Zechariah 13:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 13:3
And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
prophesy
יִנָּבֵ֣אyi.na.Ve'
H5012
to prophesy · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
father
אָבִ֨יו'a.Viv
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
mother
וְאִמּ֤וֹve.'i.Mo
H517
a mother (as the bond of the family) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
begat
יֹֽלְדָיו֙yo.le.Dav
H3205
to bear young · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
say
וְאָמְר֣וּve.'a.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
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
Deuteronomy 13:6-11 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, ent…
Deuteronomy 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of…
Jeremiah 23:34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
Ezekiel 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him,…
Exodus 32:27-28 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughou…
Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no mor…
Deuteronomy 33:9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 13:1-6
Behold the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, the sin of the church; for therefore was the Son of God manifested, to take away our sin, Jo1 3:5.
I. He takes away the guilt of sin by the blood of his cross (Zac 13:1): In that day, in the gospel-day, there shall be a fountain opened, that is, provision made for the cleansing of all those from the pollutions of sin who truly repent and are sorry for them. In that day, when the Spirit of grace is poured out to set them a mourning for their sins, they shall not mourn as those who have no hope, but they shall have their sins pardoned, and the comfort of their pardon in their bosoms. Their consciences shall be purified and pacified by th…
The form of phraseology here is drawn from Deu 13:6-10; Deu 18:20. The substantial truth expressed is that false prophecy shall be utterly abolished. If it were possible for it again to start up, the very parents of the false prophet would not let parental affection interfere, but would be the first to thrust him through. Love to Christ must be paramount to the tenderest of natural ties (Mat 10:37). Much as the godly love their children, they love God and His honor more.
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 13:3
When any shall yet prophesy - Falsely; such shall be the horror of such an evil, that there shall be no toleration of it. Itself, and they who practice it, shall be everywhere destroyed.
John Gill on Zechariah 13:3
And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy,.... Or attempt to prophesy, or propagate their idolatrous religion and principles after this time, when they shall be abundantly detected and exposed:
then his father and his mother that begat him; of whom he is born, and who, as his parents, must be supposed to have the most tender regard unto him, even to these the imposture will be so flagrant, that they will not encourage him, but, on the contrary,
shall say unto him, Thou shall not live; but die, according to the law against the false prophet in Deuteronomy 18:20,
for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord; which is the very character of the followers of the man of sin,…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 3) And it will be, when someone prophesies further, his father and mother, who bore him, will say to him: You shall not live, because you have spoken falsehood in the name of the Lord. And his father and mother, who bore him, will pierce him when he prophesies. (Septuagint: If a man prophesies further, his father and mother, who bore him, will say to him: You shall not live, because you have spoken falsehood in the name of the Lord. And his father and mother, who bore him, will bind him when he prophesies.) With the names of the idols removed from the earth, and the false prophets, and the unclean spirit who spoke through them, if anyone should dare to go beyond and prophesy in the name of the Lord, immediately his father and mother will forget their parents, in order to hold onto the service of God, and they will pronounce a sentence of death against their own son. And the minds of all, so devoted to God, will be so pure that there will be no need for a public judgement; rather, let those who are such perish by the judgement of their relatives. Therefore, because we have said this, they will fight against him, which is the same word in Hebrew as above, Dacaru (). So in what way did the seventy interpreters use the word κατωρχήσαντο there, that is, they insulted or mocked him, and to use the word word for word, jumped against him; and here they have translated the word συμποδιοῦσιν, that is, they will hinder: when both Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotius have also translated it there and here in the same way, they have nailed it. But rightly the one who falsely prophesies is called a man, as the Apostle says: For while there are rivalries and contentions among you, are you not carnal and walking according to man (I Cor. III, 3)? And in the Psalms: But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes (Psalm 82:7). And those who are unworthy of the spirit of God shall deserve to hear: My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are carnal (Genesis 6:3).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
live
תִֽחְיֶ֔הtich.Yeh
H2421
to live · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
speakest
דִּבַּ֖רְתָּdi.Bar.ta
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
lies
שֶׁ֥קֶרShe.ker
H8267
an untruth · noun, common masculine singular absolute
name
בְּשֵׁ֣םbe.Shem
H8034
an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
father
אָבִ֧יהוּ'a.Vi.hu
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
mother
וְאִמּ֛וֹve.'i.Mo
H517
a mother (as the bond of the family) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
begat
יֹלְדָ֖יוyo.le.Dav
H3205
to bear young · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
thrust
וּדְקָרֻ֜הוּu.de.ka.Ru.hu
H1856
to stab · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
prophesieth
בְּהִנָּבְאֽוֹbe.hi.na.ve.'O
H5012
to prophesy · preposition + verb, niphal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Zechariah 13:3
3. And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
3. Et erit, quum prophetaverit vir (hoc est, quispiam) adhuc, dicent ad eum pater ejus et mater ejus, qui eum genuerunt, Non vies, qu ia mendacium loquutus es in nomine Iehovae; et transfigent eum (vel, confodient, nam habetur verbum illud, [dqr], quod heri vidimus) pater ejus et mater ejus, qui genuerunt eum, quia prophetaverit.
The same concession is made in this verse, where Zechariah s…
The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem represent the whole nation here, as in Zac 12:10. This cleansing will be following by a new life in fellowship with God, since the Lord will remove everything that could hinder sanctification. This renewal of life and sanctification is described in Zac 12:2-7. Zac 12:2. "And it will come to pass in that day, is the saying of Jehovah of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, they shall be remembered no more; and the prophets also and the spirit of uncleanness will I remove out of the land. Zac 12:3. And it will come to pass, if a man prophesies any more, his father and his mother, they that begat him, will say to him,…
You must die: According to God’s law, a false prophet must be executed (Deut 13:5, 10; 18:20). The Israelites had tolerated false prophets and killed the Lord’s true prophets. In the future, the situation would be reversed.
Rashi on Zechariah 13:2
And also the prophets The false prophets.
and the spirit of contamination The evil inclination.