Zechariah 7:14

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְאֵ֣סָעֲרֵ֗ם עַ֤ל כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־יְדָע֔וּם וְהָאָ֙רֶץ֙ נָשַׁ֣מָּה אַֽחֲרֵיהֶ֔ם מֵֽעֹבֵ֖ר וּמִשָּׁ֑ב וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ אֶֽרֶץ־חֶמְדָּ֖ה לְשַׁמָּֽה׃ פ

Transliteration

And wə-ʾēsāʿărēm upon all the gôyim which not yəḏāʿûm, and the hāʾāreṣ nāšammāh ʾaḥărêhem from mēʿōḇēr and from miššāḇ. And wa-yāśîmû ʾereṣ-ḥemdāh to šammāh.

Grammar Details

• *wə-ʾēsāʿărēm*: conjunction + piel imperfect, 1st common singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix - and I will scatter them
• *gôyim*: noun, masculine plural - nations
• *yəḏāʿûm*: qal perfect, 3rd common plural + 3rd masculine plural suffix - they knew them
• *hāʾāreṣ*: definite article + noun, feminine singular - the land
• *nāšammāh*: niphal perfect, 3rd feminine singular - was desolate/was devastated
• *ʾaḥărêhem*: preposition + 3rd masculine plural suffix - after them
• *mēʿōḇēr*: preposition + qal participle, masculine singular - from passing
• *miššāḇ*: preposition + qal participle, masculine singular - from returning
• *wa-yāśîmû*: conjunction + qal imperfect, 3rd masculine plural - and they made/placed
• *ʾereṣ-ḥemdāh*: noun, feminine singular + noun, feminine singular - land of desire/pleasant land
• *šammāh*: noun, feminine singular - desolation/waste

Word Meanings

• *wə-ʾēsāʿărēm*: and I will scatter them/and I will storm them away/and I will whirl them
• *gôyim*: nations/gentiles/peoples
• *nāšammāh*: was desolate/was deserted/was devastated
• *mēʿōḇēr ûmiššāḇ*: from passing and from returning/from coming and going (idiom for all traffic)
• *ʾereṣ-ḥemdāh*: pleasant land/desirable land/delightful land
• *šammāh*: desolation/waste/astonishment

Referenced Verses

• Deut 28:33 : 33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
• Deut 28:64 : 64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
• Jer 23:19 : 19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
• Deut 4:27 : 27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
• Zeph 3:6 : 6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
• Zech 2:6 : 6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.
• Zech 9:14 : 14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
• Jer 4:11-12 : 11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, 12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
• Jer 5:15 : 15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
• Jer 25:32-33 : 32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
• Jer 30:23 : 23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
• Jer 36:19 : 19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
• Jer 44:6 : 6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
• Jer 52:30 : 30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
• Dan 8:9 : 9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
• Dan 9:16-18 : 16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
• Amos 1:14 : 14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
• Nah 1:3 : 3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
• Hab 3:14 : 14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
• 2 Chr 36:21 : 21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
• Ps 58:9 : 9 Before your pots can feel{H8799)} the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind{H8799)}, both living, and in his wrath.
• Isa 17:13 : 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
• Isa 21:1 : 1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
• Deut 28:49 : 49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
• Lev 26:22 : 22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
• Lev 26:33 : 33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
• Isa 66:15 : 15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.