Zechariah 13:8

Zechariah 13:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
• New International Version (NIV)In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it.
• English Standard Version (ESV)In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the Lord, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one–third shall be left in it:

Context of Zechariah 13:8

6And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds between thine arms? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. 7Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.

Zechariah 13:8 word by word

וְהָיָ֤ה בְכָל־הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה פִּֽי־שְׁנַ֣יִם בָּ֔הּ יִכָּרְת֖וּ יִגְוָ֑עוּ וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁ֖ית יִוָּ֥תֶר בָּֽהּ׃Read the interlinear

• landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• beהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• cutכָּרַתkârath · to cut: eliminateH3772
• dieגָּוַעgâva‛ · to dieH1478
• thirdשְׁלִישִׁיshelîyshîy · thirdH7992
• leftיָתַרyâthar · to remainH3498

Cross-references for Zechariah 13:8

• Zechariah 11:6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
• Deuteronomy 28:49Jehovah will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
• Isaiah 65:12I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
• Isaiah 66:4I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
• Ezekiel 5:2A third part shalt thou burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and thou shalt take a third part, and smite with the sword round about it; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
• Daniel 9:27And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
• Malachi 3:1Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.
• Malachi 4:1For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
• Matthew 3:10And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
• Matthew 21:43Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
• Matthew 22:7But the king was wroth; and he sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
• Matthew 23:35that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.
• Matthew 24:21for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.
• Luke 19:41And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it,
• Luke 20:16He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.
• Luke 21:20But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand.

Commentaries on Zechariah 13:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Two parts therein shall be cut off - In the war with the Romans. But the third shall be left - Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be preserved alive; and not one of these perished in the siege, or afterwards, by those wars.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8In all the land, two parts therein shall be cut off and die - “In all the land of Israel,” says a Jewish interpreter; (Kimchi); “ - the land, in which the Good Shepherd had been slain and the sheep scattered, “that upon you.” our Lord had said, “may come all the righteous blood.” As David punished Moab, “with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive” 2 Samuel 8:2; and Ezekiel prophesied, “A third part of thee shall die…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-9Verses 7-9 Here is a prophecy of the sufferings of Christ. God the Father gave order to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he freely made his soul an offering for sin. As God, he is called "my Fellow." Christ and the Father are one. He is the Shepherd who was to lay down his life for the sheep. If a Sacrifice, he must be slain, for without shedding of the life-blood there was no remission. This sword must awake against him, yet he had…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8two-thirds … a third: The divine judgment would be catastrophic. However, God would save a small group and forgive their sin (see Isaiah 65:9; Jeremiah 50:20; Ezekiel 5:2–12; Revelation 9:15–18).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-98-9. Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in the Roman wars, and a third to survive. Probably from the context (Zec 14:2-9), which has never yet been fulfilled, the destruction of the two-thirds (literally, "the proportion of two," or "portion of two") and the saving of the remnant, the one-third, are still future, and to be fulfilled under Antichrist.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Awake
• Fellow
• Refine
• Bible, the
• Number
• Portion; Part
• Salvation
• Zechariah, Book of
• perish

Commentaries on Zechariah 13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings