Zechariah 9:4

Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-8 Here are judgements foretold on several nations. While the Macedonians and Alexander's successors were in warfare in these countries, the Lord promised to protect his people. God's house lies in the midst of an enemy's country; his church is as a lily among thorns. God's power and goodness are seen in her special preservation. The Lord encamps about his church, and while armies of proud opposers shall pass by and return, his eyes watch over her, so that they cannot prevail, and shortly the time will come when no exactor shall pass by her any more.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Behold - Such were the preparations of Tyre. Over against them, as it were, the prophet sets before our eyes the counsels of God. Theodoret: "Since they had severed themselves from the providence of God, they were now to experience His power." "The Lord will cast her out" , literally, deprive her of her possessions, give her an heir of what she had amassed, namely: the enemy; "and he will smite her power or wealth" , of which Ezekiel says, "With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: by the greediness of thy wisdom and by thy traffic thou hast increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches" Ezekiel 28:4-5. All wherein she relied, and so too the stronghold itself, God would smite in the sea. The sea was her confidence and boast. She said "I am a God; I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas" Ezekiel 28:2.

The scene of her pride was to be that of her overthrow; the waves, which girt her round, should bury her ruins and wash over her site. Even in the sea the hand of God should find her, and smite her in it, and into it, and so that she should abide in it. "They mocked at the king, as though be thought to prevail against Neptune (the sea)." "Ye despise this land-army, through confidence in the place, that ye dwell in an island," was the message of Alexander, "but soon will I show you that ye dwell on a continent."

Every device had been put in force in its defense: the versatility by which the inhabitants of an island, some 2 12 miles in circumference, held at bay the conqueror of the battle of Issus with unlimited resources, , "engineers from Cyprus and all Phoenicia," and , "a fleet of 180 ships from Cyprus," attests the wisdom in which the prophet says, she would trust. "She had already a profusion of catapults and other machines useful in a siege, and easily prepared manifold others by the makers of war-engines and all sorts of artificers whom she had, and these invented new engines of all sorts; so that the whole circuit of the city was filled with engines." Divers who should loosen the mole; grappling hooks and nets to entangle near-assailants; melted metal or heated sand to penetrate between the joints of their armor; bags of sea-weed to deaden the blows of the battering machines; a fireship navigated so as to destroy the works of the enemy, while its sailors escaped; fiery arrows; wheels set in continual motion, to turn aside the missiles against them, , bear witness to an unwearied inventiveness of defense. The temporary failures might have shaken any mind but Alexander's (who is even said to have hesitated but that he dared not, by abandoning the enterprise, lose the prestige of victory. Yet all ended in the massacre of 6,000, 7,000, or 8,000 of her men, the crucifixion of 2,000, the sale of the rest, whether 13,000 or 30,000, into slavery . None escaped save those whom the Sidonians secreted in the vessels, , with which they had been compelled to serve against her.

And she herself - When her strength is overthrown, "shall be devoured with fire." : "Alexander, having slain all, save those who fled to the temples, ordered the houses to be set on fire."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. (Eze 26:4, 12; 27:27).

cast her out—Hebrew, "dispossess her," that is, will cast her inhabitants into exile [Grotius]. Alexander, though without a navy, by incredible labor constructed a mole of the ruins of Old Tyre (fulfilling Eze 26:4-12, &c., by "scraping her dust from her," and "laying her stones, timber, and dust in the midst of the water"), from the shore to the island, and, after a seven months' siege, took the city by storm, slew with the sword about eight thousand, enslaved thirteen thousand, crucified two thousand, and set the city on "fire," as here foretold [Curtius, Book 4].

smite her power in the sea—situated though she be in the sea, and so seeming impregnable (compare Eze 28:2, "I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the sea"). "Her power" includes not only her fortifications, but her fleet, all of which Alexander sank in the sea before her very walls [Curtius, Book 4]. Eze 26:17 corresponds, "How art thou destroyed which wast strong in the sea!"

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Behold; observe it, for I tell you truth; though strange, it will be so.

The Lord will cast her out; the Lord will do this, he will eject and cast her out of her inheritance, as the word in the Hebrew, and he will inherit her, as the word also bears. God will do both, he will seize into his hand by some or other, and so put them out of all. Her fortifications shall not be able to secure her possession.

