Zechariah 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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Zechariah 9:13-16. When I have bent Judah for me — “A strong and sublime manner of expressing that God would use Judah and Ephraim as his instruments of destruction.” — Newcome. As if he had said, When I have made Judah my bow, and Ephraim my arrow, have used them as my instruments of war. Judah and Ephraim are equivalent to Judah and Israel. The men of Ephraim being expert archers, the expression of filling the bow with Ephraim, seems to allude to that circumstance. And raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece — Enabled the Jews, under the conduct of the Maccabees, to destroy the forces of the Syrian kings, Antiochus Epiphanes, and others, who were the successors of Alexander, the founder of the Grecian monarchy: see note on Daniel 8:22. And made thee as the sword of a mighty man — Given success to thy arms, that none shall withstand thee. And the Lord shall be seen over them — Shall give conspicuous tokens of his presence with them, and his presiding over them and directing them in all their enterprises, leading them on and protecting them, as when they came out of Egypt. And his arrow shall go forth as the lightning — He shall fight for them with a force that shall be irresistible: the lightning is often called God’s arrow. And the Lord shall blow the trumpet — Shall give the signal of war, shall animate them to, and assist them in battle. And shall go with whirlwinds of the south — Shall discomfit his enemies as a whirlwind tears in pieces every thing that stands in its way; or shall scatter them as the dust is scattered by the whirlwind. The most vehement storms to which Judea was subject came from the great desert country to the south of it: see note on Isaiah 21:1. The Lord of hosts shall defend them — The hand of God shall visibly appear in protecting the Maccabees. And they shall devour and subdue with sling- stones — They shall conquer their enemies with as unequal a force as that of David, in respect of Goliath, when he subdued him with a sling-stone. And they shall drink and rejoice — In their festivals, when they shall offer sacrifices of thanksgivings for their victories; and make a noise as through wine — Raise shouts of triumph, as men are wont to do whose hearts are glad with success, and cheered with wine. And they shall be filled like bowls, &c. — They shall be filled, or shall fill themselves, with the spoil of their enemies; and as the corners of the altar. — As the horns of the altar are with the blood of the victims. And the Lord shall save them as the flock of his people — Or, shall save them, his people, as a flock. He shall take care of them and preserve them, as a shepherd does his flock. They shall be as the stones of a crown — Precious in his sight; lifted up as an ensign, or trophy, upon his land — In other words, God shall make it known to the world how dear they are to him, and his favour toward them shall be an encouragement to others to become proselytes to the true religion: see Isaiah 62:3; Malachi 3:17.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:9-17 The prophet breaks forth into a joyful representation of the coming of the Messiah, of whom the ancient Jews explained this prophecy. He took the character of their King, when he entered Jerusalem amidst the hosannas of the multitude. But his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. It shall not be advanced by outward force or carnal weapons. His gospel shall be preached to the world, and be received among the heathen. A sinful state is a state of bondage; it is a pit, or dungeon, in which there is no water, no comfort; and we are all by nature prisoners in this pit. Through the precious blood of Christ, many prisoners of Satan have been set at liberty from the horrible pit in which they must otherwise have perished, without hope or comfort. While we admire Him, let us seek that his holiness and truth may be shown in our own spirits and conduct. These promises have accomplishment in the spiritual blessings of the gospel which we enjoy by Jesus Christ. As the deliverance of the Jews was typical of redemption by Christ, so this invitation speaks to all the language of the gospel call. Sinners are prisoners, but prisoners of hope; their case is sad, but not desperate; for there is hope in Israel concerning them. Christ is a Strong-hold, a strong Tower, in whom believers are safe from the fear of the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the assaults of spiritual enemies. To him we must turn with lively faith; to him we must flee, and trust in his name under all trials and sufferings. It is here promised that the Lord would deliver his people. This passage also refers to the apostles, and the preachers of the gospel in the early ages. God was evidently with them; his words from their lips pierced the hearts and consciences of the hearers. They were wondrously defended in persecution, and were filled with the influences of the Holy Spirit. They were saved by the Good Shepherd as his flock, and honoured as jewels of his crown. The gifts, graces, and consolations of the Spirit, poured forth on the day of Pentecost, Ac 2 and in succeeding times, are represented. Sharp have been, and still will be, the conflicts of Zion's sons, but their God will give them success. The more we are employed, and satisfied with his goodness, the more we shall admire the beauty revealed in the Redeemer. Whatever gifts God bestows on us, we must serve him cheerfully with them; and, when refreshed with blessings, we must say, How great is his goodness!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 Zechariah 9:1-8;

(2) "in the war" of the Maccabees; and these, two of the most critical periods in their history after the captivity Zechariah 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 3rdempire."

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 (2 Chronicles 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" 2 Chronicles 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?" Hebrews 11:34.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. 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 [1185]Da 8:9; [1186]Da 11:32; 1 Maccabees 1:62; 2:41-43), the oppressor of Judah. Having spoken (Zec 9:1-8) of Alexander's victories, after the parenthesis (Zec 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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

When I have bent Judah for me; in the days when Judah shall have recovered strength and courage, and be in my hand as a strong bow, ready bent.

Filled the bow with Ephraim; Ephraim, the remainder of the ten tribes, (which returned with Judah,) shall be for supply of warriors; as the quiver filled is supply of arrows to the bow-man.

And raised up thy sons, O Zion; explicatory to the former.

