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Selected Verse: Zechariah 9:13 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Zec 9:13 |
Strong Concordance |
When I have bent [01869] Judah [03063] for me, filled [04390] the bow [07198] with Ephraim [0669], and raised up [05782] thy sons [01121], O Zion [06726], against thy sons [01121], O Greece [03120], and made [07760] thee as the sword [02719] of a mighty man [01368]. |
|
King James |
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. |
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] |
bent Judah--made Judah as it were My bow, and "filled" it "with Ephraim," as My arrow, wherewith to overcome the successor of the Grecian Alexander, Antiochus Epiphanes (compare Notes, see on Dan 8:9; Dan 11:32; I Maccabees 1:62; 2:41-43), the oppressor of Judah. Having spoken (Zac 9:1-8) of Alexander's victories, after the parenthesis (Zac 9:9-10) as to Messiah the infinitely greater King coming, he passes to the victories which God would enable Judah to gain over Alexander's successor, after his temporary oppression of them.
O Zion . . . O Greece--God on one hand addresses Zion, on the other Greece, showing that He rules all people. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
When - or For I have bent Judah for me As a mighty bow which is only drawn at full human strength, the foot being placed to steady it. It becomes a strong instrument, but only at God's Will. God Himself bends it. It cannot bend itself. "And filled the bow with Ephraim." The bow is filled, when the arrow is laid upon it. God would employ both in their different offices, as one. "And raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece." Let people place this prophecy where they will, nothing in the history of the world was more contradictory to what was in human sight possible. "Greece was, until Alexander, a colonizing, not a conquering, nation. The Hebrews had no human knowledge of the site or circumstances of Greece. There was not a little cloud, like a man's hand, when Zechariah thus absolutely foretold the conflict and its issue. Yet here we have a definite prophecy later than Daniel, fitting in with his temporal prophecy, expanding part of it, reaching on beyond the time of Antiochus, and fore-announcing the help of God in two definite ways of protection;
(1) "without war," against the army of Alexander Zac 9:1-8;
(2) "in the war" of the Maccabees; and these, two of the most critical periods in their history after the captivity Zech. 9-16.
Yet, being expansions of part of the prophecy of Daniel, the period, to which they belong, becomes clearer in the event by aid of the more comprehensive prophecies. They were two points in Daniel's larger prediction of the 3rd empire."
And I will make thee as the sword of a mighty man - The strength is still not their own. In the whole history of Israel, they had only once met in battle an army, of one of the world-empires and defeated it, at a time, when Asa's whole population which could bear arms were 580,000 (Ch2 14:8-10 ff), and he met Zerah the Ethiopian with his million of combatants, besides his 500 chariots, and defeated him. And this, in reliance on the "Lord his God, to whom he cried, Lord, it is nothing to Thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power; help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go against this multitude" Ch2 14:11. Asa's words found an echo in Judas Maccabaeus (1 Macc. 3:16-19), when the "small company with him asked him, How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong?" "It is no hard matter," Judas answered, "for many to be shut up in the hands of a few, and with Heaven it is all one to deliver with a great multitude or a small company. For the victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from Heaven." But his armies were but a handful; 3,000, on three occasions (1 Macc. 4:6; 7:40; 9:5), on one of which they are reduced by fear to 800 (1 Macc. 9:6); 10,000 on two occasions (1 Macc. 4:29; 10:74); on another, two armies of 8,000 and 3,000, with a garrison, not trusted to fight in the open field (1 Macc. 5:17-20); on one, 20,000 (1 Macc. 16:4); once only 40,000, which Tryphon treacherously persuaded Jonathan to disperse ; these were the numbers with which, always against "great hosts," God gave the victory to the lion-hearted Judas and his brothers. But who except He, in whose hands are the hearts of people, could foresee that He, at that critical moment, would raise up that devoted family, or inspire that faith, through which they "out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens?" Heb 11:34. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
