THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH
Lesson 4: Chapters 9-11
Part II: Prophesies of Yahweh the Divine Warrior and Humble King,
Yahweh's Visitation to His Flock, and Yahweh's Condemnation of Israel/Judah's Failed Shepherds
Most Holy Lord,
You are the Master of human history in which each of us
has a part to play. Like Zechariah and the prophets of old, we only dimly see
what You have revealed to us concerning Your divine plan and do not glimpse the
purpose of it until we can recognize the unfolding events long ago foretold.
Give us the wisdom and insight to perceive Your will at work in our times and
to trust that You and not human beings are in charge of the destinies of men,
women, and nations. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
Jacob-Israel's
blessing for his son, Judah: The scepter shall not
pass from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute be
brought him, and the peoples render his obedience. He tethers his donkey to
the vine, to its stock the foal of his she-donkey. He washes his clothes in
wine, his robes in the blood of the grape.
Genesis 49:10-11
Then King David
said ... "Take the royal guard with you," said the king, "mount my son Solomon on
my own mule and escort him down to Gihon. There Zadok the priest and the
prophet Nathan are to anoint him king of Israel; then sound the trumpet and
shout, Long live [Hosanna = Save us] King Solomon!'"
1 Kings 1:32-34
The next day
the great crowd of people who had come up for the festival heard that Jesus was
on his way to Jerusalem. They took branches of palm and went out to receive
him, shouting: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord,
the king of Israel." Jesus found a young donkey and mounted it, as Scripture
says: "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion; look, your king is approaching,
riding on the foal of a donkey.
John 12:12-15
The word spoken
through the prophet Jeremiah was then fulfilled: "And they took the thirty
silver pieces, the sum at which the precious One was priced by the children of
Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, just as the Lord directed
me."
Matthew 27:9
Questions About the Authorship of Part II of the Book of Zechariah
The authorship of the Book of Zechariah remained uncontested until the Protestant rebellion in the sixteenth century AD. Before that time, the book was believed to have been written entirely by the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo (Zec 1:1). In the seventeenth century, Protestant scholars began to suggest that someone else composed the latter half of Zechariah in Chapters 9-14; it has since become a theory adopted by many Biblical scholars. Their reasons included:
Biblical scholars who defend the authorship of Zechariah for the entire book agree that there are differences between the two parts and that they were written at different times. However, these points do not preclude the assumption that Zechariah wrote the entire book as tradition supports, and there are explanations for the differences:
The completion of Part I and the content of Part II:
Built upon the covenant people's repentance, God's
forgiveness of their sins, and their obedience in rebuilding the Temple to
become His dwelling place on earth among His people, the end of Part I in
Chapter 8 was full of Messianic hope and the promise of universal salvation!
Yahweh told Zechariah, "Yes, many peoples and great nations will seek out
Yahweh Sabaoth in Jerusalem and entreat Yahweh's favor" (Zec 8:22); followed
by, "In those days ten men from nations of every language will take a Jew
by the sleeve and say: We want to go with you, since we have learnt that God is
with you" (Zec 8:23).
Part II of the Book of Zechariah is composed of two sections of undated prophecies in Chapters 9-11 and 12-14 with the forward momentum of salvation history ending in the Age of the Messiah. The statement "A proclamation" (massa = burden, also translated as "oracle") announces each section (Zec 9:1 and 12:1). This lesson concerns Part II, section 1, and prophecies that appear to refer to:
The focus of Chapters 9-11:
Chapter 9 is a poetic prophecy that promises Yahweh the Divine Warrior's judgment on Israel/Judah's enemies and describes the arrival of a humble royal Savior to Jerusalem, riding a donkey, and inaugurating an era of peace.
Historical dates relevant to this lesson:
Persian King Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek Ionian cities of Asia Minor in 547 BC
Zechariah's last dated vision and series of oracles was in 518 BC
Ionian Revolt against Persia in 499-493 BC
Greco-Persian Wars from 499 to 449 BC
Conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great began in 334 BC
Death of Alexander the Great and division of his kingdom in 323 BC
Maccabean Revolt against Greek Seleucid Kingdom in 167-160 BC
Judah's independence and rule by Hasmonean priest-kings 160-63 BC
Zechariah 9:1-8 ~ Yahweh the Divine Warrior Brings
Judgment on Judah's Enemies
1 A
proclamation [massa]. The word of Yahweh is against Hadrach, it has come to
rest on Damascus, for the source of Aram belongs to Yahweh no less than all the
tribes of Israel; 2 on
Hamath too, which borders on it, and on (Tyre and) Sidon, despite her acumen. 3 Tyre has built herself a fortress, has
heaped up silver like dust and gold like the dirt of the streets. 4 And now the Lord is going to dispossess
her; at sea he will break her power and she herself will go up in flames. 5 Seeing this, Ashkelon will be
terrified. Gaza too, and writhe in grief, Ekron too, at the ruin of her
prospects; the king will vanish from Gaza and Ashkelon be unpeopled, 6 while a half-breed [mamzer] will live
in Ashdod! Yes, I shall destroy the pride of the Philistine; 7 I shall snatch his blood from his mouth,
his abominations from between his teeth. But his remnant too will belong to
our God, becoming like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will become like a Jebusite.
8 I shall stand guard before
my home [house]* to defend it against all comers, and no oppressor will overrun
them ever again, for now I am on the alert.
[...] = IBHE, vol. III, page 2969-70. [massa]
Hebrew = literally "burden," a technical term derived from the root ns',
meaning "to bear," "carry," or "lift up" (Anchor Bible Commentary, Volume
II, Zechariah 9-14; page 89) and refers to a proclamation or oracle;
[mamzer] Hebrew = bastard or mongrel; [bayith]* = "house" in
Hebrew, meaning not just the Temple but Judah/Jerusalem where Yahweh's Temple
resides.
