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Selected Verse: Zechariah 9:14 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Zec 9:14 |
King James |
And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Another image: "Jehovah shall be seen (conspicuously manifesting His power) over them" (that is, in behalf of the Jews and against their foes), as formerly He appeared in a cloud over the Israelites against the Egyptians (Exo 14:19, Exo 14:24).
his arrow . . . as . . . lightning--flashing forth instantaneous destruction to the foe (Psa 18:14).
blow . . . trumpet--to summon and incite His people to battle for the destruction of their foe.
go with whirlwinds of the south--that is, go forth in the most furious storm, such as is one from the south (Isa 21:1). Alluding, perhaps, to Jehovah's ancient miracles at Sinai coming "from Teman" ("the south," in the Margin). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
And the Lord shall be seen over them - o "He will reveal himself," protecting them. Cyril: "He says plainly, that the Lord God will be with them and will fight in serried array with them and will with them subdue those who resist them." It is as if he would say, "When they go forth and preach everywhere, the Lord shall work with them and confirm the word with signs following" Mar 16:20. "And His arrow shall go forth as the lightning." Habakkuk directly calls the lightnings the arrows of God: "at the light of Thine arrows they went" . Here it is probably of an invisible agency, and so compared to that awful symbol of His presence, the lightning.
And the Lord God shall blow with the trumpet - As their Commander, ordering their goings. The blowing of the trumpet by the priests in war was commanded, as a reminiscence of themselves before God, "If ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets, and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies" Num 10:9. Abijah said, "God Himself is with us for our captain, and His priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you" Ch2 13:12.
And shall go with whirlwinds of the south - As being the most vehement and destructive. So Isaiah, "As whirlwinds in the south sweep by, He cometh from a desert, from a terrible land" Isa 21:1. Such smote the four corners of the house where Job's children were , and they perished. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Shall be seen - Shall manifestly appear for them. His arrow - His judgments, swift, irresistible, and sudden. As the lightning - Which breaks forth with violence, and runs from east to west in a moment. The Lord God - Their God, the God of Israel, shall give the alarm to them, and sound the call to bring them together. Of the south - In which the mightiest whirlwinds are raised; some think the prophet alludes to the tempest at the delivery of the law. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
The Lord shall be seen over them - Shadowing and refreshing them, as the cloud did the camp in the wilderness.
His arrow shall go forth as the lightning - They shall be conquered in a way that will show that God fights for his followers.
The description here is very sublime; we have a good imitation of it in Nonnus: -
Και τοτε γαιαν ἁπασαν επεκλυσεν ὑετιος Ζευς,
Πυκνωσας νεφεεσσιν ὁλον πολον· ουρανιη γαρ
Βρονταιοις παταγοισι Διος μυκησατο σαλπιγξ.
Nonn. Dionys., lib. 6. ver. 229.
"When heaven's dread trumpet, sounding from on high,
Breaks forth in thunders through the darken'd sky;
The pregnant clouds to floods of rain give birth.
And stormy Jove o'erwhelms the solid earth."
J. B. B. C.
In these two verses there is a fine image, and an allusion to a particular fact, which have escaped the notice of every commentator. I must repeat the verses:
Zac 9:13 : When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
Zac 9:14 : And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrows shall go forth like lightning.
The reader will consult what is said on Hos 7:16, relative to the oriental bow, which resembles a [figure C] in its quiescent state, and must be recurved in order to be strung. Here, Judah is represented as the recurved bow; Ephraim, as an arrow placed on the string, and then discharged against the Javanites or Greeks with the momentum of lightning; the arrow kindling in its course through the air, and thus becoming the bolt of death to them against whom it was directed.
Volat illud, et incandescit eundo,
Et quos non habuit, sub nubibus invenit ignes.
"It flies apace; and, heating, mounts on high,
Glows in its course, and burns along the sky." |
1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
12 And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.