This thought is supported in Zac 9:13. by a picture of the glory intended for Israel. Zac 9:13. "For I stretch Judah as my bow, fill it with Ephraim, and stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Javan, and make thee like the sword of a hero. Zac 9:14. And Jehovah will appear above them, and like the lightning will His arrow go forth; and the Lord Jehovah will blow the trumpets, and will pass along in storms of the south. Zac 9:15. Jehovah of hosts will shelter above them, and they will eat and tread down sling-stones, and will drink, make a noise, as if with wine, and become full, like the sacrificial bowls, like the corners of the altar." The double recompense which the Lord will make to His people, will consist in the fact that He not only liberates them out of captivity and bondage, and makes them into an independent nation, but that He helps them to victory over the power of the world, so that they will tread it down, i.e., completely subdue it. The first thought is not explained more fully, because it is contained implicite in the promise of return to a strong place; the "double" only is more distinctly defined, namely, the victory over Javan. The expression, "I stretch," etc., implies that the Lord will subdue the enemies by Judah and Ephraim, and therefore Israel will carry on this conflict in the power of its God. The figurative description is a bold one. Judah is the extended bow; Ephraim the arrow which God shoots at the foe. קשׁת is indeed separated from יהוּדה by the accents; but the lxx, Targ., Vulg., and others, have taken it more correctly, as in apposition to יהוּדה; because with the many meanings that דּרך possesses, the expression דּרך יהוּדה needs a more precise definition; whereas there is no difficulty in supplying in thought the noun qesheth, which has been mentioned only just before, to the verb מלּאתי (I fill). מלּאתי is to be understood as signifying the laying of the arrow upon the bow, and not to be explained from Kg2 9:24, "to fill the hand with the bow." A bow is filled when it is supplied with the arrow for shooting. We must bear in mind that the matter is divided rhetorically between the parallel members; and the thought is this: Judah and Ephraim are bow and arrow in the hand of Jehovah. עוררתּי, I stir up, not I swing thy children as a lance (Hitzig and Koehler); for if עורר had this meaning, חנית could not be omitted. The sons of Zion are Judah and Ephraim, the undivided Israel, not the Zionites living as slaves in Javan (Hitzig). The sons of Javan are the Greeks, as the world-power, the Graeco-Macedonian monarchy (cf. Dan 8:21), against which the Lord will make His people into a hero's sword. This took place in weak beginnings, even in the wars between the Maccabees and the Seleucidae, to which, according to Jerome, the Jews understood our prophecy to refer; but it must not be restricted to this, as the further description in Zac 9:14, Zac 9:15 points to the complete subjugation of the imperial power.
Jehovah appears above them, i.e., coming from heaven as a defence, to fight for them (the sons of Zion), as a mighty man of war (Psa 24:8). His arrow goes out like the lightning (כ the so-called כ veritatis; for the fact described, compare Hab 3:11). Marching at the head of His people, He gives the signal of battle with a trumpet-blast, and attacks the enemy with terribly devastating violence. The description rests upon the poetical descriptions of the coming of the Lord to judgment, the colours of which are borrowed from the phenomena of a storm (cf. Psalm 18 and Hab 3:8.). Storms of the south are the most violent storms, as they come from the Arabian desert, which bounds Canaan on the south (Isa 21:1; cf. Hos 13:15). But Jehovah not only fights for His people; He is also a shield to them in battle, covering them against the weapons of the foe. This is affirmed in יגן עליהם in Zac 9:15. Hence they are able to destroy their enemies, and, like devouring lions, to eat their flesh and drink their blood. That this figure lies at the foundation of the horrible picture of ואכלוּ, is evident from Num 23:24, which was the passage that Zechariah had in his mind: "Behold a people like the lioness; it rises up, and like the lion does it lift itself up: it lies not down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain." Hence the object to אכלוּ is not the possessions of the heathen, but their flesh. כּבשׁוּ אבני קלע does not mean, they tread down (subdue) the enemy with sling-stones (lxx, Vulg., Grot.); for אבני ק cannot, when considered grammatically, be taken in an instrumental sense, and is rather an accus. obj.; but they tread down sling-stones. The sling-stones might be used per synecdochen to signify darts, which the enemy hurls at them, and which they tread down as perfectly harmless (Kliefoth). But the comparison of the Israelites to the stones of a crown, in Zac 9:16, leads rather to the conclusion that the sling-stones are to be taken as a figure denoting the enemy, who are trampled under the feet like stones (Hitzig, Hengstenberg). Only we cannot speak of eating sling-stones, as Koehler would interpret the words, overlooking כּבשׁוּ, and appealing to the parallel member: they will drink, reel as if from wine, which shows, in his opinion, that it is the sling-stones that are to be eaten. But this shows, on the contrary, that just as there no mention is made of what is to be drunk, so here what is to be eaten is not stated. It is true that wine and sacrificial blood point to the blood of the enemy; but wine and blood are drinkable, whereas sling-stones are not edible. The description of the enemy as