Глава 9

1–6. The fall of the power of the pagan kingdoms surrounding Israel. 7–8. The conversion of the pagans to the true God and the security of the people of God. 9–10. The appearance of the King of the world. 11–15. The return of the scattered sons of Israel, their victory over the pagans, with the assistance of God. 16–17. A state of complete security and an abundance of earthly blessings. Both prophecies of the second part begin with the expression: massa debhar lehova, which can be considered, together with the subsequent definition, as the title of the whole prophecy. Ancient and new translations diverge in their understanding of this expression in two directions. The Targum conveys it through the onus verbi Domini (burden of the word of the Lord), also the Vulgate; Grotius explains this translation with the words: prophetia tristis (sad prophecy. – Hugonis Grotii Annotata ad Vetus Testamentum. Tomus II. Lutetiae Parisiorum. MDCXLIV. p. 633); Luther, in accordance with the Vulgate, used Last (burden). LXX have: λημμα (assumptio, acceptance) λόγου Κυρίου, Peshito (translation compiled from Hebrew under the significant influence of LXX; see Jung. O. V., p. 448) - sermo Domini; Glorious: prophecy of the word of the Lord; also, in essence, Russian translations of the Synod. and Vensk. From a comparison of various translations of the word massa, the following conclusion is quite correct: The Palestinian tradition (Targum and Jerome) stands for “burden,” meaning by it a prophetic rebuke, a proclamation of misfortune. The Alexandrian tradition (LXX) for the more general meaning of “vision”, “word”, “reception of the word” (P. Tikhomirov, Prophet Malachi. Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius 1903. p. 142). Initially, the word massa denoted a special kind of prophecy that foreshadowed disaster to pagan countries and peoples: so in Is. 13:1; Isa.15:1; Isa.17:1; Isa.19:1 etc.; Nahum.1:1; Hab.1:1. When this word in the indicated meaning came into general use, the Jews showed particular preference for this type of prophecy and expressed a desire to hear mas'ot against the pagans from the lips of the prophets as often as possible, forgetting that they too deserved the utterance of prophetic rebuke and foreshadowing of disasters. Prem. Jeremiah denounces his contemporaries for their abuse of this expression (Jer. 23:33–38). It can be assumed that the Jews turned it into mockery and turned to the prophets with the blasphemous question: “What is the Lord’s burden?” Kohl. Sach. 9–14, s. 2–3: Dr. loseph Fraus Allioli. Die Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testamentes. Ans der Vulgata mit Besug auf deu grundtext neu übersetzt and mit Kursen Anmerkungen Aläutert Sweiter Band. 1894, Regensburg, New York and Cincinnati. S. 711, Aumm. 42–45; S. F. Keil, Bibl. Comm. üb. den Propheteu leremia u. die Klagelieder. Leipzig, 1872. Ss. 271–272. “After Jeremiah’s protest against the abuse of this term... the term massa debar lehova came into use among post-exilic writers, which was applied equally to both Jews and foreigners, and the meaning of the term, of course, remained the same” (Tikh. 148-149). Zechariah 9:1. The prophetic word of the Lord is upon the land of Hadrach, and it will stop at Damascus, for the eye of the Lord is upon all people, even as upon all the tribes of Israel, In the first verses of ch. Prophet IX depicts the fall of the power of the pagan kingdoms. Beginning of Zechariah 9:1: the prophetic word of the Lord to the land of Hadrach can be considered a general title for the following verses, which depict the disastrous fate of the pagan kingdoms. – But what is “Hadrakh”? Among the many interpretations of this expression, both in literal and symbolic meanings, there is not a single one that can be considered indisputable. In the literal sense, that is, in the meaning of the proper name of a country or city, they take the name Hadrakh from the Fathers of the Church of St. Kirill Alex. and blessed Theodorite. According to St. Cyril, “the land of Adrach is a country lying to the east, with which Imath... and Damascus are in the neighborhood” (p. 114); according to Theodoret, “Adrach is the city of Arabia” (p. 99). Of the newest interpreters, Marti defines the position of Hadrakh as follows: “the country of chadrakh, according to Assyrian inscriptions (Hatarika), is located north of Lebanon, where Hamath is located (Epiphany on the Orontes, - 8, 427). According to Schroeder's assumption, Hadrakh is probably some region of Syria adjacent to Damascus; he also draws attention to the close sound correspondence of the name Hadrach with Hatarik (Haudwörterbuch des Biblischen Altertums fur gebilolete Bibelleser. Herausg... von Dr. Eduard C Aug. Riehm. 