Zechariah 13:7

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; ¹ 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

Joshua 5:13

Israel Conquers Jericho

5:13 When Joshua was near ²  Jericho, ³  he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword. ⁴  Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?” ⁵ 

Psalms 45:3-4

45:3 Strap your sword to your thigh, O warrior! ⁶ 

Appear in your majestic splendor! ⁷ 

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ⁸ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ⁹ 

on behalf of justice! ¹⁰ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ¹¹ 

Isaiah 63:1-4

The Victorious Divine Warrior

63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, ¹² 

dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? ¹³ 

Who ¹⁴  is this one wearing royal attire, ¹⁵ 

who marches confidently ¹⁶  because of his great strength?

“It is I, the one who announces vindication,

and who is able to deliver!” ¹⁷ 

63:2 Why are your clothes red?

Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? ¹⁸ 

63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;

no one from the nations joined me.

I stomped on them ¹⁹  in my anger;

I trampled them down in my rage.

Their juice splashed on my garments,

and stained ²⁰  all my clothes.

63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,

and then payback time arrived. ²¹ 

[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).

[5:13]  ² tn Heb “in.”

[5:13]  ³ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[5:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “he lifted up his eyes and looked. And look, a man was standing in front of him, and his sword was drawn in his hand.” The verb הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the reader to view the scene through Joshua’s eyes. By calling the stranger “a man,” the author reflects Joshua’s perspective. The text shortly reveals his true identity (vv. 14-15).

[5:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

[45:3]  ⁶ tn Or “mighty one.”

[45:3]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has simply, “your majesty and your splendor,” which probably refers to the king’s majestic splendor when he appears in full royal battle regalia.

[45:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ⁹ tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ¹⁰ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[63:1]  ¹² sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.

[63:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”

[63:1]  ¹⁴ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.

[63:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”

[63:1]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsa’ah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsa’ad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).

[63:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”

[63:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”

[63:3]  ¹⁹ sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.

[63:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).

[63:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (gÿ’ulai) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.