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Zechariah 10:8
Verse
Context
Judah and Israel Will Be Restored
7Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD. 8I will whistle for them to gather, for I have redeemed them; and they will be as numerous as they once were. 9Though I sow them among the nations, they will remember Me in distant lands; they and their children will live and return.
Summary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
I will hiss for them - אשרקה eshrekah, "I will shriek for them;" call them with such a shrill strong voice, that they shall hear me, and find that it is the voice of their redemption.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
In order to remove all doubt as to the realization of this promise, the deliverance of Ephraim is described still more minutely in Zac 10:8-12. Zac 10:8. "I will hiss to them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they will multiply as they have multiplied. Zac 10:9. And I will sow them among the nations: and in the far-off lands will they remember me; and will live with their sons, and return. Zac 10:10. And I will bring them back out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Asshur, and bring them into the land of Gilead and of Lebanon; and room will not be found for them." That these verses do not treat of a fresh (second) dispersion of Ephraim, or represent the carrying away as still in the future (Hitzig), is evident from the words themselves, when correctly interpreted. Not only are the enticing and gathering together (Zac 10:8) mentioned before the sowing or dispersing (Zac 10:9), but they are both expressed by similar verbal forms (אשׁרקה and אזרעם); and the misinterpretation is thereby precluded, that events occurring at different times are referred to. We must also observe the voluntative form אשׁרקה, "I will (not I shall) hiss to them, i.e., entice them" (shâraq being used for alluring, as in Isa 5:26 and Isa 7:18), as well as the absence of a copula. They both show that the intention here is simply to explain with greater clearness what is announced in Zac 10:6, Zac 10:7. The perfect פּדיתים is prophetic, like רחמתּים in Zac 10:6. The further promise, "they will multiply," etc., cannot be taken as referring either merely to the multiplication of Israel in exile (Hengst., Koehler, etc.), or merely to the future multiplication after the gathering together. According to the position in which the words stand between אקבּצם and אזרעם, they must embrace both the multiplication during the dispersion, and the multiplication after the gathering together. The perfect כּמו רבוּ points to the increase which Israel experienced in the olden time under the oppression of Egypt (Exo 1:7, Exo 1:12). This increase, which is also promised in Eze 36:10-11, is effected by God's sowing them broadcast among the nations. זרע does not mean to scatter, but to sow, to sow broadcast (see at Hos 2:23). Consequently the reference cannot be to a dispersion of Israel inflicted as a punishment. The sowing denotes the multiplication (cf. Jer 31:27), and is not to be interpreted, as Neumann and Kliefoth suppose, as signifying that the Ephraimites are to be scattered as seed-corn among the heathen, to spread the knowledge of Jehovah among the nations. This thought is quite foreign to the context; and even in the words, "in far-off lands will they remember me," it is neither expressed nor implied. These words are to be connected with what follows: Because they remember the Lord in far-off lands, they will live, and return with their children. In Zac 10:10 the gathering together and leading back of Israel are more minutely described, and indeed as taking place out of the land of Asshur and out of Egypt. The fact that these two lands are mentioned, upon which modern critics have principally founded their arguments in favour of the origin of this prophecy before the captivity, cannot be explained "from the circumstance that in the time of Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser many Ephraimites had fled to Egypt" (Koehler and others); for history knows nothing of this, and the supposition is merely a loophole for escaping from a difficulty. Such passages as Hos 8:13; Hos 9:3, Hos 9:6; Hos 11:11; Mic 7:12; Isa 11:11; Isa 27:13, furnish no historical evidence of such thing. Even if certain Ephraimites had fled to Egypt, these could not be explained as relating to a return or gathering together of the Ephraimites of Israelites out of Egypt and Assyria, because the announcement presupposes that the Ephraimites had been transported to Egypt in quite as large numbers as to Assyria, - a fact which cannot be established either in relation to the times before or to those after the captivity. Egypt, as we have already shown at Hos 9:3 (cf. Zac 8:13), is rather introduced in all the passages mentioned simply as a type of the land of bondage, on account of its having been the land in which Israel lived in the olden time, under the oppression of the heathen world. And Asshur is introduced in the same way, as the land into which the ten tribes had been afterwards exiled. This typical significance is placed beyond all doubt by Zac 10:1, since the redemption of Israel out of the countries named is there exhibited under the type of the liberation of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt under the guidance of Moses. (Compare also Delitzsch on Isa 11:11.) The Ephraimites are to return into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; the former representing the territory of the ten tribes in the olden time to the east of the Jordan, the latter that to the west (cf. Mic 7:14). לא ימּצא, there is not found for them, sc. the necessary room: equivalent to, it will not be sufficient for them (as in Jos 17:16).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
hiss for them--Keepers of bees by a whistle call them together. So Jehovah by the mere word of His call shall gather back to Palestine His scattered people (Zac 10:10; Isa 5:26; Eze 36:11). The multitudes mentioned by JOSEPHUS [Wars of the Jews, 3:2], as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the prophecy. for I have redeemed them--namely, in My covenant purpose "redeemed" both temporally and spiritually. as they have increased--in former times.
