Zechariah 9:11
Verse
Context
Zion’s Coming King
10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. 11As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double.
Sermons
Al Whittinghill
David ShirleySummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
As for thee also (Jerusalem) by the blood of thy covenant - The covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites in general, and ratified by the blood of many victims; until the time should come in which the Messiah should shed his blood, as typified by the ancient sacrifices. I have sent forth thy prisoners - Those who were under the arrest of God's judgments; the human race, fast bound in sin and misery, and who by the pitifulness of his tender mercy were loosed, he dying in their stead.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
Israel's Redemption from Captivity, and Victory over the Heathen. - Zac 9:11. "Thou also, for the sake of thy covenant blood, I release thy captives out of the pit wherein there is no water. Zac 9:12. Return to the fortress, ye prisoners of hope. Even to-day I proclaim: Double will I repay to thee." This is addressed to the daughter Zion, i.e., to all Israel, consisting of Ephraim and Judah. We not only learn this from the context, since both of them are spoken of before (Zac 9:10) and afterwards (Zac 9:13); but it is also obvious from the expression bedam berı̄thēkh, since the covenant blood belonged to all Israel of the twelve tribes (Exo 24:8). גּם־אתּ stands at the head absolutely, on account of the emphasis lying upon the אתּ. But as the following clause, instead of being directly attached to אתּ, is so constructed that the pronoun אתּ is continued with suffixes, the question arises, to what the גּם is to be taken as referring, or which is the antithesis indicated by גּם. The answer may easily be obtained if we only make it clear to ourselves which of the two words, with the second pers. suffix, forms the object of the assertion made in the entire clause. This is not בּדם־בּריתך, but אסיריך: thou also (= thee) - namely, thy prisoners - I release. But the emphasis intended by the position in which גּם־אתּ is placed does not rest upon the prisoners of Israel in contrast with any other prisoners, but in contrast with the Israel in Jerusalem, the daughter Zion, to which the King is coming. Now, although גּם actually belongs to אסיריך, it refers primarily to the אתּ to which it is attached, and this only receives its more precise definition afterwards in אסיריך. And the allusion intended by גּם is simply somewhat obscured by the fact, that before the statement to which it gives emphasis בּדם־בּריתך is inserted, in order from the very first to give a firm pledge of the promise to the people, by declaring the motive which induced God to make this fresh manifestation of grace to Israel. This motive also acted as a further reason for placing the pronoun אתּ at the head absolutely, and shows that אתּ is to be taken as an address, as for example in Gen 49:8. בּדם־בּריתך: literally, being in thy covenant blood, because sprinkled therewith, the process by which Israel was expiated and received into covenant with God (Exo 24:8). "The covenant blood, which still separates the church and the world from one another, was therefore a certain pledge to the covenant nation of deliverance out of all trouble, so long, that is to say, as it did not render the promise nugatory by wickedly violating the conditions imposed by God" (Hengstenberg). The new matter introduced by גּם־אתּ in Zac 9:11 is therefore the following: The pardon of Israel will not merely consist in the fact that Jehovah will send the promised King to the daughter Zion; but He will also redeem such members of His nation as shall be still in captivity out of their affliction. The perfect shillachtı̄ is prophetic. Delivering them out of a pit without water is a figure denoting their liberation out of the bondage of exile. This is represented with an evident allusion to the history of Joseph in Gen 37:22, as lying in a pit wherein there is no water, such as were used as prisons (cf. Jer 38:6). Out of such a pit the captive could not escape, and would inevitably perish if he were not drawn out. The opposite of the pit is בּצּרון, a place cut off, i.e., fortified, not the steep height, although fortified towns were generally built upon heights. The prisoners are to return where they will be secured against their enemies; compare Psa 40:3, where the rock is opposed to the miry pit, as being a place upon which it is possible to stand firmly. "Prisoners of hope" is an epithet applied to the Israelites, because they possess in their covenant blood a hope of redemption. גּם־היּום, also to-day, i.e., even to-day or still to-day, "notwithstanding all threatening circumstances" (Ewald, Hengstenberg). I repay thee double, i.e., according to Isa 61:7, a double measure of glory in the place of the sufferings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
As for thee also--that is, the daughter of Zion," or "Jerusalem" (Zac 9:9): the theocracy. The "thee also," in contradistinction to Messiah spoken of in Zac 9:10, implies that besides cutting off the battle-bow and extending MESSIAH'S "dominion to the ends of the earth," God would also deliver for her her exiled people from their foreign captivity. by the blood of thy covenant--that is, according to the covenant vouchsafed to thee on Sinai, and ratified by the blood of sacrifices (Exo 24:8; Heb 9:18-20). pit wherein . . . no water--Dungeons were often pits without water, miry at the bottom, such as Jeremiah sank in when confined (Gen 37:24; Jer 38:6). An image of the misery of the Jewish exiles in Egypt, Greece, &c., under the successors of Alexander, especially under Antiochus Epiphanes, who robbed and profaned the temple, slew thousands, and enslaved more. God delivered them by the Maccabees. A type of the future deliverance from their last great persecutor hereafter (Isa 51:14; Isa 60:1).
