Zechariah 10:9
in Zechariah 10Though I sow them among the nations, they will remember Me in distant lands; they and their children will live and return.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will sow them among the peoples; and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and shall return.
KJV
And 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.
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This verse in Zechariah 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And I will sow them among the nations - Such had been the prophecy of Hosea; “I will sow her unto Me in the earth,” as the prelude of spiritual mercies, “and I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy, and I will say to not-my-people, Thou art My people, and they shall say, my God” .
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
Now these were sown among the people, Hos. ii. And this contributed very much to the spreading of the gospel. The Jews that came from all parts to worship at Jerusalem fetched thence the gospel light and fire to their own countries, as those Acts ii. , and the eunuch, Acts viii.
And I will sow them among the people, The people of God in the Gentile world: this is to be understood of the conversion of the Jews, when they will become the good seed that hear the word, and understand it, and bring forth fruit; and of their being known, acknowledged, and reckoned among the people of God, who now are not; and of their being planted in Gospel churches, where the word is truly preached; the ordinances are faithfully administered; the Lord grants his presence, and saints have communion one with another; to be in such a fruitful soil, and in such sacred enclosures, fenced by the power and grace of God, is a great happiness: and they shall remember me in far countries; they shall call to mind what their ancestors did to Christ, and mourn on account of a pierced Saviour; they shall remember him in the ordinance of the supper, being in a Gospel church state; they shall remember what he did and suffered for them, and his love to them in all, and that with faith, affection, and thankfulness: and they shall live with their children; a very happy, comfortable, temporal life; and they shall live a spiritual life; a life of faith on Christ; of communion with him, and of holiness from him, and to his glory: and their children also shall live the same life, being regenerated and quickened by the same grace; these are the church's children: and turn again; that is, when they shall turn again, either to the Lord, shall be converted unto him; or return to their own land.
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.
Converts to Christ shall have their children about them, whom they shall teach the knowledge of the Lord, and bring with them when they turn again to the holy land and the way of holiness. It was said to those to whom the gospel was first preached, The promise is to you and to your children, Acts ii.
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)
proposed
Thus the way was opened for entrance among the Gentiles. "Will sow" is the Hebrew future, said of that which has been done, is being done, and may be done afterwards [MAURER], (compare Ho 2:23). shall remember me in far countries-- (De 30:1;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I will sow them among the people - Wherever they have been dispersed, my voice in the preaching of the Gospel shall reach them. And they shall remember me, and they and their children shall turn again to the Lord, through Messiah their King.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶזְרָעֵם֙ | veezraem | and I will sow them | H2232 → | |
| בָּֽעַמִּ֔ים | baamim | among the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וּבַמֶּרְחַקִּ֖ים | uvammerchakim | and in the distant places | H4801 → | |
| יִזְכְּר֑וּנִי | yizkeruni | they will remember me | H2142 → | |
| וְחָי֥וּ | vechayu | and they will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| בְּנֵיהֶ֖ם | beneihem | children their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וָשָֽׁבוּ׃ | vashavu | and they will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
וְאֶזְרָעֵם֙and I will sow them
veezraemH2232 →
בָּֽעַמִּ֔יםamong the peoples
baamimH5971 →1873 times
וּבַמֶּרְחַקִּ֖יםand in the distant places
uvammerchakimH4801 →
יִזְכְּר֑וּנִיthey will remember me
yizkeruniH2142 →
וְחָי֥וּand they will live
vechayuH2421 →282 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
בְּנֵיהֶ֖םchildren their
beneihemH1121 →4930 times
וָשָֽׁבוּ׃and they will return
vashavuH7725 →1056 times
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
Nehemiah 1:9but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:11–14
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
- Deuteronomy 30:2–5
and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,
- Deuteronomy 4:29–31
But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Jeremiah 29:11–14
Through
Isaiah 65:23They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:9
Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.
- Jeremiah 32:38–39
They will be My people, and I will be their God.
- Isaiah 61:9
Through
Ezekiel 6:9Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:43
There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done.
- Isaiah 7:13
Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?
- Job 42:6
Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Ezekiel 20:43
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.