Zechariah 14:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 14:13
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
great
רַבָּ֖הra.Bah
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, feminine singular absolute
tumult
מְהֽוּמַתme.hu.mat-
H4103
confusion or uproar · noun, common feminine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֛הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hold
וְהֶחֱזִ֗יקוּve.he.che.Zi.ku
H2388
to fasten upon · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
one
אִ֚ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
hand
יַ֣דyad
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct
neighbour
רֵעֵ֔הוּre.'E.hu
H7453
an associate (more or less close) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hand
יָד֖וֹya.Do
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
up
וְעָלְתָ֥הve.'al.Tah
H5927
to ascend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
hand
יַ֥דyad
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct
neighbour
רֵעֵֽהוּre.'E.hu
H7453
an associate (more or less close) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Judges 7:22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host f…
Ezekiel 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
Zechariah 12:4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the hous…
1 Samuel 14:15-23 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the ear…
2 Chronicles 20:22-24 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come aga…
Zechariah 11:6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, an…
Revelation 17:12-17 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 14:8-15
Here are, I. Blessings promised to Jerusalem, the gospel-Jerusalem, in the day of the Messiah, and to all the earth, by virtue of the blessings poured out on Jerusalem, especially to the land of Israel.
1. Jerusalem shall be a spring of living waters to the world; it was made so when there the Spirit was poured out upon the apostles, and thence the word of the Lord diffused itself to the nations about (Zac 14:8): Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; for there they began, and thence those set out who were to preach repentance and remission of sins unto all nations, Luk 24:47. Note, Where the gospel goes, and the graces of God's Spirit go along with it, there living waters go; those stre…
tumult--consternation (Zac 12:4; Sa1 14:15, Sa1 14:20).
lay hold . . . on . . . hand of . . . neighbour--instinctively grasping it, as if thereby to be safer, but in vain [MENOCHIUS]. Rather, in order to assail "his neighbor" [CALVIN], (Eze 38:21). Sin is the cause of all quarrels on earth. It will cause endless quarrels in hell (Jam 3:15-16).
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 14:13
A great tumult from the Lord - Among those enemies of his Church, who shall engage and destroy each other.
John Gill on Zechariah 14:13
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When the vials are pouring out:
that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; the Targum renders it, a great tumult, or noise of killing; and the Septuagint, an ecstasy: it refers to the earthquake, and the slaughter of seven thousand men of name, and the fright upon that, Revelation 11:13
and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbour, and shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour; there will be a revolution, upon this tumult, in several of the antichristian states; and the kings of them shall hate the whore, make her desolate, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, Revelation 17:16 or, "his hand shall be cut off by…
The Church Fathers
On that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of a neighbor, and the hand of the one will be fastened to the hand of the other. After peace was restored to the Jews, their Greek enemies and those Jews who had abandoned the religion of their fathers fell into a great distress and panic. And therefore it happened that, as is the habit of those who are confounded, they took each other's hand and were not able to let their hold go because of their fear.
In that day there will be a great tumult of the Lord among them: and a man will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be placed upon the hand of his neighbor. But Judah will fight against Jerusalem, and the riches of all the nations will be gathered around: gold, silver, and many garments. LXX: And in that day there will be a great astonishment of the Lord upon them: and each one will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will cling to the hand of his neighbor: and Judah will be prepared in Jerusalem, and the strength of all the peoples will be gathered around: gold, silver, and many exceedingly garments. When these wonders have been completed, such as the flesh of the enemies flowing away, the eyes withering away, and the tongue in the mouth of blasphemers decaying: then there will be a great tumult, or astonishment in them; for this signifies the ecstasy which the LXX translated: And each one will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be compared with the hand of another, because of fear, and the weight of evils which will come upon them. Judas will also fight against the metropolis, of which we spoke above (Chapter XII), and will receive victory granted by the Lord: the wealth of all nations that have fought against Jerusalem will be gathered, gold and silver, and a multitude of clothing, which are most precious in things. This unfortunate Judas promises to himself, hoping to receive gold which he valued the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. But we, following the established order, let us refer all these things to the blessedness of the Church, so that all who are in it may admire the subjection of the enemies and their own happiness, and each one may take hold of the hand of his neighbor, so that they may join right hands and be connected by mutual faith and kinship. And what we read in Hebrew, 'And Judas will fight against Jerusalem'; for this, the Septuagint translators rendered it as, 'And Judas will be prepared in Jerusalem'; let us accept it in both ways, that Judas, who once confessed the Lord's name, and being forced by persecutions, persecuted the people of Christ, may himself turn to joy. Certainly, Judas, being entirely repentant and faithful, should not fight against Jerusalem, but should prepare himself in Jerusalem to fight against the adversaries. And Judas himself will gather the riches of all nations…
Zechariah 14:13
13. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
13. Et accidet, die illo erit tumultus Iehovae magnus in illis; et apprehendet quisque manum socii sui; et ascendet manus ejus contra manum proximi sui (vel, evanescet; alii vertunt, excidetur manus ejus, quia [lh] etiam significat excidere.)
The Prophet seems again to be inconsistent with himself; for after having declared that God would be the defender of his people, so as to destroy and consume all people for their sake, he now adds that there would…
Punishment of the hostile nations. - Zac 14:12. "And this will be the stroke wherewith Jehovah will smite all the nations which have made war upon Jerusalem: its flesh will rot while it stands upon its feet, and its eyes will rot in their sockets, and its tongue will rot in their mouth. Zac 14:13. And it will come to pass in that day, the confusion from Jehovah will be great among them, and they will lay hold of one another's hand, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbour. Zac 14:14. And Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the riches of all nations will be gathered together round about, gold and silver and clothes in great abundance. Zac 14:15. And so will be the strok…
The day of the Lord will bring terror to God’s enemies (12:4; see Isa 22:5).
Rashi on Zechariah 14:13
there will be great consternation, sent by the Lord upon them to confuse their wisdom, to bring them about to madness.
each one will seize the hand of the other He will seize him to slay him.
and his hand shall rise up Whoever is stronger is victorious.