophecies concerning Sidon are attached to those concerning Tyre, and its fate appears interwoven with that of Tyre (cf. Isa 23:4, Isa 23:12; Eze 28:21.). Hence we find Tyre only spoken of here in Zec 9:3, Zec 9:4. This city showed its wisdom in the fact that it built itself a fortress, and heaped up silver and gold like dust and dirt of the streets. Zechariah has here in his mind the insular Tyre, which was built about three or four stadia from the mainland, and thirty stadia to the north of Palae-tyrus, and which is called מָעוֹז הַיָּם in Isa 23:4, because, although very small in extent, it was surrounded by a wall a hundred and fifty feet high, and was so strong a fortification, that Shalmaneser besieged it for five years without success, and Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years, and apparently was unable to conquer it (see Delitzsch on Isaiah, at Isa 23:18). This fortification is called mâtsōr. Here Tyre had heaped up immense treasures. Chârūts is shining gold (Psa 68:14, etc.). but the wisdom through which Tyre had acquired such might and such riches (cf. Eze 28:4-5) would be of no help to it. For it was the wisdom of this world (1Co 1:20), which ascribes to itself the glory due to God, and only nourishes the pride out of which it sprang. The Lord will take the city. Hōrı̄sh does not mean to drive from its possession - namely, the population (Hitzig) - for the next two clauses show that it is not the population of Tyre, but the city itself, which is thought of as the object; nor does it mean to “give as a possession” - namely, their treasures (Calv., Hengst., etc.) - but simply to take possession, to take, to conquer, as in Jos 8:7; Jos 17:12; Num 14:24 (Maurer, Koehler). And will smite in the sea חֵילָהּ, not “her bulwarks:” for חֵיל, when used of fortifications, neither denotes the city wall nor earthworks, but the moat, including the small outer wall (2Sa 20:15) as distinguished from the true city wall (chōmâh, Isa 26:1; Lam 2:8), and this does not apply to the insular Tyre; moreover, חֵיל cannot be taken here in any other sense than in Eze 28:4-5, which Zechariah follows. There it denotes the might which Tyre had acquired through its wisdom, not merely warlike or military power (Koehler), but might consisting in its strong situation and artificial fortification, as well as in the wealth of its resources for defence. This will be smitten in the sea, because Tyre itself stood in the sea. And finally, the city will be destroyed by fire.