John Gill Bible Commentary
I will hiss for them,.... Or "whistle for them" (p); the word signifies, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, the motion of the lips with the voice, and is a sign of calling; and so the Targum renders it, I will cry or call for them; and it denotes the call of them by the Gospel, which is the voice of Christ, which is soft, sweet, and melodious; is a sound of love, grace, and mercy; of peace, pardon, life, and salvation: the allusion seems to be to the shepherd gathering his sheep together with his pipe or whistle, and which was a reed; and so may denote the weakness of the instrument, the ministry of the word in itself, which is made the power of God unto salvation: and gather them; from the places where they are scattered, into their land; or, by effectual calling, out from the state and condition in which they are, and from among the men of the world, to the Lord himself, as their Redeemer and Saviour; and to him for pardon and righteousness; and into his churches, and communion with him there: Kimchi observes, that some interpret this verse of future time; and Jarchi says it relates to it; and in the Talmud (q) it is applied to the times of the Messiah; where they speak of a bird called "racham", which we translate the gier eagle, Deu 14:17 and they say it is so called, because, when that comes, mercies come into the world, which this word signifies. R. Bibi bar Abi says, when it sits, it makes a whistling or hissing, from whence it is called "sarakrak", a word derived from what is here used; and when it sits on the ground, and hisses or whistles, the Messiah will come, as it is said, "I will hiss for them", &c.; the gloss is, when it stands not, but sits and chirps, it is a sign of good news. The design, seems to be to show, that the Messiah's coming is owing mercy, and would be good news, which the Gospel publishes. For I have redeemed them; from sin, Satan, the law, death, and hell, and every enemy, by his precious blood, and the sacrifice of himself when here on earth; and this is the foundation of the effectual calling of any and every sinner; and will be the reason of the conversion and ingathering of the Jews in the latter day; they being a people redeemed and purchased by the blood of Christ, Isa 43:1, and they shall increase as they have increased; either when in Egypt, or in the days of Solomon; their number shall be as the sand of the sea, Hos 1:10 a nation shall be born at once; they shall be multiplied, and not be few, and glorified, and not be small; yea, the place shall be too strait for them to dwell in, Jer 31:18. (p) "sibilabo", i. e. "fistula pastorali", Grotius, Burkius. (q) T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 63. 1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
10:8 When I whistle to them: Shepherds in biblical times herded their flocks by whistling or piping to them (see Judg 5:16). • Redeemed can also mean “ransomed”—buying slaves out of their servitude or indentured status (see Deut 15:15; 24:18). • numerous as . . . before: The proliferation of the Hebrew people was one of God’s covenant promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 22:17; 32:12).
Zechariah 10:8
Judah and Israel Will Be Restored
7Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD. 8I will whistle for them to gather, for I have redeemed them; and they will be as numerous as they once were. 9Though I sow them among the nations, they will remember Me in distant lands; they and their children will live and return.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
I will hiss for them - אשרקה eshrekah, "I will shriek for them;" call them with such a shrill strong voice, that they shall hear me, and find that it is the voice of their redemption.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
In order to remove all doubt as to the realization of this promise, the deliverance of Ephraim is described still more minutely in Zac 10:8-12. Zac 10:8. "I will hiss to them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they will multiply as they have multiplied. Zac 10:9. And I will sow them among the nations: and in the far-off lands will they remember me; and will live with their sons, and return. Zac 10:10. And I will bring them back out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Asshur, and bring them into the land of Gilead and of Lebanon; and room will not be found for them." That these verses do not treat of a fresh (second) dispersion of Ephraim, or represent the carrying away as still in the future (Hitzig), is evident from the words themselves, when correctly interpreted. Not only are the enticing and gathering together (Zac 10:8) mentioned before the sowing or dispersing (Zac 10:9), but they are both expressed by similar verbal forms (אשׁרקה and אזרעם); and the misinterpretation is thereby precluded, that events occurring at different times are referred to. We must also observe the voluntative form אשׁרקה, "I will (not I shall) hiss to them, i.e., entice them" (shâraq being used for alluring, as in Isa 5:26 and Isa 7:18), as well as the absence of a copula. They both show that the intention here is simply to explain with greater clearness what is announced in Zac 10:6, Zac 10:7. The perfect פּדיתים is prophetic, like רחמתּים in Zac 10:6. The further promise, "they will multiply," etc., cannot be taken as referring either merely to the multiplication of Israel in exile (Hengst., Koehler, etc.), or merely to the future multiplication after the gathering together. According to the position in which the words stand between אקבּצם and אזרעם, they must embrace both the multiplication during the dispersion, and the multiplication after the gathering together. The perfect כּמו רבוּ points to the increase which Israel experienced in the olden time under the oppression of Egypt (Exo 1:7, Exo 1:12). This increase, which is also promised in Eze 36:10-11, is effected by God's sowing them broadcast among the nations. זרע does not mean to scatter, but to sow, to sow broadcast (see at Hos 2:23). Consequently the reference cannot be to a dispersion of Israel inflicted as a punishment. The sowing denotes the multiplication (cf. Jer 31:27), and is not to be interpreted, as Neumann and Kliefoth suppose, as signifying that the Ephraimites are to be