Passage

Zechariah 9.9-10

Book: Zechariah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

7. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also shall be a remnant for our God; and he shall be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. 8. And I will encamp about my house against the army, that none pass through or return; and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.

9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water. 12. Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee. (Zechariah 9:7-12, ASV)

WEB

7. I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. 8. I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.

9. Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water. 12. Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. (Zechariah 9:7-12, WEB)

KJV

7. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. ^{blood: Heb. bloods} 8. And I will encamp about mine 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 have I seen with mine eyes.

9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. ^{having: or, saving himself} 10. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. ^{by: or, whose covenant is by blood} 12. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; (Zechariah 9:7-12, KJV)

YLT

7. And turned aside his blood from his mouth, His abominations from between his teeth, And he hath remained, even he, to our God, And he hath been as a leader in Judah, And Ekron as a Jebusite. 8. And I have pitched for My house a camp, Because of the passer through, and of the returner, And pass not through against them again doth an exactor, For, now, I have seen with My eyes.

9. Rejoice exceedingly, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, Lo, thy King doth come to thee, Righteous, and saved is He, Afflicted, and riding on an ass, And on a colt, a son of she-asses. 10. And I have cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, Yea, cut off hath been the bow of battle, And he hath spoken peace to nations, And his rule [is] from sea unto sea, And from the river unto the ends of earth.

Also thou, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent thy prisoners out of the pit, There is no water in it. 12. Turn back to a fenced place, Ye prisoners of the hope, Even to-day a second announcer I restore to thee. (Zechariah 9:7-12, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the prophetic voice of the book, in an oracle (massa) carrying no date formula
Audience: Judah and Jerusalem, addressed in the second person throughout
Location: Jerusalem and the surrounding land, with the nations in view
Time period: undated. Chapters 9-14 stand apart from the dated material of 1-8, and their date and composition are disputed; the reading below rests on the text rather than on a settled dating

Theological reading

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass... And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea."

The two verses have to be read together, because v. 10 explains what kind of king v. 9 announced.

Four things are said of him. He is just (righteous), which is the standard requirement of a Davidic ruler. He is "having salvation," a passive form better rendered as saved or vindicated, which describes a king who has been delivered rather than one who has merely delivered others. He is ani, lowly or afflicted, the word used of the poor and oppressed. And he rides a donkey, an animal of peace and of civil rather than military procession (compare 1 Kings 1:33, where Solomon rides David's mule to his anointing).

Verse 10 then removes the weapons, and the order of removal is the surprising part. The chariot goes from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, which is to say the disarmament falls on God's own people first, before peace is spoken to the nations. A universal dominion "from sea to sea" is announced in the same breath as the abolition of the means normally required to hold one.

Matthew 21:5 quotes the passage at the triumphal entry, and John 12:15 does the same while adding that the disciples understood it only afterward (John 12:16).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H3467 - yasha, yasha, Strong's H3467
H7965 - shalom, shalom, Strong's H7965
H1121 - ben, ben, Strong's H1121

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.