89:21 My hand will support him, 3
and my arm will strengthen him.
41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! 4
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 5
1:18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire,
and the descendants of Joseph a flame.
The descendants of Esau will be like stubble.
They will burn them up and devour them.
There will not be a single survivor 6 of the descendants of Esau!”
Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.
4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,
and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. 7
4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!
For I will give you iron horns; 8
I will give you bronze hooves,
and you will crush many nations.” 9
You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,
and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler 10 of the whole earth. 11
5:8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which attacks when it passes through;
it rips its prey 12 and there is no one to stop it. 13
7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by 14 all their strength,
they will put their hands over their mouths,
and act as if they were deaf. 15
3:19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.
I will rescue the lame sheep 16
and gather together the scattered sheep.
I will take away their humiliation
and make the whole earth admire and respect them. 17
3:20 At that time I will lead you –
at the time I gather you together. 18
Be sure of this! 19 I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you 20
when you see me restore you,” 21 says the Lord.
1 tc Heb “I will strengthen them in the
2 tc The LXX and Syriac presuppose יִתְהַלָּלוּ (yithallalu, “they will glory”) for יִתְהַלְּכוּ (yithallÿkhu, “they will walk about”). Since walking about is a common idiom in Zechariah (cf. 1:10, 11; 6:7 [3x]) to speak of dominion, and dominion is a major theme of the present passage, there is no reason to reject the MT reading, which is followed by most modern English versions.
3 tn Heb “with whom my hand will be firm.”
4 tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).
5 tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).
6 tn Heb “will be no survivor”; NAB “none shall survive.”
7 sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.
8 tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”
9 sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.
10 tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”
11 tn Heb “and their wealth to the master of all the earth.” The verb “devote” does double duty in the parallelism and is supplied in the second line for clarification.
12 tn The words “its prey” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
13 tn Heb “and there is no deliverer.”
14 tn Or “be ashamed of.”
15 tn Heb “and their ears will be deaf.” Apparently this means the opposing nations will be left dumbfounded by the
16 tn The word “sheep” is supplied for clarification. As in Mic 4:6-7, the exiles are here pictured as injured and scattered sheep whom the divine shepherd rescues from danger.
17 tn Heb “I will make them into praise and a name, in all the earth, their shame.” The present translation assumes that “their shame” specifies “them” and that “name” stands here for a good reputation.
18 tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.
19 tn Or “for.”
20 tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”
21 tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.