Zechariah

A pronouncement: The word of GOD.[God] will reside in the land of Hadrach and Damascus;For mortals will turn their eyes to GOD—Like all the tribes of Israel—

Including Hamath, which borders on that land,athat land Of Hadrach and Damascus; Heb. “it.” And Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

Tyre has built herself a fortress;She has amassed silver like dust,And gold like the mud in the streets.

But my Sovereign will impoverish her;Her forces shall be defeated at sea,And she herself shall be consumed by fire.

Ashkelon shall see it and be frightened,Gaza shall tremble violently,And Ekron, at the collapse of her hopes.Kingship shall vanish from Gaza,Ashkelon shall be without inhabitants,

And a mongrel peopleba mongrel people Heb. mamzer; cf. note at Deut. 23.3. shall settle in Ashdod.I will uproot the grandeur of Philistia.

But I will clean out the blood from its mouth,And the detestable things from between its teeth.Its survivors, too, shall belong to our God:They shall become like a clan in Judah,And Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.

And I will encamp in My House against armies,cagainst armies Change of vocalization yields “as a garrison.” Against any that come and go,And no oppressor shall ever overrun them again;For I have now taken note with My own eyes.dwith My own eyes Emendation yields “of their suffering”; cf. 1 Sam. 1.11.

Rejoice greatly, Fair Zion;Raise a shout, Fair Jerusalem!Lo, your king is coming to you.He is victorious, triumphant,Yet humble, riding on a donkey,On a jackass foaled by a jenny.

HeeHe Heb. “I.” shall banish chariots from EphraimAnd horses from Jerusalem;The warrior’s bow shall be banished.He shall call on the nations to surrender,fcall on the nations to surrender Cf. Deut. 20.10–12 and note. And his rule shall extend from sea to seaAnd from ocean to land’s end.

gExact meaning and connection of this verse and the next uncertain. You, for your part, have releasedhreleased Taking shillaḥti as a second-person singular feminine form, with Septuagint; cf. Judg. 5.7 with note. Your prisoners from the dry pit,idry pit I.e., a pit that serves as a dungeon rather than a cistern (both are called bor in Heb.). For the sake of the blood of your covenant,

[Saying], “Return to Bizzaron,jBizzaron Perhaps a nickname (“fortress”) for Samaria (Heb. Shomeron). You prisoners of hope.”In return [I] announce this day:I will repay you double.

For I have drawn Judah taut,And applied [My hand] to Ephraim as to a bow,And I will arouse your sons, O Zion,Against your sons, O Javan,And make you like a warrior’s sword.

And GOD will be made manifest to Judah,kJudah Heb. “them.” With arrows that flash like lightning;My Sovereign GOD shall sound the ram’s hornAnd advance in a stormy tempest.lstormy tempest Lit. “tempests of wind”; for teman in the sense of wind, cf. Job 9.9; 39.26.

GOD of Hosts will protect themmThe meaning of much of the rest of the chapter is uncertain. With slingstones that devour and conquer;They shall drink, shall rage as withndrink, shall rage as with Some Septuagint mss. read “drink blood like.” wine,And be filled [with it] like a dashing bowl,Like the corners of an altar.

The ETERNAL their God shall make them prosperOn that day,[Pasturing] this covenanted people like sheep.[They shall be] like crown jewels glittering on God’s soil.

How lovely, how beautiful they shall be,Producing young men like new grain,Young women like new wine!