Zechariah 9:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 9:1
The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.
a burden · noun, common masculine singular construct
word
דְבַרde.var-
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
land
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Hadrach
חַדְרָ֔ךְchad.Rakh
H2317
Chadrak · proper noun, a place name
Damascus
וְדַמֶּ֖שֶׂקve.da.Me.sek
H1834
Damascus · conjunction + proper noun, a place name
rest
מְנֻחָת֑וֹme.nu.cha.To
H4496
repose or (adverbially) peacefully · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
eyes
עֵ֣ין'ein
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular construct
man
אָדָ֔ם'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tribes
שִׁבְטֵ֥יshiv.Tei
H7626
a scion · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
LORD
לַֽיהוָה֙la.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
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 25:15 Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
Isaiah 9:8-21 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
Jeremiah 49:23-27 Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; i…
Amos 1:3-5 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have thre…
Genesis 14:15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand o…
2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but…
Psalms 145:15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Isaiah 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 9:1-8
After the precious promises we had in the foregoing chapter of favour to God's people, their persecutors, who hated them, come to be reckoned with, those particularly that bordered close upon them.
I. The Syrians had been bad neighbours to Israel, and God had a controversy with them. The word of the Lord shall be a burden in the land of Hadrach, that is, of Syria, but it does not appear why it was so called. That that kingdom is meant is plain, because Damascus, the metropolis of that kingdom, is said to be the rest of this burden; that is, the judgments here threatened shall light and lie upon that city. Those are miserable upon whom the burden of the word of the Lord rests, upon whom the w…
The burden of the word of the Lord - The oracle contained in the word which Jehovah now speaks.
This is a prophecy against Syria, the Philistines, Tyre, and Sidon, which were to be subdued by Alexander the Great. After this the prophet speaks gloriously concerning the coming of Christ, and redemption by him.
Most learned men are of opinion that this and the succeeding chapters are not the work of Zechariah, but rather of Jeremiah; Hosea, or some one before the captivity. It is certain that Zac 11:12, Zac 11:13, is quoted Mat 27:9, Mat 27:10, as the language of Jeremiah the prophet. The first eight chapters appear by the introductory parts to be the prophecies of Zechariah: they stand in conn…
The burden of the word of the Lord,.... A prophecy, as in Proverbs 31:1 which is sometimes of things sorrowful and distressing, as the destruction of people, as in Isaiah 31:1 and sometimes of things joyful, as in Zechariah 13:1 and here it contains good news to the church of Christ, Zechariah 9:9, &c.; and is called a "burden", because the word of the Lord is often so to carnal men; see Jeremiah 23:33 the words may be rendered, a "declaration", or "a publication", of "the word of the Lord" (u); it signifies a publishing of it or bringing it forth; and so the Arabic version renders it "a revelation of the word of the Lord"; a carrying of it about: which was made
in the land of Hadrach; this…
The Church Fathers
(Chapter 9, verse 1) The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Adrach, and Damascus shall be his rest: for the Lord hath an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel. LXX: The assumption of the word of the Lord in the land of Adrach (or Sedrach) and Damascus shall be his sacrifice, for the Lord regards men, and all the tribes of Israel. All this vision or burden of the word of the Lord, as Aquila interpreted it, pertains to the calling of the Gentiles and the rebuilding of the Church. And the order of the words is: Assumption of the word of the Lord, sharp towards sinners, gentle towards the righteous. Adrach (for this name is composed of two whole words: Ad, sharp, Rach, gentle and tender), and not as some read it incorrectly, Sedrach. Some refer Adrach to the Jewish people and Damascus to the calling of the Gentiles. Therefore, the people, or the assumption of the word of the Lord, takes place on the land of Adrach, on which the Lord exercised both severity and mercy (Isaiah XI, 10 in the Septuagint). Austerity towards those who refused to believe: mercy towards those who have returned with the Apostles. However, Damascus is for the rest of the Lord, according to what is written in Isaiah: And his rest shall be honor. For before the child knew how to choose good or evil, and call his father and mother, he received the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria (Isa. VIII, 4). Therefore, Damascus is translated into our language as 'drinking blood' or 'the blood of a hair shirt,' in order to signify the bloody people in the former interpretation; the second interpretation associates it with his cruelty and repentance. And what follows: Because the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel belong to the Lord, thus they have said: Therefore the temple of God must be built by both peoples, that is, by the land of Adrach and by the rest of Damascus: because whoever looks upon God, and hopes in Him, is of the nations, and is of all the tribes of Israel: or, according to the Septuagint, because the Lord equally regards all men, and all the tribes of Israel. Let us speak in another way: in the land of Adrach, the burden of the word of the Lord is heavy and of great weight. But in Damascus, his victims and sacrifices, because the Lord regards the faith of the nations and the unfaithfulness of circumcision without any partiality, and he is equally…
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
Hadrach — The name of a country (Zech. 9:1) which cannot be identified. Rawlinson would identify it with Edessa. He mentions that in the Assyrian inscriptions it is recorded that “Shalmanezer III. made two…
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 9:1
1. The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord
1. Onus sermonis Iehovae in terra Chadrak, et Damascus quies ejus; quia ad Iehovam oculus hominis et omnium tribuum Israel.
One thing had escaped my notice in the words of the Prophet -- that great people and strong nations would come. We have said that "great" rather than "many" ought to be adopted. The latter meaning may indeed be allowed that the worshipers of God would come from various cities; but as the word tsvmym, otsumim properly signifies strong, and as it is certain that the Prophet me…
Judgment upon the Land of Hadrach; and Zion's King of Peace. - Zac 9:1. The true interpretation of this section, and, in fact, of the whole prophecy, depends upon the explanation to be given to the heading contained in this verse. The whole verse reads thus: "Burden of the word of Jehovah over the land of Hadrach, and Damascus is its resting-place; for Jehovah has an eye upon the men, and upon all the tribes of Israel." There is a wide divergence of opinion concerning the land of חדרך. We need not stop to give any elaborate refutation to the opinion that Hadrach is the name of the Messiah (as some Rabbins suppose), or that it is the name of an unknown Syrian king (Ges., Bleek), or of an Assy…
The second part of Zechariah stands apart from the first in several ways. Zechariah 9–14 is distinctively apocalyptic, combining cryptic historical allusions with futuristic visions. The messages alternate between threats of judgment for other nations and promises of deliverance for Israel. The section contains no explicit references to Zechariah, but uses God’s direct speech. The messages probably date from a later period in Zechariah’s ministry.
9:1–11:17 This is the message: This is the superscription (introductory heading) for the entire section; it includes the technical term message (or oracle, burden), a prophetic pronouncement of judgment; the use of this word invests the message wi…
In the land of Hadrach R’ Judah the son of Ilai expounded: This is the Messiah, who is sharp against the nations and soft to Israel. R’ Yose the son of a Damascene mother said to him [to Judah the son of Ilai]: “Judah, our master, how long will you pervert the verses for us? I call heaven and earth to testify for me, that I am from Damascus, and there is a place named Hadrach. [Rabbi Yose continued:] Now how do I explain: ‘And Damascus is His resting place?’” That Jerusalem is destined to reach as far as Damascus. ‘His resting place’ means only Jerusalem, as it is said: (Psalms 132:14) “This is My resting place to eternity.” He said to him [i.e. R’ Judah to R’ Yose]: “Now how do I explain (J…
