Zechariah 11:1

The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings

11:1 Open your gates, Lebanon,

so that the fire may consume your cedars. ¹ 

Zechariah 9:4

9:4 Nevertheless the Lord will evict her and shove her fortifications ²  into the sea – she will be consumed by fire.

Zechariah 12:6

12:6 On that day ³  I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter ⁴  among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem.

Zechariah 2:5

2:5 But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem ⁵  and the source of glory in her midst.’”

Zechariah 3:2

3:2 The Lord ⁶  said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, ⁷  rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

Zechariah 13:9

13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;

I will refine them like silver is refined

and will test them like gold is tested.

They will call on my name and I will answer;

I will say, ‘These are my people,’

and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ⁸ 

¹ sn In this poetic section, plants and animals provide the imagery for rulers, especially evil ones (cf. respectively Isa 10:33-34; Ezek 31:8; Amos 2:9; Nah 2:12).

² tn The Hebrew word חַיִל (khayil, “strength, wealth”) can, with certain suffixes, look exactly like חֵל (khel, “fortress, rampart”). The chiastic pattern here suggests that not Tyre’s riches but her defenses will be cast into the sea. Thus the present translation renders the term “fortifications” (so also NLT) rather than “wealth” (NASB, NRSV, TEV) or “power” (NAB, NIV).

³ sn On that day (referring to the day of the Lord) the Davidic monarchy will be restored and the Lord’s people will recognize once more the legitimacy and divine sanction of David’s dynasty. But there will also be a democratizing that will not give Jerusalem and its rulers undue priority over the people of the countryside (v. 7).

⁴ tn Heb “a firepot” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “a blazing pot”; NLT “a brazier.”

⁴ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ sn The juxtaposition of the messenger of the Lord in v. 1 and the Lord in v. 2 shows that here, at least, they are one and the same. See Zech 1:11, 12 where they are distinguished from each other.

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ sn The expression I will say ‘It is my people,’ and they will say ‘the Lord is my God’ is reminiscent of the restoration of Israel predicted by Hosea, who said that those who had been rejected as God’s people would be reclaimed and once more become his sons and daughters (Hos 2:23).