He will smite her power in the sea; the Lord declares how he will do what he threatens against Tyre, where their strength lieth; he will break them, take away their shipping, and then both treasures will waste, trade will fail, and auxiliaries will not be gotten.

And she, Tyre, probably Zidon with her,

shall be devoured with fire; that is, by the enemy in the siege, or at the taking of her. All which was done about A.M. 3672, one hundred and eighty-five years after this prophecy, when Alexander the Great mastered Tyre at sea with a fleet of one hundred and ninety or two hundred ships, took the city, slew many thousands of them, and, as Curtius reports, burnt the city.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Behold, the Lord will cast her out,.... Or "inherit her" (f), or "them", as the Septuagint render the words; when, being converted, she would become the Lord's inheritance and possession, and her riches should be devoted to his service:

and he will smite her power in the sea; for Tyre was situated in the sea, at the entry of it, and was strong in it, Ezekiel 26:17. Kimchi interprets this of her humiliation and subjection in the days of the Messiah; and in a spiritual sense it has been verified in such who have been spoiled of their carnal strength, in which they trusted, and have laid down their weapons, and have submitted to the sceptre of Christ:

and she shall be devoured with fire; with the spirit of judgment, and of burning, which purges and removes the filth of sin; and with the fire of the word, which burns up and consumes its lusts; and with the flames of divine love, which make souls as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. This was literally accomplished in the burning of Tyre by Alexander (g), which injected fear and dread in cities near it, as follow:

(f) , Setp.; "possidebit eam", V. L. Munster, Castalio. So some in Vatablus. (g) Curtius, l. 4. c. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

Behold, the LORD will cast her out, and he will smite her {f} power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

(f) Though those of Tyre think themselves invincible by reason of the sea that surrounds them, yet they will not escape God's judgments.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. cast her out] Or, dispossess her, R. V. Lit. take possession of her, i.e. by ejecting her and coming into her place. Comp. Exodus 34:24. Ewald renders less satisfactorily will impoverish her.

her power in the sea] The order of the Hebrew words is, shall smite in the sea her power; where “power” does not mean only, though it may possibly include, her bastions and fortifications (Psalm 48:14; Psalm 122:7), but is to be taken in its widest sense. “The scene of her pride was to be that of her overthrow; the waves which girt her round should bury her ruins and wash over her site. Even in the sea the hand of God should find her and smite her in it and into it, and so that she should abide in it.” Pusey.