1. Band. Bielefeld und Leipzig. 1864. S. 551), whose location north of Lebanon is determined by Marti. It is most likely that the prophet’s name Hadrach designates the Mid-Persian state in general (Keil 593), to whose power both the pagan East of that time and the chosen people were subordinated. But where did it come from and what does the name itself mean, taken in the latter case, obviously not in the literal sense? Blazh. Jerome offered the following interpretation: “the consistent meaning of these words (i.e., the beginning of Zechariah 9:1) is this: The fulfillment of the word of the Lord, terrible for sinners and meek in relation to the righteous, - for this is the meaning of the word Adrach, composed of two whole words: of which ad means strict (sharp, terrible) and rach - “gentle, soft.” Following this, Jerome mentions those interpreters “who by the word Adrach mean the Jewish people, and by the word Damascus the pagans called (to the Church). The fulfillment of the word of the Lord takes place on the land of Adrach, over which the Lord showed both His severity and (His) mercy - severity towards those who did not want to believe, and mercy towards those who turned (to the Church) together with the apostles” (p. 97). G. Grotius, explaining the meaning of the mysterious name, makes the following remark: “the opinion of those who take chadar in the meaning of a common noun, and not a proper name, is acceptable (non dispeicet), so that the meaning is: to the land that surrounds you (O Judea!), i.e. Syria” (II, 633). At Keil s. 591–598 see other suggestions regarding the word Hadrach. In prophetic books there are often examples of the use of names that are symbolic, or artificially obscure the prophet’s indication of a certain kingdom or people. The Prophet Jeremiah, using a special alphabet “Azhbash” (you need to write Hebrew letters in one column in the usual order, and in the other - in the reverse order, starting with the last letter of the alphabet, and use instead of each letter of the first column the corresponding letter of the second), writes instead of babhel Babylon - scheschakh (Jer. 25:26; Jer. 51:41; see Keil, lerem. Ss. 264–285). In the prophet Zechariah we see the use of the name “Shennaar”, see. “Babylon” (Zech. 5:11) or the name of Babylon “country, the land of the north” (Zech. 6:6, 8). See explanation. to Zechariah 6:7. – The all-seeing eye of the Lord, directed towards Israel and all people (pagans), stops first of all at Damascus, the main city of Syria, and the burden of the word of the Lord falls on it with all its weight; for him, Damascus becomes like a place of rest, or a long stay (cf. Zech. 5:11). Zechariah 9:2. and against Hamath, which is adjacent to it, and against Tire and Sidon, for he became very wise. The burden of the word of God also falls on Hamath, a large Syrian city (on the Orontes River), the region of which was adjacent to the region of Damascus. After the main cities of Syria, Damascus and Hamath, the prophet names the most important cities of Phenicia, Tire and Sidon. He (Tyre) became very wise - “with that worldly wisdom, proud and blind, which takes away God’s glory and does not know what the true strength of man and nations consists of.” Zechariah 9:3. And Tire built a fortress for itself, accumulating silver like dust and gold like street dirt. Zechariah 9:4. Behold, the Lord will make him poor and will smite his strength in the sea, and he himself will be consumed by fire. Mention is made of a strong and high wall surrounding New Tire, located on the island, and of its countless riches, as a result of which Tire considered itself completely safe and did not think about the punishing right hand of God. Zechariah 9:4 threatens rich Tire with the confiscation of its wealth and the destruction of its strongholds by fire. Zechariah 9:5. Ascalon will see this and will be horrified, and Gaza will be greatly trembling, and Ekron; for his hope will be put to shame: there will be no king in Gaza, and Ascalon will be uninhabited. Zechariah 9:6. A strange tribe will live in Ashdod, and I will destroy the arrogance of the Philistines. The following are several Philistine cities, which, each individually, are threatened by various disasters, essentially relating to all of them together; Moreover, each particular feature makes clearer the indication of the final defeat of the cities mentioned by the prophet. Zechariah 9:7. I will remove the blood from his mouth and his abomination from his teeth, and he will belong to our God, and he will be like the captain of a thousand in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusite. But an even more brilliant victory will be won over the