Chapter Nine

1–6. The fall of the power of the pagan kingdoms surrounding Israel. 7–8. The conversion of the pagans to the true God and the safety of God’s people. 9–10. The appearance of the King of Peace. 11–15. The return of the scattered sons of Israel, their victories over the pagans, with God’s help. 16–17. A state of complete safety and an abundance of earthly goods.

Both prophecies of the second part begin with the expression: massa debhar lehova, which can be considered, together with the subsequent definition, as it were the title of the entire prophecy. Ancient and modern translations diverge in understanding this expression in two directions. The Targum renders it as onus verbi Domini (the burden of the word of the Lord), as does the Vulgate; Grotius clarifies this translation with the words: prophetia tristis (sorrowful prediction. – Hugonis Grotii Annotata ad Vetus Testamentum. Tomus II. Lutetiae Parisiorum. MDCXLIV. p. 633); in Luther’s version, in correspondence with the Vulgate, the word Last (burden) is used. The LXX have: λημμα (assumptio, taking up) λόγου Κυρίου, the Peshitta (a translation made from the Hebrew under significant influence of the LXX; see Yungerov Old Testament, p. 448)—sermo Domini; Church Slavonic: prophecy of the word of the Lord; similarly, in essence, the Russian translations, Synodal and Vienna. From the comparison of various translations of the word massa, the following conclusion is quite correct: Palestinian tradition (Targum and Jerome) stands for “burden,” understanding by it prophetic threat, announcement of misfortune. Alexandrian tradition (LXX) stands for something more general in meaning—“vision,” “word,” “receiving of the word” (P. Tikhomirov, The Prophet Malachi. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra 1903. p. 142). Originally, the word massa designated a special kind of prophecy that foretold disaster to pagan lands and peoples: thus in Isa 13:1; Isa 15:1; Isa 17:1; Isa 19:1 and others; Nah 1:1; Hab 1:1. When this word in the indicated meaning came into general use, the Jews showed special preference for this kind of prophecy and expressed a desire to hear massa’s against pagans as often as possible from the mouths of the prophets, forgetting that they themselves deserved prophetic threats and predictions of disaster. The Wise Jeremiah condemned his contemporaries for abusing this expression (Jer 23:33-38). It can be supposed that the Jews turned it into mockery and addressed to the prophets a blasphemous question: “What burden of the Lord?” Köhl. Sach. 9–14, p. 2–3: Dr. Joseph Fraus Allioli. Die Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes. Aus der Vulgata mit Bezug auf den grundtext neu übersetzt and mit Kursen Anmerkungen Erläutert Sweiter Band. 1894, Regensburg, New York and Cincinnati. p. 711, Note 42–45; S. F. Keil, Bibl. Comm. über den Propheten Jeremia u. die Klagelieder. Leipzig, 1872. pp. 271–272. “After Jeremiah’s protest against the misuse of this term... the term massa debar lehova comes into use among post-captivity writers, which is now applied equally to both Hebrews and foreigners, while the meaning of the term, of course, is preserved as the same” (Tikhomirov. 148–149).

