Text -- Zechariah 13:7 (NET)

13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate,” says the Lord who rules over all. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Zec 13:7

Afflictions, persecutions, and the cross.

Wesley: Zec 13:7

Who is my faithful shepherd, and will lay down his life for my sheep.

Wesley: Zec 13:7

This speaks Christ; man with us, and God with his father, God - man in one person.

Wesley: Zec 13:7

This great and good shepherd.

Wesley: Zec 13:7

God will turn his hand in favour, and for protection will keep the new, and weak disciples.

JFB: Zec 13:7

Expounded by Christ as referring to Himself (Mat 26:31-32). Thus it is a resumption of the prophecy of His betrayal (Zec 11:4, Zec 11:10, Zec 11:13-14), and the subsequent punishment of the Jews. It explains the mystery why He, who came to be a blessing, was cut off while bestowing the blessing. God regards sin in such a fearful light that He spared not His own co-equal Son in the one Godhead, when that Son bore the sinner's guilt.

JFB: Zec 13:7

Compare a similar address to the sword of justice personified (Jer 46:6-7). For "smite" (imperative), Mat 26:31 has "I will smite." The act of the sword, it is thus implied, is GOD'S act. So the prophecy in Isa 6:9, "Hear ye," is imperative; the fulfilment as declared by Jesus is future (Mat 13:14), "ye shall hear."

JFB: Zec 13:7

The symbol of judicial power, the highest exercise of which is to take away the life of the condemned (Psa 17:13; Rom 13:4). Not merely a show, or expression, of justice (as Socinians think) is distinctly implied here, but an actual execution of it on Messiah the shepherd, the substitute for the sheep, by God as judge. Yet God in this shows His love as gloriously as His justice. For God calls Messiah "My shepherd," that is, provided (Rev 13:8) for sinners by My love to them, and ever the object of My love, though judicially smitten (Isa 53:4) for their sins (Isa 42:1; Isa 59:16).

JFB: Zec 13:7

Literally, "the man of my union." The Hebrew for "man" is "a mighty man," one peculiarly man in his noblest ideal. "My fellow," that is, "my associate." "My equal" ([DE WETTE]; a remarkable admission from a Rationalist). "My nearest kinsman" [HENGSTENBERG], (Joh 10:30; Joh 14:10-11; Phi 2:6).

JFB: Zec 13:7

The scattering of Christ's disciples on His apprehension was the partial fulfilment (Mat 26:31), a pledge of the dispersion of the Jewish nation (once the Lord's sheep, Psa 100:3) consequent on their crucifixion of Him. The Jews, though "scattered," are still the Lord's "sheep," awaiting their being "gathered" by Him (Isa 40:9, Isa 40:11).

JFB: Zec 13:7

That is, I will interpose in favor of (compare the phrase in a good sense, Isa 1:25) "the little ones," namely, the humble followers of Christ from the Jewish Church, despised by the world: "the poor of the flock" (Zec 11:7, Zec 11:11); comforted after His crucifixion at the resurrection (Joh 20:17-20); saved again by a special interposition from the destruction of Jerusalem, having retired to Pella when Cestius Gallus so unaccountably withdrew from Jerusalem. Ever since there has been a Jewish "remnant" of "the little ones . . . according to the election of grace." The hand of Jehovah was laid in wrath on the Shepherd that His hand might be turned in grace upon the little ones.

Clarke: Zec 13:7

Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd - This is generally understood of Jesus Christ. The sword is that of Divine justice which seemed to have been long asleep, and should long ago have struck either Man, or his Substitute, the Messiah. Jesus is here called God’ s Shepherd, because he had appointed him to feed and govern, as well as to save, the whole lost world. This is a prosopopoeia, and the address to the sword is very poetic. There is a fine passage in Aeschylus to the same effect: -

Ξενος δε κληροις επινωμᾳ

Χαλυβος Σκυθων αποικας

Κτεανων χρηματοδαιτα

Πικρος, ωμοφρων σιδαρος

Χθονα ναιειν διαπηλα

Ὁποσαν αν και φθιμενοισι κατεχειν

Των μεγαλων πεδιων αμοιροις ,

Aeschyl. Sept. cont. Hebrews 733

"The rude barbarian, from the mine

Of Scythia, o’ er the lots presides

Ruthless to each his share assigns

And the contested realm divides

To each allots no wider a domai

Than, on the cold earth as they lie

Their breathless bodies occupy

Regardless of an ampler reign

Such narrow compass does the sword -

A cruel umpire - their high claims afford.

Potter

Clarke: Zec 13:7

The man that is my Fellow - ועל גבר עמיתי veal geber amithi , "upon the strong man,"or "the hero that is with Me;"my neighbor. "The Word was God, and the Word was With God;"Joh 1:1. "I and my Father are One;"Joh 10:30

Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered - This is quoted by our Lord, Mat 26:31, in relation to his disciples, who should be scattered on his crucifixion: and they were so; for every one, giving up all for lost, went to his own house

Clarke: Zec 13:7

And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones - I will take care of the little flock, and preserve them from Jewish malice and Gentile persecution. And so this little flock was most wondrously preserved, and has been increasing from year to year from that time to the present day.

Calvin: Zec 13:7

It was pleasant and delightful to hear what the Prophet said at the beginning of the chapter, for he promised that a fountain would be opened, by which the Jews might cleanse away all their filth, and that God, having been reconciled, would be bountiful to them. As then he had promised so blessed and happy a state, what he had said before might have been so taken, even by the true and faithful servants of God, as though the condition of the Church were to be after that time free from every trouble and inconvenience; hence Zechariah anticipates such a conclusion, and shows that the happy state which he had promised was not to be so looked for, as it though the faithful were to be free from every affliction, for God would in the meantime severely try his Church. Though then God had promised to be bountiful to his Church, he yet shows that many troubles would be mixed up with its prosperity in order that the faithful might prepare themselves to endure all things.

This discourse may indeed appear abrupt, but its different parts harmonise well together, for God so regulates his benefits which he bestows on his Church in this world, as ever to try it in various ways. What is here said was especially necessary, since very grievous afflictions were nigh at hand: for, as it is evident from history, that nation was on the borders of despair when the coming of Christ approached. This then is the reason why the Prophet seems at the first view to join together things so contrary. For what he has hitherto promised tended to prepare the faithful to bear all things patiently, inasmuch as deliverance was nigh. But in the meantime it was needful that they should be expressly encouraged to persevere, lest they should succumb under the extreme evils which were not far distant.

The sum of the whole is, that before the Lord would cleanse his Church and bring it back to perfect order, very grievous calamities were to intervene, for a dreadful disorder there must be when God smites the very shepherds; and the apostrophe, when God addresses the sword, a thing void of reason, is very emphatical. It is much more striking than if he had said, “A sword shall be raised against my shepherds and against my ministers, so that the flock shall be dispersed.” But the metaphor, as I said, is much more expressive, when God directs his words to the sword itself; Awake, watch, O sword, — how? against my shepherd

Most of our interpreters confine this passage to the person of Christ, because in Mat 26:31, this sentence is quoted,

“Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered:”

but this is no solid reason; for what is said of a single shepherd ought probably to be extended to the whole order. When God says in Deu 18:15,

“A prophet will I raise up from the midst of you,”

though mention is indeed made of one Prophet only, yet God includes all the Prophets; as though he had said, “I will never deprive you of the doctrine of salvation, but in every age will I show that I care for you, for my Prophets shall be ever present, by whose mouth I shall make it known that I am near you.” This passage is quoted as referring to Christ, and very suitably, because all the Prophets spoke by his Spirit, and at length he himself appeared, and by his mouth the heavenly Father spoke familiarly with us, and fully explained his whole mind, as it is said in the first chapter to the Hebrews

“In various ways and often did God speak formerly to the fathers by the Prophets, but now in these last times by his only-begotten Son.”

As then Christ possesses a supremacy among the Prophets, and hence rightly applied to him are the words of Moses; so also as he is the head and prince of shepherds, this pre-eminence justly belongs to him. But what is said by the Prophet is however to be viewed as a general truth. In short, God threatens the people, and declares that there would be a dreadful disorder; for they would be deprived of their shepherds, so that there would be no government among them, or one in great confusion.

The word עמית , omit, is rendered by some, kindred, ( contribulis — one of the same tribe,) by others, kinsman, ( consanguineus — one of the same blood,) and by others, one connected, ( co-haerens ,) that is, with God; and they have considered that this passage cannot be understood of any but of Christ alone: but they have taken up, as I have said, a false principle. The Greek version has citizen (τὸν πολίτην,) and some render it, as Theodotion, kindred ( sumfulon — one of the same tribe.) Jerome prefers the rendering, one connected or united with me ( cohaerentem mihi .) ¹⁷⁵ The word, according to the Hebrews, means an associate, a neighbor, or a friend, or one in any way connected with us. God, I have no doubt, distinguished pastors with this title, because he gave a representation at himself by then to the people; and the more eminent any one is, the nearer, we know, he is to God: and hence kings and judges, and such as exercise authority, are called his sons. So also pastors are called his associates, for they spend their labor in building up the Church. He is the chief Pastor, but he employs his ministers to carry on his work. This is the reason why they are called the associates of God, that is, on account of the connection between them, for they are co-workers with God, as Paul also teaches us. In short, the Prophet calls pastors the associates of God in the same sense in which Paul calls them fellow-workers. (συνεργους 1Co 3:9.)

Having said that the sword was permitted, nay, commanded, to rise against the shepherd, he immediately adds, that the sheep were dispersed. We then see that in these words is set forth a calamity that was to be feared, and which the people were not able to escape, in order that the faithful might not be too much disheartened, as though God would disappoint them, but that they might stand firm amidst grievous troubles and violent commotions. Since then this disorder was nigh, Zechariah bids the faithful to continue firm and patiently, and quietly hope, until God showed himself again propitious to them, and those evidences of his favor appeared of which he had before spoken. We now see what the design of the Prophet was. But we must especially notice, that it is a sure presage of the people’s ruin and destruction when pastors are taken from them; for when God intends to keep us safe, he employs this instrumentality, that is, he raises up faithful teachers, who rule in his name; and he rules them by his Spirit, and fits them for their rank and station: but when he strikes them, he not only forsakes the people, but also shows that he is the avenger of wickedness, so that the people themselves are destroyed. This is the import of the Prophet’s words.

But this, as I have already observed, was fulfilled in Christ; for he accommodated the passage to himself when his disciples fled from him. Though they were but a small flock, being very few in number, yet they were scattered and put to flight. In that case then, as in a mirror, appeared how truly it had been said by Zechariah, that the scattering is nigh when a pastor is smitten.

By the word sword, he means affliction; for though Christ was not slain by a sword, yet crucifixion and violent death are fitly designated by the word sword.

It follows at the end of the verse, And I will turn my hand to the little ones. Some consider that the little ones would be exposed to many evils, because the Lord would ever hold his rod in his hand to chastise them. But the Prophet, I have no doubt, meant what is far different, — that God would show mercy to them, when the body of the people had been as it were torn into many parts. For all the godly might have been wholly dejected when their shepherds were taken away, and when the people were become like a straying flock. God then comes to their aid, and testifies that his hand would be extended over the miserable and the poor ones, who had been almost overwhelmed by a mass of evils.

This passage is also very serviceable to us in the present state of the Church: for we see how God has lately cut off many pastors, so that what is called the Church is become like a mutilated body. We also see that God often deprives of good and faithful pastors those who have abused his truth, or with impious contempt rejected it. We might then in this case be terrified and cast off all hope of salvation, were we not to remember what Zechariah teaches us here, even that though the Church were contemptible in the world, and though the faithful were few in number, and all of them exposed to calamities, yet God’s hand will be over them, so as to gather for himself again a Church from the torn members. This is the import of the whole. It follows —

Defender: Zec 13:7

This verse is quoted in Mat 26:31 and Mar 14:27 by Christ Himself. He, the Good Shepherd, would give His life for the sheep (Joh 10:11), but in the trauma of these world-changing events, His sheep would be "scattered" for a while. The "sword" would "smite the shepherd," and they would be scattered for 2000 years, but the time would come when they would return to Him, exactly as Zechariah had predicted."

