Zechariah 2:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 2:8
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sent
שְׁלָחַ֕נִיshe.la.Cha.ni
H7971
to send away · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
nations
הַגּוֹיִ֖םha.go.Yim
H1471
a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
spoiled
הַשֹּׁלְלִ֣יםha.sho.le.Lim
H7997
to drop or strip · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
toucheth
הַנֹּגֵ֣עַha.no.Ge.a'
H5060
properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
toucheth
נֹגֵ֖עַno.Ge.a'
H5060
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
apple
בְּבָבַ֥תbe.va.Vat
H892
something hollowed (as a gate) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
eye
עֵינֽוֹei.No
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine 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
Psalms 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye…
John 15:21-23 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to you…
Psalms 105:13-15 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;
2 Thessalonians 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,…
Jeremiah 50:17-18 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 2:6-9
One would have thought that Cyrus's proclamation, which gave liberty to the captive Jews to return to their own land, would suffice to bring them all back, and that, as when Pharaoh gave them leave to quit Egypt and their house of bondage there, they would not leave a hoof behind; but it seems it had not that effect. There were about 40,000 whose spirits God stirred up to go, and they went; but many, perhaps the greater part, staid behind. The land of their captivity was to most of them the land of their nativity; they had taken root there, had gained a settlement, and many of them a very comfortable one; some perhaps had got estates and preferments there, and they did not think they could b…
O Zion . . . daughter of Babylon--Thou whose only sure dwelling is "Zion," inseparably connected with the temple, art altogether out of thy place in "dwelling with the daughter of Babylon" (that is, Babylon and her people, Psa 137:8; Isa 1:8).
After the glory--After restoring the "glory" (Zac 2:5; Isa 4:5; Rom 9:4) of Jehovah's presence to Jerusalem, He (God the Father) hath commissioned ME (God the Son, Isa 48:16, the Divine Angel: God thus being at once the Sender and the Sent) to visit in wrath "the nations which spoiled you." Messiah's twofold office from the Father is: (1) to glorify His Church; (2) to punish its foes (Th2 1:7-10). Both offices manifest His glory (Pro 16:4).
touchet…
After the glory - After your glorious deliverance from the different places of your dispersion; He hath sent me unto the nations which spoiled you, that they may fall under grievous calamities, and be punished in their turn. On Babylon a great calamity fell, when besieged and taken by the Persians.
The following note I received from a sensible and pious correspondent: -
Zac 2:5. "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
Zac 2:8. "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, who hath sent me, the future glory (or the glory which is to come) unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. Be…
The Church Fathers
"Say no evil thing, my brothers, against Him that was crucified, and treat not scornfully the stripes wherewith all may be healed, even as we are healed. For it will be well if, persuaded by the Scriptures, you are circumcised from hard-heartedness: not that circumcision which you have from the tenets that are put into you; for that was given for a sign, and not for a work of righteousness, as the Scriptures compel you [to admit]. Assent, therefore, and pour no ridicule on the Son of God; obey not the Pharisaic teachers, and scoff not at the King of Israel, as the rulers of your synagogues teach you to do after your prayers: for if he that touches those who are not pleasing to God, is as one that touches the apple of God's eye, how much more so is he that touches His beloved! And that this is He, has been sufficiently demonstrated."
Another example to prove the same point may be found in a passage of Zechariah where the "Almighty" sends the "Almighty." This can only mean that God the Father sends God the Son. The text runs, "So says the Lord Almighty: 'After the glory he has sent me to the nations that have robbed you; for he that touches you touches the apple of my eye. For behold, I lift up my head upon them, and they shall be a prey to those who served them; and you shall know that the Lord almighty sent me.' " In this case, the Lord almighty says that he is sent by the Lord almighty. How can anyone doubt that it is Christ who is speaking and, in fact, speaking to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Remember what is said in the Gospel: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The comparison of these lost sheep to the apple of God's eye is explained by the perfection of God's love. And, of course, it was to this flock of sheep that the apostles belonged. "After the glory" of his resurrection—a glory alluded to in the words "Jesus had not yet been glorified"3—it was in the person of these apostles that Jesus was sent to the Gentiles. And this was to be the fulfillment of what the psalmist had prophesied: "You will deliver me from the contradictions of the people; you will make me head of the Gentiles."