Zechariah 9:1. A prophecy of the word of the Lord to the land of Hadrach, and it shall rest upon Damascus—for the eye of the Lord is upon all mankind, as well as upon all the tribes of Israel— Zechariah 9:1. In the first verses of chapter IX the prophet depicts the fall of the power of pagan kingdoms. The beginning of Zach. 9:1: a prophecy of the word of the Lord to the land of Hadrach can be considered the general title for the following verses, in which the disastrous fate of pagan kingdoms is depicted. But what is “Hadrach”? Among the multitude of interpretations of this expression, both in literal and symbolic sense, there is not one that can be considered unquestionable. In the literal sense, that is, as the designation of the proper name of a country or city, the name Hadrach is accepted by the Church Fathers: St. Cyril of Alexandria and the blessed Theodoret. According to St. Cyril, “the land of Adrach is a country lying to the east, in the neighborhood of which Hamath lies... and Damascus” (p. 114); according to Theodoret, “Adrach is an Arabian city” (p. 99). Among modern interpreters, Marti defines the location of Hadrach as follows: “the chadrakh region according to Assyrian inscriptions (Hatarika) is located north of Lebanon, where Hamath (Epiphania on the Orontes – 8, 427) is found. According to Schröder’s supposition, Hadrach is probably some region of Syria neighboring Damascus; he also draws attention to the close sound correspondence of the name Hadrach with Hatarik (Haudwörterbuch des Biblischen Altertums für gebildete Bibelleser. Hrsg... von Dr. Eduard C Aug. Riehm. 1. Band. Bielefeld und Leipzig. 1864. p. 551), whose location north of Lebanon Marti defines. It can most probably be supposed that the prophet designates by the name Hadrach the Medo-Persian state in general (Keil 593), under whose authority both the pagan East of that time and the chosen people were subject. But where the name came from and what it means, if taken not in the literal sense, is evidently not clear. The blessed Jerome proposed the following interpretation: “the consecutive meaning of these words (namely, the beginning of Zech 9:1) is as follows: The fulfillment of the word of the Lord, terrible to sinners and gentle toward the righteous—for this is the meaning of the word Adrach, composed of two whole words: of them ad means severe (sharp, terrible) and rach—“gentle, soft.” Following this, Jerome mentions those interpreters “who under the word Adrach understand the Jewish people, and under the word Damascus—those called (into the Church) pagans. The fulfillment of the word of the Lord takes place in the land of Adrach, upon which the Lord showed both His severity and (His) mercy—severity toward those who would not believe, and mercy toward those who turned (to the Church) together with the apostles” (p. 97). Mr. Grotius, explaining the meaning of the enigmatic name, makes the following remark: “it is acceptable (non dispeicet) the opinion of those who take chadar in the sense of a common noun rather than a proper name, so that the meaning is obtained: to a land which surrounds you (oh, Judean!), that is, Syria” (II, 633). See Keil pp. 591–598 and other suppositions regarding the word Hadrach. In the prophetic books examples are often found of the use of symbolic names, or artificially obscuring the prophet’s reference to a particular kingdom or people. The prophet Jeremiah, using a special alphabet “Athbash” (one must write the Hebrew letters in the usual order in one column, and in reverse order in another, starting with the last letter of the alphabet, and use instead of each letter of the first column the corresponding letter of the second), writes instead of babhel Babylon—scheschakh (Jer 25:26; Jer 51:41; see Keil, Jeremiah pp. 264–285). In the prophet Zechariah we see the use of the name “Shinar” instead of “Babylon” (Zech 5:11) or the designation of Babylon as “the country, the land of the north” (Zech 6:6). See explanation of Zech 6:7. The all-seeing eye of the Lord, turned toward Israel and toward all people (pagans), dwells first of all on Damascus, the chief city of Syria, and upon it falls all the weight of the burden of the word of the Lord; for it Damascus becomes, as it were, a place of rest, or prolonged dwelling (cf. Zech 5:11). Zechariah 9:2. “and upon Hamath, which borders on it, upon Tyre and Sidon, for all they are very wise. The burden of God’s word falls upon Hamath, a great Syrian city (on the Orontes River), the region of which adjoined the region of Damascus. After the chief cities of Syria, Damascus and Hamath, the prophet names the most important cities of Phoenicia, Tyre and Sidon. “He (Tyre) has become very wise”—“with that worldly wisdom, proud and blind, which robs God of glory and does not know wherein the true strength of a man and peoples consists.”

Zechariah 9:3. And Tyre built itself a fortress, accumulated silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. Zechariah 9:4. Behold, the Lord will make her poor and strike her power into the sea, and she herself will be consumed by fire. Mention is made of the strong and high wall surrounding New Tyre, situated on an island, and of its immeasurable wealth, because of which Tyre considered itself in complete safety and did not think of God’s avenging hand. Zech 9:4 threatens rich Tyre with the loss of wealth and the destruction of his strongholds by fire.