TSK: Zec 13:7

O sword : Deu 32:41, Deu 32:42; Isa 27:1; Jer 47:6; Eze 21:4, Eze 21:5, Eze 21:9, Eze 21:10,Eze 21:28

my shepherd : Zec 11:4, Zec 11:7; Isa 40:11; Eze 34:23, Eze 34:24, Eze 37:24; Mic 5:2, Mic 5:4; Joh 10:10-18; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 5:4

the man : Isa 9:6; Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6; Hos 12:3-5; Mat 1:23, Mat 11:27; Joh 1:1, Joh 1:2, Joh 5:17, Joh 5:18; Joh 5:23, Joh 8:58, Joh 10:30,Joh 10:38, Joh 14:1, Joh 14:9-11, Joh 14:23, Joh 16:15, Joh 17:21-23; Phi 2:6; Col 1:15-19; Heb 1:6-12; Rev 1:8, Rev 1:11, Rev 1:17, Rev 2:23, Rev 21:6, Rev 22:13-16

smite : Isa 53:4-10; Dan 9:24-26; Joh 1:29, Joh 3:14-17; Act 2:23, Act 4:26-28; Rom 3:24-26, Rom 4:25, Rom 5:6-10, Rom 8:32; 2Co 5:21; Gal 3:13; Col 1:19, Col 1:20; Heb 10:5-10; 1Pe 1:18-20, 1Pe 2:24, 1Pe 2:25, 1Pe 3:18; 1Jo 2:2, 1Jo 4:9, 1Jo 4:10; Rev 13:8

the sheep : Mat 26:31, Mat 26:56; Mar 14:27, Mar 14:50; Joh 16:32

I will turn : Zec 11:7, Zec 11:11; Mat 10:42, Mat 18:10,Mat 18:11, Mat 18:14; Luk 12:32, Luk 17:2; Joh 18:8, Joh 18:9

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Zec 13:7

Awake, O sword - So Jeremiah apostrophises the sword, "O thou sword of the Lord, when wilt thou be quiet?"Jer 47:6. The prophets express what "will be,"by a command that it should be; "Make the heart of this people heavy"Isa 6:10. But by this command he signifies that human malice, acting freely, could do no more than His "Hand and"His "counsel determined before to be done"Act 4:28. The envy and hatred of Satan, the blind fury of the chief priests, the contempt of Herod, the guilty cowardice of Pilate, freely accomplished that Death, which God had before decreed for the salvation of the world. The meaning then is, (Ribera), "the sword shall be aroused against My Shepherd, that is, I will allow Him to be smitten by the Jews. But by ‘ the sword’ he designates death, persecution, wounding etc. as above, the ‘ sword upon his right arm’ Zec 11:17, and, where the passion of Christ is spoken of, ‘ Deliver my soul from the sword’ Psa 22:20. So also, ‘ All the sinners of the people shall die by the sword’ Amo 9:10,"(Jerome), "which cannot be taken literally; for many sinners perish by shipwreck, poison, drowning, fire."Amos then "so spake, because many died by war, yet not all by the sword, but others by pestilence and famine, all which he includes under ‘ the sword’ Amo 9:10. This smiting began, when the Lord was taken, and His sheep began to be scattered; but the prophecy which, before, was being gradually fulfilled, was fully fulfilled in His death, and the apostles were dispersed till the day of the Resurrection at eventide."

Against the Man, My Fellow - that is, One united by community of nature. A little before, God had spoken of Himself as priced at "the thirty pieces of silver,"yet as breaking the covenant which He had made with all nations for His people; as "pierced through, yet as pouring the spirit of grace and supplication"on those who pierced Him, that they should mourn their deed, and as, thereon, ever cleansing them from sin. As Man, God was sold, was pierced. : "God, in flesh, not working with aught intervening as in the prophets, but having taken to Him a Manhood connatural with Himself and made one, and through His flesh akin to us, drawing up to Him all humanity. What was the manner of the Godhead in flesh? As fire in iron, not transitively but by communication. For the fire does not dart into the iron, but remains there and communicates to it of its own virtue, not impaired by the communication, yet filling wholly its recipient."

The bold language of the Fathers only expressed the actuality of the Incarnation. Since the Manhood was taken into God, and in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and God and Man were one Christ. then was it all true language. His Body was "the Body of God"; His flesh "the flesh of the Word"; and it was lawful to speak of "the flesh of the Deity", of "the Passion of the Word", "the Passion of Christ, my God", "the Passion of God", "God dead and buried", "God suffered", "murderers of God", "the Godhead dwelt in the flesh bodily, which is all one with saying that, being God, He had a proper body, and using this as an instrument, He became Man for our sakes, and, because of this, things proper to the flesh are said to be His, since He was in it, as hunger, thirst, suffering, fatigue and the like, of which the flesh is capable, while the works proper to the Word Himself as raising the dead and restoring the blind, He did through His own Body,"is but a continuance of the language of Zechariah, since He who was sold, was priced, was Almighty God. Jesus being God and Man, the sufferings of His Humanity were the sufferings of God, although, as God, He could not suffer.

Now, conversely, God speaks of the Shepherd who was slain, as "My Fellow,"united in Nature with Himself, although not the Manhood of Jesus which suffered, but the Godhead, united with It in one Person, was Consubstantial with Himself. The name might perhaps be most nearly represented by "connatural.": "When then the title is employed of the relation of an individual to God, it is clear that that individual can be no mere man, Jut must be one, united with God by unity of Being. The Akin of the Lord is no, other than He who said in the Gospel "I and My Father are One"Joh 10:30, and who is designated as "the Only-Begotten Son, who is in the Bosom of the Father"Joh 1:18. The word, it seems, was especially chosen, as being used in the Pentateuch, only in the laws against injuring a fellow-man. The prophet thereby gives prominence to the seeming contradiction between the command of the Lord, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,"and those Of His own law, whereby no one is to injure his fellow.

He thus points out the greatness of that end, for the sake of which the Lord regards not that relation, whose image among men He commanded to be kept holy. He speaks after the manner of people. He calls attention to the greatness of that sacrifice, whereby He "spared not His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all"Rom 8:32. The word ‘ Man’ forms a sort of contrast with "My Fellow."He whom the sword is to reach must unite the Human Nature with the divine."Jews too have seen that the words, "My Fellow,"imply an equality with God; only since they own not Him, who was God and Man, they must interpret it of a false claim on the part of man , overlooking that it is given Him by God.

And I will turn My hand o upon the little ones - Doing to them as He had done to the Shepherd. So our Lord forewarned them: "If they have persecuted Me they will also persecute you"Joh 15:20 : "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me, before it hated you"Joh 15:18 : "Ye shall be hated of all men for My name’ s sake"Mat 10:22; Luk 21:17 : "they will deliver you up to the councils and scourge you in the synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My name’ s sake"(Mat 10:17-18; add Luk 21:12): "they shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all men for My name’ s sake"Mat 24:9; and to the Scribes and Pharisees, "I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth"Mat 23:34-35.

The little ones - As Jeremiah speaks of "the least of the flock"Jer 49:20, and the Lord said, "fear not, little flock"Luk 12:32, little and weak in itself but mighty in Him and in His grace. Three centuries of persecution, alike in the Roman empire and beyond it in Persia, fulfilled the prophet’ s words and deepened the foundation of the Church and cemented its fabric.

Poole: Zec 13:7

Many words are spent by interpreters to show what they think to be the connexion of the words; it is easier to say what are the contents and design of them. It is possible they are subjoined to the former to vindicate Christ from the suspicion of an impostor, though he was wounded, for this his Father did foretell by Zechariah four hundred and ninety years, more or less, beforehand, so that these wounds are not marks of an impostor, but testimonies of his truth, and that he is the Messiah.

Awake: it is God commission, or rather prediction, the imperative put for the future.

O sword i.e. afflictions, persecutions, and the cross.

Against my shepherd who is my faithful Shepherd, and will lay down his life for my sheep; who became man, that he might be my servant and die.

My fellow or my equal, who was ever with me, and my delights, Pro 8:30 . Man my fellow speaks Christ man with us and God with his Father, God-man in one person. Smite the shepherd; this great and good Shepherd shall be smitten, i.e. die for my sheep, and before he dieth shall suffer much for them.

The sheep shall be scattered as affrighted, destitute of one to look after them, and which must be partakers in sufferings with their Shepherd.

I will turn mine hand: God will, say some, turn his hand against the little ones, smite them too; but others say this turning the hand is in favour, and for protection; it is a hand turned over them, as if he would keep the blow off them, while others, fitter to bear it, do suffer.

Upon the little ones new, and therefore weak converts and disciples.

Haydock: Zec 13:7

Sword. This address rouses attention. (Calmet) ---

The sword implies all the torments which Christ endured. (Worthington) ---

He explains this of himself; only instead of strike, he says I will strike, (Matthew xxvi. 31.) as the sword was directed by God. (Haydock) ---

Patris voluntate percussus est. (St. Jerome) ---

Cleaveth. Hebrew hamithi, "my amiable one;" (Haydock) "of the same tribe with me;" (Aquila) "of my people." (Symmachus) St. Jerome observes, that Septuagint and Theodotion have read v for the last i, and render "his neighbour," or citizen. Yet some editions of the Septuagint retain "my fellow-citizen." (Haydock) ---

Little ones. Septuagint, Arabic, &c., "shepherds," (Calmet) which "many ill apply to the Jewish princes." (St. Jerome) ---

Tsoharim means also "the little," Micheas v. 2. Christ takes care of his little flock, (Luke xii. 32.; Haydock) and is always one with the Father, John viii. 29., and x. 30. (Calmet) ---

He recalled the flying apostles, and gave them courage. (Worthington)

Gill: Zec 13:7

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,.... Not Judas Maccabeus, slain in battle by Bacchis ^w, as Grotius fancies; but Christ, Jehovah's Shepherd; for these are the words of Jehovah the Father, concerning his Son, whom he calls "my Shepherd"; because he has a property in him, as well as in the flock; and he was chosen, called, set up, and sent as such by him; on whom he laid the straying of all the sheep; and who as such died and rose again, and is accountable to his divine Father for the flock committed to him: by "the sword" awoke against him are meant either the sorrows and afflictions of Christ, which, like a sword, pierced through his soul; or the violent death he was put to, being stricken and cut off for the transgressions of his people; or the Jews, who were the instruments of it; so wicked men are called, Psa 17:13 or rather the glittering sword of justice, which was drawn against him, and sheathed in him; which is called upon to "awake", it seeming as though it was asleep; it having been a long time since the first sin of Adam was committed, in which all his posterity was concerned, and for which satisfaction to divine justice must be made; and longer still since Christ became a surety, and engaged to do it; moreover, it was a great while since it was promised that he should come, and be smitten and wounded for sin; and, after he was come into the world, it was some time before the orders were given to this sword to awake against him:

even against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts; the human nature of Christ is signified by "the man"; not that he was really man before his incarnation, only in the purpose and covenant of God; and he often appearing in a human form; and the Scripture speaking of things future as present; though here it regards him in the days of his flesh, and as suffering: his divine nature is expressed by being "the fellow" of the Lord of hosts; not only being near to him in place and affection, but his equal, being truly a divine Person; of the same nature, glory, and majesty, with him ^x, though distinct from him; and so fit to be the Shepherd of the flock:

smite the Shepherd; the order is given to the sword of justice, by the Lord of hosts, to smite the Messiah, the Shepherd, even unto death: this was according to his purpose; was his will of command; agreeable to his mind; what he took a kind of pleasure in, and in which he had a hand himself; for it is rendered "I will smite", Mat 26:31,

and the sheep shall be scattered; particularly the apostles, who, upon the seizure of Christ, were scattered from him, and one another, whereby this prophecy was fulfilled, Mat 26:31,

and I will turn my hand upon the little ones; the same with the sheep, the disciples of Christ ^y; yea, all that Christ died for, and to whom God is gracious for his sake; even all the little ones that believe in him; who are few in number, little in their own sight, and contemptible in the eyes of the world; pusillanimous, fearful, and of little faith, as the apostles of Christ were at the time he died: on these the Lord turned his hand; not his chastising hand, though that is sometimes on the saints; much less his hand of justice, which was laid on Christ, and it would have been unjust to have laid it on sinner and surety both; but his hand of grace and mercy, power and protection; which was upon the apostles in their ministrations, succeeding them to the conversion of sinners, and preserving them from their enemies; and all the elect are saved in consequence of the death of Christ, and redemption by him. Aben Ezra says this prophecy refers to the great wars which shall be in all the earth in the times of Messiah ben Joseph; but they regard the times of Christ the son of David, who is already come. The Targum is,

