Zechariahchapter 9
17 verses · Zechariah · 520 to 518 BC · The Twelve
Original Language
Zechariah 9— Hebrew word study · with the Hebrew tradition
In Jewish life
Jewish practice and Jewish teaching both have something to say about Zechariah 9. 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 9. 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
6 rows sit beside their verses in the text, on 6 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.
The word against Hadrach, Tyre, and the Philistine cities1
Zechariah 9:1· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 9:1
In the land of Hadrach R’ Judah the son of Ilai expounded: This is the Messiah, who is sharp against the nations and soft to Israel.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Zechariah 9:2· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:3· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:4· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:5· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:6· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:7· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:8· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Your King comes, lowly, riding on a donkey9
Zechariah 9:9· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:10· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 9:10
And I will cut off the chariots for they will not need them.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Prisoners of hope released by the blood of the covenant11
Zechariah 9:11· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 9:11
You, too shall be saved with him, as he is just and victorious. For with the blood of your covenant, I prophesied for you for the future; and for now, too, from the Babylonian exile in which you are now found.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Zechariah 9:12· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 9:12
Return to the stronghold To your strength and to your glory, even though you are now under the rule of the kings of Persia. you prisoners of hope who hoped for Me until now that My words [would] be fulfilled at the end of seventy years.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Zechariah 9:13· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 9:13
For I bend Judah for Me Eventually, the Greeks will wrest the kingdom from the Persian kings and inflict harm upon you, and I will bend Judah to be a war bow for me; and Judah will wage war against the Greeks in the days of the Hasmoneans.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
The LORD seen over them, his people like jewels of a crown14
Zechariah 9:14· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Rashi on Zechariah 9:14
And the Lord shall appear over them In the book of Josippon (chap. 18), we find that at that time a sign appeared to the people of Jerusalem.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
Zechariah 9:15· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:16· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible
Zechariah 9:17· Hebrew and glosses: STEP Bible