Zechariah 9:5. Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid, and Gaza, and tremble greatly, and Ekron; for her hope shall be ashamed: there shall be no king in Gaza, and Ashkelon shall be uninhabited. Zechariah 9:6. A foreign tribe shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the arrogance of the Philistines. Next are enumerated several Philistine cities, to each of which separately different disasters are threatened, essentially applying to all in aggregate; and each particular feature makes clearer the indication of the final destruction of the cities mentioned by the prophet.

Zechariah 9:7. I will remove blood from his mouth and unclean things from between his teeth, and he too shall be left for our God, and shall become like a leader in Judah, and Ekron like the Jebusite. But over the Philistines will be achieved an even more brilliant victory. They will be utterly destroyed as a pagan people: bloody sacrifices to idols will cease, and foul sacrificial foods (Isa 65:4) will be torn from the mouths of idolaters, and the remnant of the Philistines will become the property of the true God and part of Judah—the land of God’s people; the same will happen to Ekron; Ekron, that is, the Philistines in general, will enter the ranks of God’s people, as once happened to the Jebusites, the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem, after the conquest of that city by David. Interpreters consider the fulfillment of the prophecy regarding the fate of the Philistines to have occurred in the time of the Maccabees, who conquered their land; in the time of Jesus Christ it constituted part of Judah; and somewhat later, some part of the Philistines accepted the Christian faith, and the bishops of the Philistine cities mentioned in this section—Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod (Azqoga)—participated in the councils of the IV, V, and VI centuries (Keil 597–598, Rougemont). The prophet threatens the Philistines by saying that, having abandoned idolatry, they will serve the true God. From the perspective of the prophet himself and those who turned from error to truth, there is, of course, nothing undesirable and frightening in these threats; but from the perspective of the pagan stuck in error, threatened with deprivation of what is most dear to him, this was undoubtedly a great disaster. A change of faith, even independently of external coercion, naturally provokes hard inner struggle.

Zechariah 9:8. And I will encamp about My house as a garrison, so that none shall pass through or return; and no oppressor shall pass over them again, for now I will look upon them with My own eyes. God’s chosen people and the land they inhabit will be under the constant watchful protection of the Almighty. The state of complete safety of God’s people is so certain that it is represented as if already accomplished: the Lord watches over it with His own eyes.

Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble, riding on a donkey, on a young donkey, foal of a she-donkey. But the pledge of the permanence of peace and safety, not in any particular case but for a long time, forever, is the appearance of the messianic King, journeying to Jerusalem on a young donkey. This journey testifies both to the peaceableness of this King (the horse is an animal used for military purposes) and to His extraordinary humility: “the donkey, according to Rougemont’s observation, undoubtedly enjoys less contempt in the East than among us, and riding on a donkey presents nothing ridiculous there; nevertheless, neither kings nor nobles use this animal” (p. 218, see Keil 600). The distinguishing qualities of this King are also justice and readiness to save His subjects. We see the fulfillment of the prophecy Zech 9:9 in the solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, described in Matt 21:2 and following, Mark 11:2 and following, Luke 19:30 and following, and John 12:14 and following. The content of the prophecy corresponds most precisely with the description of its fulfillment in the evangelist Matthew, who mentions both the she-donkey and the young donkey Matt 21:2:) for the Lord it was necessary only one animal; and that the saying might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet (Matt 21:4), by the Lord’s word, both the she-donkey and the donkey were brought. According to Keil’s observation, “the she-donkey was to accompany so as to fully represent the image outlined by Zechariah” (p. 602). However, it could not have been intentional in any case to reproduce in fact what is prefigured in the prophet: it would be easy to make the disciples do something pleasing to their Teacher; but how is one to persuade the crowd, in large part hostile to the prophet from Galilee, to cry out to Him: “hosanna!”? In this case, to soften hardened hearts was as difficult as to make stones cry out: it is clear that Zechariah did not foreknow in the future such a momentous fact from the life of the Savior by natural human wisdom. Besides the interpreters following St. Ephrem and interpreting the fact of the King of Peace’s journey on a donkey as an indication of His voluntary humiliation, some scholars regard the fulfillment of the prophecy discussed in the New Testament as a silent rebuke to the carnal expectations of the Jews (Erich Haupt, Die alttestamentlichen Citate in den vier Evangelien, Colberg. 1871. pp. 277 and 279; W. W. graf Baudissin, Einleitung in die Bücher des Alten Testamentes, Leipzig 1901 p. 577; Keil 600, Ephrem 240).

