Zechariah 10:8
in Zechariah 10I will whistle for them to gather, for I have redeemed them; and they will be as numerous as they once were.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them; and they shall increase as they have increased.
KJV
I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.
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This verse in Zechariah 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI will hiss for them - אשרקה eshrekah, “I will shriek for them;” call them with such a shrill strong voice, that they shall hear me, and find that it is the voice of their redemption.
This site's exposition
I will hiss for them, and gather them
on Zechariah 10:8-9
The Lord hisses, or whistles, for his scattered people the way a shepherd signals a flock, gathering those he has redeemed so that they increase as they once increased before the exile scattered them. Verse 9 admits the scattering was real, sown among the nations, yet promises it was never final, they shall remember me in far countries and shall live with their children and return. Clarke reads sowing as a deliberate image, seed scattered in order to multiply rather than to be lost, the dispersion itself made to serve the eventual harvest of return.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8 onwards) I will hiss for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them; and they shall be multiplied as they were multiplied before. And I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember me far off, and they shall live with their children and return. And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, and no place shall be found for them.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The preaching of the gospel was, as it were, God's hissing for souls to come to Jesus Christ, his calling in his scattered sheep to the green pastures. I will gather them, for I have redeemed them. Note, Those whom Christ has redeemed by his blood God will gather by his grace, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.
I will hiss for them,....
I will gather them, and they shall increase. Note, The church of Christ is a growing body, as long as it is in the present state of minority, till it comes to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. There are added to it daily such as shall be saved.
Gracious things and glorious ones, very glorious and very gracious, were promised to this poor afflicted people in the foregoing chapter; now here God intimates to them that he will for these things be enquired of by them, and that he expects they should acknowledge him in all their ways and in all his ways towards them--and not idols that were rivals with him for their respects.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The multitudes mentioned by JOSEPHUS [Wars of the Jews, 3:2], as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the prophecy. for I have redeemed them--namely, in My covenant purpose "redeemed" both temporally and spiritually. as they have increased--in former times.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will hiss for them - Formerly God had so spoken of His summoning the enemies of His people to chastise them. “It shall be in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria, and they shall come, and shall rest all of them in. the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns and upon all bushes” Isa 7:18-19. “He will hiss unto them from the ends of the earth, and behold they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary or stumble among them” . He would gather them, like the countless numbers of the insect creation, which, if united, would irresistibly desolate life. He would summon them, as the bee-owner, by his shrill call, summons and unites his own swarm. Now, contrariwise God would summon with the same His own people. The fulfillment of the chastisement was the earnest of the ease of the fulfillment of the mercy. For I have redeemed them - Then they are His, being redeemed at so dear a price. Dionysius: “For Christ, as far as in Him lay, redeemed all.” God had done this in purpose, as John speaks of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” Rev 13:8. And they shall increase as they increased - Kimchi: “As they increased in Egypt, so shall they increase at that time.” The marvels of God’s favor in Egypt shall be repeated. The increase there had been promised beforehand. “Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation” Gen 46:3. The fulfillment is recorded, “the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them” Exo 1:7. […]
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶשְׁרְקָ֥ה | ʾeshrekah | I will whistle | H8319 → | |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | for them | ||
| וַאֲקַבְּצֵ֖ם | vaakabetzem | and I will gather them | H6908 → | |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פְדִיתִ֑ים | feditim | I have redeemed them | H6299 → | |
| וְרָב֖וּ | veravu | and they will multiply | H7235 → | |
| כְּמ֥וֹ | kemo | as | H3644 → | 143 times |
| רָבֽוּ׃ | ravu | they multiplied | H7235 → |
אֶשְׁרְקָ֥הI will whistle
ʾeshrekahH8319 →
לָהֶ֛םfor them
lahem
וַאֲקַבְּצֵ֖םand I will gather them
vaakabetzemH6908 →
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
פְדִיתִ֑יםI have redeemed them
feditimH6299 →
וְרָב֖וּand they will multiply
veravuH7235 →
כְּמ֥וֹas
kemoH3644 →143 times
רָבֽוּ׃they multiplied
ravuH7235 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:29
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
- John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- John 6:37
Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.
- Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- Isaiah 55:1–3
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Matthew 11:29
Through
Isaiah 5:26He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
it leads to
- Isaiah 7:18
On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.
- Isaiah 7:18
Through
Isaiah 7:18On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:26
He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
- Isaiah 5:26
Through
Jeremiah 33:22As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister…
it leads to
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 22:17
About Zechariah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.