and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.
Parallel translations
- WEB and Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.
- KJV And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.
- NKJV Also against Hamath, which borders on it, And against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
- NASB And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
- NLT Doom is certain for Hamath, near Damascus, and for the cities of Tyre and Sidon, though they are so clever.
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
The judgment extends to Hamath and to wise, wealthy Tyre and Sidon. Even the cleverest, richest cities cannot escape God's sovereign word.
Overview
The oracle moves down the coast to the famed Phoenician cities, noted for their wisdom and commercial cunning. Their renowned skill and self-reliance will not shield them from the Lord's purposes. The passage prepares for the announcement of the coming King by first showing God's supremacy over the proud nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 49:23Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.
- Ezek 28:12“Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
- Ezek 28:2–5“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.
- Ezek 28:21–26“Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against her.
- Isa 23:1–18This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
- Ezek 26:1–21In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Joel 3:4–8Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
- 2 Kgs 25:21There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
- Amos 1:9–10This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood.
- 2 Kgs 23:33And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
- Obad 1:20And the exiles of this host of the Israelites will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev.
- Amos 6:14For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”
- Num 13:21So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
- 1 Kgs 17:9“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
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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 9:2 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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