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, by the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless Pit. 12Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Today I declare that I will restore twice as much to you. I will bend Judah as my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion against your sons, O Greece. I will wield you like a warrior’s sword. 14Then Adonai will be seen over them as His arrow flashes like lightning. Adonai Elohim will blow the shofar and march in whirlwinds of the south. 15Adonai-Tzva’ot will defend them. They will consume and conquer with sling stones. They will drink and roar as with wine and be filled like a bowl, 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 10:3My anger burns against the shepherds and I will punish the leaders. Adonai-Tzva’ot cares for His flock, the house of Judah. He will make them His valiant steed in battle.
• Zechariah 12:2“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples when they besiege Jerusalem as well as Judah.
• Micah 5:4This One will be shalom. When Assyria invades our land when he treads on our citadels, then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight human princes.
• Revelation 17:14They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them—because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.”
• Psalms 49:2Hear this, all you peoples. Give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
• Lamentations 4:2The precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in gold— alas! now they are treated like clay jars, the work of a potter’s hands!
• Amos 2:11I raised up prophets from your sons and Nazirites from your young men. Is this not so, Bnei Yisrael?” declares Adonai.
• Obadiah 1:21The victorious will go up on Mount Zion to judge the hill country of Esau. Then the kingdom shall be Adonai’s.
• Daniel 8:21The buck, the male goat, is the king of Greece; and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.
• Daniel 11:32With smooth words he will seduce those who act wickedly against the covenant, but the people who know their God will stand strong and prevail.
• Micah 4:2Then many nations will go and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Adonai, to the House of the God of Jacob! Then He will direct us in His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” For Torah will go forth from Zion, and the word of Adonai from Jerusalem.
• Mark 16:15He told them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature.
• Romans 15:16to be a servant of Messiah Yeshua to the Gentiles, in priestly service to the Good News of God—so that the offering up of the Gentiles might be pleasing, made holy by the Ruach ha-Kodesh.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21For seeing that—in God’s wisdom—the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased—through the foolishness of the message proclaimed—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