Zechariah 14:15 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 14:15
And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
a pestilence · noun, common feminine singular construct
horse
הַסּ֗וּסha.Sus
H5483
a horse (as leaping) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
mule
הַפֶּ֙רֶד֙ha.Pe.red
H6505
a mule (perhaps from his lonely habits) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
camel
הַגָּמָ֣לha.ga.Mal
H1581
a camel · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
ass
וְהַחֲמ֔וֹרve.ha.cha.Mor
H2543
a male ass (from its dun red) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
beasts
הַבְּהֵמָ֔הha.be.he.Mah
H929
properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
these
הָהֵ֑מָּהha.He.mah
H1992
they (only used when emphatic) · definite article + personal pronoun, 3rd person masculine plural
tents
בַּמַּחֲנ֣וֹתba.ma.cha.Not
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
plague
כַּמַּגֵּפָ֖הka.ma.ge.Fah
H4046
a pestilence · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine 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
Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away…
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…
The plague shall affect the very beasts belonging to the foe. A typical foretaste of all this befell Antiochus Epiphanes and his host at Jerusalem (I Maccabees 13:49; II Maccabees 9:5).
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 14:15
So shall be the plague of the horse, and the mule - There shall be plagues on the substance of the enemies of the Church, as there were on the cattle and goods of the Egyptians.
John Gill on Zechariah 14:15
And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass,.... The flesh of the horse is said to be eaten, Revelation 19:18,
and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague, their beasts shall perish in like manner as themselves.
John Calvin on Zechariah 14:15
Zechariah 14:15
15. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
15. Et talis erit plaga equi, muli, cameli, et asini, et cujuslibet jumenti (vel, animalis,) quod erit in castris istis, sicuti plaga haec.
Zechariah in this verse raises up the minds of the godly, so that they might know that their energies would effect nothing, but that after having tried every thing they would be put to flight by the power of God. And hence appears more evident what has been twice repeated, -- that the Prophet does not simply denounce calamities to terrify the Jews, but to animate them to constancy,…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 15) And so there will be the destruction of horses, and mules, and camels, and donkeys, and all the livestock that were in those camps, just like this destruction. LXX: And this will be the destruction of horses and mules, camels and donkeys, and all the livestock that were in those camps, in accordance with this destruction. And the Jews strive to fulfill this, according to their carnal interpretation. Truly, the strength of the Lord is great, so that the horses, mules, camels, and donkeys, and all their livestock fall in the enemy camps, just as the men had fallen (or will fall). Great triumph, glorious victory, beasts are defeated by God fighting. Let us therefore say, according to the beginning of tropology: so that all the evils that previously fought against the Church may fall, so that the goods may suddenly arise. Finally, he who was previously a horse neighing after the wife of his neighbor (Jeremiah 5), and was carried away by lust, and lay in the filth of pleasures: when he begins to follow chastity, it will be said to him: Rise, let us go from here (John 14, 31). And: Arise, come, my love (Song of Solomon 2:10). And in the Apostle: Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Ephesians 5:14). And when those horses rise up that have fallen before, and have offered their soft backs to the Lord to sit upon, they shall say to God: Mount upon thy horses, and thy riding is salvation (Habakkuk 3:8). According to this sense, let us consider mules, which are barren and do not produce offspring; but they indulge in pleasure: of whom the Psalmist speaks: Be not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding (Psalm 31:9). So just as those who are inclined to lust are called horses, so we shall rightly call those who are virgins in the flesh and not in the spirit, mules. And those who are castrated not for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, but for the pleasure of men. Therefore, when these mules and eunuchs have been turned into offspring and have begotten spiritual children, they will hear through Isaiah: 'And let not the eunuch say: Behold I am a dry tree.' For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs, who keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant: I will give them a place in my house and within my walls, a name better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name will I…
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
Camel, The · Subject to plagues — Subject to plagues
Horse, The · Often suffered: From plague — Often suffered: From plague
Mule, The · Liable to the plague — Liable to the plague
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).
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 is characterized by reversal: The capture of the wealth of the nations overturns the looting of Jerusalem announced earlier (14:1). • great quantities of gold and silver: The Lord’s Temple will receive “the treasures of all the nations” (Hag 2:7-8).
Rashi on Zechariah 14:15
similar to this plague which is delineated above, that his flesh shall waste away.
