TEXT [Commentary]

black diamond   D.   The Exiles Are Called Home (2:6-13)

6 The LORD says, “Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds. 7 Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon!”

8 After a period of glory, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent me[*] against the nations who plundered you. For he said, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.[*] 9 I will raise my fist to crush them, and their own slaves will plunder them.” Then you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sent me.

10 The LORD says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem,[*] for I am coming to live among you. 11 Many nations will join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent me to you. 12 The land of Judah will be the LORD’s special possession in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem to be his own city. 13 Be silent before the LORD, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.”

NOTES

2:6 [10] Come away! The repeated interjection (hoy [TH1945, ZH2098]) is translated variously as “Ho!” (KJV), “Up!” (NRSV), “Oh!” (NJB), “Listen!” (so Petersen 1984:172-173; cf. Isa 18:1; 55:1; Jer 48:6). The emphatic construction carries the force of a promise.

north. This is a metaphor for the “far reaches of the earth” as well as a literal statement since one needed to travel north (following the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys) when moving from east to west (or vice versa) in the biblical world (see the discussion in Peterson 1984:175). Military campaigns against Syro-Palestine typically came from the north, which is why Jeremiah refers to “armies of the kingdoms of the north” (Jer 1:13-16).

four winds. This is a figure of speech for the four major points of the compass (cf. Ezek 12:14; 37:9). The Hebrew exiles would return to Judah and Jerusalem from all directions.

2:7 [11] in Babylon. Lit., “dweller in the daughter of Babylon.” See the discussion in Meyers and Meyers (1987:164) on the combination of the word “daughter” plus a toponym as a figure of speech for the collective inhabitants of a place. The immediate context suggests that the inhabitants addressed were the Hebrew exiles scattered throughout Babylonia.

2:8 [12] After a period of glory, the LORD . . . sent me. The line is especially difficult in the Hebrew text and the relation of the second half to the first is unclear (lit., “Thus says the Lord of hosts after [the] glory [he] sent me”). It is possible that the word “glory” refers to God (see 2:5), indicating that “the Glory” or God himself sent the prophet (NLT; so Petersen 1984:172-173; Meyers and Meyers 1987:162, 165).

precious possession. Lit., “the pupil of his eye.” The idiom may refer to Israel as God’s elect people and hence his precious possession. The expression may also mean that the one who harms Israel “touches the pupil of his (own) eye” and brings harm to himself in the form of divine judgment (i.e., harming God’s elect is equivalent to poking yourself in the eye!).

2:9 [13] you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sent me. The pronoun “me” most likely refers to Zechariah as God’s sent one (see commentary).

2:10 [14] live. The word is the same one used in reference to God’s intention to “live” (shakan [TH7931, ZH8905]) in the Tabernacle (e.g., Exod 25:8).

2:12 [16] special possession. The phrase is unusual, consisting of the verb “take possession” (nakhal [TH5157, ZH5706]) and the noun “portion” (kheleq [TH2506, ZH2750]). The expression has covenant connotations, as Israel is the Lord’s inheritance or “special possession” (Exod 34:9) and the people of Israel “belong to the LORD” (Deut 32:9-10).

holy land. The only time this designation for the land of Israel occurs in the OT. The land was made “holy” by virtue of the association of God’s glory and presence with the Jerusalem Temple (cf. Pss 11:4; 15:1).

2:13 [17] Be silent. This word (has [TH2013A, ZH2187]) is an onomatopoetic word like our English word “hush” (cf. Hab 2:20; Zeph 1:7).

COMMENTARY [Text]

God’s call for the return of the Hebrew exiles from Babylonia is one of two oracles accompanying the visions of Zechariah (see also 6:9-15). The prophetic exhortation divides neatly into two parts: The first promises a restoration of God’s people to the land of Israel (2:6-9), and the second promises the restoration of God’s presence with his people in Jerusalem (2:10-13).

The first message of the accompanying oracle continues the theme of divine protection emphasized in the third vision (2:8; cf. 2:5). The reference to slaves plundering their oppressors echoes events associated with the Exodus from Egypt when God predisposed the Egyptians to pay the Israelites to leave their land (2:9; cf. Exod 11:2-3; 12:35-36)! The second message anticipates the fourth vision—the cleansing of the High Priest as a necessary preparation for welcoming God’s presence back to Jerusalem (3:1-10).

Taken together, the elements of Zechariah’s message highlight several facets of God’s character and redemptive work in history. First, God is just. He will not let the guilty go unpunished (Pss 7:17; 71:16; Nah 1:3). The hound of divine judgment will pursue and crush the nations who have plundered Israel (2:8). Second, God is a deliverer (Exod 12:42; 1 Sam 2:1; Pss 119:123; 144:2). Shouting and rejoicing typically mark Israel’s celebration of God’s deliverance (2:10; e.g., 9:9; Pss 20:5; 63:7; Isa 12:6; Zeph 3:14). The celebration of divine deliverance anticipates the festive joy of the enthronement of Yahweh as king in Jerusalem once again and may point to the shouting and rejoicing of the nations around the throne of the Lamb in the eschaton (cf. Pss 98:4-6; 132:8-9; Rev 7:9-10). Yet, in view of what God was about to do in reversing the fortunes of Israel and the nation who oppressed them, reverent silence is demanded (2:13). Third, despite his transcendent holiness, God desires to establish a home address among his people—to “move into the neighborhood,” so to speak (2:10-11). The theme of the divine presence, showcasing the immanence of God, extends from the Tabernacle of Moses (Exod 25:8-9) to the restored creation (Rev 21:3). Finally, God’s election of Israel as his “special possession” (2:11-12) results in blessing for the nations, as well, in fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).

The almost formulaic declaration “you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sent me” is repeated in each of the messages of the accompanying oracle (2:8, 9, 11). The same validation formula also appears in 4:9 and 6:15 in Zechariah’s Visions (1:7–6:15). Among those former Hebrew captives recently arrived from Babylonia and other points to the east, a crisis of doubt had arisen concerning the prophetic word. God’s people had been back in the land of covenant promise for two decades, but the predictions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel seemed to have failed. The people looked for much, like the new covenant promised by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31) and the peace and prosperity promised by Ezekiel (Ezek 36:11), but found little (cf. Hag 1:6). Zechariah stressed his divine commission to authenticate his ministry as God’s prophet and to certify his message as the word of God. A series of impending events would indeed confirm the reliability of God’s word to Israel through his prophet, beginning with the rebuilding of Yahweh’s Temple in Jerusalem.