John Gill Bible Commentary
As for thee also,.... These words are not spoken to Christ, for "thee", is of the feminine gender; but the congregation of Israel, as Kimchi observes; or the church of God: nor are they the words of Christ to her; he is the person before spoken of; but of God the Father, who, having given out prophecies concerning the coming of Christ, and the peaceableness and extensiveness of his kingdom, declares to the church the benefits that she and those that belonged to her should receive by the incarnation, sufferings, and death of Christ: by the blood of thy covenant; not of the covenant of works, nor of circumcision, nor of that that was made at Sinai, as the Jewish writers interpret it; all which were a yoke of bondage; but of the covenant of grace, namely, the blood of Jesus, which is a considerable article in that covenant; that by which it is ratified and confirmed, and through which all the blessings of it come, as redemption, peace, pardon, justification, and admission into heaven: and this covenant is called the church's covenant, because it is made with her in Christ, her covenant Head, in whom she was considered; and it was made on her account, and she has an interest in it, and in all things contained therein. God is her covenant God and Father; Christ her surety, Mediator, Redeemer, and Saviour, and the covenant itself unto her; and all things in it, the blessings of grace and promises of good things, are hers: and though the covenant at Sinai is not the covenant here intended, that being a covenant which gendered to bondage, and under which men were held as convicted and condemned malefactors; and so cannot be that, the blood of which is the cause of a release from prison, and of bringing into a state of liberty; yet the allusion is unto it, which was a typical covenant; and the blood of the sacrifices then sprinkled on the people is called "the blood of the covenant", Exo 24:8. It was not unusual with the Heathens, at making covenants, to use blood, even human blood: it was a custom with them to draw it from each other, and drink it, at least lick and taste of it, as particularly with the Medes and Lydians (k); and was reckoned by them the most sacred bond of covenants; and such covenants with the Carmeni and Scythians were accounted the chief covenants of friendship, and their mutual blood they used the greatest bond of concord (l); and the surest pledge of keeping faith, and that it would abide (m): but the blood of Christ shed is a far greater proof, as well as cement, of love, concord, and friendship; and a much firmer bond of the covenant of grace; and a surer pledge of the continuance of it, and of its being faithfully performed; and which, having the nature of a will or testament, becomes of force through the death of him the testator; see Dan 9:27, I have sent forth thy prisoners: that is, the church's prisoners; not prisoners to her, or in her; for the church of Christ is no prison; nor are those that have a name and a place in her prisoners; they walk at large, and walk at liberty; are fellow citizens with the saints; are Christ's freemen, and are possessed of many privileges and immunities: but these design such persons as are in a secret relation to her, and yet, being in a state of nature, are prisoners; and so are such as are not members of any visible church; nor as yet converted persons and believers in Christ, who have an open relation to the invisible church; but they are such who secretly belong to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, written in heaven, whose names are in the Lamb's book of life; or are chosen in Christ, and also redeemed by his blood: but, being as yet in a state of unregeneracy, are prisoners to sin; are under the power, dominion, and guilt of it; and, being transgressors of the law, are arraigned by it as guilty persons; are convicted and condemned, and shut up in it, and held under it; and are also the captives of Satan, being led as such by him, at his will; and thus they are prisoners, though there is a secret connection between the church and them: and sooner or later, by virtue of the blood of that covenant, which she and they have an interest in, they are brought out of the pit wherein is no water; which is expressive of the state and condition men are in by sin, and while in unregeneracy; they are in mire and clay, in a most filthy