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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Zec_9:11-17
11 As for thee also,—for the sake of thy covenant-blood,
I send forth thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water.
12 Return to the strong hold, O prisoners of hope,
Even to-day I declare, I will repay double to you.
13 ForI bend for me Judah, fill the bow 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 protect them,
And they devour, and tread down sling-stones,
And they drink and make a noise as from wine,
And become full as the sacrificial bowl, as the corners of the altar,
16 And Jehovah their God saves them in that day,
(Saves) like a flock 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, and new wine the maidens.
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. âַּîÎàַúְּ , 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, 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).
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.
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:
Zec_9:11. — áְãַí× 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.
Zec_9:11.— ùִׁìַּçְúִé is the common prophetic preterite.
Zec_9:12.— áִöָּøåֹï , a cut off place, h. inaccessible, fortified, ὀ÷ýñùìá (LXX.), munitio (Vulg.).
Zec_9:12. — îִùְׁðֶä . 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.
Zec_9:13. —The E. V. needlessly continues here the sentence of the previous verse, and renders ëִé when. A literal rendering is at once more forcible and more accurate.
Zec_9:13. — ÷ֶùֶׁú . Some connect this with what precedes, but nothing is gained by departing from the Masoretic interpunction.
Zec_9:15. — éָâֵï = covers protectingly. Cf. Zec_12:8.
Zec_9:15. —“With sling-stones,” in the text of E. V., introduces a needless preposition. The marginal rendering is to be preferred.
Zec_9:15.— ëְîåֹÎéַéִï is an abbreviated comparison. Cf. Zec_10:7.
Zec_9:15.—“Sacrificial bowl.” The qualifying epithet must be introduced in order to give the full force of îִæְø÷ . Cf. Zec_14:20.
Zec_9:16.—The E. V. “flock of his people,” is grammatically impossible.
Zec_9:17. — éִðåֹáá 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.
“The beauty of the Lord,” In Psa_90:17, represents a different word ( ðֹòí ), 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.