Yoel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ¹  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ²  will be holy –

conquering armies ³  will no longer pass through it.

Nahum 1:15

Proclamation of the Deliverance of Judah

1:15 (2:1) ⁴  Look! A herald is running ⁵  on the mountains!

A messenger is proclaiming deliverance: ⁶ 

“Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah!

Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God! ⁷ 

For never again ⁸  will the wicked ⁹  Assyrians ¹⁰  invade ¹¹  you,

they ¹²  have been completely destroyed.” ¹³ 

Zakharia 9:8

9:8 Then I will surround my temple ¹⁴  to protect it like a guard ¹⁵  from anyone crossing back and forth; so no one will cross over against them anymore as an oppressor, for now I myself have seen it.

Zakharia 1:1

Introduction

1:1 In the eighth month of Darius’ ¹⁶  second year, ¹⁷  the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, ¹⁸  son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:

[3:17]  ¹ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ³ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.

[1:15]  ⁴ sn Beginning with 1:15, the verse numbers through 2:13 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:15 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:13 ET = 2:14 HT. Beginning with 3:1, the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[1:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “the feet of a herald.”

[1:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “a messenger of peace.” The Hebrew noun translated “peace” is sometimes used in reference to deliverance or freedom from enemy attack or destruction (e.g., Jer 4:10; 6:14; 8:11; 12:5; 28:9; 29:7).

[1:15]  ⁷ sn The sacred vows to praise God were often made by Israelites as a pledge to proclaim the mercy of the Lord if he would be gracious to deliver (e.g., Gen 28:20; 31:13; Lev 7:16; Judg 11:30, 39; 1 Sam 1:11, 21; 2 Sam 15:7-8; Pss 22:25 [26]; 50:14; 56:12 [13]; 61:5 [6], 8 [9]; 65:1 [2]; 66:13; 116:14, 18; Eccl 5:4 [3]; Jonah 1:16; 2:9 [10]). The words “to praise God” are not in the Hebrew, but are added in the translation for clarification.

[1:15]  ⁸ tc The LXX reflects the plural יוֹסִיפוּ (yosifu, “they shall [never]”). The MT reads the singular יוֹסִיף (yosif, “he shall [never]”) which is also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah). The subject of the verb is the singular noun בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al, “the wicked one”) which is also misunderstood by the LXX (see below).

[1:15]  ⁹ tc The MT reads בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al, “the wicked one”; so ASV, NASB). The LXX reading εἰς παλαίωσιν (ei" palaiwsin, “to old age”) mistakenly derived בְּלִיַּעַל from בָּלָה (balah, “to become worn”). There are several places in the book of Nahum where the LXX produced poor translations.

[1:15]  tn Heb “the wicked one.” This is a collective singular and has been translated as a plural.

[1:15]  ¹⁰ tn The term “Assyrians” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context for clarity. If left unspecified, the prophetic statement could be understood to mean that the wicked [i.e., wicked conquerors in general] would never again invade Judah. Cf. NLT “your enemies from Nineveh.”

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “pass through you” (NASB); or “march against you”; NCV “attack you.”

[1:15]  ¹² tn Heb “he.” This is in agreement with the singular “wicked one” in the previous line.

[1:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “he is completely cut off.”

[9:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[9:8]  ¹⁵ tn Though a hapax legomenon, the מִצָּבָה (mitsavah) of the MT (from נָצַב, natsav, “take a stand”) is preferable to the suggestion מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”) or even מִצָּבָא (mitsava’, “from” or “against the army”). The context favors the idea of the Lord as a protector.

[1:1]  ¹⁶ sn Darius is Darius Hystaspes, king of Persia from 522-486 b.c.

[1:1]  ¹⁷ sn The eighth month of Darius’ second year was late October – late November, 520 b.c., by the modern (Julian) calendar. This is two months later than the date of Haggai’s first message to the same community (cf. Hag 1:1).

[1:1]  ¹⁸ sn Both Ezra (5:1; 6:14) and Nehemiah (12:16) speak of Zechariah as a son of Iddo only. A probable explanation is that Zechariah’s actual father Berechiah had died and the prophet was raised by his grandfather Iddo. The “Zechariah son of Barachiah” of whom Jesus spoke (Matt 23:35; Luke 11:51) was probably the martyred prophet by that name who may have been a grandson of the priest Jehoiada (2 Chr 24:20-22).