to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
hold
לְבִצָּר֔וֹןle.vi.tza.Ron
H1225
a fortress · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
prisoners
אֲסִירֵ֖י'a.si.Rei
H615
bound · noun, common masculine plural construct
hope
הַתִּקְוָ֑הha.tik.Vah
H8615
literally a cord (as an attachment) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
day
הַיּ֕וֹםhai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
declare
מַגִּ֥ידma.Gid
H5046
properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
render
אָשִׁ֥יב'a.Shiv
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
double
מִשְׁנֶ֖הmish.Neh
H4932
properly · noun, common masculine 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
Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Isaiah 61:7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the d…
Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay…
Isaiah 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received…
Jeremiah 31:17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
Jeremiah 51:10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 9:12–end
The prophet, having taught those that had returned out of captivity to attribute their deliverance to the blood of the covenant and to the promise of the Messiah (for they were so wonderfully helped because that blessing was in them, was yet in the womb of their nation), now comes to encourage them with the prospect of a joyful and happy settlement, and of glorious times before them; and such a happiness they did enjoy, in a great measure, for some time; but these promises have their full accomplishment in the spiritual blessings of the gospel which we enjoy by Jesus Christ.
I. They are invited to look unto Christ, and flee unto him as their city of refuge (Zac 9:12): Turn you to the strong-…
stronghold--in contrast to the "pit" (Zac 9:11); literally, "a place cut off from access." MAURER thinks, "a height" (Psa 18:33). An image for the security which the returning Jews shall have in Messiah (Zac 9:8) encamped about His people (Psa 46:1, Psa 46:5; compare Isa 49:9; Pro 18:10).
prisoners of hope--that is, who in spite of afflictions (Job 13:15; Psa 42:5, Psa 42:11) maintain hope in the covenant-keeping God; in contrast to unbelievers, who say, "There is no hope" (Jer 2:25; Jer 18:12). Especially those Jews who believe God's word to Israel (Jer 31:17), "there is hope in the end, that thy children shall come again to their own border," and do not say, as in Eze 37:11, "Our hope is…
Turn you to the strong hold - Ye who feel your sins, and are shut up under a sense of your guilt, look up to him who was delivered for your offenses, and rose again for your justification. Ye have hope, let that hope lead you to faith, and that faith to the blood of the covenant; and, through that blood, to God, the Father of all.
I will render double unto thee - Give thee an abundance of peace and salvation.
John Gill on Zechariah 9:12
The Church Fathers
"You have led me down, because you have been made my hope: a tower of strength from the face of the enemy." My heart is vexed, says that unity from the ends of the earth, and I toil in the midst of temptations and offenses. The heathen are envious, because they have been conquered. The heretics lie in wait, hidden in the cloak of the Christian name. Within the church itself the wheat suffers violence from the chaff. In the midst of all these things when my heart is vexed, I will cry from the ends of the earth. But there forsakes me not the same that has exalted me upon the rock, in order to lead me down even unto himself, because even if I labor, while the devil through so many places and times and occasions lies in wait against me, he is to me a tower of strength, to whom I shall have fled for refuge. Not only I shall escape the weapons of the enemy, but even against him securely I shall myself hurl whatever darts I shall please. For Christ himself is the tower. He has been made for us a tower from the face of the enemy, who is also the rock upon which the church has been built. Are you taking heed that you not be smitten by the devil? Flee to the tower. The devil's darts will never follow you to that tower. There you will stand protected and fixed. But in what manner shall you flee to the tower? Let not a person, set perhaps in temptation, seek that tower in body, and when he shall not have found it, be wearied or faint in temptation. The tower is before you. Call Christ to mind, and go into the tower.
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
Hope · Encouragement to — Encouragement to
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).
Turn ye to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope,.... "That hope for redemption", as the Targum paraphrases it; not for redemption from the Babylonish captivity, at the end of seventy years, which was now over; but for redemption and salvation by Christ; for not the people of the Jews, who stayed in Babylon, can be meant; for, as they were at liberty to go from thence by the edict of Cyrus, they can not be said to be prisoners, much less prisoners hoping for deliverance, when they had, or might have it; but rather the Jews, who were come out of Babylon, as out of a pit, wherein was no water; out of an uncomfortable state and condition, and yet in their own land were encompassed with many str…
Zechariah 9:12
12. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
12. Convertimini ad munitionem vincti spei; etiam hodie annuntio duplicia, rependam tibi (vel, duplicia rependam tibi; uterque sensus non male convenit.)
Zechariah proceeds with the same subject. He bids the Jews suddenly to retake themselves to their fortress. There is no doubt but that he means by that term the holy land; nor do I oppose the opinion of those who think the temple to be intended: for Jerusalem and the whole of Judea is called a fortress, and for this reason, because God had chosen his sanctuary there. It is then the same, as though one wishin…
Israel's Redemption from Captivity, and Victory over the Heathen. - Zac 9:11. "Thou also, for the sake of thy covenant blood, I release thy captives out of the pit wherein there is no water. Zac 9:12. Return to the fortress, ye prisoners of hope. Even to-day I proclaim: Double will I repay to thee." This is addressed to the daughter Zion, i.e., to all Israel, consisting of Ephraim and Judah. We not only learn this from the context, since both of them are spoken of before (Zac 9:10) and afterwards (Zac 9:13); but it is also obvious from the expression bedam berı̄thēkh, since the covenant blood belonged to all Israel of the twelve tribes (Exo 24:8). גּם־אתּ stands at the head absolutely, on a…
Come back to the place of safety: This is a call for the Jews still in Babylon to return to the land of Judah.
Rashi on Zechariah 9:12
Return to the stronghold To your strength and to your glory, even though you are now under the rule of the kings of Persia. you prisoners of hope who hoped for Me until now that My words [would] be fulfilled at the end of seventy years.
Also today, I will restore to you a double promise Today I will yet tell you second tidings, besides those of the building. And what is the second narrative that I am returning to repeat to you?