1 A proclamation [massa].
The oracles of Zechariah Part II in 9:1 and 12:1 and
Malachi 1:1 begin with the Hebrew word massa, derived from the Hebrew
root ns' meaning "to bear," "to carry," or "lift up," suggesting a
"burden" but which can also be translated as "proclamation" or "oracle" as the
New Jerusalem Bible translates the word in 9:1 and 12:1 but as "message" in
Malachi 1:1. These three examples are the only places where this word appears
in Scripture associated with the word of Yahweh. The use of massa in
these three places causes some Biblical scholars to view the Book of Malachi as
an appendix to the Book of Zechariah Part II.
The oracle in 9:1-11:3 is in poetic form and describes Yahweh the Divine Warrior King coming to bring judgment against Israel's enemies and to restore His covenant people. The oracle concerns Aramaean, Phoenician, and Philistine cities and alludes to a future conquest interpreted as an act of Yahweh's judgment in advance of the Messianic Age.
1 ...The
word of Yahweh is against Hadrach, it has come to rest on Damascus, for the
source of Aram belongs to Yahweh no less than all the tribes of Israel
The wording "source of Aram," in Hebrew en adam,
or "the eye of man" could that mean all men, not just Israelites, belong to
Yahweh, and He watches not only the Israelites but the Arameans of Damascus and
all men.
The Persian king in Part I of the Book of Zechariah was Darius I, the Great, who launched an invasion of Greece and set off the First Greco-Persian War in 499 BC, less than two decades after the last oracle in Part I of the Book of Zechariah. Darius died in 486 BC, and his son, Xerxes I (husband of Esther who Scripture calls Ahasuerus) initiated the Second Greco-Persian War in 480 BC. Persian victory over the allied Greek city-states at the Battle of Thermopylae led the Persians to set fire to an evacuated Athens and overrun most of Greece. However, the Persians then suffered a defeat at the Battle of Salamis, and the following year the confederation of Greeks decisively defeated the Persian army at the Battle of Plataea and destroyed the Persian naval fleet at the Battle of Mycale the next year. The Greeks successfully expelled the Persian garrisons from Sestos (479 BC) and Byzantium (478 BC), effectively ending the Second Greco-Persian War.
When Alexander succeeded his father Philip as the king of Macedonia, he united the Greek city-states under his rule and began an invasion of revenge against the Persian Empire. The historic event foretold in this oracle appears to be the continued conquest of King Alexander the Great after the Battle of Issus in southern Anatolia on November 5, 333 BC. After his success at Issus, Alexander and his army moved to capture each of the cities named in verses 1-7 from north to south in 332 BC. Alexander became Yahweh's instrument of justice against Judah's neighbors and the empire that increased Judah's taxes to pay for the Greek wars and conscripted her young men to fight them (Esth 10:1).
The cities in verses 1-7:
The first place-name is Hadrach, an unknown town apparently
near Damascus and only mentioned in Zechariah 9:1. It may be Hatarikha, a
settlement north of Hamath. Damascus, on the frontier of the Syrian desert,
was the capital of the strongest of the Aramean kingdoms during the tenth to
eighth centuries BC and one of the region's leading commercial centers. The
third city, Hamath, was in Syria on the Orontes River. The "entrance of
Hamath" was mentioned as the northern boundary of Israel (Num 34:7-9; Josh 13:5; 1 Kng 8:65; 1 Chron 13:5; 2 Chron 8:4;
Ez 47:15-16, 20).
The fourth and fifth cities are Tyre and Sidon. They were prosperous Phoenician coastal cities whose inhabitants were the descendants of the Canaanites God drove out of the land in the holy war of the conquest of Canaan by the children of Israel. As Alexander the Great's army worked its way south, Tyre was the first great city to fall to the Greeks. Tyre was in two parts: a mainland city and an island one-half mile offshore. After a 7-month long siege, Alexander conquered and burned Tyre in July 332 BC. Of the city's 30,000 inhabitants, all men of military age were massacred by the Greeks, and the remainder of the population sold into slavery as a lesson to other cities that might oppose Alexander.
The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth cities are Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod. They were Philistine cities (the only Philistine city missing in the list is Gath). The Philistines were a maritime people who migrated into Canaan in the early twelfth century BC and became the chief enemies and oppressors of Israel in the days of the Judges as well as during the reign of King Saul in the years of the United Monarchy. The prediction of the destruction of Gaza in 9:4 occurred in 332 BC.1 All these cities were at one time or another hostile to Israel/Judah.
6 while a
half-breed [mamzer] will live in Ashdod! Yes, I shall destroy the pride of the
Philistine
Alexander left a garrison of Greek soldier behind in
every conquered city. His soldiers were encouraged to intermarry with the
local woman, so the towns lost their national identities and became Hellenistic
cities in the next generation.
7 I
shall snatch his blood from his mouth, his abominations from between his
teeth. But his remnant too will belong to our God, becoming like a clan in
Judah, and Ekron will become like a Jebusite.
Verse 7 refers to a universal ban against the pagan
practice of eating raw meat still containing the animal's blood, an unclean
practice condemned even before the Law of the Sinai Covenant, dating back to
just after the Flood when God gave permission to kill and eat animal (Gen 9:4
and repeated in Lev 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-12, 14; 19:26;
Dt 12:16, 23-28; 15:23).
The purpose of blood was for the atonement/expiation of sins (Lev 17:11). In
the era of the Messiah, the faithful remnant of humanity who belong to the
Savior King's kingdom receive His glorified blood in the Eucharistic cup that
cleanses His people of the abominations of confessed and repented sin.