and famishing condition, in a very wretched and uncomfortable one; as in a dark and lonesome dungeon, and where no refreshment can be had; where there are no true peace, joy, and comfort. The allusion is to the custom of the eastern countries, and still continues, who, in the nighttime, put their slaves into a well or pit, and there shut them up till the morning, when they are let out for business: now, from this state of captivity and bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, and from all the miseries of such a state, are the Lord's people, and who belong to Zion, the general assembly and church of the first born, delivered by virtue of the blood of Christ, shed for the redemption of them; in consequence of which it is said to these prisoners of sin, Satan, and the law, go forth; these are made sensible of their wretched condition, and are called and drawn out of it, and delivered from it, and brought into a state of liberty. Ben Melech interprets this pit of the captivity of the Jews. (k) Herodot. Clio, sive l. 1. c. 74. (l) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 3. (m) Mela de situ Orbis, l. 2. c. 1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
9:11 The covenant . . . sealed with blood probably refers to the blood sacrifice that sealed the Mosaic covenant (Exod 24:8). • The prisoners were Jews still living as exiles in Mesopotamia after the Babylonian exile. The Jews who remained in Persia and Babylon were spiritual exiles because they lived outside the Promised Land of spiritual blessing and rest (see Deut 12:10). One of the Messiah’s defining activities would be to free prisoners (Isa 61:1; Luke 4:17-22; Rom 7:6; Eph 4:8).
Zechariah 9:11
Zion’s Coming King
10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. 11As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
The Blood of Jesus Christ
By Al Whittinghill1.2K1:04:14Blood Of ChristISA 61:10ZEC 9:11MAT 22:1HEB 2:3REV 1:5REV 3:4REV 12:11In this sermon, the speaker begins by talking about the joy and love that children have for lambs. He then transitions to the story of the first Passover in the Bible, where the Israelites were oppressed in Egypt. The speaker emphasizes the importance of the blood of the lamb in the Passover, as it symbolized judgment for sin. The sermon concludes with a reference to Revelation 19:6, where the hosts of heaven praise God for the marriage of the Lamb and the readiness of his wife.
Progress of Redemption #07
By David Shirley8011:11:29RedemptionGEN 12:17EXO 21:1EXO 24:12ISA 2:18ZEC 9:11ROM 7:7In this sermon, the preacher discusses the Edenic covenant and the relationship between God and man. The preacher emphasizes that God requires man to rule for Him and that God determines what is good and evil. The sermon also highlights the importance of recognizing moral issues based on whether God has spoken about them. The preacher then discusses the story of Noah and the flood, emphasizing God's grace and the establishment of human government to curb sin.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
As for thee also (Jerusalem) by the blood of thy covenant - The covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites in general, and ratified by the blood of many victims; until the time should come in which the Messiah should shed his blood, as typified by the ancient sacrifices. I have sent forth thy prisoners - Those who were under the arrest of God's judgments; the human race, fast bound in sin and misery, and who by the pitifulness of his tender mercy were loosed, he dying in their stead.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
Israel's Redemption from Captivity, and Victory over the Heathen. - Zac 9:11. "Thou also, for the sake of thy covenant blood, I release thy captives out of the pit wherein there is no water. Zac 9:12. Return to the fortress, ye prisoners of hope. Even to-day I proclaim: Double will I repay to thee." This is addressed to the daughter Zion, i.e., to all Israel, consisting of Ephraim and Judah. We not only learn this from the context, since both of them are spoken of before (Zac 9:10) and afterwards (Zac 9:13); but it is also obvious from the expression bedam berı̄thēkh, since the covenant blood belonged to all Israel of the twelve tribes (Exo 24:8). גּם־אתּ stands at the head absolutely, on account of the emphasis lying upon the אתּ. But as the following