When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- BSB For I will bend Judah as My bow and fit it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece. I will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
- NKJV For I have bent Judah, My bow, Fitted the bow with Ephraim, And raised up your sons, O Zion, Against your sons, O Greece, And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”
- NASB For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.
- NLT Judah is my bow, and Israel is my arrow. Jerusalem is my sword, and like a warrior, I will brandish it against the Greeks.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will wield Judah and Ephraim like a bow and sword against Greece. He will empower His people to triumph over their enemies.
Overview
The Lord pictures His people as weapons in His hand, raised up against 'your sons, Greece,' often connected to the Maccabean victories over the Hellenistic Seleucids. The imagery shows God strengthening His people for spiritual and historical conflict. Ultimately it points to the triumph of God's kingdom over every hostile power.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 31
- Rev 17:14These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
- Zech 10:3–7Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
- Isa 49:2And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
- Joel 3:6–8The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
- Rev 19:15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
- Ps 45:3Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.
- Zech 12:2–8Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
- Zech 1:21Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.
- Ps 18:32–35It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
- Rev 1:16And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
- 2 Cor 10:3–5For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
- Amos 2:11And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.
- 1 Cor 1:21–28For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
- Heb 4:12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
- Ps 144:1Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
- Dan 8:21–25And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
- Obad 1:21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.
- Lam 4:2The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
- Dan 11:32–34And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
- Mic 5:4–9And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
- Rev 19:21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
- Rom 15:16–20That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
- Eph 6:17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
- Rev 2:12And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
- Isa 41:15–16Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
- 2 Tim 4:7I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
- Mic 4:2–3And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, 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 the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
- Jer 51:20Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
- Ps 149:6Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
- Mark 16:15–20And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
- Ps 49:2–9Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 9:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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