Zechariah 13 KJV
Cleansing from Sin
Zechariah Chapter 13: Cleansing from Sin
Verse 7's command to smite the shepherd is quoted verbatim in Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14:27 to explain the disciples' flight, but the Hebrew participle 'fellow' (ืขืืืชื) implies the shepherd shares divine status, creating a stronger Trinitarian implication than the Greek translation captures.
1n that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
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Did You Know?
Verse 7's command to smite the shepherd is quoted verbatim in Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14:27 to explain the disciples' flight, but the Hebrew participle 'fellow' (ืขืืืชื) implies the shepherd shares divine status, creating a stronger Trinitarian implication than the Greek translation captures.
The false prophet's claim in verse 5 to be merely a 'husbandman' (ืืืจ) replicates the exact phrasing Amos uses to disclaim prophetic office in Amos 7:14, suggesting Zechariah deliberately invokes an earlier prophetic self-defense tradition to expose inauthentic claimants.
The 'wounds between thine hands' in verse 6 are explained in the Targum and medieval Jewish commentators as self-inflicted marks of ecstatic Baal prophets, yet the same phrase later became a proof-text in Christian polemics for stigmata or crucifixion wounds, showing a striking interpretive reversal across traditions.
Verses 8-9's reduction to a one-third remnant that is refined 'as silver is refined' employs the same metallurgical verb (ืฆืจืฃ) found in Malachi 3:2-3, linking two post-exilic prophets in a shared theology of fiery purgation that prepares the remnant for renewed covenant relationship.
The chapter opens with a 'fountain opened' (ืืงืืจ ื ืคืชื) for sin, a phrase that echoes the sudden release of subterranean waters in Genesis 7:11 yet is here redirected from judgment to cleansing, reversing the flood motif into an image of messianic purification.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain Connected with the close of the twelfth chapter. The mourning penitents are here comforted. fountain opened โ It has been long opened, but then first it shall be so "to the house oโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Zechariah 13 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Cleansing of the jews from sin; Abolition of idolatry; The shepherd smitten; The people of the land cut off, except a third part refined by trials.
- 1
- Connected with the close of the twelfth chapter. The mourning penitents are here comforted. fountain opened โ It has been long opened, but then first it shall be so "to the house of David," &c. (representing all Israel) after their long and weary wanderings. Like Hagar in the wilderness they remain ignorant of the refreshment near them, until God "opens their eyes" (Ge 21:19) [MOORE]. It is not the fountain, but their eyes that need to be opened. It shall be a "fountain" ever flowing; not a laver needing constantly to be replenished with water, such as stood between the tabernacle and altar (Ex 30:18). for sin... uncleanness โ that is, judicial guilt and moral impurity. Thus justification and sanctification are implied in this verse as both flowing from the blood of Christ, not from ceremonial sacrifices (1Co 1:30; Heb 9:13, 14; 1Jo 1:7; compare Eze 36:25). Sin in Hebrew is literally a missing the mark or way.
- 2
- Consequences of pardon; not indolence, but the extirpation of sin. names of... idols โ Their very names were not to be mentioned; thus the Jews, instead of Mephibaal, said Mephibosheth (Bosheth meaning a contemptible thing) (Ex 23:13; De 12:3; Ps 16:4). out of the land โ Judea's two great sins, idolatry and false prophecy, have long since ceased. But these are types of all sin (for example, covetousness, Eph 5:5, a besetting sin of the Jews now). Idolatry, combined with the "spirit" of "Satan," is again to be incarnated in "the man of sin," who is to arise in Judea (2Th 2:3-12), and is to be "consumed with the Spirit of the Lord's mouth." Compare as to Antichrist's papal precursor, "seducing spirits... doctrines of devils," &c., 1Ti 4:1-3; 2Pe 2:1. the unclean spirit โ Hebrew, spirit of uncleanness (compare Re 16:13); opposed to "the Spirit of holiness" (Ro 1:4), "spirit of error" (1Jo 4:6). One assuming to be divinely inspired, but in league with Satan.
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