225 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As for thee also,.... These words are not spoken to Christ, for את, "thee", is of the feminine gender; but the congregation of Israel, as Kimchi observes; or the church of God: nor are they the words of Christ to her; he is the person before spoken of; but of God the Father, who, having given out prophecies concerning the coming of Christ, and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When I have bent Judah for me,.... By whom are meant the apostles, who were Jews, and whose ministrations were made use of as a bow with arrows, to strike the hearts of men, and bring them into subjection to Christ: they were a bow of the Lord's bending and preparing, and which abode in strength, being made strong and effectual through the hands...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord shall be seen over them,.... His apostles and ministers: or, "shall appear to them" (q); and be seen by them, as he was in the days of his flesh; they saw his person, his miracles, his sorrows, and sufferings; they saw him after his resurrection, and some have seen him since his ascension, with the eyes of their bodies, as well as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The Lord of hosts shall defend them,.... Against all their enemies; against Satan, and his temptations, and all the opposition made by him; against the world, and all the rage and reproach of men; this was remarkably verified in the apostles, who were preserved by the Lord amidst a thousand snares and dangers; and who was able to do it, being...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord their God shall save them in that day,.... In the times of the Gospel, and the dispensation of it; meaning either the apostles, before said to be protected and defended, Zechariah 9:15 or rather the persons converted, conquered, and subdued by them, who are not killed, but saved by the Lord their God, their glorious Redeemer, from...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For how great [is] his goodness?.... Not of the land of Judea, as Kimchi; nor of the doctrine of the law, as the Targum; nor of the people of the Jews; but of the Messiah: and designs not his essential nor his providential goodness; but his goodness as Mediator, which he has in his heart, and has shown unto his people, in being their surety, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Zechariah 10 This chapter is a prophecy of the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, when the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in, spoken of in the preceding chapter Zechariah 9:1. It begins with an exhortation to ask rain of the Lord; denounces wrath upon his enemies; and consists of various promises to his people. The...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain,.... There was the former and the latter rain, of which see Hosea 6:3. The former rain was in autumn, a little before or about seed time; the latter was in the spring, and a little before harvest, which is here referred to. So Hesiod (g) calls those rains the autumnal and vernal rains; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the idols have spoken vanity,.... The vanities of the Gentiles cannot give rain; if they promise it, they speak vain things; God only can give it, and therefore it must, be asked of him, Jeremiah 14:22. The word for idols is "teraphim", the same as in Genesis 31:19 and here signifies worshippers of idols, as the Targum interprets it; and may...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,.... The Targum interprets it of "kings"; as the "goats" of "princes", in the next clause; by whom, according to Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, are meant the kings of Greece; but rather the antichristian kings are designed, the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with the whore...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Out of him came forth the corner,.... Or "cornerstone"; by which is meant a king or ruler, as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi; and is no other than the King Messiah, who was to come out of Judah, and did spring from that tribe, 1 Chronicles 5:2 and this is a reason why God will visit the house of Judah, or the Jews, in the latter day, because the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they shall be as mighty [men],.... That is, the converted Jews shall be such; they shall be strong in faith, giving glory to the Messiah; they shall be strong in the grace that is in him; they shall be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; his strength shall be made perfect in their weakness: which tread down [their enemies] in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I wilt strengthen the house of Judah,.... Both with internal and external strength, so that they shall be able to stand their ground against enemies of every sort: and I will save the house of Joseph: the ten tribes, such of them that shall be found, for all Israel shall be saved, Romans 11:26 not only temporally, but spiritually, with an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And [they] of Ephraim shall be like a mighty [man],.... What remain, and shall be found of the ten tribes, shall be as is said of Judah, or the Jews of the two tribes, Zechariah 10:5: and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: they shall be filled with inward and spiritual joy, through the love of God shed abroad in their heart; and through...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will hiss for them,.... Or "whistle for them" (p); the word signifies, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, the motion of the lips with the voice, and is a sign of calling; and so the Targum renders it, I will cry or call for them; and it denotes the call of them by the Gospel, which is the voice of Christ, which is soft, sweet, and melodious; is a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will sow them among the people, The people of God in the Gentile world: this is to be understood of the conversion of the Jews, when they will become the good seed that hear the word, and understand it, and bring forth fruit; and of their being known, acknowledged, and reckoned among the people of God, who now are not; and of their being...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt,.... The Targum paraphrases it, "and as I brought them out of the land of Egypt, so will gather their captivity out of Assyria;'' suggesting there would be a likeness between the one and the other. Egypt may denote the state of distance and bondage in which all men are by nature; and the Jews,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he shall pass through the sea with affliction,.... Either the people of the Jews, as Israel of old did, when they came out of Egypt, to which the allusion is; or the wind shall pass through the sea, as Aben Ezra supplies it, and it shall become dry; that is, the river of Egypt: or "affliction" (r), as many supply it, shall pass through the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will strengthen them in the Lord,.... Not the Egyptians and Assyrians, but the Jews, as in Zechariah 10:5, the Targum is, "I will strengthen them in the word of the Lord;'' in the Messiah, by his power, and in the grace that is in him; and their faith and hope in him, and love to him: or "by" (t) him; so that, through him strengthening them,...