Zechariah 9:13

Zechariah 9:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior's sword.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For I have bent Judah, My bow, Fitted the bow with Ephraim, And raised up your sons, O Zion, Against your sons, O Greece, And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”

Context of Zechariah 9:13

11I will set your captives free from the waterless pit because of the blood that sealed my promise to you. 12Return to your fortress, you captives who have hope. Today I tell you that I will return to you double ⌞blessings⌟. I will bend Judah as my bow and draw my bow with Ephraim ⌞as its arrow⌟. I will stir up your people, Zion, against your people, Greece, and I will use you like a warrior’s sword. 14The Lord will appear over them, and his arrow will go out like lightning. The Almighty Lord will blow the ram’s horn and will march in the storms from the south. 15The Lord of Armies will defend them. They will destroy and trample the stones used in slings. They will drink and shout as if they were drunk. They will be filled like a sacrificial bowl ⌞used for sprinkling⌟ the corners of the altar.

Zechariah 9:13 word by word

כִּֽי־דָרַ֨כְתִּי לִ֜י יְהוּדָ֗ה קֶ֚שֶׁת מִלֵּ֣אתִי אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְעוֹרַרְתִּ֤י בָנַ֙יִךְ֙ צִיּ֔וֹן עַל־בָּנַ֖יִךְ יָוָ֑ן וְשַׂמְתִּ֖יךְ כְּחֶ֥רֶב גִּבּֽוֹר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• When I have bentדָּרַךְdârak · to treadH1869
• Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• for me, filledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• the bowקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198
• with Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• and raised upעוּר‛ûr · to rouseH5782
• thy sonsבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• O Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• O Greeceיָוָןyâvân · GreeceH3120
• and madeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: putH7760
• thee as the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• of a mighty manגִּבּוֹרgibbôr gibbôr · mighty manH1368

Cross-references for Zechariah 9:13

• Zechariah 1:21I asked, “What are they going to do?” He answered, “Those horns scattered Judah so widely that no one could lift up his head. But the craftsmen have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations. The nations raised their horns to scatter the land of Judah.”
• Zechariah 10:3“My burning anger is directed against the shepherds. I will punish the male goats. The Lord of Armies takes care of his flock, the people of Judah. He makes them like his splendid war horse.”
• Zechariah 12:2“I’m going to make Jerusalem like a cup ⌞of wine⌟ that makes all the surrounding people stagger. They will attack Judah along with Jerusalem.
• Micah 5:4The child will become the shepherd of his flock. ⌞He will lead them⌟ with the strength of the Lord, with the majestic name of the Lord his God. They will live in safety because his greatness will reach the ends of the earth.
• Revelation 17:14They will go to war against the lamb. The lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him.”
• Psalms 49:2common people and important ones, rich people and poor ones.
• Lamentations 4:2“Zion’s precious children, who are worth their weight in fine gold, are now treated like clay pots, like those made by a potter’s hands.
• Amos 2:11I also sent you prophets from among your children and Nazirites from among your youths. Isn’t that so, people of Israel? The Lord has declared this.
• Obadiah 1:21Those who are victorious will come from Mount Zion to rule Esau’s mountain. The kingdom will belong to the Lord.”
• Daniel 8:21The hairy male goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is its first king.
• Daniel 11:32With flattery he will corrupt those who abandon the promise. But the people who know their God will be strong and take action.
• Joel 3:6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks. That way you could send them far away from their land.
• Micah 4:2Then many nations will come and say, “Let’s go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.” The teachings will go out from Zion. The Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem.
• Mark 16:15Then Jesus said to them, “So wherever you go in the world, tell everyone the Good News.
• Romans 15:16to be a servant of Christ Jesus to people who are not Jewish. I serve as a priest by spreading the Good News of God. I do this in order that I might bring the nations to God as an acceptable offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe.

Commentaries on Zechariah 9:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13When I have bent Judah - Judah is the bow, and Ephraim is the arrows; and these are to be shot against the Greeks. I am inclined, with Bp. Newcome, to consider that the language of this prophecy is too strong to point out the only trifling advantage which the Maccabees gained over Antiochus, who was of Macedonian descent; and it is probable that these prophecies remain to be fulfilled against the present possessors of Javan or Greece, Macedonia, and a…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13When - 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-17Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13In Zechariah’s time, the Persian Empire and the Greeks were competing for power. Looking ahead, God promised to judge the Greeks, who may also represent all Gentile nations. Zechariah may be pointing to the vision recorded in the book of Daniel, where Greece appears as a future ruling power (Daniel 8:21–22).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. 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 Da 8:9; 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 9:13

• Archery
• Church
• Gentiles
• Greece
• Jerusalem
• Zion

In the dictionaries

• Ephraim
• Greece
• Judah
• Greece; Graecia
• Ephraim, Ephraimite
• Greece, Grecian
• Judah, kingdom of Judah
• Judea, Judah
• Javan
• Pride

Commentaries on Zechariah 9

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings