7:2 It was reported to the family 1 of David, “Syria has allied with 2 Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 3
7:2 It was reported to the family 4 of David, “Syria has allied with 5 Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 6
21:7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses, 7
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
21:12 O royal family descended from David. 8
The Lord says:
‘See to it that people each day 9 are judged fairly. 10
Deliver those who have been robbed from those 11 who oppress them.
Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you.
It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out
because of the evil that you have done. 12
1:69 For 13 he has raised up 14 a horn of salvation 15 for us in the house of his servant David, 16
1 tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.
2 tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”
3 tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.
4 tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.
5 tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”
6 tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.
7 tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”
8 tn Heb “house of David.” This is essentially equivalent to the royal court in v. 11.
9 tn Heb “to the morning” = “morning by morning” or “each morning.” See Isa 33:2 and Amos 4:4 for parallel usage.
10 sn The kings of Israel and Judah were responsible for justice. See Pss 122:5. The king himself was the final court of appeals judging from the incident of David with the wise woman of Tekoa (2 Sam 14), Solomon and the two prostitutes (1 Kgs 3:16-28), and Absalom’s attempts to win the hearts of the people of Israel by interfering with due process (2 Sam 15:2-4). How the system was designed to operate may be seen from 2 Chr 19:4-11.
11 tn Heb “from the hand [or power] of.”
12 tn Heb “Lest my wrath go out like fire and burn with no one to put it out because of the evil of your deeds.”
13 tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.
14 sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.
15 sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”
16 sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.