(Verse 8) For thus says the Lord of hosts, after glory He has sent me to the nations who plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. LXX: For thus says the Lord Almighty: after glory He has sent me to the nations that plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. But what follows is this: Thus says the Lord of hosts, after the glory He sent Me, and so on, the voice of the speaking Savior is introduced, who says that He is sent by the Almighty God from the Almighty Father, not according to what is almighty, but according to what He was sent after the glory. Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:6). It is not surprising that Christ is called omnipotent, from whose person we read in the Book of Revelation of John: 'These things saith the faithful witness, the beginning of the creation of God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty God' (Rev. 1:4, 5). Also, what we read in the twenty-third psalm: 'Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in' (v. 7). And again, it is said by other angels who were ignorant of the mystery of the assumed flesh: 'Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory,' and this refers to Christ. For wherever we read 'the Lord of hosts,' it is written in Hebrew as 'Sabaoth,' which is translated by the Septuagint interpreters as 'omnipotent.' From this we understand that wherever 'the Lord of hosts' is said of Christ, He is to be understood as omnipotent. It is not surprising if Christ is called omnipotent, to whom all power is given in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). And who says, 'All things that the Father hath are mine' (John 17:10). But if all things, that is, God of God, Lord of the Lord, light of light, then also omnipotent of omnipotent; for it cannot happen that where one nature is, there be diverse glory. Therefore, He was sent after the glory of divine majesty to the Gentiles, who had despoiled the people of God, so that those who were once their plunderers might be slaves to them, and that the…
Dictionary and topics
Apple — (Heb. tappuah, meaning “fragrance”). Probably the apricot or quince is intended by the word, as Palestine was too hot for the growth of apples proper. It is enumerated among the most valuable trees…
Jews, The · The objects of: God’s protection — The objects of: God’s protection
Persecution · Of saints, is a persecution of Christ — Of saints, is a persecution of Christ
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).
For thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Christ, who is the true Jehovah, and Lord of armies, as appears from his being sent in the next clause:
After the glory; which is promised, Zechariah 2:5 so the Targum and Kimchi; or, "afterwards" shall be "the glory" (l); or a glorious time and state; that is, after God's people are brought out of mystical Babylon, when the Jews shall be converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in, then will be the latter day glory; and at the same time will be the fall and destruction of antichrist, and of the antichristian states, as follows:
hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you; the Chaldeans and Babylonians, who spoiled and carried…
Zechariah 2:8
8. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
8. Quia sic dicit Iehova excercituum, Post gloriam misit me ad gentes quae spoliant vos; quia qui tangit vos tangit pupillam oculi sui (vel, ejus.)
The Prophet pursues the same subject; for he shows that the way was not opened to the Jews that they might soon after repent of their return, but that the Lord might be with them, as their deliverance was a signal proof of his kindness, and an evidence that he would commence what he had begun. He then says, that by God's order the Gentiles would be restrained from effecti…
The prophecy commences thus in Zac 2:6-9 : Zac 2:6. "Ho, ho, flee out of the land of the north, is the saying of Jehovah; for I spread you out as the four winds of heaven, is the saying of Jehovah. Zac 2:7. Ho, Zion, save thyself, thou that dwellest with the daughter Babel. Zac 2:8. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, After glory hath he sent me to the nations that have plundered you; for whoever toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye. Zac 2:9. For, behold, I swing my hand over them, and they become a spoil to those who served them; and ye will see that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me." The summons to flee out of Babylon, in Zac 2:6 and Zac 2:7, is addressed to the Israelites, who are all in…
Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession (literally Anyone who touches you touches the pupil of his eye): This might refer to Israel as God’s elect; it might also mean that those who harmed Israel poked themselves in the eye by bringing God’s judgment upon themselves.
Rashi on Zechariah 2:8
Run, speak to this young man You shall no longer go forth to measure, for the Holy One, blessed be He, has taken counsel with His heavenly household [and decreed] that [Jerusalem] will not have a limit or a measure. And now, run and speak to Zechariah: It shall be inhabited like unwalled towns, without a wall, so that all who come there shall settle therein, and it shall grow from day to day.
