5 And they have been as heroes, Treading in mire of out-places in battle, And they have fought, for Jehovah `is' with them, And have put to shame riders of horses.
And have overturned the throne of kingdoms, And I have destroyed the strength of kingdoms of the nations, And overturned chariot and its charioteers, And come down have horses and their riders, Each by the sword of his brother.
Some of chariots, and some of horses, And we of the name of Jehovah our God Make mention.
For I have trodden for Me Judah, A bow I have filled `with' Ephraim, And I have stirred up thy sons, O Zion, Against thy sons, O Javan, And I have set thee as the sword of a hero.
In that day cover over doth Jehovah the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And the stumbling among them hath been in that day as David, And the house of David as God -- As a messenger of Jehovah -- before them.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, A great destruction `from' Jehovah is among them, And they have seized each the hand of his neighbour, And gone up hath his hand against the hand of his neighbour.
And the Tempter having come to him said, `If Son thou art of God -- speak that these stones may become loaves.'
And he said to them, `What things?' And they said to him, `The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who became a man -- a prophet -- powerful in deed and word, before God and all the people,
and Moses was taught in all wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and in works.
What, then, shall we say unto these things? if God `is' for us, who `is' against us? He who indeed His own Son did not spare, but for us all did deliver him up, how shall He not also with him the all things grant to us? Who shall lay a charge against the choice ones of God? God `is' He that is declaring righteous, who `is' he that is condemning? Christ `is' He that died, yea, rather also, was raised up; who is also on the right hand of God -- who also doth intercede for us. Who shall separate us from the love of the Christ? tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (according as it hath been written -- `For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long, we were reckoned as sheep of slaughter,') but in all these we more than conquer, through him who loved us;
for the weapons of our warfare `are' not fleshly, but powerful to God for bringing down of strongholds,
and the Lord stood by me, and did strengthen me, that through me the preaching might be fully assured, and all the nations might hear, and I was freed out of the mouth of a lion,
and he is arrayed with a garment covered with blood, and his name is called, The Word of God. And the armies in the heaven were following him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen -- white and pure; and out of his mouth doth proceed a sharp sword, that with it he may smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he doth tread the press of the wine of the wrath and the anger of God the Almighty,
Be friends, O nations, and be broken, And give ear, all ye far off ones of earth, Gird yourselves, and be broken, Gird yourselves, and be broken.
And there hath not been like that day before it or after it, for Jehovah's hearkening to the voice of a man; for Jehovah is fighting for Israel.
And one of the servants answereth and saith, `Lo, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-Lehemite, skilful in playing, and a mighty virtuous man, and a man of battle, and intelligent in word, and a man of form, and Jehovah `is' with him.'
And shake and tremble doth the earth, Foundations of the heavens are troubled, And are shaken, for He hath wrath!
And I beat them as dust before wind, As mire of the streets I empty them out.
The king is not saved by the multitude of a force. A mighty man is not delivered, By abundance of power.
`When thou goest out to battle against thine enemy, and hast seen horse and chariot -- a people more numerous than thou -- thou art not afraid of them, for Jehovah thy God `is' with thee, who is bringing thee up out of the land of Egypt;
Against a profane nation I send him, And concerning a people of My wrath I charge him, To spoil spoil, and to seize prey, And to make it a treading-place as the clay of out places.
Thou seekest them, and findest them not, The men who debate with thee, They are as nothing, yea, as nothing, The men who war with thee.
And thou hast come in out of thy place, From the sides of the north, Thou and many peoples with thee, Riding on horses -- all of them, A great assembly, and a numerous force.
Wake and come up let the nations unto the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I sit to judge all the nations around. Send ye forth a sickle, For ripened hath harvest, Come in, come down, for filled hath been the press, Overflowed hath wine-presses, For great `is' their wickedness. Multitudes, multitudes `are' in the valley of decision, For near `is' the day of Jehovah in the valley of decision. Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up their shining. And Jehovah from Zion doth roar, And from Jerusalem giveth forth His voice, And shaken have the heavens and earth, And Jehovah `is' a refuge to his people, And a stronghold to sons of Israel. And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain, And Jerusalem hath been holy, And strangers do not pass over into it again.
And the handler of the bow standeth not, And the swift with his feet delivereth not `himself', And the rider of the horse delivereth not his soul.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Zechariah 10
Commentary on Zechariah 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Zec 10:1-12. Prayer and Promise.
