Zechariah 9:13

World English Bible (2000)

For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּֽי־דָרַ֨כְתִּי לִ֜י יְהוּדָ֗ה קֶ֚שֶׁת מִלֵּ֣אתִי אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְעוֹרַרְתִּ֤י בָנַ֙יִךְ֙ צִיּ֔וֹן עַל־בָּנַ֖יִךְ יָוָ֑ן וְשַׂמְתִּ֖יךְ כְּחֶ֥רֶב גִּבּֽוֹר׃

Transliteration

For-ḏāraḵtî to-me yəhûḏāh qešeṯ millēʾṯî ʾep̄rayim wə-ʿôrartî ḇānayiḵ ṣiyyôn against-ḇānayiḵ yāwān wə-śamtîḵ like-ḥereḇ gibbôr.

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - for/because
• *ḏāraḵtî*: verb, qal perfect, 1st person singular - I have bent/drawn
• *lî*: preposition + 1st person singular suffix - for myself
• *yəhûḏāh*: proper noun - Judah
• *qešeṯ*: noun, feminine, singular - bow
• *millēʾṯî*: verb, piel perfect, 1st person singular - I have filled
• *ʾep̄rayim*: proper noun - Ephraim
• *wə*: conjunction - and
• *ʿôrartî*: verb, polel perfect, 1st person singular - I will stir up/rouse
• *ḇānayiḵ*: noun, masculine, plural + 2nd person feminine singular suffix - your sons
• *ṣiyyôn*: proper noun - Zion
• *ʿal*: preposition - against
• *yāwān*: proper noun - Greece/Javan
• *śamtîḵ*: verb, qal perfect, 1st person singular + 2nd person feminine singular suffix - I will make you
• *kə*: preposition - like/as
• *ḥereḇ*: noun, feminine, singular, construct - sword of
• *gibbôr*: adjective, masculine, singular - mighty man/warrior

Word Meanings

• *ḏāraḵtî*: I have bent/I have drawn/I have made ready
• *millēʾṯî*: I have filled/I have equipped/I have prepared
• *ʿôrartî*: I will stir up/I will rouse/I will awaken
• *ḇānayiḵ*: your sons/your children
• *śamtîḵ*: I will make you/I will place you/I will set you
• *ḥereḇ* *gibbôr*: sword of a warrior/mighty sword/weapon of a warrior

Referenced Verses

• Isa 49:2 : 2 and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand, he has hidden me: and he has made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he kept me close:
• Zech 10:3-7 : 3 My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; For Yahweh of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle. 4 From him will come forth the cornerstone, from him the nail, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together. 5 They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded. 6 "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off: for I am Yahweh their God, and I will hear them. 7 Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice as through wine; yes, their children will see it, and rejoice. Their heart will be glad in Yahweh.
• Ps 45:3 : 3 Strap your sword on your thigh, mighty one: your splendor and your majesty.
• Ps 144:1 : 1 Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to battle:
• Ps 149:6 : 6 May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
• Isa 41:15-16 : 15 Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff. 16 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
• Ps 18:32-35 : 32 the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect? 33 He makes my feet like deer's feet, and sets me on my high places. 34 He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand sustains me. Your gentleness has made me great.
• Zech 12:2-8 : 2 "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem. 3 It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it. 4 In that day," says Yahweh, "I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yahweh of Armies their God.' 6 In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem. 7 Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah. 8 In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them.
• Mark 16:15-20 : 15 He said to them, "Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
• Rom 15:16-20 : 16 that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God's Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ; 20 yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another's foundation.
• 1 Cor 1:21-28 : 21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. 22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:
• 2 Cor 10:3-5 : 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, 5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;
• Eph 6:17 : 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
• 2 Tim 4:7 : 7 I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
• Heb 4:12 : 12 For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
• Rev 1:16 : 16 He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
• Rev 2:12 : 12 "To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: "He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:
• Rev 17:14 : 14 These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. They also will overcome who are with him, called and chosen and faithful."
• Rev 19:15 : 15 Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
• Rev 19:21 : 21 The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came forth out of his mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh.
• Jer 51:20 : 20 You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
• Lam 4:2 : 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
• Dan 8:21-25 : 21 The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. 23 In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people. 25 Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in [their] security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
• Dan 11:32-34 : 32 Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and do [exploits]. 33 Those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, [many] days. 34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with flatteries.
• Joel 3:6-8 : 6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head; 8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for Yahweh has spoken it."
• Amos 2:11 : 11 I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn't this true, you children of Israel?" says Yahweh.
• Obad 1:21 : 21 Saviors will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh's.
• Mic 4:2-3 : 2 Many nations will go and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem; 3 and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more.
• Mic 5:4-9 : 4 He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God: and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth. 5 He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land, and when he marches through our fortresses, then we will raise against him seven shepherds, and eight leaders of men. 6 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its gates. He will deliver us from the Assyrian, when he invades our land, and when he marches within our border. 7 The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, that don't wait for man, nor wait for the sons of men. 8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is no one to deliver. 9 Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, and let all of your enemies be cut off.
• Zech 1:21 : 21 Then I asked, "What are these coming to do?" He said, "These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."
• Ps 49:2-9 : 2 both low and high, rich and poor together. 3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp. 5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6 Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches-- 7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. 8 For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, 9 That he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.