sling-stones is to be explained from the figure in Sa1 25:29, to hurl away the soul of the enemy. They drunk (sc., the blood of the enemy) even to intoxication, making a noise, as if intoxicated with wine (כּמו יין, an abbreviated comparison; cf. Ewald, 221, a, and 282, e), and even to overflowing, so that they become full, like the sacrificial bowls in which the blood of the sacrificial animals was caught, and like the corners of the altar, which were sprinkled with the sacrificial blood. זויּת are corners, not the horns of the altar. The sacrificial blood was not sprinkled upon these; they were simply smeared with a little blood applied with the finger, in the case of the expiatory sacrifices. According to the law (Lev 1:5, Lev 1:11; Lev 3:2, etc.), the blood was to be swung against the altar. This was done, according to rabbinical tradition (Mishn. Seb. Sa1 25:4., and Rashi on Lev 1:5), in such a manner, that with two sprinklings all the four sides of the altar were wetted, - a result which could only be ensured by swinging the bowls filled with blood, so as to strike the corners of the altar. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
When I have bent Judah - In the day's when Judah shall be in my hand as a strong bow, already bent. Ephraim - Ephraim, the remainder of the ten tribes (which returned with Judah) shall be for a supply of warriors; as the quiver filled is a supply of arrows to the bow - man. O Greece - Against the Grecians or Ionians, who had oppressed the Jews, and bought them for slaves, against whom the Jews took arms, under the conduct of the Maccabees, to whom Christ made good much of this promise. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
When I have bent Judah - Judah is the bow, and Ephraim is the arrows; and these are to be shot against the Greeks. I am inclined, with Bp. Newcome, to consider that the language of this prophecy is too strong to point out the only trifling advantage which the Maccabees gained over Antiochus, who was of Macedonian descent; and it is probable that these prophecies remain to be fulfilled against the present possessors of Javan or Greece, Macedonia, and a part of Asia Minor. |
9 Rejoice [01523] greatly [03966], O daughter [01323] of Zion [06726]; shout [07321], O daughter [01323] of Jerusalem [03389]: behold, thy King [04428] cometh [0935] unto thee: he is just [06662], and having salvation [03467]; lowly [06041], and riding [07392] upon an ass [02543], and upon a colt [05895] the foal [01121] of an ass [0860].
10 And I will cut off [03772] the chariot [07393] from Ephraim [0669], and the horse [05483] from Jerusalem [03389], and the battle [04421] bow [07198] shall be cut off [03772]: and he shall speak [01696] peace [07965] unto the heathen [01471]: and his dominion [04915] shall be from sea [03220] even to sea [03220], and from the river [05104] even to the ends [0657] of the earth [0776].
1 The burden [04853] of the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] in the land [0776] of Hadrach [02317], and Damascus [01834] shall be the rest [04496] thereof: when the eyes [05869] of man [0120], as of all the tribes [07626] of Israel [03478], shall be toward the LORD [03068].
2 And Hamath [02574] also shall border [01379] thereby; Tyrus [06865], and Zidon [06721], though it be very [03966] wise [02449].
3 And Tyrus [06865] did build [01129] herself a strong hold [04692], and heaped up [06651] silver [03701] as the dust [06083], and fine gold [02742] as the mire [02916] of the streets [02351].
4 Behold, the Lord [0136] will cast her out [03423], and he will smite [05221] her power [02428] in the sea [03220]; and she shall be devoured [0398] with fire [0784].
5 Ashkelon [0831] shall see [07200] it, and fear [03372]; Gaza [05804] also shall see it, and be very [03966] sorrowful [02342], and Ekron [06138]; for her expectation [04007] shall be ashamed [03001]; and the king [04428] shall perish [06] from Gaza [05804], and Ashkelon [0831] shall not be inhabited [03427].
6 And a bastard [04464] shall dwell [03427] in Ashdod [0795], and I will cut off [03772] the pride [01347] of the Philistines [06430].
7 And I will take away [05493] his blood [01818] out of his mouth [06310], and his abominations [08251] from between his teeth [08127]: but he that remaineth [07604], even he, shall be for our God [0430], and he shall be as a governor [0441] in Judah [03063], and Ekron [06138] as a Jebusite [02983].
8 And I will encamp [02583] about mine house [01004] because of the army [04675], because of him that passeth by [05674], and because of him that returneth [07725]: and no oppressor [05065] shall pass through [05674] them any more: for now have I seen [07200] with mine eyes [05869].
32 And such as do wickedly [07561] against the covenant [01285] shall he corrupt [02610] by flatteries [02514]: but the people [05971] that do know [03045] their God [0430] shall be strong [02388], and do [06213] exploits.
9 And out of one [0259] of them came forth [03318] a little [04704] horn [07161], which waxed exceeding [03499] great [01431], toward the south [05045], and toward the east [04217], and toward the pleasant [06643] land.
