Zechariah 9:8

9:1-8 Here are judgements foretold on several nations. While the Macedonians and Alexander's successors were in warfare in these countries, the Lord promised to protect his people. God's house lies in the midst of an enemy's country; his church is as a lily among thorns. God's power and goodness are seen in her special preservation. The Lord encamps about his church, and while armies of proud opposers shall pass by and return, his eyes watch over her, so that they cannot prevail, and shortly the time will come when no exactor shall pass by her any more.

And I will encamp about {k} my house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now {l} have I seen with my eyes. (k) He shows that God's power alone will be sufficient to defend his Church against all adversaries, be they ever so cruel, or assert their power ever so often. (l) That is, God has now seen the great injuries and afflictions with which they have been afflicted by their enemies.

Zechariah 9:8 . I will encamp about my house — About this temple, and my church, of which this temple is an emblem, that I may defend it from all its enemies. Because of the army — The Persian and Grecian army marching to and fro through Judea. The Hebrew is literally, I will encamp about my house as a garrison, the word מצבה , here used, meaning properly a military guard set to keep watch and ward against any hostile approach. “The purport of this passage is, that, while these revolutions were taking place in the neighbouring states, God would act as a guard in favour of his household, or family, against the armies that were marching forward and backward, so as not to suffer any enemy to come near to molest them; for which purpose his eyes, he says, were now, that is, at the time he was speaking of, continually upon the watch.” — Blayney. Many think this alludes to the Maccabees, who were defenders of the house of God against Antiochus Epiphanes. They were as a wall of brass round about the sanctuary. From their days God preserved the temple against the profanation of strangers, till after the death of Jesus Christ, when he forsook it entirely; choosing the Christian Church for his temple, and making it his peculiar care to watch over, encamp round about, and protect it. And no oppressor shall pass through any more — Or rather, any longer. None of those that now threaten to invade or oppress them shall prosper in their attempts against them.

I will encamp about; pitch, not the tents of travellers and shepherds. but of an army, God in the midst of his own hosts, and angels among them, guardians, too. Mine house; this material temple, but as it is an emblem of the church. Because of the army; of the Persian and Grecian army, whose march lay either through or near to Judea and Jerusalem. Armies are very troublesome, costly, and dangerous in all their marches; the people of God, his city, and temple, shall be as garrisoned and fortified, as if secured by an host; God will have angels pitch their tents round about those that fear the Lord. Judea was a thoroughfare to the Egyptian and Syrian armies, to the Grecian and Persian; an unadvised attempt to stop Pharaoh-necho in his passage through once cost Josiah his life; but God will be a guard to his people, whilst their enemies are moving. All this was accomplished in the times of Alexander and his successors; in midst of those wars, though the Jews suffered somewhat, yet they were mightily defended by their God. No oppressor shall pass through them any more; as formerly, when they had ingress, egress, regress at their pleasure, as if lords of the soil, and of the people too. For now have I seen with mine eyes; I ever saw it, but now I manifest that I take notice of it purposely to redress it: I see how vilely they use my people; they shall do so no more. I behold mischief and spite, to requite it, as Psalm 10:14 .

8 . about mine house ] Rather, for my house. It is a kind of dativus commodi . I will pitch my camp for (the sake of, the protection of) my house, i.e. either of the Temple, or of the people. Comp. Zechariah 3:7 , note. because of ] Lit. from, which may mean, so as to defend it from the army, from him that passeth by , &c. The R. V. renders, against the army, that none pass through or return . that passeth by, and … that returneth ] This is referred by Pusey to “Alexander, who passed by with his army on his way to Egypt, and returned having founded Alexandria.” But the use of the phrase in the more general sense of “going backward and forward,” both in this Book ( Zechariah 7:14 , note) and in the only other places where it occurs in the O. T. ( Exodus 32:27 ; Ezekiel 35:7 ), shews that the reference is more general, to the overrunning of the land by an invading army. The fact that of the four places in which alone this phrase occurs two are in this Book and one in each division of the Book, is in favour, so far as it goes, of a single authorship. now have I seen with mine eyes ] God is said to “see,” when He so takes notice of the actions of men as to interpose, as He here promises to do, for the deliverance of His people and the destruction of their enemies. Exodus 2:25 ; Exodus 3:7 ; Exodus 3:9 . Comp.