"be revealed, O sword, against the king, and against the ruler his companion, who is like unto him;''

and Jarchi interprets it of the king of Moab; and Aben Ezra of every king of the nations that shall in the above times reign over the earth, who thinks himself to be as God; which sense Kimchi approves of, and observes, that the "little ones" are governors and princes, who are less than kings: and another Jewish writer ^z says the sense is, awake, O sword, against the king of Ishmael, who is called the king of the Turks (the grand seignior), that rules over Asia and Africa; which are more than three fourths of the world, and the greater part of the Jewish nation are in captivity under his hand; him God calls his Shepherd, because he hath given into his hand to feed his flock in their captivity, and this flock is the nation of Israel; and he is called the man his fellow, because he thinks himself, through the pride and haughtiness of his heart, to be as God; and upon the ruin of this prince, he supposes, will be the deliverance of the Jews, who, being scattered into several parts, will, in separate bodies, return to their own land: and by the "little ones" he thinks are meant the kings of the nations of Edom, or of the Roman nations, which are the lesser pastors of the sheep. Manasseh ben Israel ^a makes mention of the same exposition of the passage, but is of opinion that the words are rather to be understood of the pope of Rome, who calls himself a pastor, and next to God, and his vicar on earth; and against him and those like to him, inferior in power, God will make war. But much more agreeable, and very remarkable, are the words of R. Samuel Marochianus ^b, who, writing of the coming of the Messiah, says,

"I fear, O my Lord, that that which Zechariah the prophet said, "I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered", was fulfilled when we smote the Shepherd of those little ones and holy apostles.''

Moreover, it may be observed, that the word for "little ones" sometimes signifies great ones, as Mr. Pocock ^c has observed, and particularly in this text; which, according to the sense some give of it, mentioned by R. Tanchum, is, "I will turn mine hand upon the illustrious and the princes", and not "upon the little ones", as commonly understood; and which he takes to be the best of the expositions adduced: and with this agree the several oriental versions; some copies of the Septuagint read, "upon the shepherds"; and so the Arabic version; and the Syriac version renders it, "the superiors"; and so may very well be applied to the apostles of Christ, who were in the highest office in the church, and shepherds of the flock; on whom, after the death of Christ, God turned his hand of power, which was upon them, and was with them in their ministrations, making them successful wherever they went; and also his hand of providence was upon them, protecting and preserving them, until they had done the work they were sent about. After this prophecy concerning the Messiah, occasionally inserted here, the prophet returns to his prediction of the state of the church, and what shall befall it in the latter day.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Zec 13:7

¹ sn Despite the NT use of this text to speak of the scattering of the disciples following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27), the immediate context of Zechariah suggests that unfaithful shepherds (kings) will be punished by the Lord precisely so their flocks (disobedient Israel) can be scattered (cf. Zech 11:6, 8, 9, 16). It is likely that Jesus drew on this passage merely to make the point that whenever shepherds are incapacitated, sheep will scatter. Thus he was not identifying himself with the shepherd in this text (the shepherd in the Zechariah text is a character who is portrayed negatively).

Geneva Bible: Zec 13:7

Awake, O sword, against my ^{( i )} shepherd, and against the man [that is] my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.

^{( i )} The Prophet warns the Jews, that before this great comfort under Christ would come, there would be a horrible dissipation among the people: for their governors and pastors would be destroyed, and the people would be as scattered sheep. And the evangelist applies this to Christ, because he was the head of all pastors; (Mat 26:31).

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Zec 13:1-9

1 The fountain of purgation for Jerusalem,

2 from idolatry, and false prophecy.

7 The death of Christ, and the trial of a third part.

MHCC: Zec 13:7-9

Here is a prophecy of the sufferings of Christ. God the Father gave order to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he freely made his soul an offering for sin. As God, he is called " my Fellow." Christ and the Father are one. He is the Shepherd who was to lay down his life for the sheep. If a Sacrifice, he must be slain, for without shedding of the life-blood there was no remission. This sword must awake against him, yet he had no sin of his own to answer for. It may refer to the whole of Christ's sufferings, especially his agonies in the garden and on the cross, when he endured unspeakable anguish till Divine justice was fully satisfied. Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. This passage our Lord Jesus declares was fulfilled, when all his disciples, in the night wherein he was betrayed, forsook him and fled. It has, and shall have its accomplishment, in the destruction of the corrupt and hypocritical part of the professed church. Because of the sin of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ, and in opposing his gospel, the Romans would destroy the greater part. But a remnant would be saved. And if we are his people, we shall be refined as gold; he will be God, and the end of all our trials and sufferings will be praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew Henry: Zec 13:7-9

Here is a prophecy,

I. Of the sufferings of Christ, of him who was to be pierced, and was to be the fountain opened. Awake, O sword! against my Shepherd, Zec 13:7. These are the words of God the Father, giving order and commission to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he had voluntarily made his soul an offering for sin; for it pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief; and he was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, Isa 53:4, Isa 53:10. Observe, 1. How he calls him. "As God, he is my fellow; "for he thought it no robbery to be equal with God. He and the Father are one. He was from eternity by him, as one brought up with him, and, in the work of man's redemption, he was his elect, in whom his soul delighted, and the counsel of peace was between them both. "As Mediator, he is my Shepherd, that great and good Shepherd that undertook to feed the flock,"Zec 11:7. He is the Shepherd that was to lay down his life for the sheep. 2. How he uses him: Awake, O sword! against him. If he will be a sacrifice, he must be slain, for without the shedding of blood, the life-blood, there was no remission. men thrust him through as the good Shepherd (compare Zec 13:3), that he might purchase the flock of God with his own blood, Act 20:28. It is not a charge given to a rod to correct him, but to a sword to slay him; for Messiah the prince must be cut off, but not for himself, Dan 9:26. It is not the sword of war that receives this charge, that he may die in the bed of honour, but the sword of justice, that he may die as a criminal, upon an ignominious tree. This sword must awake against him; he having no sin of his own to answer for, the sword of justice had nothing to say to him of itself, till, by particular order from the Judge of all, it was warranted to brandish itself against him. he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, in the decree and counsel of God; but the sword designed against him had long slumbered, till now at length it is called upon to awake, not, "Awake, and smite him; strike home; not with a drowsy blow, but an awakened one;"for God spared not his own Son.

II. Of the dispersion of the disciples thereupon: Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. This our Lord Jesus himself declares to have been fulfilled when all his disciples were offended because of him in the night wherein he was betrayed, Mat 26:31; Mar 14:27. They all forsook him and fled. The smiting of the Shepherd is the scattering of the sheep. They were scattered every one to his own, and left him alone, Joh 16:32. Herein they were like timorous sheep; yet the Shepherd thus provided for their safety, for he said, If you seek me, let these go their way. Some make another application of this; Christ was the Shepherd of the Jewish nation; he was smitten; they themselves smote him, and therefore they were justly scattered abroad, and dispersed among the nations, and remain so at this day. These words, I will turn my hand upon the little ones, may be understood either as a threatening (as Christ suffered, so shall his disciples, they shall drink of the cup that he drank of and be baptized with the baptism that he was baptized with) or as a promise that God would gather Christ's scattered disciples together again, and he should give them the meeting in Galilee. Though the little ones among Christ's soldiers may be dispersed, they shall rally again; the lambs of his flock, though frightened by the beasts of prey, shall recover themselves, shall be gathered in his arms and laid in his bosom. Sometimes, when the sheep are scattered and lost in the wilderness, yet the little ones, which, it was feared, would be a prey (Num 14:31), are brought in, are brought home, and God turns his hand upon them.

III. Of the rejection and ruin of the unbelieving Jews (Zec 13:8); and this word has, and shall have, its accomplishment, in the destruction of the corrupt and hypocritical part of the church. It shall come to pass that in all the land of Israel two parts shall be cut off and die. The Roman army laid the country waste, and slew at least two-thirds of the Jews. Some understand by the cutting off, and dying, or two parts in all the earth, the abolishing of heathenism and Judaism, that Christianity, the third part, might be left to reign alone. The Jewish worship was quite taken away by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. And, some time after, Pagan idolatry was in a manner extirpated, when the empire became Christian.

IV. Of the reformation and preservation of the chosen remnant, those of them that believed, and the Christian church in general (Zec 13:9): The third part shall be left. When Jerusalem and Judea were destroyed, all the Christians in that country, having among them the warning Christ gave them to flee to the mountains, shifted for their own safety, and were sheltered in a city called Pella, on the other side Jordan. We have here first the trials and then the triumphs of the Christian church, and of all the faithful members of it. 1. Their trials: I will bring that third part through the fire of affliction. and will refine and try them as silver and gold are refined and tried. This was fulfilled in the persecutions of the primitive church, the fiery trial which tried the people of God then, 1Pe 4:12. Those whom God sets apart for himself must pass through a probation and purification in this world; they must be tried that their faith may be found to praise and honour (1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 1:7), as Abraham's faith was when it was tried by the command given him to offer up Isaac, Now know I that thou fearest me. They must be tried, that both those that are perfect and those that are not may be made manifest. They must be refined from their dross; their corruption must be purged out; they must be brightened and bettered. 2. Their triumphs. (1.) Their communion with God is their triumph: They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. They write to God by prayer, and receive from him answers of peace, and thus keep up a comfortable communion with him. This honour have all his saints. (2.) Their covenant with God is their triumph: " I will say, It is my people, whom I have chosen and loved, and will own; and they shall say, the Lord is my God, and a God all-sufficient to me; and in me they shall boast every day and all the day long. This God is our God for ever and ever. "

Keil-Delitzsch: Zec 13:7-9

Zec 13:7. "Arise, O sword, over my shepherd, and over the man who is my neighbour, is the saying of Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; and I will bring back my hand over the little ones. Zec 13:8. And it will come to pass in all the land, is the saying of Jehovah; two parts therein shall be cut off, shall die, and the third remains therein. Zec 13:9. And the third will I bring into the fire, and melt them as silver is melted, and will refine them as gold is refined: it will call upon my name, and I will answer it; I say, It is my people; and it will say, Jehovah my God." The summons addressed to the sword, to awake and smite, is a poetical turn to express the thought that the smiting takes place with or according to the will of God. For similar personification of the sword, see Jer 47:6. רעי is the shepherd of Jehovah, since the summons comes from Jehovah. In what sense the person to be smitten is called the shepherd of Jehovah, we may see from the clause על־גּבר עמיתי . The word עמית , which only occurs in the Pentateuch and in Zechariah, who has taken it thence, is only used as a synonym of אח (cf. Lev 25:15) in the concrete sense of the nearest one. And this is the meaning which it has in the passage before us, where the construct state expresses the relation of apposition, as for example in אישׁ חסידך (Deu 33:8; cf. Ewald, §287, e ), the man who is my nearest one. The shepherd of Jehovah, whom Jehovah describes as a man who is His next one (neighbour), cannot of course be a bad shepherd, who is displeasing to Jehovah, and destroys the flock, or the foolish shepherd mentioned in Zec 11:15-17, as Grotius, Umbr., Ebrard, Ewald, Hitzig, and others suppose; for the expression "man who is my nearest one"implies much more than unity or community of vocation, or that he had to feed the flock like Jehovah. No owner of a flock or lord of a flock would call a hired or purchased shepherd his ‛âmı̄th . And so God would not apply this epithet to any godly or ungodly man whom He might have appointed shepherd over a nation. The idea of nearest one (or fellow) involves not only similarity in vocation, but community of physical or spiritual descent, according to which he whom God calls His neighbour cannot be a mere man, but can only be one who participates in the divine nature, or is essentially divine. The shepherd of Jehovah, whom the sword is to smite, is therefore no other than the Messiah, who is also identified with Jehovah in Zec 12:10; or the good shepherd, who says of Himself, "I and my Father are one"(Joh 10:30). The masculine form הך in the summons addressed to the sword, although חרב itself is feminine, may be accounted for from the personification of the sword; compare Gen 4:7, where sin ( חטּאת , fem.) is personified as a wild beast, and construed as a masculine. The sword is merely introduced as a weapon used for killing, without there being any intention of defining the mode of death more precisely. The smiting of the shepherd is also mentioned here simply for the purpose of depicting the consequences that would follow with regard to the flock. The thought is therefore merely this: Jehovah will scatter Israel or His nation by smiting the shepherd; that is to say, He will give it up to the misery and destruction to which a flock without a shepherd is exposed. We cannot infer from this that the shepherd himself is to blame; nor does the circumstance that the smiting of the shepherd is represented as the execution of a divine command, necessarily imply that the death of the shepherd proceeds directly from God. According to the biblical view, God also works, and does that which is done by man in accordance with His counsel and will, and even that which is effected through the sin of men. Thus in Isa 53:10 the mortal sufferings of the Messiah are described as inflicted upon Him by God, although He had given up His soul to death to bear the sin of the people. In the prophecy before us, the slaying of the shepherd is only referred to so far as it brings a grievous calamity upon Israel; and the fact is passed over, that Israel has brought this calamity upon itself by its ingratitude towards the shepherd (cf. Zec 11:8, Zec 11:12). The flock, which will be dispersed in consequence of the slaying of the shepherd, is the covenant nation, i.e., neither the human race nor the Christian church as such, but the flock which the shepherd in Zec 11:4. had to feed. At the same time, Jehovah will not entirely withdraw His hand from the scattered flock, but "bring it back over the small ones."The phrase השׁיב יד על , to bring back the hand over a person (see at 2Sa 8:3), i.e., make him the object of his active care once more, is used to express the employment of the hand upon a person either for judgment or salvation. It occurs in the latter sense in Isa 1:25 in relation to the grace which the Lord will manifest towards Jerusalem, by purifying it from its dross; and it is used here in the same sense, as Zec 13:8, Zec 13:9 clearly show, according to which the dispersion to be inflicted upon Israel will only be the cause of ruin to the greater portion of the nation, whereas it will bring salvation to the remnant.

Zec 13:8 and Zec 13:9 add the real explanation of the bringing back of the hand over the small ones. צערים (lit., a participle of צער , which only occurs here) is synonymous with צעיר or צעור (Jer 14:3; Jer 48:4, chethib ), the small ones in a figurative sense, the miserable ones, those who are called עניּי הצּאן in Zec 11:7. It naturally follows from this, that the צערים are not identical with the whole flock, but simply form a small portion of it, viz., "the poor and righteous in the nation, who suffer injustice"(Hitzig). "The assertion that the flock is to be scattered, but that God will bring back His hand to the small ones, evidently implies that the small ones are included as one portion of the entire flock, for which God will prepare a different fate from that of the larger whole which is about to be dispersed"(Kliefoth).

On the fulfilment of this verse, we read in Mat 26:31-32, and Mar 14:27, that the bringing back of the hand of the Lord over the small ones was realized first of all in the case of the apostles. After the institution of the Lord's Supper, Christ told His disciples that that same night they would all be offended because of Him; for it was written, "I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee."The quotation is made freely from the original text, the address to the sword being resolved into its actual meaning, "I will smite."The offending of the disciples took place when Jesus was taken prisoner, and they all fled. This flight was a prelude to the dispersion of the flock at the death of the shepherd. But the Lord soon brought back His hand over the disciples. The promise, "But after my resurrection I will go before you into Galilee,"is a practical exposition of the bringing back of the hand over the small ones, which shows that the expression is to be understood here in a good sense, and that it began to be fulfilled in the whole of the nation of Israel, to which we shall afterwards return. This more general sense of the words is placed beyond the reach of doubt by Zec 13:8 and Zec 13:9; for Zec 13:8 depicts the misery which the dispersion of the flock brings upon Israel, and Zec 13:9 shows how the bringing back of the hand upon the small ones will be realized in the remnant of the nation. The dispersion of the flock will deliver two-thirds of the nation in the whole land to death, so that only one-third will remain alive. כּל־הארץ is not the whole earth, but the whole of the holy land, as in Zec 14:9-10; and הארץ , in Zec 12:12, the land in which the flock, fed by the shepherds of the Lord, i.e., the nation of Israel, dwells. פּי־שׁנים is taken from Deu 21:17, as in 2Ki 2:9; it is used there for the double portion inherited by the first-born. That it is used here to signify two-thirds, is evident from the remaining השּׁלישׁית . "The whole of the Jewish nation,"says Hengstenberg, "is introduced here, as an inheritance left by the shepherd who has been put to death, which inheritance is divided into three parts, death claiming the privileges of the first-born, and so receiving two portions, and life one, - a division similar to that which David made in the case of the Moabites (2Sa 8:2)." יגועוּ is added to יכּרתוּ , to define יכּרת more precisely, as signifying not merely a cutting off from the land by transportation (cf. Zec 14:2), but a cutting off from life (Koehler). גּוע , exspirare , is applied both to natural and violent death (for the latter meaning, compare Gen 7:21; Jos 22:20). The remaining third is also to be refined through severe afflictions, to purify it from everything of a sinful nature, and make it into a truly holy nation of God. For the figure of melting and refining, compare Isa 1:25; Isa 48:10; Jer 9:6; Mal 3:3; Psa 66:10. For the expression in Zec 13:9 , compare Isa 65:24; and for the thought of the whole verse, Zec 8:8, Hos 2:23, Jer 24:7; Jer 30:22. The cutting off of the two-thirds of Israel commenced in the Jewish war under Vespasian and Titus, and in the war for the suppression of the rebellion led by the pseudo-Messiah Bar Cochba . It is not to be restricted to these events, however, but was continued in the persecutions of the Jews with fire and sword in the following centuries. The refinement of the remaining third cannot be taken as referring to the sufferings of the Jewish nation during the whole period of its present dispersion, as C. B. Michaelis supposes, nor generally to the tribulations which are necessary in order to enter into the kingdom of God, to the seven conflicts which the true Israel existing in the Christian church has to sustain, first with the two-thirds, and then and more especially with the heathen (Zec 12:1-9, Zec 12:14). For whilst Hengstenberg very properly objects to the view of Michaelis, on the ground that in that case the unbelieving portion of Judaism would be regarded as the legitimate and sole continuation of Israel; it may also be argued, in opposition to the exclusive reference in the third to the Christian church, that it is irreconcilable with the perpetuation of the Jews, and the unanimous entrance of all Israel into the kingdom of Christ, as taught by the Apostle Paul. Both views contain elements of truth, which must be combined, as we shall presently show.

Constable: Zec 9:1--14:21

V. Oracles about the Messiah and Israel's future chs. 9--14

This part of Zechariah contains two undated oracles that are almost entirely eschatological. They expand the eschatological vision in chapters 1-8 and modify its generally optimistic view with emphasis on Israel's purification. The prophet may have composed these chapters after the temple was completed. The phrase "on that day" occurs 18 times and points to the distant future, as is clear from their contexts. The centerpiece of this section is the messianic King who will appear and bring both judgment and blessing.

"Just as the eight night visions (chapters 1-6) and prophecies springing out of the question of the national fasts (chapters 7 and 8) all have their fulfillment in events leading up to and into the kingdom (without an exception), so chapters 9-14 likewise comprehend the same great Messianic future of Israel."¹⁷⁸

"One must admit that once he begins a careful study of chapters 9-14 he is immediately made aware of the change of mood, outlook, style, and composition of this part of the book compared to the first eight chapters. . . .

". . . the prophet in this section has entered another realm of thought and perspective, much as did Isaiah in the latter part (chaps. 40-66) of his work. . . . The perspective . . . is primarily eschatological, it lacks any indisputable connection to contemporary persons or events, and it is dominated by cryptic allusions to cosmic, redemptive, and messianic themes that have no accompanying interpretation, contrary to the case in Zech. 1-8. In short, the prophet has broken free of the mold in which he cast the material of the first part and has created a new form in which to express the grand and glorious ideas that permeate his thinking in the second part."¹⁷⁹

"The last six chapters are very different. Gone are the bold outlines, and instead there are enigmatic references to enemies of former days, grim battles, betrayal, bitter weeping, interspersed with assurances of peace, prosperity and ultimate victory. It is probably with these chapters in mind that Jerome wrote, . . . that most obscure book of the prophet Zechariah, and of the Twelve the longest . . .'. Obscure though it is in places, chapters 9-14 are the most quoted section of the prophets in the passion narratives of the Gospels and, next to Ezekiel, Zechariah has influenced the author of Revelation more than any other Old Testament writer."¹⁸⁰

"In the first [burden] (chaps. 9-11), the judgment through which Gentile world-power over Israel is finally destroyed, and Israel is endowed with strength to ovecome all their enemies, forms the fundamental thought and centre of gravity of the prophetic description. In the second [burden] (chaps. 12-14), the judgment through which Israel itself is sifted and purged in the final great conflict with the nations, and transformed into the holy nation of Jehovah, forms the leading topic."¹⁸¹

This section of the book is also chiastic (cf. chs. 1-6).

"A God comes to protect and bless (chs. 9-10)

B The people reject God's shepherd (11:1-14)

C The worthless shepherd hurts the flock (11:15-17)

C' The nations come to destroy Jerusalem (12:1-9)

B' The people repent and turn to God (12:10-13:6)

A' God comes to protect and bless (13:7-14:21)"¹⁸²

Constable: Zec 12:1--14:21

B. The burden concerning Israel: the advent and acceptance of Messiah chs. 12-14

This last section of the book contrasts initial judgments on Israel with ultimate deliverance, restoration, and blessing.

"As a portion of the prophetic Scriptures it is second to none in importance in this book or in any other Old Testament book. It is indispensable to an understanding of the events of the last days for Israel--the time of the Great Tribulation and the establishment of God's kingdom on earth."²⁴⁸

The repetition of "in that day" and its equivalent 19 times in these three chapters sets these events quite clearly in the eschaton (end times).

"This prophetic time indicator is equivalent to the day of the Lord' and denotes precisely that future period when the Lord will openly and publicly manifest His power in delivering Israel from her enemies and establishing her in millennial peace and prosperity."²⁴⁹

Two main events are in view in this oracle: the final siege of Jerusalem and the return of Messiah to the earth to defeat His enemies and establish His kingdom. The nations of the earth play a major role in what these chapters predict. These events follow in time Israel's acceptance of the evil shepherd predicted in 11:15-17.

"The major difference between the two oracles (chap. 11 excepted) is that 12-14 expands greatly on the themes of 9-10 and introduces a cosmic, universalistic motif that is not as clearly perceived in the latter. Moreover, 12-14 focuses on the messianic aspect of the eschatological redemption, going so far as to identify YHWH Himself as the messianic figure (12:10-14; 13:7-9)."²⁵⁰

Constable: Zec 13:1-9

2. The restoration of Judah ch. 13

"The connection between chapters 12 and 13 is so close that a chapter division is really uncalled for. The same people, the same subject, and the same time are in view in both chapters. The relationship between 12:10-14 and 13:1-6 is not only logical but chronological as well. Once Israel is brought to a penitent condition and is brought face to face with her crucified Messiah, then the provision of God for cleansing will be appropriate."²⁶⁶

Constable: Zec 13:7-9

The smiting of the Shepherd and the scattering of the sheep 13:7-9

13:7 Zechariah now returned in a poem to the subject of the Shepherd that he had mentioned in chapter 11. He also returned to the time when Israel would be scattered among the nations because of her rejection of the Good Shepherd.

Almighty Yahweh personified a sword, the instrument of violent death, which he commanded to execute His Shepherd, the royal Good Shepherd of 11:4-14.²⁷² Yahweh further described this Shepherd as the man who was very close to Him, even His Associate.

"The expression who stands next to me' is used elsewhere only in Leviticus (e.g. 6:2; 18:12) to mean near neighbour'; similarly the shepherd is one who dwells side by side with the Lord, His equal."²⁷³

In 11:17 it was the worthless shepherd whom the Lord would strike, but here it is the Good Shepherd. The one doing the striking is evidently God Himself since "strike" is masculine in the Hebrew text and agrees with "the LORD of hosts." If so, Zechariah presented Messiah's death as God's activity (cf. Isa. 53:10; Acts 2:23) as well as Israel's (12:10-14).

The striking (death) of the Shepherd would result in the scattering of the Shepherd's sheep (i.e., Israel, 11:4-14). The Lord Jesus quoted this part of the verse, claiming the role of the Shepherd, when he anticipated the scattering of His disciples following His death (cf. Matt. 26:31, 56; Mark 14:27, 50).

The last line of the verse is capable of two different interpretations both of which came to pass. Perhaps a double entendre was intended. God Himself would scatter even the young sheep and would show mercy to them (cf. Mark 13:19, 24; Luke 2:35; Rev. 11:3-10).²⁷⁴

"The divine witness to the death and deity of the prophesied Messiah makes this verse one of the most significant in the entire Old Testament."²⁷⁵

13:8-9 The scattering of the sheep would result in two-thirds of the flock dying and one-third remaining alive. The Lord would refine the surviving one-third in the fires of affliction (cf. 3:2; Ezek. 5:1-12). This remnant must be the same group of Israelites, described in 12:10-13:1, who would turn to God in repentance. Evidently two-thirds of the Jews will perish during the Tribulation and one-third will live through it and enter the Millennium. This surviving remnant then must include the 144,000 of Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-5. The one-third will call on the Lord's name in supplication for forgiveness (12:10). The Lord will respond to their cry by reaffirming His new covenant relationship with them, and they will agree to it (cf. Ezek. 20:37).

Guzik: Zec 13:1-9

Zechariah 13 - The Nation Purified

A. The purification of the people

1. (1) A fountain to cleanse sin.

"In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness."

a. In that day: Zechariah 12 ended with Israel's return to the LORD through the once rejected but now embraced Messiah. Flowing from their embrace of the Messiah, they now enjoy a fountain that brings cleansing for sin and for uncleanness. The cleansing comes after their mourning for the One whom they have pierced.

i. Shall be opened: "The fountain shall be not simply opened, but shall remain open." (Pusey)

ii. "The idea of God being a fountain to His people is found frequently in the Old Testament, but Zechariah's treatment is possibly the richest of all." (Boice)

iii. The idea of the sin-cleansing fountain has also been a part of famous hymns:

There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel's veins;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

(William Cowper)

Foul, I to the Fountain fly;

Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee.

(Augustus Toplady)

iv. "According to the verse before us this provision is inexhaustible. There is a fountain opened; not a cistern nor a reservoir, but a fountain. A fountain continues still to bubble up, and is as full after fifty years as at the first; and even so the provision and the mercy of God for the forgiveness and the justification of our souls continually flows and overflows." (Spurgeon)

v. "The means by which sin and sinfulness can be put away are at this moment accessible to the sons of men. The atonement is not a fountain hid and concealed, and closed and barred and bolted, it is a fountain open." (Spurgeon)

b. For sin and for uncleanness: The only thing that can cleanse sin and uncleanness is God's fountain. It is His supply, and nothing else can cleanse. Our own works at reform or restitution can't cleanse us; our past, present, or promised works can't cleanse - only His fountain.

i. "Sin and uncleanness must be put away. They cannot be excused, condoned, or compromised with. The foundations of the throne of God are righteousness and justice." (Morgan)

2. (2-6) Cleansing from idolatry and false prophets.

"It shall be in that day," says the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, 'You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.' And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies. And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. But he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.' And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' "

a. I will cut off the names of the idols . . . I will also cause the prophets and unclean spirits to depart from the land: Idolatry and false prophecy were the two principle ways Israel was led astray from God. God not only provides a fountain to cleanse, but He also promises to cut off the source of uncleanness - in this case, idolatry and false prophecy.

i. When you see the gaudy and ornate shrines that supposedly mark holy sites in Israel today, you see that idolatry is still alive and well in the Holy Land. God promises to cleanse the land from such idolatry completely.

ii. They shall no longer be remembered: God promises ultimately to take away even the memory of our sin.

b. His father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies: Zechariah prophesies a coming day when public opinion will not tolerate false prophets. There will be such a commitment to the LORD and His truth that even the family of a false prophet will condemn the false prophet.

c. Every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies: "Those who posed as prophets will so fear exposure that they will deny ever having made such a claim" (Baldwin). They will put away the "uniform" of the prophets (a robe of coarse hair) and earn an honest living.

i. This does not say that true prophecy will cease; but only those who deceive have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.

d. Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends: The man accused of being a false prophet insists the scars on his body are not the self-inflicted wounds often associated with false prophets, but merely the result of a brawl in his friend's house.

i. The unlikely, ironic explanation shows just how desperately people will avoid being identified with false prophets in this coming day Zechariah speaks of.

ii. It wasn't unusual for false prophets to wound or mutilate themselves in the service of idols (1 Kings 18:28, Jeremiah 48:37).

e. I was wounded in the house of my friends: Some take this as another Messianic prophecy in Zechariah, because Jesus was clearly wounded by those who should have been His friends. Nevertheless the context and the original Hebrew argue against this referring to Jesus and His wounds.

i. The translation from the King James Version makes it seem even more likely that this refers to Jesus: What are these wounds in thine hands? But the Hebrew is more literally between your hands, that is on the body, whether the chest or the back.

ii. "Some apply this to Christ, because Zechariah has mentioned wounds on the hands; but this is very puerile; for it is quite evident that he speaks here of false teachers, who had for a time falsely pretended God's name." (Calvin)

iii. "I do not think that these words are spoken at all concerning Jesus Christ. I have heard them quoted this way; but I cannot hear such an application of them without horror." (Clarke)

B. The Shepherd struck, the nation scattered.

1. (7) Striking the Man Who is the Companion of the LORD.

"Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion," says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones."

a. Against My Shepherd: In the context, and especially in light of the quotation of this passage in Matthew 26:31, we understand that the Shepherd is Jesus the Messiah - and it is God the Father Himself who calls for the Shepherd to be struck.

i. Zechariah relates a thought also said in Isaiah 53:10: Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. The prophets Isaiah and Zechariah gloriously and emphatically, state that the suffering of the Servant of the LORD was ordained by the LORD. This was God's doing! He gave the command to strike the Shepherd. Jesus was no victim of circumstance or at the mercy of political or military power. It was the planned, ordained work of the LORD God, prophesied by Isaiah hundreds of years before it happened. This was God's victory, not Satan's or man's triumph.

ii. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. The Father and the Son worked together at the cross. Though Jesus was treated as if He were an enemy of God, He was not. Even as Jesus was punished as if He were a sinner, He was performing the most holy service unto God the Father ever offered.

b. The Man who is My Companion: The ancient Hebrew word for My Companion is used in Leviticus 6:2 and 18:20 to mean a "near neighbor." This describes someone who is more than a friend of the LORD; this Shepherd "dwells side by side with the Lord, His equal." (Baldwin)

i. "God would not apply this epithet to any godly or ungodly man whom he might have appointed shepherd over a nation. The idea of nearest one (or fellow) involves not only similarity in vocation, but community of physical or spiritual descent, according to which he whom God calls his neighbor cannot be a mere man, but can only be one who participates in the divine nature, or is essentially divine." (Keil)

c. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered: Jesus quoted this phrase from Zechariah 13:7 in Matthew 26:31 in reference to the scattering of His disciples during His arrest and suffering. There is also a sense in which the disciples were a type of Israel as a whole in being scattered.

2. (8-9) Israel scattered, smitten, refined, and saved.

"And it shall come to pass in all the land," says the LORD, "That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one- third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people'; and each one will say, 'The LORD is my God.' "

a. I will bring the one-third through the fire: After the dispersion of Israel there will come a time of devastation and purification through fiery trials. Two-thirds will be destroyed and the remaining third will be put into the fire but preserved.

i. This seems to suggest that only one-third of the Jewish people will survive the Great Tribulation. If this is the case, no wonder these years are called the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), and why Jesus said the Great Tribulation will be the most horrific time in human history (Matthew 24:21). Indeed, the Book of Revelation suggests that only one

b. They will call on My name, and I will answer them: This prophetically refers to the Jewish people who survive the Great Tribulation, come to salvation in the second half of that final period and welcome Jesus in the name of the LORD. This group - which includes the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14, but is not limited to that number - will make up the core of a restored Israel as Jesus establishes His millennial rule over the earth.

© 2001 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Zechariah (Book Introduction)

THE name Zechariah means one whom Jehovah remembers: a common name, four others of the same name occurring in the Old Testament. Like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, he was a priest as well as a prophet, which adapts him for the sacerdotal character of some of his prophecies (Zec 6:13). He is called "the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo" (Zec 1:1); but simply "the son of Iddo" in Ezr 5:1; Ezr 6:14. Probably his father died when he was young; and hence, as sometimes occurs in Jewish genealogies, he is called "the son of Iddo," his grandfather. Iddo was one of the priests who returned to Zerubbabel and Joshua from Babylon (Neh 12:4).

Zechariah entered early on his prophetic functions (Zec 2:4); only two months later than Haggai, in the second year of Darius' reign, 520 B.C. The design of both prophets was to encourage the people and their religious and civil leaders, Joshua and Zerubbabel, in their work of rebuilding the temple, after the interruption caused by the Samaritans (see Introduction to Haggai). Zechariah does so especially by unfolding in detail the glorious future in connection with the present depressed appearance of the theocracy, and its visible symbol, the temple. He must have been very young in leaving Babylonia, where he was born. The Zechariah, son of Barachias, mentioned by our Lord (Mat 23:35) as slain between the porch and the altar, must have been the one called the son of Jehoiada in 2Ch 24:21, who so perished: the same person often had two names; and our Lord, in referring to the Hebrew Bible, of which Second Chronicles is the last book, would naturally mention the last martyr in the Hebrew order of the canon, as He had instanced Abel as the first. Owing to Mat 27:9 quoting Zec 11:12-13 as the words of Jeremiah, MEDE doubts the authenticity of the ninth through the fourteenth chapters, and ascribes them to Jeremiah: he thinks that these chapters were not found till after the return from the captivity, and being approved by Zechariah, were added to his prophecies, as Agur's Proverbs were added to those of Solomon. All the oldest authorities, except two manuscripts of the old Italian or Pre-Vulgate version, read Jeremiah in Mat 27:9. The quotation there is not to the letter copied from Zechariah, Jer 18:1-2; Jer 32:6-12, may also have been in the mind of Matthew, and perhaps in the mind of Zechariah, whence the former mentions Jeremiah. HENGSTENBERG similarly thinks that Matthew names Jeremiah, rather than Zechariah, to turn attention to the fact that Zechariah's prophecy is but a reiteration of the fearful oracle in Jer. 18:1-19:15, to be fulfilled in the destruction of the Jewish nation. Jeremiah had already, by the image of a potter's vessel, portrayed their ruin in Nebuchadnezzar's invasion; and as Zechariah virtually repeats this threat, to be inflicted again under Messiah for the nation's rejection of Him, Matthew, virtually, by mentioning Jeremiah, implies that the "field of blood" (Mat 27:8-9), now bought by "the reward of iniquity" (Act 1:18) in the valley of Hinnom, was long ago a scene of prophetic doom in which awful disaster had been symbolically predicted: that the present purchase of that field with the traitor's price renewed the prophecy and revived the curse--a curse pronounced of old by Jeremiah, and once fulfilled in the Babylonian siege--a curse reiterated by Zechariah, and again to be verified in the Roman desolation. LIGHTFOOT (referring to B. BATHRA and KIMCHI) less probably thinks the third division of Scripture, the prophets, began with Jeremiah, and that the whole body of prophets is thus quoted by the name "Jeremiah." The mention of "Ephraim" and "Israel" in these chapters as distinct from Judah, does not prove that the prophecy was written while the ten tribes existed as a separate kingdom. It rather implies that hereafter not only Judah, but the ten tribes also, shall be restored, the earnest of which was given in the numbers out of the ten tribes who returned with their brethren the Jews from captivity under Cyrus. There is nothing in these characters to imply that a king reigned in Judah at that time. The editor of the Hebrew canon joined these chapters to Zechariah, not to Jeremiah; the Septuagint, three hundred years B.C., confirms this.

The prophecy consists of four parts: (1) Introductory, Zec 1:1-6. (2) Symbolical, Zec 1:7, to the end of the sixth chapter, containing nine visions; all these were vouchsafed in one night, and are of a symbolical character. (3) Didactic, the seventh and eighth chapters containing an answer to a query of the Beth-elites concerning a certain feast. And (4) Prophetic, the ninth chapter to the end. These six last chapters predict Alexander's expedition along the west coast of Palestine to Egypt; God's protection of the Jews, both at that time and under the Maccabees; the advent, sufferings, and reign of Messiah; the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, and dissolution of the Jews' polity; their conversion and restoration; the overthrow of the wicked confederacy which assailed them in Canaan; and the Gentiles' joining in their holy worship [HENDERSON]. The difference in style between the former and the latter chapters is due to the difference of subject; the first six chapters being of a symbolical and peculiar character, while the poetical style of the concluding chapters is adapted admirably to the subjects treated. The titles (Zec 9:1; Zec 12:1) accord with the prophetic matter which follows; nor is it necessary for unity of authorship that the introductory formulas occurring in the first eight chapters should occur in the last six. The non-reference in the last six chapters to the completion of the temple and the Jews' restoration after the captivity is just what we should expect, if, as seems likely, these chapters were written long after the completion of the temple and the restoration of the Jews polity after the captivity, in circumstances different from those which engaged the prophet when he wrote the earlier chapters.

The style varies with the subject: at one time conversational, at another poetical. His symbols are enigmatical and are therefore accompanied with explanations. His prose is like that of Ezekiel--diffuse, uniform, and repetitious. The rhythm is somewhat unequal, and the parallelisms are not altogether symmetrical. Still, there is found often much of the elevation met with in the earlier prophets, and a general congruity between the style and the subjects. Graphic vividness is his peculiar merit. Chaldæisms occur occasionally. Another special characteristic of Zechariah is his introduction of spiritual beings into his prophetic scenes.

JFB: Zechariah (Outline)

• INTRODUCTORY EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE. THE VISION. The man among the myrtles: Comforting explanation by the angel, an encouragement to the Jews to build the city and temple: The four horns and four artificers. (Zec. 1:1-17) See Introduction.
• SECOND VISION. The power of the Jews foes shall be dissipated. (Zec 1:18-21)
• THIRD VISION. The man with the measuring-line. (Zec 2:1-13)
• FOURTH VISION. Joshua the high priest before the angel of Jehovah; accused by Satan, but justified by Jehovah through Messiah the coming Branch. (Zec 3:1-10) Joshua as high priest (Hag 1:1) represents "Jerusalem" (Zec 3:2), or the elect people, put on its trial, and "plucked" narrowly "out of the fire." His attitude, "standing before the Lord," is that of a high priest ministering before the altar erected previously to the building of the temple (Ezr 3:2-3, Ezr 3:6; Psa 135:2). Yet, in this position, by reason of his own and his people's sins, he is represented as on his and their trial (Num 35:12).
• FIFTH VISION. The golden candlestick and the two olive trees. The temple shall be completed by the aid of God's Spirit. (Zec 4:1-14)
• SIXTH VISION. THE FLYING ROLL. The fraudulent and perjuring transgressors of the law shall be extirpated from Judea. (Zec 5:1-4)
• SEVENTH VISION. THE WOMAN IN THE EPHAH. Wickedness and idolatry removed from the Holy Land to Babylon, there to mingle with their kindred elements. (Zec 5:5-11)
• EIGHTH VISION. THE FOUR CHARIOTS. (Zec 6:1-8)
• NINTH VISION. THE CROWNING OF JOSHUA. (Zec 6:9-15)
• II. DIDACTIC PART, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CHAPTERS. OBEDIENCE, RATHER THAN FASTING, ENJOINED: ITS REWARD. (Zec 7:1-14)
• CONTINUATION OF THE SUBJECT IN THE SEVENTH CHAPTER. After urging them to obedience by the fate of their fathers, he urges them to it by promises of coming prosperity. (Zec. 8:1-23)
• NINTH TO FOURTEENTH CHAPTERS ARE PROPHETICAL. (Zec. 9:1-17)
• PRAYER AND PROMISE. (Zec 10:1-12)
• DESTRUCTION OF THE SECOND TEMPLE AND JEWISH POLITY FOR THE REJECTION OF MESSIAH. (Zec. 11:1-17)
• JERUSALEM THE INSTRUMENT OF JUDGMENT ON HER FOES HEREAFTER; HER REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION. (Zec 12:1-14)
• CLEANSING OF THE JEWS FROM SIN; ABOLITION OF IDOLATRY; THE SHEPHERD SMITTEN; THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND CUT OFF, EXCEPT A THIRD PART REFINED BY TRIALS. (Zec 13:1-9) Connected with the close of the twelfth chapter. The mourning penitents are here comforted.
• LAST STRUGGLE WITH THE HOSTILE WORLD POWERS: MESSIAH-JEHOVAH SAVES JERUSALEM AND DESTROYS THE FOE, OF WHOM THE REMNANT TURNS TO THE LORD REIGNING AT JERUSALEM. (Zec. 14:1-21)

TSK: Zechariah 13 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Zec 13:1, The fountain of purgation for Jerusalem, Zec 13:2, from idolatry, and false prophecy; Zec 13:7, The death of Christ, and the trial of a third part.

Poole: Zechariah (Book Introduction)

THE ARGUMENT

Zechariah is the second prophet who cometh from God to the returned captives, and his errand to them was both to second Haggai’ s exhortations, and to reveal more fully than he doth all the future revolutions and events; to the final desolation of Jerusalem and the second temple by the Romans, and the rejection of the Jews for their sins against all the mercies of their God, and for their rejecting and murdering of the Messiah; who, rejected of the Jews, taketh in the Gentiles, and establisheth his church amongst them; which is revealed unto Zechariah, and communicated to the Jews by him; with a declaration of the future ruin of the Persian kingdom by the Grecians, and also of the wars of the Seleucidae and Lagidae, and their overthrow by the Romans; during the series of which times, the Jews shall be grown numerous, wealthy, and powerful, and, so long as they keep their covenant with God, shall do wonderful things, and be eminently owned of God, and be either wonderfully secured amidst these troubles, or more wonderfully victorious over those that trouble them. And indeed what Zechariah foretold, or promised to them, was in its time made good amongst them; his predictions were punctually fulfilled; if the promises were not, it was because the Jews by their sins cut themselves off from the promises, which may be observed in those intervals of times between Zechariah’ s prophesying and the coming of the Messiah. Now the first interval was above two hundred years, to the death of Alexander the Great; during which time the Jews enjoyed the common peace with the subjects of the Persian empire, and the particular favour of Alexander the conqueror during his life. These years were years of growth to the Jews. The next interval, through the wars of Alexander’ s divided captains, and between the Seleucidaes and the Lagidae, was an interval of some great trouble, and yet of greater preservation to the Jews. The next interval is that of the Maccabees, during which those victories were gotten which do almost exceed our belief. But whilst thus times were changed, the Jews continued much the same, unthankful to God, cold in religion, and added to their sins daily; till at last God delivered them into the hands of the Romans, whose general, Pompey the Great, deposed Hyrcanus from the throne, and restored the high priesthood to him. From henceforth the Jews’ sins and miseries grow together, till that was accomplished, Zec 14:2 , the city Jerusalem taken, the houses rifled, &c. Thus by various intermixture of providences, God did try the Jews, whether they would, as became his people, repent of former sins, amend their future doings, believe his promises, and obey his precepts, that he might bless them; so should all the good foretold by this prophet have crowned them. But if they failed (as they did) in those points of duty, then all the evil threatened should (as it did) overtake them, and, as Zechariah foretold, continue on them, as it doth to this day. This prophecy then contains the revolutions of the Jews, and the empires of Persia and Greece, and the Romans; in whose times the Jews, by killing the Lord of life, filled up their measure, and by whose hands God punished them, destroying their polity, razing their city, burning their temple, and captivating the people, which lasteth to this day. The better to represent all these at once to your view, take this following scheme.

Zechariah Doth

1. Exhort to present repentance and reformation, chaps. 1, 2, 7, 8

2. Promise

A. Present blessings, chap, 1, 2, 8:9-15

B. Future Mercy, and that

1. Under Persian government, Zec 8:3-7

2. Alexander and the Grecians, Zec 9:9

3. In the Maccabees’ times

3. Encourage

A. Joshua, Zec. iii

B. Zerubbabel, chap iv

4. Threaten

A. The enemies of the Jews, chap i.21; ii:9, ix:1-8, 12:1-4,9

B. The sinful and impenitent Jews, chap iv; xi:1; xiv:1,2

5. Foretell

A. The Jews’ rejecting him, Zec. xi:10-12, &c

B. Gods’

1. Avenging the sin on the Jews, chap 14:1,2

2. Calling the Gentiles, Zec. viii:20-23; xii:10, iii:8,9; vi:12,13

3. Continued protection of the church of Christ among the Gentiles,

chap 14:3, to end

All which, either in dark, yet significant, types or emblems or else in plain and easily intelligible words, is represented to us by this prophet.

Poole: Zechariah 13 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 13

The fountain of purgation for Jerusalem, Zec 13:1 . The extirpation of idolatry and false prophecy, Zec 13:2-6 . The death of Christ, and the saving of a third part after a severe trial, Zec 13:7-9 .

MHCC: Zechariah (Book Introduction)

This prophecy is suitable to all, as the scope is to reprove for sin, and threaten God's judgments against the impenitent, and to encourage those that feared God, with assurances of the mercy God had in store for his church, and especially of the coming of the Messiah, and the setting up his kingdom in the world.

MHCC: Zechariah 13 (Chapter Introduction)

(Zec 13:1-6) The Fountain for the remission of sins, The conviction of the false prophets.

(Zec 13:7-9) The death of Christ, and the saving of a remnant of the people.

Matthew Henry: Zechariah (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Prophecy of Zechariah

This prophet was colleague with the prophet Haggai, and a worker together with him in forwarding the building of the second temple (Ezr 5:1); for two are better than one. Christ sent forth his disciples two and two. Zechariah began to prophesy some time after Haggai. But he continued longer, soared higher in visions and revelations, wrote more, and prophesied more particularly concerning Christ, than Haggai had done; so the last shall be first: the last in time sometimes proves first in dignity. He begins with a plain practical sermon, expressive of that which was the scope of his prophesying, in the first five verses; but afterwards, to the end of Zec 6:1-15, he relates the visions he saw, and the instructions he received immediately from heaven by them. At Zec 7:1-14, from an enquiry made by the Jews concerning fasting, he takes occasion to show them the duty of their present day, and to encourage them to hope for God's favour, to the end of ch. 8, after which there are two sermons, which are both called burdens of the word of the Lord (one begins with ch. 9, the other with Zec 12:1-14), which probably were preached some time after; the scope of them is to reprove for sin, and threaten God's judgments against the impenitent, and to encourage those that feared God with assurances of the mercy God had in store for his church, and especially of the coming of the Messiah and the setting up of his kingdom in the world.

Matthew Henry: Zechariah 13 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter we have, I. Some further promises relating to gospel-times. Here is a promise of the remission of sins (Zec 13:1), of the reformation of manners (Zec 13:2), and particularly of the convicting and silencing of false prophets (Zec 13:2-6). II. A clear prediction of the sufferings of Christ and the dispersion of his disciples thereupon (Zec 13:7), of the destruction of the greater part of the Jewish nation not long after (Zec 13:8), and of the purifying of a remnant of them, a peculiar people to God (Zec 13:9).