clause, instead of being directly attached to אתּ, is so constructed that the pronoun אתּ is continued with suffixes, the question arises, to what the גּם is to be taken as referring, or which is the antithesis indicated by גּם. The answer may easily be obtained if we only make it clear to ourselves which of the two words, with the second pers. suffix, forms the object of the assertion made in the entire clause. This is not בּדם־בּריתך, but אסיריך: thou also (= thee) - namely, thy prisoners - I release. But the emphasis intended by the position in which גּם־אתּ is placed does not rest upon the prisoners of Israel in contrast with any other prisoners, but in contrast with the Israel in Jerusalem, the daughter Zion, to which the King is coming. Now, although גּם actually belongs to אסיריך, it refers primarily to the אתּ to which it is attached, and this only receives its more precise definition afterwards in אסיריך. And the allusion intended by גּם is simply somewhat obscured by the fact, that before the statement to which it gives emphasis בּדם־בּריתך is inserted, in order from the very first to give a firm pledge of the promise to the people, by declaring the motive which induced God to make this fresh manifestation of grace to Israel. This motive also acted as a further reason for placing the pronoun אתּ at the head absolutely, and shows that אתּ is to be taken as an address, as for example in Gen 49:8. בּדם־בּריתך: literally, being in thy covenant blood, because sprinkled therewith, the process by which Israel was expiated and received into covenant with God (Exo 24:8). "The covenant blood, which still separates the church and the world from one another, was therefore a certain pledge to the covenant nation of deliverance out of all trouble, so long, that is to say, as it did not render the promise nugatory by wickedly violating the conditions imposed by God" (Hengstenberg). The new matter introduced by גּם־אתּ in Zac 9:11 is therefore the following: The pardon of Israel will not merely consist in the fact that Jehovah will send the promised King to the daughter Zion; but He will also redeem such members of His nation as shall be still in captivity out of their affliction. The perfect shillachtı̄ is prophetic. Delivering them out of a pit without water is a figure denoting their liberation out of the bondage of exile. This is represented with an evident allusion to the history of Joseph in Gen 37:22, as lying in a pit wherein there is no water, such as were used as prisons (cf. Jer 38:6). Out of such a pit the captive could not escape, and would inevitably perish if he were not drawn out. The opposite of the pit is בּצּרון, a place cut off, i.e., fortified, not the steep height, although fortified towns were generally built upon heights. The prisoners are to return where they will be secured against their enemies; compare Psa 40:3, where the rock is opposed to the miry pit, as being a place upon which it is possible to stand firmly. "Prisoners of hope" is an epithet applied to the Israelites, because they possess in their covenant blood a hope of redemption. גּם־היּום, also to-day, i.e., even to-day or still to-day, "notwithstanding all threatening circumstances" (Ewald, Hengstenberg). I repay thee double, i.e., according to Isa 61:7, a double measure of glory in the place of the sufferings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
As for thee also--that is, the daughter of Zion," or "Jerusalem" (Zac 9:9): the theocracy. The "thee also," in contradistinction to Messiah spoken of in Zac 9:10, implies that besides cutting off the battle-bow and extending MESSIAH'S "dominion to the ends of the earth," God would also deliver for her her exiled people from their foreign captivity. by the blood of thy covenant--that is, according to the covenant vouchsafed to thee on Sinai, and ratified by the blood of sacrifices (Exo 24:8; Heb 9:18-20). pit wherein . . . no water--Dungeons were often pits without water, miry at the bottom, such as Jeremiah sank in when confined (Gen 37:24; Jer 38:6). An image of the misery of the Jewish exiles in Egypt, Greece, &c., under the successors of Alexander, especially under Antiochus Epiphanes, who robbed and profaned the temple, slew thousands, and enslaved more. God delivered them by the Maccabees. A type of the future deliverance from their last great persecutor hereafter (Isa 51:14; Isa 60:1).
