Zechariah 8:22
in Zechariah 8And many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to plead before the LORD.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Jehovah.
KJV
Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.
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This verse in Zechariah 8
Commentary
10 notes on this verseYea, many people, and strong nations,.... Or, "mighty kingdoms", as the Targum renders it; even such have embraced the Gospel, and professed the Christian religion; of which there has been abundant proof since the downfall of Paganism under Constantine: shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem; that is, shall attend the public worship of God in the church: and to pray before the Lord; join in public prayer, and other ordinances of the Gospel.
This site's exposition
there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities
on Zechariah 8:20-23
The chapter widens from Judah's own fasts to a picture of nations streaming toward Jerusalem to seek the Lord, one city inviting another until many peoples and strong nations arrive. The closing image sharpens the point to ten men from every language taking hold of a single Jew's garment, saying, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Keil and Calvin read the picture as pointing toward the nations being drawn to the God of Israel, and the church later saw its own ingathering foreshadowed here, though the verse itself names the pilgrims coming to Jerusalem rather than describing where they end.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 21, 22.) Thus says the Lord of hosts: How long will the people come and dwell in many cities, and the inhabitants go from one to another, saying: Let us go and entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will also go, and many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the face of the Lord.
The whole life of a good Christian is a holy longing to make progress.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In Jerusalem - Literally understood, you have the first fruits of them mentioned, Acts ii, 10-12. Mystically, Jerusalem is the church of Christ. To pray - To perform all gospel-worship.
(3.) They are such as herein have an eye to the divine revelation and institution, which is signified by their doing this in Jerusalem, the place which God had chosen, where his word was, where his temple was, which was a type of Christ and his mediation, which all faithful worshippers will have a believing regard to.
1 Again the word of the L ORD of hosts came to me, saying, 2 Thus saith the L ORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
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3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But it would be accomplished much more fully in the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ, and the incorporating of them with the believing Jews in one great body, under Christ the head, a mystery which is made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets ( Rom. xvi.
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The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
many . . . strong nations . . . in Jerusalem--In contrast to the few and weak Jews now building the temple and city, then such shall be their influence that many and strong nations shall come to worship Jehovah their God in Jerusalem (Isa 60:3;
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And strong nations - This may refer to the conversion of the Mohammedan tribes; especially to those in the vicinity of Palestine. Perhaps even the Egyptians, inhabitants of Arabia Petraea, of Syria, etc.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבָ֨אוּ | uvau | and they will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עַמִּ֤ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| רַבִּים֙ | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וְגוֹיִ֣ם | vegoyim | and nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| עֲצוּמִ֔ים | ʾatzumim | mighty | H6099 → | |
| לְבַקֵּ֛שׁ | levakesh | to seek | H1245 → | 225 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֖וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם | birushalim | in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וּלְחַלּ֖וֹת | ulechalot | and to entreat | H2470 → | 76 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ ס | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וּבָ֨אוּand they will come
uvauH935 →2568 times
עַמִּ֤יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
רַבִּים֙many
rabimH7227 →454 times
וְגוֹיִ֣םand nations
vegoyimH1471 →561 times
עֲצוּמִ֔יםmighty
ʾatzumimH6099 →
לְבַקֵּ֛שׁto seek
levakeshH1245 →225 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֖וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑םin Jerusalem
birushalimH3389 →643 times
וּלְחַלּ֖וֹתand to entreat
ulechalotH2470 →76 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָֽה׃ סYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Revelation 15:4Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
it leads to
- Psalms 86:9
All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.
- Jeremiah 10:7
Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
- Malachi 1:11
For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name…
- Psalms 22:27
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
- Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…
- Psalms 86:9
Through
Isaiah 25:7On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
- Isaiah 60:1–3
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
- Matthew 27:51
At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
- Ephesians 4:18
About Zechariah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMONS 4:6; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.