Constable: Zechariah (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title and Writer

The title of this book comes from its traditional writer, as is true of all the prophetical books of the Old Testament. The name "Zechariah" (lit. Yahweh remembers) was a common one among the Israelites identifying as many as 27 different individuals in the Old Testament.¹ It was an appropriate name for the writer of this book because it explains that Yahweh remembers His chosen people and His promises and will be faithful to them. This Zechariah was the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo (1:1, 7; cf. Ezra 5:1; 6:14; Neh. 12:4, 16).

Zechariah, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, was both a prophet and a priest. He was obviously familiar with priestly things (cf. ch. 3; 6:9-15; 9:8, 15; 14:16, 20, 21). Since he was a young man (Heb. na'ar) when he began prophesying (2:4), he was probably born in Babylonian captivity and returned to Palestine in 536 B.C. with Zerubbabel and Joshua. He became a leading priest in the restoration community succeeding his grandfather, Iddo, who also returned from captivity in 536 B.C., as the leader of his priestly family (Neh. 12:4, 16). His father, Berechiah (1:1, 7), evidently never became prominent.

The Lord Jesus referred to a Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom the Jews murdered between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35). This appears to be how the prophet's life ended.² This would make the prophet one of the last righteous people the Jews slew in Old Testament history.³

Date

Zechariah's inspired preaching began in the eighth month of 520 B.C. (1:1). His eight night visions followed three months later in 520 B.C. (1:7), when he was a young man (2:4). He delivered the messages in chapters 7-8 in 518 B.C. (7:1). Nehemiah mentioned Zechariah as the head of a priestly family when Joiakim, who succeeded Joshua, was high priest (Neh. 12:12, 16). This may have been as late as during the reign of Artaxerxes I (465-424 B.C.).⁴ Some scholars believe he wrote chapters 9-14 during this later period of his life.⁵ The exact length of his life and ministry is guesswork, however.

Historical Background

Zechariah began ministering among the Jews who had returned from captivity in Babylon (i.e., the restoration community) two months after Haggai began preaching (1:1; 7:1; cf. Neh. 12:10-16; Hag. 1:1). In a sense, Zechariah's message supplements that of Haggai.⁶

"Both prophets . . . contrast the past with the present and future, with Haggai stressing the rebuilt Temple as a sign and source of God's blessing and Zechariah emphasizing the role of repentance and renewal in achieving that end. The two prophets worked hand in glove, complementing each other's message."⁷

"There is a marked contrast between Haggai and his contemporary Zechariah. If Haggai was the builder, responsible for the solid structure of the new Temple, Zechariah was more like the artist, adding colourful windows with their symbolism, gaiety and light. To make sure that their symbolism is rightly understood an interpreting angel acts as guide, adding in some cases a message that goes far beyond what could be deduced from the visions."⁸

Haggai and Zechariah's ministries followed those of Ezekiel and Daniel, who ministered during the Captivity in Babylon.

Table of Some Post-Exilic Events
Cyrus issued his edict allowing the Jews to return home.	538 B.C.	Ezra 1
About 50,000 Jews returned under Zerubbabel and Joshua's leadership.	536 B.C.	Ezra 2; Neh. 7
The altar was rebuilt and sacrifices resumed.	536 B.C.
Work on the temple began but then halted.	536 B.C.	Ezra 3:1-4
The Jews became occupied with rebuilding their own homes.	536-522 B.C.	Hag. 1-2
Cyrus died, and his son, Cambyses II, succeeded him and ruled Persia.	530 B.C.; 530-522 B.C.
Smerdis ruled Persia.	522-521 B.C.
Darius I, the Great (Hystaspes), rescued Persia from civil war and ruled Persia.	521-486 B.C.
Darius confirmed Cyrus' decree and encouraged the Jews to continue rebuilding the temple.	520 B.C.	Ezra 6:1-14
Haggai preached his first three sermons.	520 B.C., 6th and 7th months	Hag. 1:1, 15; 2:1
Zechariah preached his first sermon.	520 B.C., 8th month	Zech. 1:1
Haggai preached his fourth and fifth sermons.	520 B.C., 9th month	Hag. 2:10, 20
Zechariah received his eight night visions.	520 B.C., 11th month	Zech. 1:7
Joshua, the high priest, was crowned.	520 B.C., 11th month	Zech. 6:9-15
The delegation from Bethel arrived, and Zechariah preached again.	518 B.C., 9th month	Zech. 7:1
The Jews completed the temple and dedicated it.	515 B.C., 12th month	Ezra 6:15
Xerxes I (Ahasuerus) reigned over Persia.	486-464 B.C.	Esth. 2:16
Artaxerxes I reigned over Persia.	464-424 B.C.
About 5,000 Jews returned to Palestine under Ezra's leadership.	458 B.C.	Ezra 7:7
Artaxerxes I authorized Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem's walls.	445 B.C.	Neh. 2:1
Nehemiah led the third return to Palestine.	444 B.C.	Neh. 2:9
Malachi ministered.	ca. 432-431 B.C.

Purpose and Themes

Zechariah ministered to the restoration community to motivate those Jews to finish rebuilding the temple and to rededicate themselves to Yahweh with the prospect of His blessing. The central theme of the book is encouragement and hope.⁹ The key to this hope is the coming of Messiah and his overthrow of ungodly forces and establishment of His kingdom on earth.

"The prophet is concerned to comfort his discouraged and pessimistic compatriots, who are in the process of rebuilding their Temple and restructuring their community but who view their efforts as making little difference in the present and offering no hope for the future."¹⁰

This prophet dealt with the future of Israel, and particularly its distant, eschatological future, to an extent that surpassed the other Old Testament prophets (cf. 12:1-3, 9; 14:1-5, 16-21). His revelations concerning the day of the Lord are numerous.

"What former prophets revealed at length, Zechariah epitomizes for us in terse sentences or even clauses."¹¹

This book also contains many messianic prophecies (cf. 3:8-9; 6:12-13; 9:9-10, 14; 11:12-13; 13:7; 14:4, 9, 16).

"Particularly prominent in the book is the Messianic element. With the exception of Isaiah, there is no other prophet whose book contains such a wealth and variety of this element, not only in proportion to the total amount of material offered, but also as a sum total of passages."¹²

"Few books of the OT are as difficult of interpretation as the Book of Zechariah; no other book is as Messianic."¹³

Canonicity and Unity

The book is the second to the last of the Minor Prophets in the second (Prophets) division of the Hebrew Bible. Neither Jews nor Christians seriously challenged its canonicity. One reason for this is the fact that the New Testament quotes and alludes to Zechariah so often, about 41 times.¹⁴

Until A.D. 1653 no one seriously questioned that Zechariah wrote the whole book. In that year Joseph Mede suggested that Jeremiah may have written chapters 9-11, in view of Matthew 27:9. In succeeding years other scholars proceeded to question the second part of the book (chs. 9-14) because of its differences in content and historical and chronological references compared to the first part. Today almost all critical scholars regard this book as the product of two or three writers who wrote either before the exile or after Zechariah.¹⁵ The presence of predictive prophecy in the last chapters of the book has encouraged those who deny the miraculous to relegate this part to a later time and writer(s).

"We maintain it is impossible to confine or restrict the Spirit of God in His revelatory purposes. If He cares to predict an event three centuries off, He is sovereign; and if it pleases Him to foretell the plan of God a millennium before its materialization, He is just as sovereign. We emphasize this because we believe it to be the sine qua non of reverent, acceptable interpretation of Biblical prophecy."¹⁶

Competent conservative scholars have refuted the arguments of these critics adequately.¹⁷

"In the nature of the case it is not possible to prove conclusively who wrote chapters 9-14, but when every argument has been considered the fact remains that all fourteen chapters have been handed down to us as one book in every manuscript so far discovered. Even the tiny fragment of the Greek manuscript found at Qumran, which includes the end of chapter 8 and the beginning of chapter 9, shows no gap or spacing whatsoever to suggest a break between the two parts."¹⁸

Genre

Zechariah consists of a combination of exhortations (sermon material), prophetic-apocalyptic visions, and oracles concerning eschatological salvation. Some of the oracles introduce or follow visions, and others stand alone. Along with Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, Zechariah is one of the most apocalyptic books in the Bible.¹⁹

"In the present writer's judgment, his [Zechariah's] book is the most Messianic, the most truly apocalyptic and eschatological, of all the writings of the OT."²⁰

"Apocalyptic literature is basically meant to encourage the people of God."²¹

"Only apocalyptic could express the utter transcendence involved in the radical transformations that would accompany the irruption of the kingdom of YHWH and the consequent shattering of all human and earthly systems in its wake."²²

"The apocalyptic visions of Zechariah, though filled with symbolism, are not as complicated and bizarre as those of Ezekiel, but do require angelic interpreters, at least in chapters 1-6. He goes beyond Ezekiel and other early apocalyptists, however, in his declarations that what he envisions is as good as done, for it is only an earthly reflection of what has in fact come to pass in heaven."²³

Structure

"The shape' of a poem, the artistic arrangement of a book are instruments used by the Holy Spirit to convey His message."²⁴

In the case of Zechariah, there are three large chiastic sections (1:7-6:15; 7:1-8:19; and chs. 9-14). These contain Zechariah's eight night visions and their accompanying oracles, his messages prompted by a question about fasting, and the two burdens (oracles) announcing the triumphant interventions of the Lord into history in the future. A brief section introduces the whole book (1:1-6).

Message²⁵

This is the second post-exilic prophetical book. The historical background and audience are the same as those for Haggai. As Zechariah's contemporaries looked back, they saw former glories and recent shame. As they looked forward, they saw difficulty and felt discouragement. Zechariah ministered to inspire hope in the heart of this discouraged remnant of Israelites. That was his purpose.

Zechariah delivered his first message between Haggai's first and second messages, and his purpose was the same as Haggai's: to motivate the restoration community to finish rebuilding the temple. Zechariah followed this first message with eight visions to inspire hope in his hearers. Why build if there was no future? Zechariah then explained that the present sorrowful fasts that the people were celebrating would give way to future glorious feasts. The final two oracles also provided hope for the future by predicting the coming of Messiah and His glorious kingdom.

Many writers on Zechariah have called this book the apocalypse of the Old Testament because it unveils so much of Israel's future, particularly Messiah's place in her future. The whole book is a revelation of the pervasive power and the persistent purpose of Yahweh. Zechariah revealed things about the future of the Jews that gave his discouraged contemporaries hope.

People experiencing adversity frequently see only things that are near. Zechariah provided hope from visions that he saw and from voices that he heard that encouraged his audience to lift their eyes to behold the larger plans and purposes of their God. The permanent values of this book are, therefore, that it reveals the proper attitude and activity of God's people in all circumstances, as well as the pervasive power and the persistent purpose of Yahweh.

The first three verses of the book stress the first of these values (1:1-3). The great appeal of the entire book appears in verse 3: "Return to me that I may return to you, says the LORD of hosts." Everything that follows illustrates and applies this promise.

As often, the key to understanding a book of the Bible lies in the aspect of God that God stressed in revealing Himself to His people through its writer. The title "the LORD of hosts" occurs for the first time in the Bible in 1 Samuel, when the people of Israel were concerned about armies. This title rarely appears in the historical books, but it is very common in the prophetical books. Zechariah used it more frequently than any other prophet, at least 35 times.

The word "hosts" in the Bible describes stars, angels, the people of Israel, and the armies of other nations. The title, then, describes Yahweh as sovereign Lord and Master of the entire universe. As the prophets used it, they stressed Yahweh's sovereignty in activity, not just in its abstract meaning. That is, they saw Yahweh as leading all armies--of stars, angels, and people. Zechariah lived when Israel had lost its army, had no military power, and had little political organization. Thus by referring to Yahweh as "the LORD of hosts" Zechariah was reminding his hearers of their God's abiding and active sovereignty.

The prophet referred to Yahweh as "the LORD of hosts" three times in the opening paragraph of his book (vv. 1-3). The first reference (v. 3) reminded the Israelites that their sovereign God had made His will known to His people (cf. 1:6). The Lord illustrated this truth in verse 4. The sovereign Lord had said, "Return to me" (v. 3). This was the first part of Zechariah's prophetic burden. The second part was that Yahweh promised to return to His people (v. 3). He explained the work that He as the Sovereign would do to make this return possible. The power necessary for the restoration of order would be provided by the coming of God to His people, in His Son and in His Spirit.

