Zechariah 13:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 13:9
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
part
הַשְּׁלִשִׁית֙ha.she.li.Shit
H7992
third · definite article + ordinal number, feminine singular absolute
fire
בָּאֵ֔שׁba.'Esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
refine
וּצְרַפְתִּים֙u.tze.raf.Tim
H6884
to fuse (metal) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
silver
הַכֶּ֔סֶףha.Ke.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
refined
כִּצְרֹ֣ףkitz.Rof
H6884
to fuse (metal) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
try
וּבְחַנְתִּ֖יםu.ve.chan.Tim
H974
to test (especially metals) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
gold
הַזָּהָ֑בha.za.Hav
H2091
gold · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
tried
כִּבְחֹ֣ןkiv.Chon
H974
to test (especially metals) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
call
יִקְרָ֣אyik.Ra'
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
name
בִשְׁמִ֗יvish.Mi
H8034
an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
hear
אֶעֱנֶ֣ה'e.'e.Neh
H6030
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
say
אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙'a.Mar.ti
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
people
עַמִּ֣י'a.Mi
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
say
יֹאמַ֖רyo.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֥הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהָֽי'e.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
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
Psalms 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Jeremiah 29:11-12 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Isaiah 65:23-24 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Psalms 34:15-19 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
1 Peter 1:6-7 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
Psalms 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 13:7–end
Here is a prophecy,
I. Of the sufferings of Christ, of him who was to be pierced, and was to be the fountain opened. Awake, O sword! against my Shepherd, Zac 13:7. These are the words of God the Father, giving order and commission to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he had voluntarily made his soul an offering for sin; for it pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief; and he was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, Isa 53:4, Isa 53:10. Observe, 1. How he calls him. "As God, he is my fellow;" for he thought it no robbery to be equal with God. He and the Father are one. He was from eternity by him, as one brought up with him, and, in the work of man's redem…
through . . . fire--of trial (Psa 66:10; Amo 4:11; Co1 3:15; Pe1 1:6-7). It hence appears that the Jews' conversion is not to precede, but to follow, their external deliverance by the special interposition of Jehovah; which latter shall be the main cause of their conversion, combined with a preparatory inward shedding abroad in their hearts of the Holy Spirit (Zac 12:10-14); and here, "they shall call on My name," in their trouble, which brings Jehovah to their help (Psa 50:15).
my people-- (Jer 30:18-22; Eze 11:19-20; Hos 2:23).
Next: Zechariah Chapter 14
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 13:9
I will bring the third part through the fire - The Christian Church shall endure a great fight of afflictions, by which they shall be refined - not consumed.
They shall call on my name - In this way shall they offer all their prayers and supplications to God.
I will say, It is my people - The Church that I have chosen in the place of the Jews who have filled up the measure of their iniquity.
And they shall say, The Lord is my God - And thus communion shall be established between me and them for ever. Thus there shall be a general restoration.
John Gill on Zechariah 13:9
And I will bring the third part through the fire,.... Into tribulation, as the Targum explains it; or into great distresses, comparable to fire, as Kimchi observes; this is the hour of temptation that will be in the Philadelphian church state, Revelation 3:10. Daniel's time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation, Daniel 12:1 and the time of the slaying of the witnesses, Revelation 11:7,
and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; their graces, principles, and profession, will be tried; their dross and tin will be removed, and they will be purged and purified; a more pure and glorious state of the church will take place, in which there…
The Church Fathers
These cases occur in persecutions more than at other times (for it is then that we are approved or condemned, humbled or corrected). Their general occurrence is permitted or commanded by him at whose will they happen even partially; by him, I mean, who says, "I am he who makes peace and creates evil"—that is, war, for that is the antithesis of peace. But what other war has our peace than persecution? If in its issues persecution emphatically brings either life or death, either wounds or healing, you have the author too of this. "I will smite and heal, I will make alive and put to death." "I will burn them," he says, "as gold is burned; and I will try them," he says, "as silver is tried," for when the flame of persecution is consuming us, then the steadfastness of our faith is proved. These will be the fiery darts of the devil, by which faith gets a ministry of burning and kindling; yet by the will of God. As to this I do not know who can doubt, unless it be persons with frivolous and frigid faith, which seizes upon those who with trembling assemble together in the church. For you say, seeing we assemble without order, and assemble at the same time, and flock in large numbers to the church, the heathen are led to make inquiry about us, and we are alarmed lest we awaken their anxieties. Do you not know that God is Lord of all? And if it is God's will, then you shall suffer persecution; but if it is not, the heathen will be still. Believe it most surely, if indeed you believe in that God without whose will not even the sparrow, which a penny can buy, falls to the ground. But we, I think, are better than many sparrows.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Refiner — The process of refining metals is referred to by way of illustrations in Isa. 1:25; Jer. 6:29; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:2, 3.
Temptation — (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their…
Afflictions Made Beneficial · In purifying us — In purifying us
Gold · Refined and tried by fire — Refined and tried by fire
Prayer · The promises of God encourage to — The promises of God encourage to
Silver · Purified by fire — Purified by fire
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 13:9
9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
9. Et ducam (vel, venire faciam) tertiam partem per ignem; et conflabo eos sicuti conflatur argentum: et examinabo eos sicuti probatur aurum: ipse invocabit nomen meum, et ego respondebo ei; et dixi, (vel, dicam,) populos meus est; et ipse dicet, Iehova Deus meus.
Zechariah proceeds further here, that when God shall cut off two parts of the people, he will yet save the third for this end -- that it might be proved by various ki…
Zac 13:7. "Arise, O sword, over my shepherd, and over the man who is my neighbour, is the saying of Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; and I will bring back my hand over the little ones. Zac 13:8. And it will come to pass in all the land, is the saying of Jehovah; two parts therein shall be cut off, shall die, and the third remains therein. Zac 13:9. And the third will I bring into the fire, and melt them as silver is melted, and will refine them as gold is refined: it will call upon my name, and I will answer it; I say, It is my people; and it will say, Jehovah my God." The summons addressed to the sword, to awake and smite, is a poetical turn to express…
Fire is a metaphor for God’s judgment (see Isa 66:15; Jer 4:4; Ezek 36:5; Amos 5:6). God’s fire may either destroy the wicked or, as here, test and purify the righteous. • refine them . . . like gold: God is the divine metallurgist, using fire to burn the dross out of metal (Isa 1:25; Mal 3:2-3). • These are my people . . . The Lord is our God: The declarations of loyalty by God and Israel restore their broken covenant relationship (Zech 11:10, 14; see Exod 19:5; Jer 30:22; 31:33; Hos 2:23).
Rashi on Zechariah 13:9
And I will bring the third in fire And I will bring the third in straits in the smelting-pot of fire (Jonathan), so that some of the proselytes should bear the birth pang of the Messiah and the war of Gog and Magog with Israel. From there they shall be tested [as to] whether [or not] they are true proselytes. Then, many of those who previously converted to Judaism shall return to their pre- conversion customs and join Gog. We find [this idea] in the Aggadah (Avodah Zarah 3b; Midrash Psalms 2:5, footnote 29).
and he shall say, “The Lord...” When he prays, he will pray to the Lord and not to his previous deity.