There is also a prediction of the conversion of the former Philistine people, like the former pagan Jebusites of Jerusalem who became incorporated into the clan of Judah. This conversion will take place in the Age of the Messiah when Christian communities become established in all the cities mentioned in the oracle. A few examples include:
8 I shall
stand guard before my home [house]* to defend it against all comers, and no
oppressor will overrun them ever again, for now I am on the alert.
In the oracle, Yahweh gives His promise to "stand guard"
over His house/dwelling place that is the Jerusalem Temple like a Divine
Warrior-king and makes ready for the "Day of Yahweh" (cf. Joel 2:11; Is 63:1-6).
Alexander's army did not attack Jerusalem or Judah in his 4th
century BC invasion, but other armies will ravage Jerusalem in future centuries.
Zechariah 9:9-10 ~ The Arrival of the Messianic Royal Savior
9 Rejoice
heart and soul, daughter of Zion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! Look,
your king is approaching, he is vindicated [upright/just] and victorious,
humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 He will banish chariots from Ephraim
and horses from Jerusalem; the bow of war will be banished. He will proclaim
peace to the nations, his empire will stretch from sea to sea, from the River
to the limits of the earth. [...] = IBHE, vol. III, page 2170.
This part of the oracle describes Yahweh as the Divine Messiah, entering Jerusalem as a humble king who will banish war and establish peace for not only His people but "peace to the nations" in an "empire" that will stretch from sea to sea," from the River Euphrates "to the limits of the earth." In verse 9, the Hebrew has "upright" or "just" [tzaddyik] in the sense that the Messianic king is the receiver of God's saving justice in his vindication of his people and his protection of them.
"Daughter of Zion" refers to the faithful of Jerusalem and the Old Covenant Church (also see Zec 2:10; Is 12:6; 52:2; 62:4; Mic 4:8; Zeph 3:14-15). The triumphant Savior King arrives "humble and riding on a donkey," an entry demonstrating his peaceful intentions. On Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem in the 1st century AD, the crowds would have recalled three passages in Sacred Scripture: Jacob-Israel's blessing for this son, Judah, Solomon riding into Jerusalem as his father, David's, successor, and Zechariah's prophecy of the humble royal Savior.
First, Zechariah's oracle recalls Jacob-Israel's prophecy of kingship for his fourth son, Judah, when he said: 8 Judah, your brothers will praise you: you grip your enemies by the neck, your father's sons will do you homage. 9 Judah is a lion's whelp; you stand over your prey, my son. Like a lion, he crouches and lies down, a mighty lion: who dares rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not pass from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute be brought him (until shiloh come*) and the peoples render him obedience. 11 He tethers his donkey to the vine, to its stock the foal of his she-donkey. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of the grape. 12 His eyes are darkened (sparkling*) with wine and his teeth are white with milk. * Some scholars suggest "sparkling" or "flashing" is a better translation (Waltke, page 609, note 197). The same Hebrew word appears in Proverbs 23:31 as "sparkles:" Do not gaze at wine, how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup!
For his role in reuniting the family and offering his life in sacrifice for Benjamin, Judah received the reward of family leadership and the prophecy of kingship (Num 24:7-9; 17; 1 Sam 16:1, 13; 2 Sam 2:4; 5:3; 7:16; 23:5; 1 Chr 5:2). Joseph was Jacob's choice as re'shiyt, but Judah was God's choice to be the father of the Kings of Israel (and later the Southern Kingdom of Judah) and to bear the "promised seed" of Genesis 3:15. It was the tribe of Judah that led the march of the tribes of Israel on the journey to the Promised Land (Num 10:13-14). Judah was also by far the largest tribe with 74,600 men compared to the next largest tribe, Dan, with 62,700.
Jacob blessed Judah's descendants with:
The phrase your father's sons will do you homage refers Judah's descendant's dominion over all the tribes of Israel and the "scepter" and the "ruler's staff" are signs of kingship (ancient reliefs show kings like Cyrus of Persia sitting with their staffs between their feet). These are prophecies that begin their fulfillment in the elevation of Judah's descendant David of Bethlehem to become King of Israel (2 Sam 5:1). The fulfillment of the prophecy continues in God's promise of an eternal Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:12-16; 23:5; Sir 45:25), realized in homage paid and sovereignty achieved over the earth in the rule of Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever (Rev 11:15; also see Rom 14:9-11; Phil 2:9-10; Heb 1:1-4).
Genesis 49:10: The scepter shall not pass from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute be brought him (until shiloh come*) and the peoples render him obedience. Genesis 49:10 is a much-disputed passage. To many scholars, the literal translation does not seem to make sense, and therefore various substitute phrases have been used by translators. The disputed clause in the Hebrew text has the same consonants which are in the word "Shiloh." Ancient Hebrew was written without vowels. Where one places the vowels in a Hebrew word determines the meaning of the word. Some scholars suggest the clause should be read: until he [Judah] comes to Shiloh, or until shiloh comes, or as the phrase is translated in the RSV: until he comes to whom it belongs.
The Hebrew word sylh in Genesis 49:10, which when rendered with vowels becomes shiloah or shiloh in Hebrew, is the word for the New Testament Greek word "Siloam," and it is the same word in the Hebrew translation of the Old Testament place-name "Shiloh." In his Gospel, St. John the Apostle translated the word "Siloam," the Greek for the Hebrew word "Shiloh," as meaning "the one who has been sent: " Jesus told the man born blind: Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam (the name means one who has been sent'). So he went off and washed and came back able to see (Jn 9:7). In that verse, St. John gave the etymology of the Greek word "Siloam," from the Hebrew "Shiloh" as meaning "until shiloh come" or "until the One who is sent/has been sent comes." The "One" sent is Jesus the Messiah. If "shiloh" refers to Jesus as "the one who has been sent," then He must be the same one that "Yahweh Sabaoth has sent me to you" mentioned three times in Zechariah 2:13, 15, and 6:15.
