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

11Because of the covenant I made with you, sealed with blood, I will free your prisoners from death in a waterless dungeon. 12Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles. Judah is my bow, and Israel is my arrow. Jerusalem is my sword, and like a warrior, I will brandish it against the Greeks. 14The Lord will appear above his people; his arrows will fly like lightning! The Sovereign Lord will sound the ram’s horn and attack like a whirlwind from the southern desert. 15The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will protect his people, and they will defeat their enemies by hurling great stones. They will shout in battle as though drunk with wine. They will be filled with blood like a bowl, drenched with blood 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

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 1:21“What are these men coming to do?” I asked. The angel replied, “These four horns—these nations—scattered and humbled Judah. Now these blacksmiths have come to terrify those nations and throw them down and destroy them.”
• Zechariah 10:3“My anger burns against your shepherds, and I will punish these leaders. For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has arrived to look after Judah, his flock. He will make them strong and glorious, like a proud warhorse in battle.
• Zechariah 12:2I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah.
• Micah 5:4And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world.
• Revelation 17:14Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”
• Psalms 49:2High and low, rich and poor—listen!
• Lamentations 4:2See how the precious children of Jerusalem, worth their weight in fine gold, are now treated like pots of clay made by a common potter.
• Amos 2:11I chose some of your sons to be prophets and others to be Nazirites. Can you deny this, my people of Israel?” asks the Lord.
• Obadiah 1:21Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the Lord himself will be king!”
• Daniel 8:21The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire.
• Daniel 11:32He will flatter and win over those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him.
• Joel 3:6You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, so they could take them far from their homeland.
• Micah 4:2People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.
• Mark 16:15And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
• Romans 15:16I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching 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