Zechariah 9


Zechariah 9 is the ninth of the 14 chapters in the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Zechariah. In the Hebrew Bible it is part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. This chapter opens the so-called "Second Zechariah" portion, consisting of Zechariah 9–14, which was composed "long after the previous portions of the book". It concerns the advance of an enemy, but God defends Jerusalem and promises that his king will triumphantly enter the city to bring peace among all nations. This chapter also contains a continuation of the subject in the seventh chapter. The oracle referring to the king's entry into Jerusalem is quoted in the New Testament in the accounts of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Text

The original text was written in the Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis, the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus. Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., Naḥal Ḥever 8Ḥev1 with extant verses 1–5.

Oracles on foreign nations (verses 1–8)

This section contains some 'wisdom influence', such as the 'eye' motif, which 'binds the book together', in [|verses 1] and [|8], as well as many allusions to earlier prophets including Amos, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. There is a geographic movement from north to south as the word of the Lord moves from Syria or Aram to Jerusalem.

Verse 1

The opening words of this verse form a new heading consistent with the separation of chapters 9-14 from the previous chapters: cf. the wording in the New International Version:
The opening word "burden", meaning "oracle" or "prophecy", appears in the same manner in Zechariah 12:1 and Malachi 1:1. "Hadrach" refers to a city-state in the northern region of Syria, stretching from south of Aleppo to north of Damascus. The place is not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.
There are two typical readings of the second part of this verse: some texts, as above, refer to "the eyes of man", or of "all humanity", which are turned towards the. Others refer to the eye as God's eye:

Verse 8

  • "As a guard" : from Hebrew: מצבה, a hapax legomenon; it can be read as מִצָּבָה, following Masoretic Text, from נָצַב,, "take a stand", or מַצֵּבָה ; bearing 'the idea of the Lord as a protector'.

    King of peace (verses 9–10)

This section describes "the king of peace", drawn partly from 'Jacob's blessing of Judah' and partly from. It is the first of several passages which Katrina Larkin refers to as "linking passages" which "bind chapters 9 to 14 together": see Book of Zechariah#Chapters 9 to 14.

Verse 9

  • "Ass" and "colt": point to one animal in the 'style of Hebrew parallelism', indicating 'peaceful intentions', in contrast to "horse" in verse [|10].
The New Testament authors saw this verse as a prophecy pointing to Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the day now known as Palm Sunday, as quoted in and ).

Verse 10

  • "The river": points to the Euphrates in northern Syria.

    God will save his people (verses 11–17)

This part pictures God as a warrior who brings "ultimate victory to his oppressed people against the Greeks". Some translations refer to Javan, traditionally considered the ancestor of the Greeks.

Musical adaptation

Verses 9–10 are quoted in the English-language oratorio "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel.

Jewish

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Category:Phoenicians in the Hebrew Bible