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.
• 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.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)Judah is my bow, and Israel is my arrow. Jerusalem is my sword, and like a warrior, I will brandish it against the Greeks.

Context of Zechariah 9:13

11As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. 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. 14Then the Lord will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, 15and the Lord Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with slingstones. They will drink and roar as with wine; they will be full like a 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 these coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
• Zechariah 10:3“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.
• Zechariah 12:2“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.
• Micah 5:4He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
• Revelation 17:14They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
• Psalms 49:2both low and high, rich and poor alike:
• Lamentations 4:2How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!
• Amos 2:11“I also raised up prophets from among your children and Nazirites from among your youths. Is this not true, people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
• Obadiah 1:21Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
• Daniel 8:21The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.
• Daniel 11:32With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
• Joel 3:6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.
• Micah 4:2Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
• Mark 16:15He 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. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was 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