Against thy sons, O Greece; against the Grecians, or Ionians, the sons of Javan, who had formerly oppressed the Jews, and bought them for slaves, and did again oppress them in the reigns of the Selucidae and the Lagidae, against whom the Jews took arms and courage under the conduct of the Maccabees, to whom Christ made good much of this promise.

And made thee, O Zion, or Jerusalem, you, O Jews,

as the sword of a mighty man; a sharp sword of a mighty man or giant, who cuts down all that stands in his way, as the Maccabees did.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

When I have bent Judah for me,.... By whom are meant the apostles, who were Jews, and whose ministrations were made use of as a bow with arrows, to strike the hearts of men, and bring them into subjection to Christ: they were a bow of the Lord's bending and preparing, and which abode in strength, being made strong and effectual through the hands of the mighty God of Jacob:

filled the bow with Ephraim: or rather, "filled Ephraim with the bow" (p); filled his hand with it; meaning, that some out of the ten tribes, as were the apostles, should be employed in drawing the bow of the Gospel, and shooting its arrows, the doctrines of it; which are comparable to them for swiftness, suddenness, and secrecy, and for their piercing and penetrating nature:

and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece; that is, persons of the land of Judea, as such the apostles were, and who belonged to Zion the church of Christ; who were raised up, qualified, and sent forth by him into the Gentile world, with weapons of warfare, not carnal, but spiritual; against the Gentiles in general, and the wise men of Greece, as at Athens, in particular, to confound some, and to conquer others, and bring them to the obedience of Christ. Some understand this of the Maccabees raised up against Antiochus, and the Greeks that possessed the kingdom of Syria:

and made thee as the sword of a mighty man; that is, made the Gospel in the hands of the church, and of her sons, as a sword in the hand of a mighty man, by whom execution is done with it; this is the sword of the Spirit, even the word of God; and is sharp and cutting, and is the power of God unto salvation; as it is girt upon the thigh, and is in the hands of Christ the most Mighty; and as it is accompanied with the Spirit of God, and of power.

(p) "arcu implebo manum Ephraim", Vatablus; so Ben Melech.

Geneva Study Bible

When I have bent Judah for me, filled the {y} 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.

(y) I will make Judah and Ephraim, that is, my whole Church, victorious against all enemies, which he here means by the Greeks.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. bent] Lit. trodden, because the foot was placed on the bow in bending it. The warriors of Israel are weapons in the hand of God. Judah is the bow, Ephraim the arrow, the sons of Zion are now raised or lifted up by Him as a spear (comp. 2 Samuel 23:18, where the Heb. word is the same), now wielded as a sword.

The R. V. gives the tenses in this verse more accurately: For I have bent, I have filled, &c., and I will stir up, and will make, &c.

13–17. The prophecy now moves forward, and takes for its groundwork a later epoch in the future history of the Jews. As their deliverance from their enemies without fighting, in the times of Alexander (Zechariah 9:1-8), was foretold as the pledge and type of Messiah’s kingdom of peace (Zechariah 9:9-12), so their victories over the Seleucidæ, in the times of the Maccabees, are in these verses foretold as the pledge and type of Messiah’s victories over all His enemies.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - The Lord proceeds to explain the promised blessings in detail. First is signified the victorious resistance of the Maccabees against the Seleucidae - a figure of Messiah's victory over all the enemies of God. When (for) I have bent Judah for me. The verbs are in the prophetical perfect, and may be rendered future By a grand figure God is represented as a warrior armed for battle, who uses his people for the weapons of his warfare. The Hebrews speak of "treading" the bow, where we say "bend," because they used the foot in bending it. In the present case Judah is God's bow. Filled the bow with Ephraim. Ephraim is the arrow (comp. Psalm 127:4, 5). Judah and Ephraim, the united people, are God's instruments, and fight against the world power in his strength. And raised up; better, and I will stir up; Septuagint, ἐξεγερῶ: Vulgate, suscitabo. Greece; Javan. Not a vague term for the tar west, whither some prisoners had been carried, but to be taken strictly as the appellation of Greece. Nothing but inspiration could have enabled Zechariah and Daniel to foresee the rise of the Macedonian dynasty, and the struggle between the Jews and the Syro-Grecian power in Maccabean times, which is here plainly announced. The earlier the date assigned to this part of Zechariah's prophecy, the more incredible is it that any mere human sagacity or prescience should have enabled a man to fore. tell these events, or to see in Greece a power arrayed in conflict with the people of God. And made thee; rather, and I will make thee. God will make his people into a hero's sword to execute vengeance on the enemy. Zechariah 9:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

This thought is supported in Zechariah 9:13. by a picture of the glory intended for Israel. Zechariah 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. Zechariah 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. Zechariah 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 2 Kings 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. Daniel 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 Zechariah 9:14, Zechariah 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 (Psalm 24:8). His arrow goes out like the lightning (כ the so-called כ veritatis; for the fact described, compare Habakkuk 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 Habakkuk 3:8.). Storms of the south are the most violent storms, as they come from the Arabian desert, which bounds Canaan on the south (Isaiah 21:1; cf. Hosea 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 Zechariah 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 Numbers 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 Zechariah 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 1 Samuel 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 (Leviticus 1:5, Leviticus 1:11; Leviticus 3:2, etc.), the blood was to be swung against the altar. This was done, according to rabbinical tradition (Mishn. Seb. 1 Samuel 25:4., and Rashi on Leviticus 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.