Judah's descendant, King David, fulfills part of Jacob's prophecy, but the reference to an eternal kingship is only fulfilled in David's descendant, Jesus of Nazareth (see Mt 1:1) "until the One who is sent/has been sent comes." The word "until" does not have the same meaning biblically as it does in English. In the Bible, this word does not suggest a period that comes to an end but instead can point to a condition that existed up to a point and continued afterward. See for example 2 Samuel 6:23, And until the day of her death, Michal, daughter of Saul, had no children (literal translation; Interlineal Bible Hebrew-English, vol. II, page 81). This verse does not suggest that Saul's daughter Michal had children after her death. Also see this same word in Genesis 8:5 referring to the flood waters, which does not mean the water stopped receding after the mountain tops appeared or in Matthew 1:25 that some versions translate, referring to Mary: He had no relations with her until [heos] she bore a son, and he named him Jesus (NAB). Joseph had no physical relations with Mary up to and after Jesus' birth.
In the next verse, 49:11: He tethers his donkey to the vine, to its stock the foal of his she-donkey, the vine is the symbol of fertility (it will be the metaphor most frequently used for Israel's blessing as God's covenant people). The vine suggests prosperity; to tether a donkey to a valuable grape wine where the donkey can eat the grapes is only likely if the grapes are abundant. However, Zechariah repeats part of this prophecy in the coming of the Redeemer-Messiah: Rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! Look, your king is approaching, he is vindicated and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zec 9:9). The prophecy from Genesis 49:11, united to Zechariah's prophecy, reached its fulfillment on Passion Sunday when Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the back of "the foal of a she-donkey" to the acclamation of the crowds who acknowledged Him as the King of Israel: They took branches of palm and went out to receive him, shouting: Hosanna! Blessed is her who is coming in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel (Jn 12:12-13; also see Mt 21:1-9; Mk 11:1-11, Lk 19:28-38; Jn 12:14-15). It is an action by the crowd in which they repeated the acclaim King Solomon received when he first rode into Jerusalem. However, Solomon rode on a mule, an animal that could not be bred in the Holy Land and became the expensive, imported ride of kings and princes (Lev 19:19; 1 Kng 1:38-40), whereas Jesus was obedient to the restrictions of the Law.
He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of the grape. This part of the blessing also suggests abundant power and prosperity. Drinking wine in the Bible can be a symbol of joy, especially joy in looking forward to salvation in the eternal banquet, but it can also be a symbol of God's wrath. This verse may suggest such a joyful abundance of wine that it will flow like the water used to wash one's clothes, but the next line "the blood of the grape" might suggest bringing judgment on enemies. His eyes are darkened (sparkling*) with wine and his teeth are white with milk. This prophecy is associated with health and vitality.
In Revelation 12:14, St. John hears: Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates
Verse 14 is the 7th Beatitude in the Book of Revelation. The use of the present participle in the Greek emphasizes the ongoing and continual duty of the obedience of faith. We wash the spiritual robes of our souls clean in the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. It is His blood that washes away our sins and cleanses us unto righteousness. The same reference to the blood of Christ appears earlier in Revelation when a saintly elder questions St. John in the heavenly Sanctuary: Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these wearing in white robes, and where did they come from?" I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows." He said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev 7:13-14). In Revelation 12:14, to wash in the blood of the Lamb gives privileges to the faithful:
These promises are in Revelation 2:7 and 3:13 for those who persevere in faith. The "city" is the new Jerusalem that came down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev 21:2). It will be the new Temple where God will dwell with the human race for eternity (Rev 21:3).
We can also see where both phrases might be prophecies pointing to Jesus and His Passion. In addition to the mention of "shiloh" ("the one who has been sent") there is the connection to the Messiah Redeemer as a Judahite "lion king" in what St. John will be told concerning the Christ in Revelation 5:6: ...but one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed, and so he will open the scroll and its seven seals." In addition to this imagery, being applied to Christ in His passion and kingship, the prophet Isaiah envisioned the coming of the Messiah as a victorious king whose clothes are bloodstained like a victorious warrior who has "treaded the winepress" with garments stained as though with the "blood of the grape" (Is 63:1-6). And St. John will see the victorious Christ in Revelation 19:11 and 13 as the mysterious rider on the white horse who is dressed in a robe dripping in blood (Rev 19:11, 13) "He has tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God (Rev 19:15) and has emerged victorious from the Cross and the grave! For other passages referring to the "the blood of the grape" (literal Hebrew) see Dt 32:14 (Song of Moses concerning wine as a symbol of Israel's blessings); Sir 39:26 (as a symbol of both a blessing and as a curse); 50:15 (in the context of ritual sacrifice).
Question: What is the connection between Judah son of Jacob and Jesus the Messiah? See Mt 1:1-6.
Answer: Jesus is a descendant of Judah son of Jacob through King David, the first king of Israel from the tribe of Judah.
Only kings from David's line will rule Israel after King Saul, and only Davidic kings will rule the Southern Kingdom of Judah after the revolt in 930 BC (nine different dynasties will rule the Northern Kingdom before the exile of the ten northern tribes). The Jews always saw the prophetic passage in Genesis 49:10 as a prophecy of David with whom God will make an unconditional covenant that his throne will last forever (see 2 Sam 7:11-17; 23:5; 2 Chron 13:5; 15:12-15). Christians see this prophecy imperfectly fulfilled in David but perfectly fulfilled in Jesus son of David Son of God who is the fulfillment of both Jacob's prophecy and the Davidic eternal covenant.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives on Palm Sunday, the crowds of Jewish pilgrims certainly made the connection between Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49:8-12 and Zechariah 9:9. In both the Gospels of Matthew and John, the crowds hailed Jesus as the Davidic Messiah, paraphrasing Zechariah 9:9:
10 He will
banish chariots from Ephraim and horses from Jerusalem; the bow of war will be
banished. He will proclaim peace to the nations, his empire will stretch from
sea to sea, from the River to the limits of the earth.
