Zacarias 9

ARC · Chapter 9/14

1Carga da palavra do Senhor contra a terra de Haldrach, e Damasco será o seu repouso; porque o Senhor tem o olho sobre o homem, como sobre todas as tribus de Israel.

2E tambem Hamath n'ella terá termo: Tyro e Sidon, ainda que seja mui sabia.

3E Tyro edificou para si fortalezas, e amontoou prata como o pó, e oiro fino como a lama das ruas.

4Eis que o Senhor a arrancará da posse, e ferirá no mar a sua força, e ella será consumida pelo fogo.

5Ascalon o verá e temerá, tambem Gaza, e terá grande dôr; como tambem Ekron; porque a sua esperança será envergonhada; e o rei de Gaza perecerá, e Ascalon não será habitada

6E um bastardo habitará em Asdod, e exterminarei a soberba dos philisteos.

7E da sua bocca tirarei o seu sangue, e d'entre os seus dentes as suas abominações; e elle tambem ficará de resto para o nosso Deus; e será como principe em Judah, e Ekron como o jebuseo.

8E me acamparei ao redor da minha casa, por causa do exercito, por causa do que passa, e por causa do que volta, para que não passe mais sobre elles o exactor; porque agora já o vi com os meus olhos.

9Alegra-te muito, ó filha de Sião; exulta, ó filha de Jerusalem: eis que o teu rei virá a ti, justo e Salvador, pobre, e montado sobre um jumento, sobre um asninho, filho de jumenta.

10E destruirei os carros de Ephraim e os cavallos de Jerusalem: tambem o arco de guerra será destruido, e elle fallará paz ás nações; e o seu dominio se estenderá de um mar até outro mar, e desde o rio até ás extremidades da terra

11Quanto a ti tambem ó Sião, pelo sangue do teu concerto, soltei os teus presos da cova em que não havia agua.

12Voltae á fortaleza ó presos de esperança: tambem hoje vos annuncio que vos renderei em dobro.

13Quando estendi Judah para mim como um arco, e enchi com Ephraim o arco, suscitarei a teus filhos, ó Sião, contra os teus filhos, ó Grecia! e pôr-te-hei como a espada de um valente.

14E o Senhor será visto sobre elles, e as suas frechas sairão como o relampago; e o Senhor Jehovah tocará buzina, e irá com os redemoinhos do sul

15O Senhor dos Exercitos os amparará, e comerão, depois que os tiverem sujeitado as pedras da funda: tambem beberão e farão alvoroço como de vinho; e encher-se-hão como a bacia, como os cantos do altar

16E o Senhor seu Deus n'aquelle dia os salvará, como ao rebanho do seu povo; porque como as pedras da corôa serão levantados na sua terra, como bandeira.

17Porque, quão grande é a sua bondade! e quão grande é a sua formosura! o trigo fará fallar os mancebos e o mosto as donzellas.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Zechariah prophesies judgment against several neighboring cities, but announces that the king of Jerusalem will come lowly and riding on a donkey, bringing peace, and that God will free the prisoners with a double blessing.

Explanation

The first part of the chapter announces judgment against cities along the Mediterranean coast such as Damascus, Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistine cities, showing that the political power of these nations, even with their strongholds and riches heaped up 'as the dust,' would not protect them from God's judgment. The high point of the chapter, however, is one of the most famous messianic prophecies in the whole Bible: a king who would come 'just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass,' in total contrast to kings who entered triumphantly mounted on war horses. This figure would bring genuine peace, with dominion 'from sea to sea,' and would free prisoners with a double blessing. The application for today: true power and true royalty, by God's standard, are often shown through humility, not military force or display.

Fun facts

  • This chapter (verse 9) is quoted directly in all four Gospels to describe Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Matthew 21:5; John 12:15), making it one of the most clearly fulfilled messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
  • 'A bastard shall dwell in Ashdod' (v.6) probably refers to a mixed and weakened population that would occupy the Philistine city after its conquest, symbolizing the end of its distinct national identity.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Zacarias 9:1From here the book changes tone, leaving the night visions behind and moving into oracles about neighboring nations (Damascus, Tyrus, Zidon, the Philistines) before turning to a future king of Zion.
  2. Zacarias 9:2Hamath, to the north, and the wealthy Phoenician cities of Tyrus and Zidon also join the list of judgment announced in this oracle against the neighboring nations.
  3. Zacarias 9:3Tyrus was famous as a fortified and extremely wealthy city, heaping up silver like dust and fine gold like the mire of the streets — a symbol of excessive wealth.
  4. Zacarias 9:4Despite all that wealth, the Lord promises to strip Tyrus of her possessions and strike down her power at sea, consuming the city with fire.
  5. Zacarias 9:5Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron, the Philistine cities, will also fear and lose hope — the king will perish from Gaza and Ashkelon will be left uninhabited.
  6. Zacarias 9:6'A bastard' (a foreigner of mixed lineage) will settle in Ashdod, a sign that the proud identity of the Philistines would be undone.
  7. Zacarias 9:7Even this judgment has a hopeful side: a remnant of the Philistines will give up their unclean customs and be accepted, as happened before with the Jebusites absorbed into Judah.
  8. Zacarias 9:8God promises to encamp around His own house (the temple) like a guard, ensuring that no invading army will ever pass through unseen again.
  9. Zacarias 9:9This is the book's most-quoted prophecy: a king arriving 'lowly, and riding upon an ass' — the Gospels quote this verse directly when describing Jesus' entry into Jerusalem before Passover.
  10. Zacarias 9:10The gentle king of the previous verse will also dismantle the weapons of war of Ephraim and Jerusalem, because his reign will be built on peace, reaching from sea to sea.
  11. Zacarias 9:11'The pit wherein is no water' describes a dry cistern used as a prison, a common practice at the time; freeing prisoners from these pits symbolizes a concrete rescue, not only a spiritual one.
  12. Zacarias 9:12To those still living as 'prisoners of hope,' God promises a double restitution, rewarding those who kept hope alive even in captivity.
  13. Zacarias 9:13Naming Greece as an adversary is notable because, in the Persian period when the book was written, Greece was not yet the great power it would later become — a detail scholars debate a great deal when dating this passage precisely.
  14. Zacarias 9:14God's intervention is described like a visible warrior: arrows like lightning, a trumpet sounding, advancing with the strong whirlwinds of the south.
  15. Zacarias 9:15The people are compared to soldiers who win the battle and celebrate afterward, drinking and making noise like those who have already secured victory.
  16. Zacarias 9:16On the day of salvation, the people are compared to the jewels of a crown, lifted up like a banner over their own land — from an oppressed flock to a symbol of honor.
  17. Zacarias 9:17The chapter closes celebrating the goodness and beauty of this restoration: an abundance of grain and wine that renews even the spirit of the young.

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