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

11As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. 12Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you. For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword. 14Then the Lord will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord God will blow the trumpet, And will march in the storm winds of the south. 15The Lord of hosts will defend them. And they will devour and trample on the sling stones; And they will drink and be boisterous as with wine; And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin, Drenched like 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

• bendדָּרַךְdârak · to treadH1869
• Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• as My bowקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198
• I will fillמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• with Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• And I will stirעוּר‛ûr · to rouseH5782
• up your sonsבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• O Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• againstעַל‛al · uponH5921
• Greeceיָוָןyâvân · GreeceH3120
• And I will makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: putH7760
• warrior’sגִּבּוֹרgibbôr gibbôr · mighty manH1368
• swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719

Cross-references for Zechariah 9:13

• Zechariah 1:21I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”
• Zechariah 10:3“My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the male goats; For the Lord of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah, And will make them like His majestic horse in battle.
• Zechariah 12:2“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.
• Micah 5:4And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth.
• Revelation 17:14These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”
• Psalms 49:2Both low and high, Rich and poor together.
• Lamentations 4:2The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands!
• Amos 2:11Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets And some of your young men to be Nazirites. Is this not so, O sons of Israel?” declares the Lord.
• Obadiah 1:21The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
• Daniel 8:21The shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
• Daniel 11:32By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.
• Joel 3:6and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,
• Micah 4:2Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
• Mark 16:15And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
• Romans 15:16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached 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
• Javan
• Pride
• Bible, the
• Greece, Sons of
• Joshua (3)
• Philistines
• Prophecy; Prophets

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