Philistines. They will be completely destroyed, like the pagan people: bloody sacrifices to idols will cease, vile sacrificial dishes (Is. 65:4) will be torn out of the mouths of idolaters, and the remnant of the Philistines will become the property of the true God and part of Judea - the land of the people of God; the same thing will happen to Ekron as to Jebusite; Ekron, that is, the Philistines in general will become part of the people of God, as was once the case with the Jebusites, the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem, after the conquest of this city by David. Interpreters consider the prophecy about the fate of the Philistines to have been fulfilled under the Maccabees, by whom their country was conquered; at the time of Jesus Christ it formed part of Judea; and somewhat later, some of the Philistines accepted the Christian faith, and the bishops of the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ascalon and Azoth (Azqoga) mentioned in this section took part in the councils of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries (Keil 597–598, Rouge). The prophet threatens the Philistines that they will abandon idolatry and serve the true God. From the point of view of the prophet himself and those who turned from error to truth, there is, of course, nothing undesirable or frightening in these punishments; but from the point of view of a pagan ossified in error, who is threatened with deprivation of what is dear to him, this was undoubtedly a great disaster. The change of faith of the fathers, even regardless of external coercion, naturally causes a difficult internal struggle. Zechariah 9:8. And I will pitch my house against the army, against those who pass forward and backward, and the oppressor will no longer pass by, for now with My eyes I will behold it. The chosen people and the land they inhabit will constantly be under the vigilant protection of the Almighty. The state of complete security of the people of God is so certain that it seems as if it has already been realized: the Lord looks at it with His eyes. Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice with joy, daughter of Zion, rejoice, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and saving, meek, sitting on a donkey and on the colt of a donkey, the son of a yoke. But the guarantee of the strength of peace and security, not in any particular case, but for a long time, forever, is the appearance of the Messianic King, marching towards Jerusalem on a young donkey. This procession testifies both to the peacefulness of this King (a horse is an animal used for military purposes) and to His extraordinary humility: “the donkey, as Rougemont notes, undoubtedly enjoys less contempt in the east than in our country, and riding a donkey is nothing funny there, nevertheless, neither kings nor noble people use this animal” (p. 218, see Keil 600). The distinctive qualities of this King are also justice and readiness to save His subjects. – We see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 in the solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, described in Matthew 21:2 next, Mark 11:2 next, Luke 19:30 next. and John 12:14 seq. In particular, the content of the prophecy precisely coincides with the description of its implementation in the Evangelist Matthew, who mentions a donkey and a colt (Matthew 21:2, 5, 7:) only one animal was necessary for the Lord; and that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled (Matthew 21:4), according to the word of the Lord, a donkey and a foal were brought. As Keil notes, “the donkey had to accompany him in order to fully represent the image drawn by Zechariah” (S. 602). However, intentionally, in any case, it was impossible to reproduce in reality what was depicted by the prophet: it was easy to force the disciples to do what was pleasing to their Teacher; but how can one induce a crowd, a large part of which is hostile against the prophet from Galilee, to cry out to Him: “Hosanna”? In this case, it was as difficult to soften hardened hearts as to make stones cry out: it is clear that Zechariah did not see in the future such a significant fact from the life of the Savior with a natural human mind. In addition to the interpreters following St. Ephraim and interpreting the fact of the procession of the King of the world on a donkey in the sense of indicating His voluntary humiliation, some researchers consider the implementation of the prophecy under discussion in the New Testament as a silent denunciation of the carnal expectations of the Jews (Erich Haupt, Die alttestamentlichen Citate in den vier Evangelien, Colberg. 