Zechariah prophesies that the Royal Savior demilitarize
the nations surrounding the covenant people and will bring an era of peace, not
just to the Jews but to the Gentile nations in an "empire" that "will stretch
from sea to sea, from the River (Euphrates) to the limits of the earth" (see
Ps 46:8-9; Is 57:19).
Zechariah 9:11-17 ~ The Restoration of Israel
11 As for
you, because of the blood of your covenant I have released your prisoners from
the pit in which there is no water. 12 Come back to the fortress, you
prisoners waiting in hope. This very day, I vow, 13 I shall make it up to you twice over.
For I have strung Judah as a bow for myself, laid Ephraim on the string as an
arrow, have roused your sons, Zion, against your sons, Javan, and have made you
like a warrior's sword. 14 Then
Yahweh will appear above them and his arrow will flash out like the lightning.
(The Lord) Yahweh will sound the trumpet and advance in the storm-winds of the
south. 15 Yahweh Sabaoth
will protect them! They will devour, will trample on the sling-stones, they
will drink blood like wine," awash like bowls, like the corners of the altar. 16 Yahweh their God will give them
victory when that day comes, like the sheep who are his people; yes, the stones
of a diadem will sparkle over his country. 17
How fine, how splendid that will be, with wheat to make the young
men flourish and new wine the maidens!
The "blood of your covenant" refers to the sacrificial seal of God's covenant relationships that began with the animals God sacrificed to cloth Adam and Eve after they fell from grace in the Garden Sanctuary of Eden. It was a covenant ritual that continued in every covenant God formed with individuals and in the corporate covenant with Israel at Sinai and into the New Covenant in Christ Jesus (see the connections between blood and covenant in Ex 24:4-8; Mt 26:28; Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; Heb 9:17-22; 10:29; 13:20).
Question: How does the New Covenant in Christ
Jesus continue under the "sign of the blood of the covenant"? See
Mt 26:28; Lk 22:20; and
1 Cor 11:25.
Answer: The New Covenant is sealed in the blood of
Jesus on the altar of the Cross and in the Cup of His Blood in the Eucharist.
I have released your prisoners from the pit in which there is no water.
A dry storage well or cistern could become a place of
incarceration, as in the case of Jeremiah's imprisonment (Jer 38:5-5). It
might also refer to the exile in Babylon and God's intervention in having the covenant
people released by King Cyrus' edict (2 Chron 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1-4) and the
peoples' return to the "fortress" of Jerusalem. However, in Scripture "the
pit" sometimes refers to the abode of the dead, Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in
Greek. In Luke 16:23, Jesus describes Sheol as a place without water.
Question: How might this part of the oracle refer
to Jesus? See the Apostles' Creed, 1 Pt 3:18-20; 4:6.
Answer: From His tomb, Jesus descended to the depths
of Sheol to preach the Gospel of salvation and to rescue the righteous dead
from captivity to take them into Heaven.
12 Come
back to the fortress, you prisoners waiting in hope. This very day, I vow, 13 I shall make it up to you twice over.
For I have strung Judah as a bow for myself, laid Ephraim on the string as an
arrow, have roused your sons, Zion, against your sons, Javan, and have made you
like a warrior's sword.
"Ephraim" always refers to the rebellious Northern
Kingdom of Israel that chose a prince of Ephraim to rule over them instead of
the rightful Davidic king of a united Israel (1 Kng 11:26; 12:20.
Verses 13-17 announce the arrival of Yahweh, the Divine Warrior, to reunite the men of Judah
and Israel to fight the Greeks (Javan). This verse is one of the earliest
references to Greece since Genesis Chapter 10 and Joel 3:16. The prophecy
achieved fulfillment in second century BC when the volunteer army of the Jewish
Maccabees threw off the dominance of the Greek Kingdom of Syria to become an
independent nation once again for about a hundred years (167-63 BC).
Zechariah 10:1-2 ~ An Invitation to Ask for Yahweh's Blessings
1 Ask
Yahweh for rain in autumn and at the time of the spring rains. Yahweh is the
one to make the storm-clouds. He will give them showers of rain; to each,
grass in his field. 2 Since
the domestic idols have talked nonsense, and the diviners have seen false
signs, and dreams have purveyed delusions, affording empty comfort, that is why
they have strayed like sheep, in distress for want of a shepherd.
When the covenant people return to Him in obedience, and He gives them victory over their enemies, then they can ask Him to reinstate the covenant blessings stated in Leviticus 26:3-13 and Deuteronomy 11:13-14 and 28:1-14.
2 Since
the domestic idols have talked nonsense, and the diviners have seen false
signs, and dreams have purveyed delusions, affording empty comfort, that is why
they have strayed like sheep, in distress for want of a shepherd.
The teraphim (domestic idols) were used by apostate Jews
and by Gentile pagans and their prophets as amulets or metallic images of false
gods to attempt to divine future events, seek protection, or grant petitions.
However, since these images were incapable to offering comfort or security, the
people and their leaders who resorted to pagan divination feel abandoned and
find themselves without leadership (see Judg 18:14-20;
Ex 21:21; Hos 3:14).
During the period of Syrian Greek domination, many of the upper-class Jewish
leaders were seduced by Hellenistic culture, which the Seleucid Empire was
attempting to impose on the Jews, and adopted pagan practices. The Seleucid
Greeks dominated Judah from 312-167 BC until the Jewish Maccabean Revolt.
Through His prophet, Ezekiel, Yahweh lamented the condition of His people who
were in distress like "sheep without a shepherd" in Ezekiel 34:5. Jesus will
express the same concern for the Jews of His time in Matthew 9:36.