John Gill Bible Commentary
As for thee also,.... These words are not spoken to Christ, for "thee", is of the feminine gender; but the congregation of Israel, as Kimchi observes; or the church of God: nor are they the words of Christ to her; he is the person before spoken of; but of God the Father, who, having given out prophecies concerning the coming of Christ, and the peaceableness and extensiveness of his kingdom, declares to the church the benefits that she and those that belonged to her should receive by the incarnation, sufferings, and death of Christ: by the blood of thy covenant; not of the covenant of works, nor of circumcision, nor of that that was made at Sinai, as the Jewish writers interpret it; all which were a yoke of bondage; but of the covenant of grace, namely, the blood of Jesus, which is a considerable article in that covenant; that by which it is ratified and confirmed, and through which all the blessings of it come, as redemption, peace, pardon, justification, and admission into heaven: and this covenant is called the church's covenant, because it is made with her in Christ, her covenant Head, in whom she was considered; and it was made on her account, and she has an interest in it, and in all things contained therein. God is her covenant God and Father; Christ her surety, Mediator, Redeemer, and Saviour, and the covenant itself unto her; and all things in it, the blessings of grace and promises of good things, are hers: and though the covenant at Sinai is not the covenant here intended, that being a covenant which gendered to bondage, and under which men were held as convicted and condemned malefactors; and so cannot be that, the blood of which is the cause of a release from prison, and of bringing into a state of liberty; yet the allusion is unto it, which was a typical covenant; and the blood of the sacrifices then sprinkled on the people is called "the blood of the covenant", Exo 24:8. It was not unusual with the Heathens, at making covenants, to use blood, even human blood: it was a custom with them to draw it from each other, and drink it, at least lick and taste of it, as particularly with the Medes and Lydians (k); and was reckoned by them the most sacred bond of covenants; and such covenants with the Carmeni and Scythians were accounted the chief covenants of friendship, and their mutual blood they used the greatest bond of concord (l); and the surest pledge of keeping faith, and that it would abide (m): but the blood of Christ shed is a far greater proof, as well as cement, of love, concord, and friendship; and a much firmer bond of the covenant of grace; and a surer pledge of the continuance of it, and of its being faithfully performed; and which, having the nature of a will or testament, becomes of force through the death of him the testator; see Dan 9:27, I have sent forth thy prisoners: that is, the church's prisoners; not prisoners to her, or in her; for the church of Christ is no prison; nor are those that have a name and a place in her prisoners; they walk at large, and walk at liberty; are fellow citizens with the saints; are Christ's freemen, and are possessed of many privileges and immunities: but these design such persons as are in a secret relation to her, and yet, being in a state of nature, are prisoners; and so are such as are not members of any visible church; nor as yet converted persons and believers in Christ, who have an open relation to the invisible church; but they are such who secretly belong to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, written in heaven, whose names are in the Lamb's book of life; or are chosen in Christ, and also redeemed by his blood: but, being as yet in a state of unregeneracy, are prisoners to sin; are under the power, dominion, and guilt of it; and, being transgressors of the law, are arraigned by it as guilty persons; are convicted and condemned, and shut up in it, and held under it; and are also the captives of Satan, being led as such by him, at his will; and thus they are prisoners, though there is a secret connection between the church and them: and sooner or later, by virtue of the blood of that covenant, which she and they have an interest in, they are brought out of the pit wherein is no water; which is expressive of the state and condition men are in by sin, and while in unregeneracy; they are in mire and clay, in a most filthy and famishing condition, in a very wretched and uncomfortable one; as in a dark and lonesome dungeon, and where no refreshment can be had; where there are no true peace, joy, and comfort. The allusion is to the custom of the eastern countries, and still continues, who, in the nighttime, put their slaves into a well or pit, and there shut them up till the morning, when they are let out for business: now, from this state of captivity and bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, and from all the miseries of such a state, are the Lord's people, and who belong to Zion, the general assembly and church of the first born, delivered by virtue of the blood of Christ, shed for the redemption of them; in consequence of which it is said to these prisoners of sin, Satan, and the law, go forth; these are made sensible of their wretched condition, and are called and drawn out of it, and delivered from it, and brought into a state of liberty. Ben Melech interprets this pit of the captivity of the Jews. (k) Herodot. Clio, sive l. 1. c. 74. (l) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 3. (m) Mela de situ Orbis, l. 2. c. 1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
9:11 The covenant . . . sealed with blood probably refers to the blood sacrifice that sealed the Mosaic covenant (Exod 24:8). • The prisoners were Jews still living as exiles in Mesopotamia after the Babylonian exile. The Jews who remained in Persia and Babylon were spiritual exiles because they lived outside the Promised Land of spiritual blessing and rest (see Deut 12:10). One of the Messiah’s defining activities would be to free prisoners (Isa 61:1; Luke 4:17-22; Rom 7:6; Eph 4:8).