Zechariah 10:2

For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
idols	הַתְּרָפִ֣ים ha.te.ra.Fim	H8655	Teraphim (singular or plural) a family idol · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
spoken	דִּבְּרוּ di.be.ru-	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
vanity	אָ֗וֶן 'A.ven	H205	strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
diviners	וְהַקּֽוֹסְמִים֙ ve.ha.kos.Mim	H7080	properly · conjunction + definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
seen	חָ֣זוּ Cha.zu	H2372	to gaze at · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
lie	שֶׁ֔קֶר She.ker	H8267	an untruth · noun, common masculine singular absolute
told	יְדַבֵּ֔רוּ ye.da.Be.ru	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
false	הַשָּׁ֣וא ha.Sha.v'	H7723	evil (as destructive) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
dreams	וַֽחֲלֹמוֹת֙ va.cha.lo.mOt	H2472	a dream · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct
comfort	יְנַֽחֵמ֑וּן ye.na.che.Mun	H5162	properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
vain	הֶ֖בֶל He.vel	H1892	emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
went	נָסְע֣וּ na.se.'U	H5265	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
flock	צֹ֔אן Tzon	H6629	a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
troubled	יַעֲנ֖וּ ya.'a.Nu	H6031	to depress literally or figuratively · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
shepherd	רֹעֶֽה ro.'Eh	H7462	to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no sh…
Jeremiah 27:9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which…
Genesis 31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.
Ezekiel 34:5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
Ezekiel 34:8 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there wa…
Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and wi…
Habakkuk 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work t…
Numbers 27:17 Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregati…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 10:1-4

Gracious things and glorious ones, very glorious and very gracious, were promised to this poor afflicted people in the foregoing chapter; now here God intimates to them that he will for these things be enquired of by them, and that he expects they should acknowledge him in all their ways and in all his ways towards them - and not idols that were rivals with him for their respects. I. The prophet directs them to apply to God by prayer for rain in the season thereof. He had promised, in the close of the foregoing chapter, that there should be great plenty of corn and wine, whereas for several years, by reason of unseasonable weather, there had been great scarcity of both; but the earth will no…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 10:2

idols--literally, "the teraphim," the household gods, consulted in divination (see on Hos 3:4). Derived by GESENIUS from an Arabic root, "comfort," indicating them as the givers of comfort. Or an Ethiopian root, "relics." Herein Zechariah shows that the Jews by their own idolatry had stayed the grace of God heretofore, which otherwise would have given them all those blessings, temporal and spiritual, which they are now (Zac 10:1) urged to "ask" for. diviners--who gave responses to consulters of the teraphim: opposed to Jehovah and His true prophets. seen a lie--pretending to see what they saw not in giving responses. comfort in vain--literally, "give vapor for comfort"; that is, give c…

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Adam Clarke on Zechariah 10:2

The idols have spoken vanity - This is spoken of the Jews, and must refer to their idolatry practiced before the captivity, for there were no idols after. Therefore they went their way - They were like a flock that had no shepherd, shifting from place to place, and wandering about in the wilderness, seeking for pasture, wherever they might find it. Some think that the idols and diviners were those of the Seleucidae Greeks, who excited their masters with promises of success against the Maccabees. Others think that the Babylonish captivity is foretold; for a determined future event is frequently spoken of by the prophets as past.

Dictionary and topics

Divination — Of false prophets (Deut. 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 11), of necromancers (1 Sam. 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1 Sam. 6:2), of Balaam (Josh. 13:22). Three kinds of divination are…
Magic — The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg. 18:5, 6; Zech. 10:2). There is a remarkable illustration of this divining by teraphim in Ezek. 21:19-22. We read…
Teraphim — Givers of prosperity, idols in human shape, large or small, analogous to the images of ancestors which were revered by the Romans. In order to deceive the guards sent by Saul to seize David, Michal…
Divination · Effected through: Dreams — Effected through: Dreams

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Zechariah 10:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 10:1-4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 10:2

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 10:2

Dictionary and topics

Zechariah 10:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 10:1-4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 10:2

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 10:2

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Zechariah 10:2

John Calvin on Zechariah 10:2

Keil & Delitzsch on Zechariah 10:1-2

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Zechariah 10:2

Rashi on Zechariah 10:2