Zechariah 10:3-12 ~ The Divine Shepherd's Visitation
to Bring About Judah's Deliverance
3 My anger
has been roused by the shepherds, and I shall vent it on the he-goats. When
Yahweh Sabaoth comes to visit his flock, the House of Judah, he will make it
his royal war-horse. 4
From it will emerge Cornerstone and Tent-peg, from it,
Bow-ready-for-Battle, from it, every type of leader. 5 Together they will be like warriors
trampling the dirt of the streets in battle; when they fight, because Yahweh is
with them, they will put mounted men to rout. 6 Then I shall make the House of Judah mighty and the
House of Joseph victorious. I shall restore them, because I have taken pity on
them, and they will be as though I had never cast them off, for I am Yahweh
their God and shall answer their prayer. 7
Ephraim will be like a warrior. Their hearts will be cheered as
though by wine. Their children will see this and rejoice, their hearts will
exult in Yahweh. 8 I shall
whistle to them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them; when will be as
numerous as they used to be. 9 I
shall scatter them among the peoples but in distant countries, they will
remember me, they will instruct their children and then return. 10 I shall bring them home from Egypt and
gather them back from Assyria; I shall lead them into Gilead and the Lebanon,
and even that will not be large enough for them. 11 They will cross the sea of Egypt, and
the waves of the sea will be struck; all the depths of the River will be dried
up. The arrogance of Assyria will be cast down, and the scepter of Egypt taken
way. 12 I shall make them
mighty in Yahweh, and they will march in my name, Yahweh declares.
In the Bible and the writings of other cultures in the ancient Near East, "shepherds" are the civil rather than religious leaders (2 Sam 5:2; Is 44:28). However, after the Jews returned from exile, there was no Davidic king to govern them, and the role of the high priest and the senior chief priests was expanded to fulfill religious as well as civil judgments. For example, instead of a king, the reigning high priest became the presiding judge over the highest court in the land, as High Priest Joseph Caiaphas was at Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin (Mt 26:57-66).
In Scripture, Yahweh is the "Divine Shepherd" (Ps 22:1; 80:1), Jesus the "Good Shepherd" (Jn 10:11-16), and the Resurrected Christ the "Divine" and "Chief Shepherd" (1 Pt 2:25; 5:4). The "shepherds" and "he-goats" abusing His people are the foreign kings and their governors (see Is 44:28; Jer 25:34ff; Nah 3:18; see Dan 8:5-8 where a prophecy that refers to Alexander the Great calls him a "he-goat" and his four generals who divide his empire the "four little horns" of the he-goat (Dan 8:8b-12). A he-goat is also the sin sacrifice for a ruler, and Jesus will judge between the sheep and the goats in the Last Judgment in Matthew 25:31-46.
The abuse of God's people will result in two "visitations." The first will be punitive (verses 1-5) and the second favorable (verses 6-12). In Ezekiel Chapter 34, Yahweh vows to come personally to rescue His covenant people from their failed shepherds who are also called "goats": For the Lord Yahweh says this: "Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it. As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of clouds and darkness. [...] I myself shall pasture my sheep, I myself shall give them rest, declares the Lord Yahweh. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured and make the sick strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them. As for you, my sheep, the Lord Yahweh says this: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats. [...] I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, shall be their God, and my servant David will be ruler among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken. I shall make a covenant of peace with them (Ex 34:11-12, 15-17, 23-25a).
However, the Ezekiel prophecy is not fulfilled in Zechariah's
time nor in the time of the Maccabee heroes who are descendants of Moses'
brother Aaron.
Question: When in salvation history did God come
personally to rescue His sheep?
Answer: It is a prophecy fulfilled in the
Incarnation and earthly mission of Jesus of Nazareth, son of David, Son of God.
When Yahweh Sabaoth comes to visit his flock, the
House of Judah, he will make it his royal war-horse. 4 From it will emerge Cornerstone and
Tent-peg, from it, Bow-ready-for-Battle, from it, every type of leader. 5 Together they will be like warriors
trampling the dirt of the streets in battle; when they fight, because Yahweh is
with them, they will put mounted men to rout.
God will use Judah as His instrument of judgment. The
prophecy gives symbolic names for the leaders who will arise at His calling
from among the people. These verses probably refer to the sons of the Jewish priest
Mattathias, known as the Maccabees, three whom will become prominent leaders:
Judah, Jonathan, and Simon. The Books of 1 and 2 Maccabees contain the record
of their story, the liberation of Judah from foreign domination, and the
rededication of the Jerusalem Temple polluted by pagan sacrifice.
God will again scatter His people only to call them home again in a new exodus in verses 6-12 in a time of peace when those who seek the Lord will return to Judah from Egypt, Assyria, and Gilead until so many people have returned that there is no room for them (see similar prophecies in Is 49:19; 54:3; Zec 14:11).2
It is a prophecy fulfilled by the Universal Church of Jesus Christ. On the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus' Resurrection, Jews from across the Roman Empire came to Jerusalem for the pilgrim feast (Dt. 16:16). They saw the Apostles and disciples emerge from the Upper Room after being filled with God the Holy Spirit to preach Jesus' Gospel of salvation. It was the beginning of the great exodus of humanity out of the world and into the Kingdom of the New Covenant Church that began in Jerusalem but outgrew Judah to spread across the Roman Empire.
Zechariah 11:1-3 ~ Yahweh Taunts Judah's Enemies
1 Open
your gateways, Lebanon, and the fire shall burn down your cedar trees! 2 Wail, juniper, for the cedar tree has
fallen, the majestic ones have been ravaged! Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the
impenetrable forest has been felled! 3 The
sound of the wailing of shepherds! Their majesty has been ravaged. The sound
of the roaring of young lions! The pride of the Jordan has been ravaged.