scattered as seed-corn among the heathen, to spread the knowledge of Jehovah among the nations. This thought is quite foreign to the context; and even in the words, "in far-off lands will they remember me," it is neither expressed nor implied. These words are to be connected with what follows: Because they remember the Lord in far-off lands, they will live, and return with their children. In Zac 10:10 the gathering together and leading back of Israel are more minutely described, and indeed as taking place out of the land of Asshur and out of Egypt. The fact that these two lands are mentioned, upon which modern critics have principally founded their arguments in favour of the origin of this prophecy before the captivity, cannot be explained "from the circumstance that in the time of Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser many Ephraimites had fled to Egypt" (Koehler and others); for history knows nothing of this, and the supposition is merely a loophole for escaping from a difficulty. Such passages as Hos 8:13; Hos 9:3, Hos 9:6; Hos 11:11; Mic 7:12; Isa 11:11; Isa 27:13, furnish no historical evidence of such thing. Even if certain Ephraimites had fled to Egypt, these could not be explained as relating to a return or gathering together of the Ephraimites of Israelites out of Egypt and Assyria, because the announcement presupposes that the Ephraimites had been transported to Egypt in quite as large numbers as to Assyria, - a fact which cannot be established either in relation to the times before or to those after the captivity. Egypt, as we have already shown at Hos 9:3 (cf. Zac 8:13), is rather introduced in all the passages mentioned simply as a type of the land of bondage, on account of its having been the land in which Israel lived in the olden time, under the oppression of the heathen world. And Asshur is introduced in the same way, as the land into which the ten tribes had been afterwards exiled. This typical significance is placed beyond all doubt by Zac 10:1, since the redemption of Israel out of the countries named is there exhibited under the type of the liberation of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt under the guidance of Moses. (Compare also Delitzsch on Isa 11:11.) The Ephraimites are to return into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; the former representing the territory of the ten tribes in the olden time to the east of the Jordan, the latter that to the west (cf. Mic 7:14). לא ימּצא, there is not found for them, sc. the necessary room: equivalent to, it will not be sufficient for them (as in Jos 17:16).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
hiss for them--Keepers of bees by a whistle call them together. So Jehovah by the mere word of His call shall gather back to Palestine His scattered people (Zac 10:10; Isa 5:26; Eze 36:11). The multitudes mentioned by JOSEPHUS [Wars of the Jews, 3:2], as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the prophecy. for I have redeemed them--namely, in My covenant purpose "redeemed" both temporally and spiritually. as they have increased--in former times.
John Gill Bible Commentary
I will hiss for them,.... Or "whistle for them" (p); the word signifies, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, the motion of the lips with the voice, and is a sign of calling; and so the Targum renders it, I will cry or call for them; and it denotes the call of them by the Gospel, which is the voice of Christ, which is soft, sweet, and melodious; is a sound of love, grace, and mercy; of peace, pardon, life, and salvation: the allusion seems to be to the shepherd gathering his sheep together with his pipe or whistle, and which was a reed; and so may denote the weakness of the instrument, the ministry of the word in itself, which is made the power of God unto salvation: and gather them; from the places where they are scattered, into their land; or, by effectual calling, out from the state and condition in which they are, and from among the men of the world, to the Lord himself, as their Redeemer and Saviour; and to him for pardon and righteousness; and into his churches, and communion with him there: Kimchi observes, that some interpret this verse of future time; and Jarchi says it relates to it; and in the Talmud (q) it is applied to the times of the Messiah; where they speak of a bird called "racham", which we translate the gier eagle, Deu 14:17 and they say it is so called, because, when that comes, mercies come into the world, which this word signifies. R. Bibi bar Abi says, when it sits, it makes a whistling or hissing, from whence it is called "sarakrak", a word derived from what is here used; and when it sits on the ground, and hisses or whistles, the Messiah will come, as it is said, "I will hiss for them", &c.; the gloss is, when it stands not, but sits and chirps, it is a sign of good news. The design, seems to be to show, that the Messiah's coming is owing mercy, and would be good news, which the Gospel publishes. For I have redeemed them; from sin, Satan, the law, death, and hell, and every enemy, by his precious blood, and the sacrifice of himself when here on earth; and this is the foundation of the effectual calling of any and every sinner; and will be the reason of the conversion and ingathering of the Jews in the latter day; they being a people redeemed and purchased by the blood of Christ, Isa 43:1, and they shall increase as they have increased; either when in Egypt, or in the days of Solomon; their number shall be as the sand of the sea, Hos 1:10 a nation shall be born at once; they shall be multiplied, and not be few, and glorified, and not be small; yea, the place shall be too strait for them to dwell in, Jer 31:18. (p) "sibilabo", i. e. "fistula pastorali", Grotius, Burkius. (q) T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 63. 1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
10:8 When I whistle to them: Shepherds in biblical times herded their flocks by whistling or piping to them (see Judg 5:16). • Redeemed can also mean “ransomed”—buying slaves out of their servitude or indentured status (see Deut 15:15; 24:18). • numerous as . . . before: The proliferation of the Hebrew people was one of God’s covenant promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 22:17; 32:12).