Zechariah 9:16

And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. AND THE LORD THEIR GOD SHALL SAVE THEM IN THAT DAY AS THE FLOCK OF HIS PEOPLE - as is becoming His honour that the flock of His people should be saved (). Others translate (repeating He will save, thus), 'The Lord shall save them in that day: (He will save) His people as a flock.' The English version is simpler. Here the image of war and bloodshed () is exchanged for the shepherd and flock, as God will give not only victory, but afterward safe and lasting peace. FOR THEY SHALL BE AS THE STONES OF A CROWN, LIFTED UP AS AN ENSIGN UPON HIS LAND. In contrast to the worthless sling stones trodden under...

He continues the same subject, but uses various figures, that he might more fully confirm what then was incredible. He indeed reminds them that God would not save his people in an ordinary way, such as is common to men. He compares them to sheep, that they might know, as I have said already, that their salvation would come from heaven, as they were themselves weak, and had no strength and no power; for to show this was the object of this comparison. He declares then that the Jews would be saved, because God would supply them with every thing necessary to conquer their enemies; but that he would in a wonderful manner help their weakness, even like a shepherd when he rescues his sheep from the jaws of a wolf. For the sheep, which escapes death by the coming of the shepherd, have no reason to boast of victory, but all the praise is due to the shepherd. So also God says, that it will be his...

9-17 The prophet breaks forth into a joyful representation of the coming of the Messiah, of whom the ancient Jews explained this prophecy. He took the character of their King, when he entered Jerusalem amidst the hosannas of the multitude. But his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. It shall not be advanced by outward force or carnal weapons. His gospel shall be preached to the world, and be received among the heathen. A sinful state is a state of bondage; it is a pit, or dungeon, in which there is no water, no comfort; and we are all by nature prisoners in this pit. Through the precious blood of Christ, many prisoners of Satan have been set at liberty from the horrible pit in which they must otherwise have perished, without hope or comfort. While we admire Him, let us seek that his holiness and truth may be shown in our own spirits and conduct. These promises have accomplishment in the spi...

Verse Zechariah 9:16. _SHALL SAVE THEM IN THAT DAY_] They are his _flock_, and he is their _Shepherd_; and, as his own, he shall save and defend them. As _the stones of a crown_] אבני נזר מתנוססות _abney nezer_ _mithnosesoth_, "crowned stones erecting themselves;" i.e., being _set up by themselves_, as _monuments_ of some deliverance, they seem to be _lifting themselves up_; offering themselves to the _attention_ of every passenger. It may however refer to _stones_ _anointed with oil_; a sort of temporary _altars_ set up to the Lord for a victory gained. The same word is used, Leviticus 21:12: "Because the crown, נזר _nezer_, of the anointing oil of his God is upon him." Perhaps most of those upright stones

AND THE LORD THEIR GOD SHALL SAVE THEM IN THAT DAY - Still all should be God’s doing; they themselves were but as a flock, as sheep among wolves, ready for the slaughter; but they were “the flock, His people,” as He says, “I will increase them like the flock, men, as the flock of holy things, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks, men” Ezekiel 36:37. “As a man saves his flock with all his strength, so He will save His people; for they are His flock.” As in, “Thou leddest Thy people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron” Psalms 77:20. THEY SHALL BE AS THE STONES OF A CROWN - While God’s enemies shall be trampled under foot, as a common thing which has failed its end, th

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-14:21 Part III. THE FUTURE OF THE POWERS OF THE WORLD AND OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. VERSE 1-11:17 A. THE FIRST BURDEN. ZECHARIAH 9:1 § 1. _To prepare the land for Israel, and to prove God's care for his people, the neighbouring heathen shall be chastised, while Israel shall dwell in safety and independence._ ZECHARIAH 9:1 THE BURDEN (see not

AND THE LORD THEIR GOD SHALL SAVE THEM IN THAT DAY,.... In the times of the Gospel, and the dispensation of it; meaning either the apostles, before said to be protected and defended, Zechariah 9:15 or rather the persons converted, conquered, and subdued by them, who are not killed, but saved by the Lord their God, their glorious Redeemer, from sin, Satan, the law, wrath to come, and out of the hands of all their enemies: AS THE FLOCK OF HIS PEOPLE; they being his special people, by choice, by covenant grace, and by redemption, and like to a flock of sheep; to sheep, for harmlessness, meekness, weakness, and timorousness, for being prone to go astray, and for their being clean, profitable, and sociable; and to a flock, being a distinct society of men, and but one, and a small one too, though a flock beautiful and holy: for they [shall be as] the stones o

As we read these ancient prophecies, we will not only notice how exactly they have been fulfilled, but we will also try to learn the lesson that they are intended to teach us. Zechariah 9:1. _The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD. And Hamath also shall border thereby, Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire._ Alexander the Great besieged Tyre, and utterly overthrew it. The citizens thought that their «strong hold» was impregnable, but they had at last to surrender to the mighty monarch whose attacks t

II. THE TWO PROPHETIC BURDENS--THE GREAT PROPHECIES OF THE FUTURE I. The First Burden (9-11) CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The burden of the land of Hadrach (Zechariah 9:1) _ 2. Zion's King of Peace (Zechariah 9:9) 3. The near-event of the invasion by Antiochus Ephiphanes (Zechariah 9:13; Zechariah 10:1) Zechariah 9:1. The final section of Zechariah is of still greater interest. The Deliverer, King Messiah, is revealed in this section as suffering, rejected, pierced, slain. The great finale leads us up to the

An independent section belonging to the same period as Zechariah 9:11, of which it may be a later expansion. The imagery of Zechariah 9:14 is derived from older prophecy, _e.g._ Amos 1:14; Amos 2:2. By the whirlwinds of the south perhaps merely violent storms are intended, but there may be a reference to the Maccabean campaign against Edom which is probably referred to in Isaiah 63:1 *. Indeed this passage in its savagery strongly resembles that magnificent but terrible description. For devour read prevail (LXX) and for they shall drink. wine read they shall drink