34 Quenched [4570] the violence [1411] of fire [4442], escaped [5343] the edge [4750] of the sword [3162], out of [575] weakness [769] were made strong [1743], waxed [1096] valiant [2478] in [1722] fight [4171], turned to flight [2827] the armies [3925] of the aliens [245].
11 And Asa [0609] cried [07121] unto the LORD [03068] his God [0430], and said [0559], LORD [03068], it is nothing with thee to help [05826], whether [0996] with many [07227], or with them that have no power [03581]: help [05826] us, O LORD [03068] our God [0430]; for we rest [08172] on thee, and in thy name [08034] we go [0935] against this multitude [01995]. O LORD [03068], thou art our God [0430]; let not man [0582] prevail [06113] against thee.
8 And Asa [0609] had an army [02428] of men that bare [05375] targets [06793] and spears [07420], out of Judah [03063] three [07969] hundred [03967] thousand [0505]; and out of Benjamin [01144], that bare [05375] shields [04043] and drew [01869] bows [07198], two hundred [03967] and fourscore [08084] thousand [0505]: all these were mighty men [01368] of valour [02428].
9 And there came out [03318] against them Zerah [02226] the Ethiopian [03569] with an host [02428] of a thousand [0505] thousand [0505], and three [07969] hundred [03967] chariots [04818]; and came [0935] unto Mareshah [04762].
10 Then Asa [0609] went out [03318] against [06440] him, and they set the battle [04421] in array [06186] in the valley [01516] of Zephathah [06859] at Mareshah [04762].
1 The burden [04853] of the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] in the land [0776] of Hadrach [02317], and Damascus [01834] shall be the rest [04496] thereof: when the eyes [05869] of man [0120], as of all the tribes [07626] of Israel [03478], shall be toward the LORD [03068].
2 And Hamath [02574] also shall border [01379] thereby; Tyrus [06865], and Zidon [06721], though it be very [03966] wise [02449].
3 And Tyrus [06865] did build [01129] herself a strong hold [04692], and heaped up [06651] silver [03701] as the dust [06083], and fine gold [02742] as the mire [02916] of the streets [02351].
4 Behold, the Lord [0136] will cast her out [03423], and he will smite [05221] her power [02428] in the sea [03220]; and she shall be devoured [0398] with fire [0784].
5 Ashkelon [0831] shall see [07200] it, and fear [03372]; Gaza [05804] also shall see it, and be very [03966] sorrowful [02342], and Ekron [06138]; for her expectation [04007] shall be ashamed [03001]; and the king [04428] shall perish [06] from Gaza [05804], and Ashkelon [0831] shall not be inhabited [03427].
6 And a bastard [04464] shall dwell [03427] in Ashdod [0795], and I will cut off [03772] the pride [01347] of the Philistines [06430].
7 And I will take away [05493] his blood [01818] out of his mouth [06310], and his abominations [08251] from between his teeth [08127]: but he that remaineth [07604], even he, shall be for our God [0430], and he shall be as a governor [0441] in Judah [03063], and Ekron [06138] as a Jebusite [02983].
8 And I will encamp [02583] about mine house [01004] because of the army [04675], because of him that passeth by [05674], and because of him that returneth [07725]: and no oppressor [05065] shall pass through [05674] them any more: for now have I seen [07200] with mine eyes [05869].
5 And he shall kill [07819] the bullock [01121] [01241] before [06440] the LORD [03068]: and the priests [03548], Aaron's [0175] sons [01121], shall bring [07126] the blood [01818], and sprinkle [02236] the blood [01818] round about [05439] upon the altar [04196] that is by the door [06607] of the tabernacle [0168] of the congregation [04150].
4 And David [01732] heard [08085] in the wilderness [04057] that Nabal [05037] did shear [01494] his sheep [06629].
2 And he shall lay [05564] his hand [03027] upon the head [07218] of his offering [07133], and kill [07819] it at the door [06607] of the tabernacle [0168] of the congregation [04150]: and Aaron's [0175] sons [01121] the priests [03548] shall sprinkle [02236] the blood [01818] upon the altar [04196] round about [05439].
11 And he shall kill [07819] it on the side [03409] of the altar [04196] northward [06828] before [06440] the LORD [03068]: and the priests [03548], Aaron's [0175] sons [01121], shall sprinkle [02236] his blood [01818] round about [05439] upon the altar [04196].
5 And he shall kill [07819] the bullock [01121] [01241] before [06440] the LORD [03068]: and the priests [03548], Aaron's [0175] sons [01121], shall bring [07126] the blood [01818], and sprinkle [02236] the blood [01818] round about [05439] upon the altar [04196] that is by the door [06607] of the tabernacle [0168] of the congregation [04150].
29 Yet a man [0120] is risen [06965] to pursue [07291] thee, and to seek [01245] thy soul [05315]: but the soul [05315] of my lord [0113] shall be bound [06887] in the bundle [06872] of life [02416] with the LORD [03068] thy God [0430]; and the souls [05315] of thine enemies [0341], them shall he sling out [07049], as out of the middle [08432] [03709] of a sling [07050].
16 And the LORD [03068] their God [0430] shall save [03467] them in that day [03117] as the flock [06629] of his people [05971]: for they shall be as the stones [068] of a crown [05145], lifted up as an ensign [05264] upon his land [0127].
24 Behold, the people [05971] shall rise up [06965] as a great lion [03833], and lift up [05375] himself as a young lion [0738]: he shall not lie down [07901] until he eat [0398] of the prey [02964], and drink [08354] the blood [01818] of the slain [02491].
15 The LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] shall defend [01598] them; and they shall devour [0398], and subdue [03533] with sling [07050] stones [068]; and they shall drink [08354], and make a noise [01993] as through wine [03196]; and they shall be filled [04390] like bowls [04219], and as the corners [02106] of the altar [04196].
15 Though he be fruitful [06500] among his brethren [0251], an east wind [06921] shall come [0935], the wind [07307] of the LORD [03068] shall come up [05927] from the wilderness [04057], and his spring [04726] shall become dry [0954], and his fountain [04599] shall be dried up [02717]: he shall spoil [08154] the treasure [0214] of all pleasant [02532] vessels [03627].
1 The burden [04853] of the desert [04057] of the sea [03220]. As whirlwinds [05492] in the south [05045] pass [02498] through; so it cometh [0935] from the desert [04057], from a terrible [03372] land [0776].
8 Was the LORD [03068] displeased [02734] against the rivers [05104]? was thine anger [0639] against the rivers [05104]? was thy wrath [05678] against the sea [03220], that thou didst ride [07392] upon thine horses [05483] and thy chariots [04818] of salvation [03444]?
11 The sun [08121] and moon [03394] stood still [05975] in their habitation [02073]: at the light [0216] of thine arrows [02671] they went [01980], and at the shining [05051] of thy glittering [01300] spear [02595].
8 Who is this King [04428] of glory [03519]? The LORD [03068] strong [05808] and mighty [01368], the LORD [03068] mighty [01368] in battle [04421].
15 The LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] shall defend [01598] them; and they shall devour [0398], and subdue [03533] with sling [07050] stones [068]; and they shall drink [08354], and make a noise [01993] as through wine [03196]; and they shall be filled [04390] like bowls [04219], and as the corners [02106] of the altar [04196].
14 And the LORD [03068] shall be seen [07200] over them, and his arrow [02671] shall go forth [03318] as the lightning [01300]: and the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] shall blow [08628] the trumpet [07782], and shall go [01980] with whirlwinds [05591] of the south [08486].
21 And the rough [08163] goat [06842] is the king [04428] of Grecia [03120]: and the great [01419] horn [07161] that is between his eyes [05869] is the first [07223] king [04428].
24 And Jehu [03058] drew a bow [07198] with his full [04390] strength [03027], and smote [05221] Jehoram [03088] between his arms [02220], and the arrow [02678] went out [03318] at his heart [03820], and he sunk down [03766] in his chariot [07393].
15 The LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] shall defend [01598] them; and they shall devour [0398], and subdue [03533] with sling [07050] stones [068]; and they shall drink [08354], and make a noise [01993] as through wine [03196]; and they shall be filled [04390] like bowls [04219], and as the corners [02106] of the altar [04196].
14 And the LORD [03068] shall be seen [07200] over them, and his arrow [02671] shall go forth [03318] as the lightning [01300]: and the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] shall blow [08628] the trumpet [07782], and shall go [01980] with whirlwinds [05591] of the south [08486].
13 When I have bent [01869] Judah [03063] for me, filled [04390] the bow [07198] with Ephraim [0669], and raised up [05782] thy sons [01121], O Zion [06726], against thy sons [01121], O Greece [03120], and made [07760] thee as the sword [02719] of a mighty man [01368].
13 When I have bent [01869] Judah [03063] for me, filled [04390] the bow [07198] with Ephraim [0669], and raised up [05782] thy sons [01121], O Zion [06726], against thy sons [01121], O Greece [03120], and made [07760] thee as the sword [02719] of a mighty man [01368].