1871. Ss. 277 and 279; W. W. graf Baudissin, Einleitung in die Bucher des Alten Testamentes, Leipzig 1901 S. 577; Keil 600, Ephr. Zechariah 9:10. Then I will destroy the chariots of Ephraim and the horses of Jerusalem, and the sword of war will be broken in pieces; and He will proclaim peace to the nations, and His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. With the accession of the King of Peace, the people of God will no longer need war chariots and war horses; all weapons of war must be destroyed, since peace will be proclaimed to all nations to all ends of the earth. Zechariah 9:11. As for you, for the blood of your covenant I will free your prisoners from the pit where there is no water. Zechariah 9:12. Return to the stronghold, you hopeful captives! What I now proclaim I will repay you double. When depicting the fall of pagan power and the accession of the King of Peace in Zion, those Jews who are scattered throughout pagan countries and languishing in captivity are not forgotten. For the sake of the covenant sealed with sacrificial blood. The Lord determines to bring all participants in the covenant out of dispersion and free them from the scourge of captivity. Of all the nations, the Lord made a covenant with only one Jewish people; by virtue of this covenant, those who are now, as it were, in a waterless ditch, will be placed in an elevated and safe place; Jewish prisoners, as not deprived of hope of liberation, are called captives hoping in Zech.9:12. In the blood of the covenant and the immutable promises of God lies, therefore, the firm foundation of hope for liberation from enslavement and captivity; and for all the disasters the children of Israel endured, they will be rewarded especially. Zechariah 9:13. For I will string Judah to Myself as a bow, and I will fill Ephraim's bow, and I will raise up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Jonah, and will make thee a warrior's sword. The roles will change between the pagan oppressors and the Jewish prisoners oppressed by them. Judah and Ephraim will become weapons of war in the hands of God - bows and arrows against the pagans. And in the hands of God even weak weapons are indestructible. The sons of Zion rebel against the sons of Ionia and wage a victorious struggle with them. Thus in Zechariah 9:13ff. indicates the need for the struggle of the chosen people, as instruments in the hands of God, with hostile kingdoms so that the kingdom of universal peace, which is foreshadowed in Zech.9:10, can be realized. The prophecy of Zechariah 9:13 can be attributed to the struggle (often victorious) of the Maccabees against the Greek kings of Syria (Seleucids). St. Cyril here means a different kind of victory: “what children of Zion rebelled against the children of Hellenism, if not the divine disciples who later became heads of the churches?.. They struggle against the sons of Hellenism and fight against those who are mistaken” (p. 129). A similar understanding, along with the above, is found in the blessed. Theodorit. Zechariah 9:14. And the Lord will appear over them, and His arrow will fly out like lightning, and the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and will walk in the storms of the midday. Zechariah 9:15. The Lord of hosts will protect them, and they will destroy and trample sling stones, and they will drink and make a noise as if from wine, and they will be filled like sacrificial bowls, like the corners of the altar. The Lord assists His chosen ones, striking their enemies with lightning arrows, with the warlike sounds of trumpets, walking in the terrible storms coming from the south. The Lord protects them, and therefore their victory over their enemies is certain. They will destroy the enemies, but the deadly weapons of the enemies will be harmless to those whom God Himself helps: the sons of Zion will walk safely across the battlefield strewn with sling stones (In accordance with the further likening of the sons of Zion to precious stones, one can here understand by sling stones the pagans, who have a comparatively insignificant value in the eyes of God). The blood of enemies is shed in such abundance (cf. Ps. 57:11; Ps. 67:24) that victorious warriors become intoxicated and frantic from contemplating the extreme calamity of their enemies, from great joy and triumph. – When describing the triumph of the victory of the people of God over the pagans, the sacred author strives to express as clearly as possible the main idea - the certainty of victory and the fullness of joy of the victors, and at the same time borrows particular features from well-known reality, leaving aside the question of how approvable, for example, from a moral point of view, is ecstatic joy after a bloody reprisal against enemies. You might be interested in: