Verse 1
Zechariah 10:1. Ask ye of the
Lord rain, &c. — Make
supplication to Jehovah, and not
to idols. The promise of future
plenty made in the preceding
verse, with which this appears
to be closely connected,
suggested the mentioning the
means by which it might be
procured. As if he had said, The
fulfilling of the promise of
fruitful seasons depends on the
people’s asking them of God, who
will hear their petitions if
offered to him with sincerity
and fervour, and will give them
both the former and the latter
rain in its season. Of which
rains see notes on Deuteronomy
11:14; Hosea 6:3. So the Lord
shall make bright clouds — Or
lightnings, as the margin reads,
and as the word is rendered Job
28:25. Great rains usually
accompany thunder and lightning.
And give them — Namely, the
Jews; showers of rain — Or
rather, abundance of rain, as
the Hebrew means; to every one
grass in the field — Or, to
every man the herb, or fruits of
the field, as the original word
signifies. The sense is, that
God, upon their asking it of
him, would give plenty of all
kinds of herbs and fruits that
were useful to men, or to the
animals which men make use of.
Verse 2
Zechariah 10:2. For the idols
have spoken vanity — What I have
said will certainly be verified
when, with sincere and pious
minds, you apply to God in
prayer for his blessing on you
and your land; but the case was
quite otherwise when your
fathers asked for any thing of
idols; the priests, who answered
in the names of the idols, could
only give vain answers, which
were not fulfilled by the events
according to their promises. And
the diviners have seen a lie —
Those who pretended to divine,
or predict future things, have
uttered falsehoods. They comfort
in vain — Rather, they comfort
vainly, or with vain words. This
they certainly did, because they
promised prosperity to the
people though they continued in
their sins. Therefore they went
their way as a flock — They were
carried into captivity, and
brought into great distress, as
sheep are driven away and
scattered, when there is no one
to guide or take care of them.
Because there was no shepherd —
No ecclesiastical or civil
governors, that would faithfully
do their duty.
Verse 3
Zechariah 10:3. Mine anger was
kindled against the shepherds —
Against the kings, princes, and
priests. These were the leaders
of the Jewish people into
idolatry and vice. The word
shepherds is beautifully taken
up from the preceding verse. And
I punished the goats — The chief
ones, as Newcome renders it. The
principal men are meant. For —
Or rather, but, the Lord of
hosts hath visited his flock —
In mercy. He hath now given his
people manifest tokens of his
favour and protection. And hath
made them — Or, will make them,
as his goodly horse in the
battle — Will give them strength
and courage. This must relate to
the times of the Maccabees, and
afterward, when God punished
several nations by the hands of
the Jewish people.
Verse 4
Zechariah 10:4. Out of him —
From God, came forth — Or
rather, shall come forth the
corner — The prince or ruler,
who is in a body politic, as a
corner stone in a building; the
nail — Which fastens the tents
of war, or the timber together
in a house; the battle-bow — All
warlike provision both of men
and arms. Out of him every
oppressor — Officer, exactor, or
collector of tribute. It was
from God that Nebuchadnezzar
mightily prevailed and oppressed
Israel; and it was from God also
that Judah grows up to such
power as to be able to cope with
his adversaries, and to impose
tribute on them. Newcome reads,
From him shall go forth every
ruler together, observing, that
the word which we translate
oppressor is also used in a good
sense Isaiah 60:17 : that is,
Judah shall furnish both civil
and military governors.
Blayney’s interpretation of the
verse is, Out of it, that is,
out of the house of Judah, shall
go forth a corner, the
commander-in- chief; out of it a
nail, the officers next in rank;
the bow of battle, the archers;
out of it all that draw near
together; so he renders כל נוגשׁ
יחרו, instead of every
oppressor, or ruler, together.
“In the house, or building,”
says he, “the words would denote
the stones of common use, placed
contiguous, or close in order,
one by another. Correspondently
in the army must be meant, the
close-imbodied phalanx, or main
body of men of war, advancing on
together in regular order to
meet the enemy.”
Verses 5-7
Zechariah 10:5-7. And they — The
Jews, under the conduct of their
captains; shall be as mighty men
which tread down their enemies —
God shall inspire them with
courage to subdue their enemies,
and trample upon their
carcasses. This it seems must be
understood of the victories
obtained by the Jews under the
Maccabees, or of those which
they shall obtain over their
enemies in the latter times, to
which the latter part of the
chapter seems ultimately to
relate. And the riders on horses
shall be confounded — The
cavalry of Antiochus seems to be
intended by this. We have a
description of this cavalry in
some heathen writers, which
shows it to have been a very
formidable one. And I will
strengthen the house of Judah —
I will not only give courage to
attempt, but also strength to go
through with and finish the
undertaking. This was remarkably
verified in the wars of the Jews
against the Seleucidę, in which
wars they had wonderful
difficulties, and as wonderful
courage and success. And I will
save the house of Joseph — The
remnant of the kingdom of
Israel, the residue of the ten
tribes. And I will bring them
again — Both Judah and Joseph,
out of captivity, or from their
various dispersions; to place
them — In their own land and in
their own cities. This promise
is understood by many
interpreters to relate to the
general restoration of the
Jewish nation upon their
conversion, a subject which
seems to be treated of in many
passages of the Old Testament,
in which Judah and Israel are
represented as equal sharers of
this blessing: see the note on
Isaiah 11:11, and compare
Ezekiel 37:16. And they shall be
as though I had not cast them
off — They shall be in as
flourishing a condition as they
were before I cast them off. And
they of Ephraim shall be like a
mighty man — Ephraim is put here
for the ten tribes, as the house
of Joseph is, Zechariah 10:6.
And their heart shall rejoice as
through wine —
Their heart shall be made as
glad by their victories, as if
they had been made merry through
wine. Yea, their children shall
see it and be glad — The
children and youths, not yet fit
for war, shall partake of their
fathers’ joy.
Verses 8-10
Zechariah 10:8-10. I will hiss
for them — Rather, whistle, as
the word שׁרקshould be here
translated. I will call them
from distant countries, as a
shepherd calls his flock
together with his whistle. For I
have redeemed them — For I have,
and will, by the workings of my
divine providence, deliver and
redeem them out of their
enemies’ hands, and from those
who hold them captives. And they
shall increase as they have
increased — Namely, in the most
flourishing times, such as were
the reigns of David and Solomon.
I will sow — Rather, I have
sown, them among the people — Or
nations, for it appears beyond a
doubt that what had been
formerly done is here spoken of.
And they shall remember me in
far countries — Whithersoever
they were driven. I will bring
them again also out of the land
of Egypt — Ptolemy Philadelphus,
one of the kings of Egypt,
redeemed no fewer than 100,000
of the Jews, and sent them home;
God, no doubt, inclining him to
be thus remarkably favourable
and kind to them. For this, we
have the testimony of Josephus’s
history; as also, that other
kings released many of those who
still remained slaves, or
servants in Egypt, and sent them
back to their own land. And
gather them out of Assyria —
This was done by Alexander, the
son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and
by both the Demetriuses, as
Josephus relates. This redeeming
and releasing of the Jews, who
were captives or servants in
divers countries, by several
kings, and sending them home at
their charge or expense, which
Josephus affirms to have been
done, is a fact so very
extraordinary that it deserves
to be attended to; for it is a
certain proof that the divine
providence can accomplish
whatever it pleases. And as this
extraordinary particular was
repeatedly foretold and promised
by God’s prophets, long before
it took place, and when there
was not the least human
probability of it, it is a
striking proof of the truth and
divine inspiration of the Holy
Scriptures. I will bring them
unto the land of Gilead and
Lebanon — Gilead was taken by
the arms of the Maccabees, and
the cities of Syria, (here
signified by Lebanon, a famous
mountain in Syria,) by Hyrcanus
and his successors. Gilead and
Lebanon were countries
remarkable for their
fruitfulness. And place shall
not be found for them — The land
shall be too narrow for them.
But this verse, and indeed the
whole paragraph, has a further
and mystical meaning. It relates
to the success of the gospel,
and the bringing in of the Jews
and Gentiles into the Christian
Church; and probably also to the
restoration of the Jews, and of
the whole remnant of the house
of Israel from their present
dispersions to their own land,
as has been observed on
Zechariah 10:6.
Verse 11-12
Zechariah 10:11-12. And he shall
pass through the sea with
affliction — The sense might be
more properly expressed, And he
[Israel] shall pass through the
straits of the sea: so the LXX.
and the Vulgate understand the
word. And [God] shall smite the
waves of the sea, &c. — The
expressions allude to the
miraculous passage of the
Israelites through the Red sea,
and the river Jordan; and to
God’s destroying the Egyptians,
and the Assyrian, or Babylonian
empire, in order to the
deliverance of his people. And
the verse imports that God
would, in a future time, do as
great things for them as he had
done formerly for their fathers.
In this sense the Chaldee
expounds the word. Egypt and
Assyria, it must be observed,
being two potent kingdoms,
bordering upon Judea, and being
by turns either allies to the
Jews, or their conquerors; and
the Jews frequently either going
thither for refuge, or being
carried thither as captives;
therefore, when the prophets
foretel the general restoration
of the Jewish nation, they often
express it by their returning
from Egypt and Assyria. We may
observe, likewise, that God’s
bringing his people again from
these countries, and especially
from Egypt, was a proverbial
expression to signify any
deliverance, as great or greater
than these. Thus, the next
clause, And the pride of Assyria
shall be brought down, and the
sceptre of Egypt shall depart,
signifies, the enemies of God
and his truth shall all be
subdued, and broken in pieces,
when Christ shall come in his
glorious power to set up his
kingdom on the earth: see Daniel
2:33-34; Isaiah 60:12.
And I will strengthen them in
the Lord — That is, I will
strengthen them in myself, or I
will be their helper, and give
them all needful strength and
protection. And they shall walk
up and down in his name, saith
the Lord — Their evils and
actions shall be under the
influence of his grace, and
under the government of his
laws, and he shall give them
success answerable to their
upright intentions. |