Zechariahchapter 13
9 verses · Zechariah · 520 to 518 BC · The Twelve
Original Language
Zechariah 13— Hebrew word study · with the Hebrew tradition
In Jewish life
Jewish practice and Jewish teaching both have something to say about Zechariah 13. Three things follow: where it is read, what is done because of it, and how the rabbis have taught it. The purpose is to inform a Christian reader what Jews believe and how Judaism was and is practised.
The reading
The yearly cycle does not read Zechariah 13. The Haftarah is drawn from the Prophets a passage at a time rather than continuously, so most chapters of most prophetic books are never read in the service, and this is one of them.
The verse numbers here are the ones a Hebrew Bible carries, which differ from an English Bible by a verse or two in several places. The Sephardi reading is named only where this site records a difference; communities vary beyond what is listed. What these books are, and how a Christian reader meets them →
Where the rabbis cite this chapter
4 rows sit beside their verses in the text, on 4 verses of this chapter. No row that speaks to the chapter as a whole is recorded. Every quote links to its full source.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria (sefaria.org); excerpts follow each version’s license, and every passage opens at its source.
How to read a word below: the Hebrewword, then how it sounds, then what it means, then its number in Strong’s concordance, a widely used lookup this site follows (H for Hebrew and Aramaic, G for Greek). Square brackets hold a word the English supplies that the Hebrew does not, angle brackets mark the Hebrew’s own grammatical elements that English renders as separate words, and the mark ס or פ is where the Hebrew manuscripts end a paragraph.
A fountain opened for sin and uncleanness1
Zechariah 13:1· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 13:1
for purification and for sprinkling and for sprinkling. So did Jonathan paraphrase: I will forgive their sins as they become purified with sprinkling water and with the ashes of the cow of purification; i.e., with the ashes of purification.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Zechariah 13:2· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 13:3· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 13:4· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 13:4
a hairy mantle So is the custom of those who entice or draw away [the people], to enwrap themselves with mantles as though they are righteous men in order that their lies be accepted.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Zechariah 13:5· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 13:5
for a man entrusted me with his cattle Menahem (Machbereth p., second definition.) interpreted as an expression of “livestock of flocks and livestock of cattle” (Gen.:14). He entrusted me from my youth to watch his livestock.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Zechariah 13:6· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 13:6
And one will say to him, “What are these wounds between your hands?” Between your shoulders. There they flog the sinners.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Strike the shepherd; a third brought through the fire7
Zechariah 13:7· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 13:8· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 13:9· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible