Zechariah 10

Ask the LORD for rain in the spring, when the late rains come. The LORD is the one who makes the storm clouds. He gives people showers of rain, and he gives everyone plants growing in the field.

1Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

Note"The LORD" in small capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants usually written YHWH. Jewish readers said "Lord" aloud in its place, and English translations have followed that custom since 1611. The farming year in this region depended on two rainy periods: the "former rain" of October–November, which softened the ground for plowing and sowing, and the "latter rain" of March–April, which swelled the grain just before harvest. Missing the late rain meant a failed crop even after a good planting.

2The idols speak nonsense, and the fortune-tellers see visions that are not real. They tell dreams that are false, and the comfort they give is worth nothing. So the people wandered off like sheep. They suffered, because they had no shepherd to lead them.

2For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "idols" here is *teraphim*, small household figures kept in the home and consulted for guidance, not the large public images of a temple. Diviners were professionals who claimed to read the future by set techniques: examining the organs of sacrificed animals, casting lots, watching birds, interpreting dreams. "Shepherd" was a standard title for a king or ruler throughout the ancient Near East, not a comment on the countryside. A people "with no shepherd" is a people with no functioning government or leadership.

3"My anger burned against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders of the flock. For the LORD of Armies has come to care for his flock, the people of Judah, and has made them like his own proud warhorse in battle.

3Mine 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.

Note"The LORD of Hosts" translates a title meaning the LORD commanding armies (either the armies of Israel or the heavenly armies; ancient readers heard both. The King James "goats" translates a word for the he-goats that walk at the head of a flock, and it was used as an image for the chief men of a nation) the ones out in front. The image and the insult go together: the leaders are being punished.

4From Judah will come the cornerstone. From him will come the tent peg, and the bow used in battle, and every ruler together.

4Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.

NoteBoth images are drawn from building. The "cornerstone" is the stone at the angle of a wall that all other courses are lined up against, so it stands for whatever a structure depends on. The "tent peg" (or "nail") is either the stake that anchors a tent against wind or the peg driven into a wall to hang weight from; either way, the thing that holds everything else in place. What these images refer to is left open, the Hebrew simply says "from him," and "him" may mean Judah, or the God speaking, or a ruler yet to come.

5They will be like strong soldiers who trample their enemies into the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, because the LORD is with them, and the enemy riders on horses will be put to shame.

5And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

NoteCavalry were the expensive, prestigious arm of an ancient army; ordinary Israelite forces fought on foot. The point of the line is that infantry will humiliate horsemen, an unexpected reversal to the first hearers.

6I will make the people of Judah strong, and I will rescue the people of Joseph. I will bring them back and settle them again, because I feel deep pity for them. It will be as if I had never turned them away, for I am the LORD their God, and I will answer them.

6And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.

NoteAfter Solomon's death the kingdom split in two. "The house of Judah" is the southern kingdom, around Jerusalem; "the house of Joseph" is the northern kingdom, named for the tribes descended from Joseph's sons. The north was destroyed by Assyria and its people deported roughly two centuries before Zechariah wrote, so promising the return of "Joseph" meant promising something that had long looked finished.

7The people of Ephraim will be like strong soldiers, and their hearts will be glad, the way wine makes a person glad. Their children will see it and be happy. Their hearts will be full of joy because of the LORD.

7And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.

NoteEphraim was the largest tribe of the northern kingdom, and its name is regularly used as shorthand for that whole kingdom, the same way "Judah" stands for the south.

8I will whistle for them and gather them in, because I have bought them back. They will grow to be as many as they once were.

8I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.

Note"Hiss" in 1611 English meant to whistle, without the note of contempt the word carries now. Shepherds whistled to call scattered animals in; the same verb is used elsewhere for whistling to summon bees or an army. "Redeem" is the language of buying something back: paying the price to free a relative sold into slavery, or to recover family land that had been sold off. The word carries the idea of a debt actually settled, not merely a rescue.

9I will scatter them like seed among the nations, but even in far-off lands they will remember me. They and their children will stay alive, and they will come back.

9And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.

NoteThe Hebrew verb can be read either as a promise ("I will scatter them like seed among the nations") or as a concession about what has already happened ("though I scattered them"). Translators are divided, and the line works either way: sowing is both a dispersal and a planting that expects a crop.

10I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, until there is no more room for them.

10I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.

NoteEgypt and Assyria were the two great powers that had swallowed Israelite populations (Assyria deporting the north, Egypt a traditional refuge and place of forced labor. Assyria no longer existed as an empire in Zechariah's day, so the two names function as shorthand for the lands of exile in every direction. Gilead is the highland east of the Jordan, Lebanon the mountain country to the north) the far edges of the territory Israel had held at its largest.

11He will pass through the sea of trouble and strike down the waves of the sea, and all the deep places of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be brought low, and the royal power of Egypt will be taken away.

11And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

NoteThe wording deliberately recalls the escape from Egypt through the divided sea. The Hebrew phrase rendered "the sea of trouble" is difficult and has been read as "the sea of distress," as a place name, or as "he will pass through the sea with distress"; the ambiguity is in the original. "The river" without further description usually means either the Euphrates or the Nile; the mention of Egypt in the same breath points to the Nile here. A scepter was the ornamented staff a king held as the visible sign of his authority, so losing the scepter means losing the power to rule.

12I will make them strong in the LORD, and they will live their lives in his name," says the LORD.

12And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

Note"Walk up and down" is 1611 English for going about one's ordinary life, not pacing back and forth. To do so "in his name" meant to live as someone who belongs to that God and acts under his authority, a name in this culture stood for the person and their standing, not just a label.