Call to prayer to Jehovah, as contrasted with the idol-worship which had brought judgments on the princes and people. Blessings promised in answer to prayer: (1) rulers of themselves; (2) conquest of their enemies; (3) restoration and establishment of both Israel and Judah in their own land in lasting peace and piety.
1. Ask … rain—on which the abundance of "corn" promised by the Lord (Zec 9:17) depends. Jehovah alone can give it, and will give it on being asked (Jer 10:13; 14:22).
rain in … time of … latter rain—that is, the latter rain in its due time, namely, in spring, about February or March (Job 29:23; Joe 2:23). The latter rain ripened the grain, as the former rain in October tended to fructify the seed. Including all temporal blessings; these again being types of spiritual ones. Though God has begun to bless us, we are not to relax our prayers. The former rain of conversion may have been given, but we must also ask for the latter rain of ripened sanctification. Though at Pentecost there was a former rain on the Jewish Church, a latter rain is still to be looked for, when the full harvest of the nation's conversion shall be gathered in to God. The spirit of prayer in the Church is an index at once of her piety, and of the spiritual blessings she may expect from God. When the Church is full of prayer, God pours out a full blessing.
bright clouds—rather, "lightnings," the precursors of rain [Maurer].
showers of rain—literally, "rain of heavy rain." In Job 37:6 the same words occur in inverted order [Henderson].
grass—a general term, including both corn for men and grass for cattle.
2. idols—literally, "the teraphim," the household gods, consulted in divination (see on Ho 3:4). Derived by Gesenius from an Arabic root, "comfort," indicating them as the givers of comfort. Or an Ethiopian root, "relics." Herein Zechariah shows that the Jews by their own idolatry had stayed the grace of God heretofore, which otherwise would have given them all those blessings, temporal and spiritual, which they are now (Zec 10:1) urged to "ask" for.
diviners—who gave responses to consulters of the teraphim: opposed to Jehovah and His true prophets.
seen a lie—pretending to see what they saw not in giving responses.
comfort in vain—literally, "give vapor for comfort"; that is, give comforting promises to consulters which are sure to come to naught (Job 13:4; 16:2; 21:34).
therefore they went their way—that is, Israel and Judah were led away captive.
as a flock … no shepherd—As sheep wander and are a prey to every injury when without a shepherd, so the Jews had been while they were without Jehovah, the true shepherd; for the false prophets whom they trusted were no shepherds (Eze 34:5). So now they are scattered, while they know not Messiah their shepherd; typified in the state of the disciples, when they had forsaken Jesus and fled (Mt 26:56; compare Zec 13:7).
3. against the shepherds—the civil rulers of Israel and Judah who abetted idolatry.
punished—literally, "visited upon." The same word "visited," without the upon, is presently after used in a good sense to heighten the contrast.
goats—he-goats. As "shepherds" described what they ought to have been, so "he-goats" describes what they were, the emblem of headstrong wantonness and offensive lust (Isa 14:9, Margin; Eze 34:17; Da 8:5; Mt 25:33). The he-goats head the flock. They who are first in crime will be first in punishment.
visited—in mercy (Lu 1:68).
as his goodly horse—In Zec 9:13 they were represented under the image of bows and arrows, here under that of their commander-in-chief, Jehovah's battle horse (So 1:9). God can make His people, timid though they be as sheep, courageous as the charger. The general rode on the most beautiful and richly caparisoned, and had his horse tended with the greatest care. Jehovah might cast off the Jews for their vileness, but He regards His election or adoption of them: whence He calls them here "His flock," and therefore saves them.
4. Out of him—Judah is to be no more subject to foreigners, but from itself shall come its rulers.
the corner—stone, Messiah (Isa 28:16). "Corners" simply express governors (1Sa 14:38, Margin; Isa 19:13, Margin). The Maccabees, Judah's governors and deliverers from Antiochus the oppressor, are primarily meant; but Messiah is the Antitype. Messiah supports and binds together the Church, Jews and Gentiles.
the nail—(Jud 4:21; Isa 22:23). The large peg inside an Oriental tent, on which is hung most of its valuable furniture. On Messiah hang all the glory and hope of His people.
bow—(Zec 9:13). Judah shall not need foreign soldiery. Messiah shall be her battle-bow (Ps 45:4, 5; Re 6:2).
every oppressor—rather, in a good sense, ruler, as the kindred Ethiopic term means. So "exactor," in Isa 60:17, namely, one who exacts the tribute from the nations made tributary to Judah [Ludovicus De Dieu].