devoured with fire] “Proudly confident in the strength of their island fortress, the Tyrians mocked the attempts of Alexander to reduce their city. Every engine of war suited for defence had been stored up in their bulwarks, and every device which their skilful engineers could suggest was had recourse to, and for a time with marked success. ‘Ye despise this land army through confidence in the place that ye dwell in as an island, but I will show you that ye dwell on a continent,’ was the language of Alexander (Q. Curtius, de reb. gest. Alex. Magn. iv. 2). The shallow channel between the mainland and the island was at last bridged over by a huge dam of earth erected after repeated failures, and the city which had stood a five years’ siege from the Assyrians, a thirteen years’ siege from the Chaldæans, was taken after a short siege of seven months by Alexander. Ten thousand of its brave defenders were either massacred or crucified” (2,000 were crucified, from 6,000 to 8,000 are said to have been massacred), “the rest were sold into slavery, none escaped save those who were concealed by the Sidonians in the ships. Q. Curtius adds distinctly (Zechariah 4:4) that ‘Alexander having slain all, save those who fled to the temples, ordered the houses to be set on fire.’ ” Rev. C. H. H. Wright.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Will cast her out; will take possession of her; i.e. will conquer her by the hands of her enemies, as Joshua 8:7; Joshua 17:12. Septuagint, κληρονομήσει, "will inherit;" Vulgate, possidebit; Ewald and Hitzig render, "will impoverish her." Will smite her power in the sea. "Power" here includes all that made Tyre proud and confident - her riches, her fleets, her trade, her fortifications. God declares that she shall be smitten there as she stood in the midst of the sea, which formed her bulwark, and which should soon dash over her ruins. The LXX. translates, "shall smite into the sea." Zechariah seems here to have a reminiscence of Ezekiel 27:32, "What city is like Tyres, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?" (comp. Ezekiel 26:4). With fire (comp. Amos 1:10). The city was burned by Alexander (see note on ver. 2. The siege is narrated by Arrian, 2:15-24; Quint. Curt., 4:2, etc.; Diod. Sic., 17:46, etc.). Zechariah 9:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Zechariah 9:2. "And Hamath also, which borders thereon; Tyre and Sidon, because it is very wise. Zechariah 9:3. And Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like dust, and gold like dirt of the streets. Zechariah 9:4. Behold, the Lord will cause it to be taken, and smite its might in the sea, and she will be consumed by fire." Chămâth is appended to Damascus by vegam (and also). Tigbol-bâh is to be taken as a relative clause; and bâh refers to chămâth, and not to 'erets chadrâkh (the land of Hadrach). "Hamath also," i.e., Ἐπιφάνεια on the Orontes, the present Hamah (see at Genesis 10:18), which borders on Damascus, i.e., which has its territory touching the territory of Damascus, sc. will be a resting-place of the burden of Jehovah. The relative clause connects Hamath with Damascus, and separates it from the names which follow. Damascus and Hamath represent Syria. Tyre and Sidon, the two capitals of Phoenicia, are connected again into a pair by the explanatory clause כּי חכמה מאד. For although חכמה is in the singular, it cannot be taken as referring to Sidon only, because Tyre is mentioned again in the very next verse as the subject, and the practical display of its wisdom is described. The singular חכמה cannot be taken distributively in this sense, that being wise applies in just the same manner to both the cities (Koehler); for the cases quoted by Gesenius (146, 4) are of a totally different kind, since there the subject is in the plural, and is construed with a singular verb; but צידון is subordinate to צר, "Tyre with Sidon," Sidon being regarded as an annex of Tyre, answering to the historical relation in which the two cities stood to one another, - namely, that Tyre was indeed originally a colony of Sidon, but that it very soon overshadowed the mother city, and rose to be the capital of all Phoenicia (see the comm. on Isaiah 23), so that even in Isaiah and Ezekiel the prophecies concerning Sidon are attached to those concerning Tyre, and its fate appears interwoven with that of Tyre (cf. Isaiah 23:4, Isaiah 23:12; Ezekiel 28:21.). Hence we find Tyre only spoken of here in Zechariah 9:3, Zechariah 9:4. This city showed its wisdom in the fact that it built itself a fortress, and heaped up silver and gold like dust and dirt of the streets. Zechariah has here in his mind the insular Tyre, which was built about three or four stadia from the mainland, and thirty stadia to the north of Palae-tyrus, and which is called מעוז היּם in Isaiah 23:4, because, although very small in extent, it was surrounded by a wall a hundred and fifty feet high, and was so strong a fortification, that Shalmaneser besieged it for five years without success, and Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years, and apparently was unable to conquer it (see Delitzsch on Isaiah, at Isaiah 23:18). This fortification is called mâtsōr. Here Tyre had heaped up immense treasures. Chârūts is shining gold (Psalm 68:14, etc.). but the wisdom through which Tyre had acquired such might and such riches (cf. Ezekiel 28:4-5) would be of no help to it. For it was the wisdom of this world (1 Corinthians 1:20), which ascribes to itself the glory due to God, and only nourishes the pride out of which it sprang. The Lord will take the city. Hōrı̄sh does not mean to drive from its possession - namely, the population (Hitzig) - for the next two clauses show that it is not the population of Tyre, but the city itself, which is thought of as the object; nor does it mean to "give as a possession" - namely, their treasures (Calv., Hengst., etc.) - but simply to take possession, to take, to conquer, as in Joshua 8:7; Joshua 17:12; Numbers 14:24 (Maurer, Koehler). And will smite in the sea חילהּ, not "her bulwarks:" for חיל, when used of fortifications, neither denotes the city wall nor earthworks, but the moat, including the small outer wall (2 Samuel 20:15) as distinguished from the true city wall (chōmâh, Isaiah 26:1; Lamentations 2:8), and this does not apply to the insular Tyre; moreover, חיל cannot be taken here in any other sense than in Ezekiel 28:4-5, which Zechariah follows. There it denotes the might which Tyre had acquired through its wisdom, not merely warlike or military power (Koehler), but might consisting in its strong situation and artificial fortification, as well as in the wealth of its resources for defence. This will be smitten in the sea, because Tyre itself stood in the sea. And finally, the city will be destroyed by fire.