Zaccaria 13:9 Commento

In this chapter we have, I. Some further promises relating to gospel-times. Here is a promise of the remission of sins (Zac 13:1), of the reformation of manners (Zac 13:2), and particularly of the convicting and silencing of false prophets (Zac 13:2-6). II. A clear prediction of the sufferings of Christ and the dispersion of his disciples thereupon (Zac 13:7), of the destruction of the greater part of the Jewish nation not long after (Zac 13:8), and of the purifying of a remnant of them, a peculiar people to God (Zac 13:9).

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 13 In this chapter are prophecies concerning the purification of the penitent Jews before spoken of; the removal of idols, and false prophets, out of the earth; the death of Christ; the destruction of the greater part of men, and the salvation of a few of them. The cleansing of such that mourn for sin, in a fountain opened for that purpose, is spoken of, Zac 13:1 the utter abolition of idols, and false prophets, and unclean spirits, is affirmed, Zac 13:2 the parents of false prophets will forbid them to prophesy; they themselves will be ashamed of their visions; they will throw off the rough garment, which was a token of their being prophets, and by which they deceived: they will confess they are no prophets, and what they are, and own the wounds they have received from their friends on that account, Zac 13:3 and whereas the Messiah, as pierced and crucified, is spoken of in the preceding chapter Zac 12:10, whose blood is the cleansing fountain mentioned in this, an account is given of his death; who is described by his office, the Shepherd of the Lord; and by his natures, human and divine, the Man his fellow; his death is signified by smiting with the sword, which was done by the order of the Lord; the consequences of which were the scattering of the sheep, and the turning of the hand of the Lord upon them in a way of mercy, Zac 13:7 and then it is declared that two parts in three of the land should be cut off, and a third part saved, but yet so as by fire, whom the Lord would own as his people, and they should acknowledge him to be their God, Zac 13:8.

And I will bring the third part through the fire,.... Into tribulation, as the Targum explains it; or into great distresses, comparable to fire, as Kimchi observes; this is the hour of temptation that will be in the Philadelphian church state, Rev 3:10. Daniel's time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation, Dan 12:1 and the time of the slaying of the witnesses, Rev 11:7, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; their graces, principles, and profession, will be tried; their dross and tin will be removed, and they will be purged and purified; a more pure and glorious state of the church will take place, in which there will be great purity of Gospel worship, discipline, and conversation; when the word will be more purely preached, the ordinances more purely administered, and the saints will live more holy lives and conversations, signified by the witnesses ascending up into heaven, Rev 11:12, they shall call on my name; which includes the whole of divine worship, and particularly designs prayer, that pure offering and incense, which shall now be offered to the name of the Lord in every place, Mal 1:11 hence it follows, and I will hear them; accept their prayers, and give an answer to them: so the Targum paraphrases the words, "he shall pray in my name, and I will receive his prayer:'' I will say, It is my people; the Lord will make it appear to themselves and others that they are his special, peculiar, and covenant people, by calling them out of Babylon; by bestowing his favours upon them; and by granting his presence with them, as well as by the witnessing of his Spirit to them; see Rev 18:4, and they shall say, The Lord is my God: they shall know him to be their covenant God and Father, and claim their interest in him, and acknowledge him as such; which is the greatest happiness that can be enjoyed, Psa 144:15. Next: Zechariah Chapter 14

These cases occur in persecutions more than at other times (for it is then that we are approved or condemned, humbled or corrected). Their general occurrence is permitted or commanded by him at whose will they happen even partially; by him, I mean, who says, “I am he who makes peace and creates evil”—that is, war, for that is the antithesis of peace. But what other war has our peace than persecution? If in its issues persecution emphatically brings either life or death, either wounds or healing, you have the author too of this. “I will smite and heal, I will make alive and put to death.” “I will burn them,” he says, “as gold is burned; and I will try them,” he says, “as silver is tried,” for when the flame of persecution is consuming us, then the steadfastness of our faith is proved. These will be the fiery darts of the devil, by which faith gets a ministry of burning and kindling; yet by the will of God. As to this I do not know who can doubt, unless it be persons with frivolous and frigid faith, which seizes upon those who with trembling assemble together in the church. For you say, seeing we assemble without order, and assemble at the same time, and flock in large numbers to the church, the heathen are led to make inquiry about us, and we are alarmed lest we awaken their anxieties. Do you not know that God is Lord of all? And if it is God’s will, then you shall suffer persecution; but if it is not, the heathen will be still. Believe it most surely, if indeed you believe in that God without whose will not even the sparrow, which a penny can buy, falls to the ground. But we, I think, are better than many sparrows.

(Verse 7 and following) "I will raise up a spear against my shepherd, and against the man who is my associate," says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. And they shall be in all the land, says the Lord, two parts in it shall be cut off and perish, and the third part shall be left. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them as gold is tested. He will call my name, and I will answer him: I will say, 'You are my people,' and he will say, 'The Lord is my God.' Zechariah: Sword, rise against my shepherd, and against the man who is my associate, says the Lord Almighty. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will raise my hand against the shepherds. On that day, says the Lord, two-thirds will be cut off and perish, and one-third will be left. I will bring the one-third through the fire, and I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as one tests gold. He himself will call upon my name, and I will answer him; I will say, 'This is my people,' and he will say, 'The Lord is my God.' Regarding the sword that the LXX translated as 'ῥομφαία' in Hebrew as 'Areb,' we found that Aquila and Symmachus translated it as 'μάχαιρα,' meaning sword or blade. And as for the phrase we translated as 'cohaerent mihi,' which means 'adhering to me,' Aquila interpreted it as 'contribulem meum,' meaning 'my fellow countryman,' and Symmachus translated it as 'populi mei,' meaning 'my people' in Hebrew 'Amithi.' The LXX translated it as 'civem ejus,' which means 'his fellow citizen,' and Theodotio translated it as 'proximum ejus,' meaning 'his neighbor.' At the end of the sentence, they read 'Jod' instead of 'Vau,' which are only different in size. If 'Jod' is read, it signifies 'my.' If 'Vau' is read, it signifies 'his.' But I marvel at certain individuals who wish to diminish this prophecy (which the evangelist Matthew related to the Lord and Savior after his disciples fled during his passion, and then he said it was fulfilled) with allegorical interpretations, and while they desire to appear to know more than others, they do not hold to the rule of truth. For the evangelist Matthew reports: Then Jesus said to them: all of you will be offended because of me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. And again: All this has happened so that the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples, leaving him, fled (Matt. XXVI, 31 et seq.). Nor should it be thought that this testimony is taken from another place, because in the Gospel God says of himself that he is the shepherd who is struck, and in the present place, we read that it is commanded with sword and spear: Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. This is a sword and this is a spear, and a javelin, from which in the twenty-first Psalm the Lord speaks to the Father: Deliver my soul from the sword; and my only one from the hand of the dog (Psalm 21:12). Of this javelin it is also written in the prophet Amos: They shall all die by the sword, the sinners of the land (Amos 9:10). Which cannot be taken literally: for many sinners perish in shipwreck, others by poison, these are suffocated by water, those consumed by fire. But with this sword and this spear, all sinners perish (or are punished), and the dark-skinned Ethiopians, of whom Zephaniah testifies with sacred mouth, saying: But you also, Ethiopians, will be killed by my sword (Zeph. 1:12). After the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep (John 10:15), who spoke to the Father: Those whom you struck, they pursued, and they added to the pain of my wounds (Ps. 68:27), he was struck by the will of the Father, and the man who is united with God who said: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me (John 13:10), hung on the gibbet, and said: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46): immediately the sheep were scattered, the whole multitude of believers in Christ. And the Lord stretched out his hand, as we read in the Septuagint, to the shepherds, whom many of the Jewish rulers interpret as evil. But as it is written in Hebrew, to the children, to whom the Lord said in the Gospel: Do not be afraid, little flock (Luke, XII). And in Isaiah: Behold, I and the children, or little ones, whom God has given me (Isaiah VIII, 18). And there were two parts in all the land of the Jews and the Gentiles, who perished and failed together: for in his suffering, the voice of the Psalmist is fulfilled, saying: Save me, O Lord, for the godly one is gone (Psalm XI, 1). And: All have turned aside; they have together become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one (Ps. XIII, 3). As the nations and the Jews were perishing, the third part of the world, that is, the third people of the Christians, suddenly increased. And it says beautifully: A third part shall be left in it, that is, on the earth: because among the Jews and the nations, those who have confessed the Lord are alone reserved for the life and habitation of the earth. Moreover, the third part, so as not to be delicate and secure in confession, is tested as silver and gold are tested by fire, which the Lord desires to burn in believers (Luke 12), and which Paul desires to fervently burn (Romans 12). And so the apostles, baptized in the fire of the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 2), speak in the psalm: For you have tested us, O God, you have tried us as silver is tried (Psalm 65:10, 11). And after a little while: We passed through fire and water, and you led us into refreshment. And in another place it is said to the believer: If you pass through fire, the flame will not burn you: because I am with you (Isaiah 43:2). But the fire does not consume, and the flame does not devour, because it is the voice of the Lord who cuts off the flame of fire (Psalm 29:7). When these little ones have been tested in this way, upon whom the Lord has turned his hand, and through their calling the whole multitude of nations has believed, then the people of believers will call Christ by his name, and with him saying: You are my people, the people will respond: You are the Lord my God. The Jews refer these things to Christ: and they contend that they will happen in the last time; but the difference between us and them is that we say that they have already been fulfilled, while they mention things that are still to be fulfilled.

After the humiliation and conversion of the Jews, foretold in the preceding chapter, they are here promised the full pardon of their sins, and a deliverance from idolatry and false prophets, Zac 13:1-6. Prophecy concerning the death of the Messiah, and the persecution of his disciples, Zac 13:7. The remaining verses may refer to those Jewish converts to Christianity who survived the calamities which their country suffered from the Romans, Zac 13:8, Zac 13:9.

I will bring the third part through the fire - The Christian Church shall endure a great fight of afflictions, by which they shall be refined - not consumed. They shall call on my name - In this way shall they offer all their prayers and supplications to God. I will say, It is my people - The Church that I have chosen in the place of the Jews who have filled up the measure of their iniquity. And they shall say, The Lord is my God - And thus communion shall be established between me and them for ever. Thus there shall be a general restoration.

CLEANSING OF THE JEWS FROM SIN; ABOLITION OF IDOLATRY; THE SHEPHERD SMITTEN; THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND CUT OFF, EXCEPT A THIRD PART REFINED BY TRIALS. (Zac 13:1-9) Connected with the close of the twelfth chapter. The mourning penitents are here comforted. fountain opened--It has been long opened, but then first it shall be so "to the house of David," &c. (representing all Israel) after their long and weary wanderings. Like Hagar in the wilderness they remain ignorant of the refreshment near them, until God "opens their eyes" (Gen 21:19) [MOORE]. It is not the fountain, but their eyes that need to be opened. It shall be a "fountain" ever flowing; not a laver needing constantly to be replenished with water, such as stood between the tabernacle and altar (Exo 30:18). for sin . . . uncleanness--that is, judicial guilt and moral impurity. Thus justification and sanctification are implied in this verse as both flowing from the blood of Christ, not from ceremonial sacrifices (Co1 1:30; Heb 9:13-14; Jo1 1:7; compare Eze 36:25). Sin in Hebrew is literally a missing the mark or way.

through . . . fire--of trial (Psa 66:10; Amo 4:11; Co1 3:15; Pe1 1:6-7). It hence appears that the Jews' conversion is not to precede, but to follow, their external deliverance by the special interposition of Jehovah; which latter shall be the main cause of their conversion, combined with a preparatory inward shedding abroad in their hearts of the Holy Spirit (Zac 12:10-14); and here, "they shall call on My name," in their trouble, which brings Jehovah to their help (Psa 50:15). my people-- (Jer 30:18-22; Eze 11:19-20; Hos 2:23). Next: Zechariah Chapter 14

The penitential supplication of Israel will lead to a thorough renewal of the nation, since the Lord will open to the penitent the fountain of His grace for the cleansing away of sin and the sanctifying of life. Zac 13:1. "In that day will a fountain be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness." As the Lord Himself pours out the spirit of supplication upon Israel, so does He also provide the means of purification from sin. A fountain is opened, when its stream of water bursts forth from the bosom of the earth (see Isa 41:18; Isa 35:6). The water, which flows from the fountain opened by the Lord, is a water of sprinkling, with which sin and uncleanness are removed. The figure is taken partly from the water used for the purification of the Levites at their consecration, which is called מי חטּאת, sin-water, or alter of absolution, in Num 8:7, and partly from the sprinkling-water prepared from the sacrificial ashes of the red heifer for purification from the defilement of death, which is called מי נדּה, water of uncleanness, i.e., water which removed uncleanness, in Num 19:9. Just as bodily uncleanness is a figure used to denote spiritual uncleanness, the defilement of sin (cf. Psa 51:9), so is earthly sprinkling-water a symbol of the spiritual water by which sin is removed. By this water we have to understand not only grace in general, but the spiritual sprinkling-water, which is prepared through the sacrificial death of Christ, through the blood that He shed for sin, and which is sprinkled upon us for the cleansing away of sin in the gracious water of baptism. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin (Jo1 1:7; compare Jo1 5:6).