The poetic section ends with 11:3 and returns to prose in 11:4-16 before concluding with a short poetic curse-judgment in verse 17. In contrast to Yahweh's welcome to those who seek Him at the end of Chapter 10, He invites Lebanon to lay itself open to destruction. The cedar trees of Lebanon were prized for their stately beauty and strength (Ez 31:2-9). The oaks of Bashan were from the lands immediately east of the Sea of Galilee and admired for the durability of their timbers (Ez 27:6). Both trees probably symbolized the strength of the Greek Seleucid Empire or perhaps their kings. The Seleucid Empire became the largest of the Greek Empires after the death of Alexander the Great, encompassing Asia Minor, Syria, and Babylonia until the Romans seized control in the first century BC. The Seleucid rulers wrestled control of Levant from the Greek Egyptian Ptolemies and held power over Judah from 198 BC until the successful Maccabean Revolt in 167 BC. The junipers in verse 2 probably represent the ordinary people of the Syrian Empire who will also suffer.
The ravaged land is probably the Greek Seleucid Empire where many battles took place during the Maccabean Revolt in modern-day Syria and Lebanon. The "young lions" are probably the Jewish Maccabees and the "pride of the Jordan" that "has been ravaged" is the result of the war against the Greek-Syrians.
Zechariah 11:4-16 ~ The Wicked Shepherds
4 Yahweh
my God says this "Pasture the sheep for slaughter, 5 whose buyers kill them and go
unpunished, whose sellers say of them, Blessed be Yahweh; now I am rich!' and
whose own shepherds show them no pity. 6 For
I shall show no further pity for the inhabitants of the country, Yahweh
declares! Instead, I shall put everyone into the clutches of a neighbor, into
the clutches of the king. They will crush the country and I shall not rescue
anyone from their clutches." 7 Then
I pastured for slaughter the sheep belonging to the sheep-dealers. I took two
staves: the one I called "Goodwill," the other "Couplers"; and I pastured the
sheep myself, 8 getting rid
of three shepherds in one month. But I lost patience with them, and they
equally detested me. 9 I
then said, "I am not going to pasture you anymore; the one doomed to die can
die; the one doomed to perish can perish; and the rest can devour one
another." 10 I then took my
staff, "Goodwill," and broke it in half, to break my covenant, which I had made
with all the peoples. 11 When
it was broken, that day the sheep-dealers, who were watching me, realized that
this had been a word of Yahweh. 12 I
then said to them, "If you see fit, give me my wages; if not, never mind." So
they weighed out my wages: thirty shekels of silver. 13 Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the
smelter, this princely sum at which they have valued me!" Taking the thirty
shekels of silver, I threw them into the Temple of Yahweh, for the smelter. 14 I then broke my second staff,
"Couplers," in half, to rupture the brotherly relationship between Judah and
Israel. 15 Next, Yahweh
said to me, "This time, take the gear of a good-for-nothing shepherd. 16 For I am now going to raise a shepherd
in this country, who will not bother about the lost, who will not go in search
of the stray, who will not heal the injured, who will not support the swollen,
but who will eat the meat of the fat ones, tearing off their very hoofs.
This section on the shepherds ends with a Messianic prophecy in Zechariah 13:7-9 in the second oracle of Zechariah Part II. In verses 4-14, events are reviewed allegorically, and God's providence is vindicated. Returning to events in Zechariah's present, God gives him pastoral charge over a people who have not appreciated the covenant blessings Yahweh wanted to confer on them and have not practiced the good behavior He instructed them to observe
Question: What simple instructions did Yahweh give the people regarding righteous
behavior in the past in 7:8-10 and in 8:16-17 in their present?
Answer: In the past Yahweh instructed them to apply the law fairly and show faithful love and compassion towards one another.
They were forbidden to oppress the widow and orphan, the foreigner, and the poor.
They were not to secretly plan evil against one another.
In the present they were also instructed to included speaking the truth to one another,
administering fair judgments conductive to peace, not to secretly plot evil against one another nor commit perjury.
Since they have failed in the call to live in righteousness, God will, therefore, impose a wicked shepherd over them in punishment for the people's return to their former injustices. As mentioned previously, "shepherds" usually referred to a civil ruler, but since there was no Davidic king to shepherd the people of Judah after the exile, the anointed high priest took on an expanded role, serving as the religious and civil authority. The man Zechariah is tasked to confront and to mime in verse 15 is probably the reigning high priest and his associates who are the "shepherds" in verse 8. Zechariah's open opposition to Judah's "failed shepherds" may have led to his assassination in the Temple that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 23:36. Jesus said Zechariah's martyrdom took place between the sacrificial altar and the Sanctuary, a location limited to the chief priests, Levitical ministers and those individual covenant members offering voluntary sacrifice.
This section depicts the nation of Judah as having returned to a period of upheaval where the leaders take advantage of the people, seeking wealth and not justice, and the people do not resist but submit themselves to the abuse. These events must be taking place at least a decade or more after Zechariah's last oracle in 518 BC, and he must be fulfilling his priestly duties within the Temple's inner courts. The oracle moves from Yahweh speaking in verses 4-6 to Zechariah as he indicts the failed leaders using two shepherd's staffs that he names "Goodwill" (or "Delights/Beauty") and "Couplers" (or "Unity/Bonds"). Staffs were used:
Zechariah's two staffs involve the idea of a symbolic prophetic action in which God's representative both guides His covenant people by encouraging them (the staff of "Goodwill") and promoting covenant unity (the staff of "Couplers"). The two staffs are similar to the account of two sticks in Ezekiel 37:15-23. In that passage, God instructed Ezekiel to take a stick inscribed "for Judah" and another labeled "for Joseph" (the stick of Joseph/Ephraim symbolizing the Northern Kingdom). God instructed Ezekiel to put them together to form one stick, symbolizing the future return to unity for the covenant people of Israel. The prophecy in Ezekiel and in the related prophecy of a New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34 end with the same statement: they will be my people and I shall be their God (Ez 37:23 and Jer 31:33b). When Zechariah breaks the staffs in verses 10 and 14, his action symbolizes the breaking of the covenant relationship between God and Judah.
