Zechariah 8:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 8:23
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֣הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָאוֹת֒tze.va.'Ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
days
בַּיָּמִ֣יםbai.ya.Mim
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
ten
עֲשָׂרָ֣ה'a.sa.Rah
H6235
ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
men
אֲנָשִׁ֔ים'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
hold
יַחֲזִ֙יקוּ֙ya.cha.Zi.ku
H2388
to fasten upon · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
languages
לְשֹׁנ֣וֹתle.sho.Not
H3956
the tongue (of man or animals) · noun, common feminine plural construct
nations
הַגּוֹיִ֑םha.go.Yim
H1471
a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
hold
וְֽהֶחֱזִ֡יקוּve.he.che.Zi.ku
H2388
to fasten upon · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
skirt
בִּכְנַף֩bikh.Naf
H3671
an edge or extremity · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Jew
אִ֨ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
saying
לֵאמֹ֗רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
go
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
heard
שָׁמַ֖עְנוּsha.Ma'.nu
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common plural
God
אֱלֹהִ֥ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural 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
Isaiah 55:5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and…
Isaiah 45:14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and the…
Isaiah 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
1 Corinthians 14:25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a…
Joshua 2:9-13 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitant…
Ruth 1:16-17 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodge…
Acts 13:47-48 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends…
1 Kings 8:42-43 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 8:18–end
These verses contain two precious promises, for the further encouragement of those pious Jews that were hearty in building the temple.
I. That a happy period should be put to their fasts, and there should be no more occasion for them, but they should be converted into thanksgiving days, Zac 8:19. This is a direct answer to the enquiry concerning their fasts, Zac 7:3. Those of them that fasted in hypocrisy had their doom in the foregoing chapter, but those that in sincerity humbled themselves before God, and sought his face, have here a comfortable assurance given them of a large share in the happy times approaching. The four yearly fasts which they had religiously observed should be to the h…
ten--a definite number for an indefinite. So in Lev 22:26; Num 14:22.
of all languages of the nations--that is, of nations of all languages (compare Isa 66:18; Rev 7:9).
take hold of the skirt--a gesture of suppliant entreaty as to a superior. Compare Isa 3:6; Isa 4:1, on a different occasion. The Gentiles shall eagerly seek to share the religious privileges of the Jew. The skirt with a fringe and blue ribbon upon it (Num 15:38; Deu 22:12) was a distinguishing badge of a Jew.
God is with you--the effect produced on unbelievers in entering the assemblies of the Church (Co1 14:25). But primarily, that produced on the nations in witnessing the deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus. Finally, th…
Ten men - shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew - The converts from among the Gentiles shall be to the Jews as ten to one. But ten may here signify a great number, without comparison. And from this scripture it appears as if the Jews, converted to God, should be the instruments of converting many Gentiles. See on Isa 3:6 (note). Catching hold of the skirt is a gesture naturally used to entreat assistance and protection. This and the three foregoing verses, says Abp. Newcome, refer to the great accession of converts which the Jewish Church received between the captivity and the coming of Christ; to the number of Christian disciples which the Jewish preachers made, and to the futur…
The Church Fathers
God will make the return of the remainder so conspicuous that many people who are from different nations and have shared that calamity will perceive God's care for the people. They will lay hold of any one of them and use him as a guide for a return to Jerusalem, since everyone is sufficiently stirred up to that end from the clear realization that God is with them on the basis of the incredible deeds done for them. The phrase "ten men," note, here too refers not to number but has the meaning of many.
(Verse 23) Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days, when ten men from all the languages of the nations take hold of the garment of a Jewish man, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' LXX: Thus says the Lord Almighty: In those days, if ten men from all the languages of the nations take hold of the fringe of a Jewish man, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' Certain Jews say that these things were completed under Zerubbabel, and after Zerubbabel. Others differ, expecting Christ to come in the future. But we understand more correctly and truly in the coming of the Lord and Savior, when He was born of the Virgin Mary. Finally, it is written: 'How long will the peoples come?' (Zech. VIII, 20) When it is said, 'How long,' it does not signify the present time in which Zerubbabel and Joshua were, but the future, when many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the face of the Lord. At that time, therefore, and in those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will take hold of the edge of a man who is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. And in Isaiah we read: Seven women will take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing, only let your name be called upon us: take away our disgrace (Isaiah 4:1). Therefore, the seven women who are called there, that is, the Churches, whose number is also mentioned in the apostle Paul: for he writes to seven Churches, to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians. And in the Apocalypse of John, in the midst of the seven candlesticks (Apoc. I), that is, of the Churches, of the Ephesians, of the Smyrnians, of the Pergamenes, of the Thyatirians, of the Sardisians, of the Philadelphians, of the Laodiceans with variety (or truth), the Lord enters girded with the purest gold. Now in the prophet Zechariah, ten are mentioned, whom the Lord also inquired about, that if He found them in Sodom and Gomorrah, He would deliver them from destruction. For the letter Iota , from which the Savior's name begins, signifies not only the number ten among the Greeks, but also among the Hebrews. And by this mystical discourse it is shown that all those who are…
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... For the further confirmation and illustration of this prophecy:
in those days it shall come to pass; this shall be done in the times of the preaching of the Gospel by Christ and his apostles:
that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take bold of the skirt of him that is a Jew: which may be understood either of our Lord Jesus Christ; who was a Jew by nation, the Jews were his own people, and Judea his nation; by descent, he springing from the tribe of Judah, and the family of David; by religion, being made under the Jewish law; by his habit and dress, by which, as well as by his language, the woman of Samaria knew he was…
Zechariah 8:23
23. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
23. Sic dicit Iehova exercituum, In diebus isitis fiet ut apprehendant decem homines ex cunctis linguis gentium, apprehendant alam viri Judaei, dicendo, Ambulabimus (vel, ambulemus) vobiscum, quia audivimus quod Deus sit vobiscum.
He pursues the same subject in this verse; for as he had before said, that the nations would willingly come to worship God, and that each would encourage his brother to undertake this pious…
"Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days ten men out of all languages of the nations take hold; they will take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard God is with you." Not only will the heathen then flow to Jerusalem to seek the God of Israel, but they will crowd together to Israel and Judah to be received into fellowship with them as a nation. Ten men from the heathen nations to one Jewish man: so great will be the pressure of the heathen. Ten is used as an indefinite number, denoting a great and complete multitude, as in Gen 31:7; Lev 26:26; Num 14:22, and Sa1 1:8. For the figure, compare Isa 4:1. והחזיקוּ is a resumption of יחזיקוּ in the form…
God is with you: God’s presence restored the ideal of fellowship between God and human beings (Gen 3:8; Exod 24:9-11; 25:8; Isa 7:14; 57:15; Ezek 43:7; John 1:14).
Rashi on Zechariah 8:23
ten men from the seventy nations. This equals seven hundred for each corner. For the four corners of the tallith there will be two thousand and eight hundred.