5. riders on horses—namely, the enemy's horsemen. Though the Jews were forbidden by the law to multiply horses in battle (De 17:16), they are made Jehovah's war horse (Zec 10:3; Ps 20:7), and so tread down on foot the foe with all his cavalry (Eze 38:4; Da 11:40). Cavalry was the chief strength of the Syro-Grecian army (1 Maccabees 3:39).
6. Judah … Joseph—that is, the ten tribes. The distinct mention of both Judah and Israel shows that there is yet a more complete restoration than that from Babylon, when Judah alone and a few Israelites from the other tribes returned. The Maccabean deliverance is here connected with it, just as the painter groups on the same canvas objects in the foreground and hills far distant; or as the comparatively near planet and the remote fixed star are seen together in the same firmament. Prophecy ever hastens to the glorious final consummation under Messiah.
bring them again to place them—namely, securely in their own land. The Hebrew verb is compounded of two, "I will bring again," and "I will place them" (Jer 32:37). Maurer, from a different form, translates, "I will make them to dwell."
7. like a mighty man—in the battle with the foe (Zec 10:3, 5).
rejoice—at their victory over the foe.
children shall see it—who are not yet of age to serve. To teach patient waiting for God's promises. If ye do not at present see the fulfilment, your children shall, and their joy shall be complete.
rejoice in the Lord—the Giver of such a glorious victory.
8. hiss for them—Keepers of bees by a whistle call them together. So Jehovah by the mere word of His call shall gather back to Palestine His scattered people (Zec 10:10; Isa 5:26; Eze 36:11). The multitudes mentioned by Josephus [Wars of the Jews, 3:2], as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the prophecy.
for I have redeemed them—namely, in My covenant purpose "redeemed" both temporally and spiritually.
as they have increased—in former times.
9. sow them among … people—Their dispersion was with a special design. Like seed sown far and wide, they shall, when quickened themselves, be the fittest instruments for quickening others (compare Mic 5:7). The slight hold they have on every soil where they now live, as also the commercial and therefore cosmopolitan character of their pursuits, making a change of residence easy to them, fit them peculiarly for missionary work [Moore]. The wide dispersion of the Jews just before Christ's coming prepared the way similarly for the apostles' preaching in the various Jewish synagogues throughout the world; everywhere some of the Old Testament seed previously sown was ready to germinate when the New Testament light and heat were brought to bear on it by Gospel preachers. Thus the way was opened for entrance among the Gentiles. "Will sow" is the Hebrew future, said of that which has been done, is being done, and may be done afterwards [Maurer], (compare Ho 2:23).
shall remember me in far countries—(De 30:1; 2Ch 6:37). Implying the Jews' return to a right mind in "all the nations" where they are scattered simultaneously. Compare Lu 15:17, 18, with Ps 22:27, "All the ends of the world remembering and turning unto the Lord," preceded by the "seed of Jacob … Israel … fearing and glorifying Him"; also Ps 102:13-15.
live—in political and spiritual life.
10. Egypt … Assyria—the former the first, the latter among the last of Israel's oppressors (or representing the four great world kingdoms, of which it was the first): types of the present universal dispersion, Egypt being south, Assyria north, opposite ends of the compass. Maurer conjectures that many Israelites fled to "Egypt" on the invasion of Tiglath-pileser. But Isa 11:11 and this passage rather accord with the view of the future restoration.
Gilead … Lebanon—The whole of the Holy Land is described by two of its boundaries, the eastern ("Gilead" beyond Jordan) and the northern ("Lebanon").
place shall not be found for them—that is, there shall not be room enough for them through their numbers (Isa 49:20; 54:3).
11. pass … sea with affliction—Personifying the "sea"; He shall afflict the sea, that is, cause it to cease to be an obstacle to Israel's return to Palestine (Isa 11:15, 16). Vulgate translates, "The strait of the sea." Maurer, "He shall cleave and smite." English Version is best (Ps 114:3). As Jehovah smote the Red Sea to make a passage for His people (Ex 14:16, 21), so hereafter shall He make a way through every obstacle which opposes Israel's restoration.
the river—the Nile (Am 8:8; 9:5), or the Euphrates. Thus the Red Sea and the Euphrates in the former part of the verse answer to "Assyria" and "Egypt" in the latter.
sceptre of Egypt … depart—(Eze 30:13).
12. I … strengthen them in … Lord—(Ho 1:7). I, the Father, will strengthen them in the name, that is, the manifested power, of the Lord, Messiah, the Son of God.
walk … in his name—that is, live everywhere and continually under His protection, and according to His will (Ge 5:22; Ps 20:1, 7; Mic 4:5).