12 I then said to them, "If you see fit, give me my wages; if not, never mind." So they weighed out my wages: thirty shekels of silver. 13 Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the smelter, this princely sum at which they have valued me!" Taking the thirty shekels of silver, I threw them into the Temple of Yahweh, for the smelter.
Zechariah is speaking to the "failed shepherds," who must be the religious leadership, perhaps concerning his rightful priestly subsistence portion or the tax paid to maintain the Temple expenses. Matthew 27:9 quotes Zechariah 11:12-13 but ascribes the verses to Jeremiah instead of Zechariah. Read Matthew 27:3-10. Matthew was quoting Zechariah in verse 9 and applying the verse to Jesus' betrayal by Judas Iscariot. The Gospel of Matthew 27:9 ~ The word spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was then fulfilled: "And they took the thirty silver pieces, the sum at which the precious One was priced by the children of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, just as the Lord directed me.'" Attempts to find an explanation for this apparent error include:
In Zechariah 11:12-13, Yahweh complained that, in the person of his prophet Zechariah, He had received from the Jews a "wage" that was nothing but an insult. The sale of Jesus for the same small sum by Judas, thirty shekels (Mt 26:15; cf. Ex 21:32), appears as a fulfillment of this verse combined with the idea of the purchase of a field by Jeremiah in 32:6-15. This is in addition to the fact that Jeremiah spoke of potters in Jeremiah 18:2-12 who lived in the Hakeldama district and a future burial ground (Jer 19:1-15). These passages explain how Matthew might apply the whole text to Jeremiah since the "blood money" Judas took was also used to purchase a field that became a burial ground (Mt 27:3-8; Acts 1:18).
Zechariah 11:17 ~ Yahweh's Curse-Judgment against the Failed Shepherd of Israel/Judah
17 Disaster [Hoy]
to the shepherd who deserts his flock! May the sword attack his arm
and his right eye! May his arm shrivel completely, and his right eye be
totally blinded!
[...] Interlinear Hebrew-English, vol. III, page 2174.
The last verse in Part II section I of Zechariah returns to poetry in a harsh, curse-judgment against the covenant people's failed shepherd/rulers who desert the flock in their time of need. The verse begins with the Hebrew word "hoy," an expression that can either indicate a lamentation, or oracle of doom, or an exhortation and often appears at the beginning of a pronouncement of judgment, as in this case (see for example Is 5:8, 11, 18, 20, and 21).4
When the Maccabees drove out the Syrian Greeks and re-established an independent nation of Judah, they deposed the former high priest and set up their own Aaronite family line to rule as priest-kings over Judah, the Hasmonean dynasty. Their dynastic rule lasted until ambition, greed, and family rivalry resulted in a civil war between brothers that led to disaster.3
Question for discussion or reflection:
How does Jesus' description of Himself in the Good
Shepherd Discourse in the Gospel of John Chapter 10 contrast with the failed
shepherds in Zechariah 11:4-16? How did Jesus fulfill Yahweh's promise in
Ezekiel Chapter 34?
Endnotes:
1. The prediction of the destruction of Gaza and the killing of the city's ruler took place when the Greeks,
led by Alexander the Great, conquered Gaza and killed the Persian governor in 332 BC after their resistance to the Greek siege that lasted for two months.
The Greeks murdered 10,000 of Gaza's citizens, including all men of military age, and sold the rest into slavery.
2. Egypt, Assyria, and the Gilead probably represented all the nations of the earth where the Israelites were scattered. The Gilead was a region southeast of the Sea of Galilee known for its fertile pasturelands. In Jesus' time, it had a mostly Greek culture Hellenistic population of descendants of Alexander the Great's soldiers who had intermarried with local women.
3. The Hasmoneans were descendants of the Maccabee family. Their name derives from their ancestor Hasmoneus/Asamoneus (Hasmon), a priestly descendant of Aaron, according to Flavius Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews, 12.6.1. In 143/2 BC Simon Maccabeus, son of the priest Mattathias and brother of Judas Maccabeus, succeeded his other brother, Jonathan, as leader of the Maccabean revolt against the Greek Seleucid dynasty. When Judah became independent of the Seleucids, he declared himself high priest, ruler, and ethnarch of Judah, becoming the first of the Hasmonean dynasty. He was succeeded by his son John Hyrcanus I, Aristobulus I, Alexander Jannaeus and his widow Salome Alexandra, Aristobulus II, John Hyrcanus II, and the last Hasmonean ruler, Antigonus, who was deposed and killed by the Romans. Antigonus' death ended Judah's circa one hundred year period as an independent nation before falling again under the domination of a foreign power, the Romans, and beginning the countdown to the First Advent of the Messiah.
4. See this same word in Zechariah 2:10. In Hebrew, hoy, hoy is a characteristic prophetic interjection that appears 51 times in the Old Testament, mostly in the three of the books of the major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and in six of the twelve minor prophets in Amos, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Zechariah. The word only appears elsewhere in 1 Kings 13:30 where it introduces a statement concerning a prophet. "Woe" or "alas" is usually substituted for the Hebrew word in English. It is usually followed by a preposition and a noun which identifies the group to be alerted by the interjection before a statement describes some characteristic or action of the group that has been cited. The action is usually an evil deed toward Yahweh or His people that is the reason for the "woe" that will come upon the perpetrators of the wicked deed/deeds. In the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, the word is ouai. In the New Testament, ouai is the word Jesus will use seven times in His condemnation of the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew 23:13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, and 29.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2019 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism references (* indicates Scripture quoted
or paraphrased in the citation):
9:9 (CCC 559)