Zechariah 9:1 supra . “Nihil aliud exprimere verba possunt, quam velle Jovam in populum suum ejusque hostes jamjam intentos habere oculos, ut illum servet, hos perdat.” Maurer. The story of Alexander’s visit to Jerusalem, as it is gathered from Josephus ( Ant . Bk. xi. c. 8) and from the Talmud is thus related by Dean Stanley. After the conquest of Tyre and Gaza, Alexander had approached Jerusalem, when “suddenly from the city emerged a long procession, the whole population streamed out, dressed in white. The priestly tribe, in their white robes; the High Priest, apparently the chief authority in the place, in his purple and gold attire, his turban on his head, bearing the golden plate on which was inscribed the ineffable name of Jehovah … It was at the sunrise of a winter morning, long afterwards observed as a joyous festival, when they stood before the king. To the astonishment of the surrounding chiefs Alexander descended from his chariot and bowed to the earth before the Jewish leader. None ventured to ask the meaning of this seeming frenzy, save Parmenio alone. ‘Why should he, whom all men worship, worship the High Priest of the Jews?’ ‘Not him,’ replied the king, ‘but the God whose High Priest he is I worship.

8. encamp about—(Ps 34:7). mine house—namely, the Jewish people (Zec 3:7; Ho 8:1) [Maurer]. Or, the temple: reassuring the Jews engaged in building, who might otherwise fear their work would be undone by the conqueror [Moore]. The Jews were, in agreement with this prophecy, uninjured by Alexander, though he punished the Samaritans. Typical of their final deliverance from every foe. passeth by … returneth—Alexander, when advancing against Jerusalem, was arrested by a dream, so that neither in "passing by" to Egypt, nor in "returning," did he injure the Jews, but conferred on them great privileges. no oppressor … pass through … any more—The prophet passes from the immediate future to the final deliverance to come (Isa 60:18; Eze 28:24). seen with mine eyes—namely, how Jerusalem has been oppressed by her foes [Rosenmuller] (Ex 3:7; 2:25). God is said now to have seen, because He now begins to bring the foe to judgment, and manifests to the world His sense of His people's wrongs.

Verse 8. - While the heathen world suffers the judgment of God, he protects his own people. I will encamp about ( for the protection of ) my house. God's house, or family, is the kingdom and Church of Israel, as Hosea 8:1 . Septuagint, Υποστήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ μου ἀνάστημα , "I will erect a fortification for my house." Because of the army. It may also be translated "against," or "from;" i.e. to defend it from the hostile army. Others, pointing differently, render, "as a garrison," or "rampart." Because of ( against ) him that passeth by, etc. Against all hostile attacks. The phrase, "him that passeth by and him that returneth," is used of an enemy making incursions, or attacking at various points (see note on Zechariah 7:14). The Vulgate gives the whole clause thus: Circumdabo domum meam ex his, qui militant mihi euntes et revertentes , "I will defend my house with a guard chosen from those who serve me and do my will," i.e. angels. But this seems far from the signification of the Hebrew. Pusey restricts the meaning to the proceedings of Alexander, who passed by Judaea on his way to Egypt, and returned by the same route, without doing any injury to Jerusalem. Here comes in the Talmudic story related by Josephus ('Ant.,' 11:08). The Jews "repaid the protection of Persia with a devoted loyalty, which prompted them to refuse the demand of submission made by Alexander during the siege of Tyre.

He marched to chastise them after the fall of Gaza, and the beautiful city had already risen before his view on the hill of Zion, when he found the high priest Jaddua waiting his approach at the watch station of Sapha, clad in his robes of gold and purple, and followed by a train of priests and citizens in pure white. The conqueror bowed in reverence to the Holy Name upon the high priest's frontlet; and, being asked by Parmenio the reason of his conduct, said that in a dream at Dium, he had seen the God of Jaddua, who encouraged him to pass over into Asia, and promised him success. Then entering Jerusalem, he offered sacrifice in the temple, heard the prophecy of Daniel about himself; and granted certain privileges to all the Jews throughout his empire. The desire to honour a shrine so celebrated as, the Jewish temple is quite in accordance with the conduct of Alexander at Ilium and Ephesus, Gordium and Tyre. The privileges he is said to have conferred upon the Jews were enjoyed under his successors, and some minor matters have been adduced in confirmation of the story. On the other hand, the classical writers are entirely silent on the subject, and the details of Josephus involve grave historical inconsistencies. It seems not an unreasonable conjecture that the story is an embellishment of some incident that occurred when the high priest came to Gaza to tender the submission of the Jews.