Zechariah 9:10. Then I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim and the horses from Jerusalem; the bow of war shall be broken. And He shall speak peace to the nations, and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. With the reign of the King of Peace, the people of God will have no need for military chariots and war horses; all implements of war shall be destroyed, because peace shall be proclaimed to all nations throughout all the corners of the earth.

Zechariah 9:11. As for you, because of the blood of your covenant I will free your captives from the waterless pit. Zechariah 9:12. Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope! I declare it today: I will repay you double. In depicting the fall of pagan might and the enthronement of the King of Peace on Zion, not forgotten are those Jews scattered in pagan lands and languishing in captivity. Because of the covenant sealed by sacrificial blood, the Lord determines to bring all the participants of the covenant out of dispersion and free them from the afflictions of captivity. Of all the peoples the Lord made a covenant only with the one Jewish people; in virtue of this covenant, those who now are, as it were, in a waterless pit will be placed on an elevated and safe place; Hebrew captives, as not deprived of hope for deliverance, are named in Zech 9:12 prisoners of hope. In the blood of the covenant and the inviolable promises of God lies, therefore, the firm foundation of hope for deliverance from enslavement and captivity; and for all the afflictions suffered by the sons of Israel they shall be rewarded doubly.

Zechariah 9:13. For I have bent Judah as My bow and filled it with Ephraim, and I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword. Among the oppressing pagan persecutors and the oppressed Hebrew captives the roles will be reversed. Judah and Ephraim will become in God’s hands implements of war—a bow and arrows—against the pagans. And in God’s hands even weak implements are unbreakable. The sons of Zion rise up against the sons of Greece and wage victorious struggle with them. Thus, in Zech 9:13 and following it is indicated that the chosen people must wage a necessary struggle, as an instrument in God’s hands, against the godless kingdoms so that the kingdom of universal peace, foretold in Zech 9:10, might be accomplished. The prophecy Zech 9:13 can be referred to the (often victorious) struggle of the Maccabees against the Greek kings of Syria (Seleucids). Saint Cyril understands here another kind of victories: “What children of Zion rose against children of the Greeks, if not the divine disciples and those who later became leaders of churches?.. They strive against the sons of Greeks and wage war against those in error” (p. 129). Similar understanding, alongside the above, is found also in the blessed Theodoret.

Zechariah 9:14. Then the Lord will appear above them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning; and the Lord God will blow the trumpet, and march in the tempests of the south. Zechariah 9:15. The Lord of hosts will protect them, and they will devour, and they will trample the sling stones, and will drink and roar as if from wine; and they will be full, like the basins, like the corners of the altar. The Lord gives aid to His chosen ones, striking the enemies with lightning arrows—amid the warlike sounds of trumpets, marching in the awe-inspiring storms coming from the south. The Lord protects them, therefore their victory over the enemies is certain. They will destroy the enemies, but the deadly implements of the enemies will be harmless to those whom God Himself helps: the sons of Zion will walk safely across the field of battle strewn with sling stones (In correspondence with the comparison that follows of the sons of Zion to precious stones, one can here understand the sling stones to mean the pagans, who have insignificant value in God’s sight). The blood of enemies flows in such abundance (cf. Ps 57:11; Ps 67:24) that the victorious warriors come into a state of intoxication and frenzy from the contemplation of the extreme distress of enemies, from great joy and triumph. In describing the triumph of the victory of God’s people over the pagans, the sacred author strives to express as clearly as possible the basic idea—the certainty of victory and the fullness of the joy of the victors—and borrows for this purpose particular features from universal reality, leaving aside the question of how much such frenzied joy after a bloody reckoning with enemies is praiseworthy from, say, a moral point of view.