Thus Zechariah had a three-fold conviction. God reveals His will, He calls people back to Himself and provides the way for their coming, and He promises that if they will return to Him He will return to them. God promised to provide a way for people to return to Him through the Branch, the second person of the Trinity (3:8). The revelation of this divine-human person occupies much of this book in proportion to its length. Second, God promised to return to people who return to Him through His Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. He would do so "not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the Lord (4:6).

The visions and oracles in Zechariah illustrate Yahweh's pervasive power.

In the first vision God revealed the presence of His angel that was watching over His people in their depressed place. They knew about the depressed place, but the presence of the angel was news to them. The second vision revealed that forces would destroy the powers that opposed them. The people knew about these enemy powers, but they had lost sight that God planned to destroy them. In the third vision God revealed Jerusalem in its future large, secure condition. The people knew about Jerusalem, they were rebuilding it, but they were not sure about its future large and secure condition. The fourth vision revealed an adversary and an advocate. The people were aware of their adversary, but they were unaware of their divine advocate. In the fifth vision God revealed the people's responsibility to be lights in the world and their resource for doing so. The people knew their responsibility, but they did not fully appreciate that they had a supernatural resource that would enable them to fulfill their responsibility. The sixth vision revealed the purging of evil with divine revelation. The people were aware of the present evil, but they now learned that observing God's law would deal with it. The seventh vision illustrated ongoing evil and its final purging away. The people were aware of widespread evil, but they did not know that God would eventually remove it forever. The eighth vision revealed the need for divine control and the provision for divine control. The people were very conscious of the need for divine control in the world, but they needed to remember that God would indeed exercise divine control in the world.

Each vision revealed an aspect of God's pervasive power to overcome what Zechariah's audience faced and so gave them hope. Were they in a depressed place? God was watching over them. Were weapons being formed against them? He would break those weapons. Was the city they were rebuilding secure? He would enlarge it even further and make it secure. Was their adversary going to be successful? God would be their Advocate. Was their responsibility heavy? He would prove to be a sufficient resource for them. Was evil present everywhere? He gives the law to which evil must bow. Was evil ever going to end? He would end it. Would order ever come? He would bring it.

The oracles in Zechariah teach the same basic lesson: the pervasive power of "the LORD of hosts." To summarize this briefly, the anointed King would be rejected initially, but He would return with the pervasive power of Yahweh.

The visions and oracles also illustrate the second major revelation of Zechariah: the persistent purpose of Israel's God.

The visions unfold God's dealings with Israel eschatologically as well as contemporarily. While all the conditions of Israel described in the visions marked the restoration community, they will also mark the future of Israel. She was and would continue to be depressed among the nations. Enemies would attack her, but God would eventually defeat them. Jerusalem will be rebuilt and protected, and Israel will be cleansed. Israel will fulfill her destiny as a light to the nations, and she will disseminate the knowledge of God in the world. Evil will be greatly constrained, and all Israel's enemies will suffer defeat. All these predictions reveal the persistent purpose of God whereby He moves history toward His intended goal despite human and Satanic opposition.

The oracles illustrate the same principle. Messiah's rejection would lead to His coronation. Some of Yahweh's purposes in salvation took place when Messiah came the first time, but the rest of His purposes in salvation will take place when He comes the second time.

What should be the attitude of God's people in view of these revelations? They should return to the Lord (1:3). They should believe them, obey them, and work in view of them.

The people of God in Zechariah's day needed to complete the temple and reestablish right relations with Yahweh even though they lived in a day of darkness and discouragement. They needed to abandon the fasts that they had established to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem and prepare for feasts that would celebrate the glorious future that Yahweh promised and would provide.

Whereas Haggai called these people to be strong and to work, Zechariah revealed the secret of their strength. The Apostle Paul put it this way: 2 Cor. 4:17. That is the message of Zechariah in Christian language.

The proof of vision is strength. What do we see as we look out over the church? We may see only the discouraging things that the restoration Jews saw as they viewed their situation. We need to be aware of the unseen things that God has said He is doing and will do in order to persevere in the work of building His church that He has called us to do.

The secret of strength is vision. If God's people say they see these positive, encouraging things and that they believe them but do nothing, it is hard to believe them. The person who is conscious, through all the appalling defeat of the hour, of the immediate, pervasive presence and power of God, is the person who grabs hold of the piece of desolation nearest to him or her and works on it until it blossoms like a garden. The true demonstration of vision is taking hold of the present situation and doing something about it trusting in the unseen presence and promises of God.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews challenged his readers with these words, which are very appropriate in light of the message of Zechariah: Heb. 12:12-13. Some Christians seem to equate spirituality with pessimism. They consider others visionary who explore and deplore in great depth the difficulties of our days. We need to be realistic about our times, but we must also keep our eyes on the person of God and our ears open to His promises. We must also fall in line with His purposes and work in harmony with His principles of power. When we do this, we can rest assured that when the Rejected One is crowned, we will share in His triumph as we have shared in His travail.

Constable: Zechariah (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction 1:1-6

II. The eight night visions and four messages 1:7-6:8

A. The horseman among the myrtle trees 1:7-17

1. The vision proper 1:7-15

2. The oracle about God's jealousy for Israel 1:16-17

B. The four horns and the four smiths 1:18-21

C. The surveyor ch. 2

1. The vision itself 2:1-5

2. The oracle about enemy destruction and Israelite blessing 2:6-13

D. The cleansing and restoration of Joshua ch. 3

1. The symbolic act 3:1-5

2. The accompanying promises 3:6-10

E. The gold lampstand and the two olive trees ch. 4

1. The vision 4:1-5

2. Two oracles concerning Zerubbabel 4:6-10

3. The interpretation of the vision 4:11-14

F. The flying scroll 5:1-4

G. The woman in the basket 5:5-11

H. The four chariots 6:1-8

III. The symbolic crowning of Joshua 6:9-15

IV. Messages concerning hypocritical fasting chs. 7-8

A. The question from the delegation from Bethel 7:1-3

B. The Lord's rebuke 7:4-7

C. The command to repent 7:8-14

D. Israel's restoration to God's favor 8:1-17

E. Kingdom joy and Jewish favor 8:18-23

V. Oracles about the Messiah and Israel's future chs. 9-14

A. The burden concerning the nations: the advent and rejection of Messiah chs. 9-11

1. The coming of the true king ch. 9

2. The restoration of the true people ch. 10

3. The rejection of the true king ch. 11

B. The burden concerning Israel: the advent and acceptance of Messiah chs. 12-14

1. The repentance of Judah ch. 12

2. The restoration of Judah ch. 13

3. The reign of Messiah ch. 14

Constable: Zechariah

Zechariah

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Zechariah (Book Introduction)

THE PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS.

INTRODUCTION.

Zacharias began to prophesy in the same year as Aggeus, and upon the same occasion. His prophecy is full of mysterious figures and promises of blessings, partly relating to the synagogue and partly to the Church of Christ. (Challoner) --- He is the "most obscure and longest of the twelve [minor prophets];" (St. Jerome) though Osee wrote the same number of chapters. (Haydock) --- Zacharias has been confounded with many others of the same name. Little is known concerning his life. Some have asserted that the ninth and two following chapters were written by Jeremias, in whose name chap. xi. 12., is quoted [in] Matthew xxvii. 9. But that is more probably a mistake of transcribers. Zacharias speaks more plainly of the Messias and of the last siege of Jerusalem than the rest, as he live nearer those times. (Calmet) --- His name signifies, "the memory of the Lord." (St. Jerome) --- He appeared only two months after Aggeus, and shewed that the Church should flourish in the synagogue, and much more after the coming of Christ, who would select his first preachers from among the Jews. Yet few of them shall embrace the gospel, in comparison with the Gentiles, though they shall at last be converted. (St. Jerome ad Paulin.) (Worthington)

Gill: Zechariah (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH

This book is in the Hebrew copies called "the Book of Zechariah"; in the Vulgate Latin version, "the Prophecy of Zechariah"; and, in the Syriac and Arabic versions, the Prophecy of the Prophet Zechariah. His name, according to Jerom, signifies "the memory of the Lord": but, according to Hillerus ^a, "the Lord remembers": either us, or his covenant; his promises of grace, and concerning the Messiah, of which there are many in this book. The writer of this prophecy could not be, as some have imagined, Zacharias the father of John the Baptist; since there must be some hundreds of years difference between them; nor the Zacharias, the son of Barachias, slain between the temple and the altar, our Lord speaks of in Mat 23:35 for though their names agree, yet it does not appear that this prophet was slain by the Jews; indeed the Jewish Targumist, on Lam 2:20, speaks of a Zechariah, the son of Iddo, a high priest, slain in the temple; but it could not be this Zechariah, since he was no high priest; Joshua was high priest in his time; nor could he be slain in such a place, seeing the temple and altar were not yet built; nor was this prophet Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, slain in the court of the Lord's house, 2Ch 24:20 for, as their names do not agree, so neither their office, he being a high priest, this a prophet; nor the times in which they lived, Zechariah the son of Jehoiada lived in the times of Joash king of Judah, two or three hundred years before this; but this was one of the captivity of Babylon, and who came up from thence with Zerubbabel, Neh 12:16 and was contemporary with the Prophet Haggai; so that the time of his prophecy was after the Babylonish captivity, and was delivered to the Jews that were returned from thence; and the design of it is to stir them up to build the temple, and restore the pure worship of God; and to encourage their faith and hope in the expectation of the Messiah; for the book consists of various visions and prophecies relating to him, and to the times of the Gospel; and the visions are, as some Jewish writers ^b observe, very obscure, and like the visions of Daniel, and difficult of interpretation. There are several passages cited out of this book in the New Testament, as Zec 8:16 in Eph 4:25, Zec 9:9 in Mat 21:5 in Mat 27:9 in Joh 19:37 in Mat 26:31 which abundantly confirm the authenticity of it. This prophet seems to have lived and died in Jerusalem; and, according to Pseudo-Epiphanius ^c, was buried near Haggai the prophet; and with which agree the Cippi Hebraici ^d, which inform us that Haggai was buried in a cave in the downward slope of the mount of Olives; and at the bottom of that mount was a large statue called the hand of Absalom, near to which was the grave of Zechariah the prophet, in a cave shut up, and over it a beautiful monument of one stone: and Monsieur Thevenot ^e tells us, that now is shown, near the sepulchres of Absalom and Jehoshaphat, on the descent of the mount of Olives, the sepulchre of the Prophet Zacharias.---It is cut in a diamond point upon the rock, with many pillars about it. Sozomen ^f the historian, indeed, makes mention of Caphar Zechariah, a village on the borders of Eleutheropolis, a city in Palestine, where it is pretended the body of this prophet was found in the times of Theodosius, to which no credit is to be given; nor is there any dependence to be had on the former accounts.

Gill: Zechariah 13 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 13

In this chapter are prophecies concerning the purification of the penitent Jews before spoken of; the removal of idols, and false prophets, out of the earth; the death of Christ; the destruction of the greater part of men, and the salvation of a few of them. The cleansing of such that mourn for sin, in a fountain opened for that purpose, is spoken of, Zec 13:1 the utter abolition of idols, and false prophets, and unclean spirits, is affirmed, Zec 13:2 the parents of false prophets will forbid them to prophesy; they themselves will be ashamed of their visions; they will throw off the rough garment, which was a token of their being prophets, and by which they deceived: they will confess they are no prophets, and what they are, and own the wounds they have received from their friends on that account, Zec 13:3 and whereas the Messiah, as pierced and crucified, is spoken of in the preceding chapter Zec 12:10, whose blood is the cleansing fountain mentioned in this, an account is given of his death; who is described by his office, the Shepherd of the Lord; and by his natures, human and divine, the Man his fellow; his death is signified by smiting with the sword, which was done by the order of the Lord; the consequences of which were the scattering of the sheep, and the turning of the hand of the Lord upon them in a way of mercy, Zec 13:7 and then it is declared that two parts in three of the land should be cut off, and a third part saved, but yet so as by fire, whom the Lord would own as his people, and they should acknowledge him to be their God, Zec 13:8.