Zechariah 9:13

13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow. I will make Ephraim's people my arrows. Zion, I will stir up your sons. Greece, they will attack your sons. My people, I will use you as my sword."

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Zechariah 9:13 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 9:13

When I have bent Judah for me
By whom are meant the apostles, who were Jews, and whose ministrations were made use of as a bow with arrows, to strike the hearts of men, and bring them into subjection to Christ: they were a bow of the Lord's bending and preparing, and which abode in strength, being made strong and effectual through the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: filled the bow with Ephraim:
or rather, "filled Ephraim with the bow" F16; filled his hand with it; meaning, that some out of the ten tribes, as were the apostles, should be employed in drawing the bow of the Gospel, and shooting its arrows, the doctrines of it; which are comparable to them for swiftness, suddenness, and secrecy, and for their piercing and penetrating nature: and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece;
that is, persons of the land of Judea, as such the apostles were, and who belonged to Zion the church of Christ; who were raised up, qualified, and sent forth by him into the Gentile world, with weapons of warfare, not carnal, but spiritual; against the Gentiles in general, and the wise men of Greece, as at Athens, in particular, to confound some, and to conquer others, and bring them to the obedience of Christ. Some understand this of the Maccabees raised up against Antiochus, and the Greeks that possessed the kingdom of Syria: and made thee as the sword of a mighty man;
that is, made the Gospel in the hands of the church, and of her sons, as a sword in the hand of a mighty man, by whom execution is done with it; this is the sword of the Spirit, even the word of God; and is sharp and cutting, and is the power of God unto salvation; as it is girt upon the thigh, and is in the hands of Christ the most Mighty; and as it is accompanied with the Spirit of God, and of power.


FOOTNOTES:

F16 (Myrpa ytalm tvq) "arcu implebo [manum] Ephraim", Vatablus; so Ben Melech.

Zechariah 9:13 In-Context

11 I will set your prisoners free from where their enemies are keeping them. I will do it because of the blood that put my covenant with you into effect.
12 Return to your place of safety, you prisoners who still have hope. Even now I announce that I will give you back much more than you had before.
13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow. I will make Ephraim's people my arrows. Zion, I will stir up your sons. Greece, they will attack your sons. My people, I will use you as my sword."
14 Then the LORD will appear over his people. His arrows will flash like lightning. The LORD and King will blow the trumpet of his thunder. He'll march out like a storm in the south.
15 The LORD who rules over all will be like a shield to his people. They will destroy their enemies. They'll use slings to throw stones at them. They'll drink the blood of their enemies as if it were wine. They'll be full like the bowl that is used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
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