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Zechariah 8:3

in Zechariah 8

This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, The holy mountain.

KJV

Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.

This verse in Zechariah 8

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
Thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Zion,.... The temple being now building, and almost finished, and the worship of God restored in it.

This site's exposition

Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me

on Zechariah 8:1-3

The chapter answers chapter 7's question about fasting with ten fresh oracles, and it opens on jealousy, the Lord's own word for his zeal for Zion, doubled for emphasis as jealousy and fury. Keil reads the doubling as covenant language, the same word used of a husband's zeal for a wife rather than mere anger, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. The Lord's own return to dwell in Jerusalem's midst gives the city new names, a city of truth and a holy mountain, in place of the desolation just described in chapter 7.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Zechariah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 8, Verses 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy, and with a great indignation am I jealous for her. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The faithful city has become a harlot ( Isa. i. 21 ), but shall now become a faithful city again, faithful to the God of Israel and to the worship of him only." This was fulfilled; for the Jews after the captivity, though there was much amiss among them, were never guilty of idolatry.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Shall be called a city of truth - Her citizens shall love the truth and speak it, shall worship me in truth of heart, as well as in the true manner prescribed to them.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

I am returned - Dionysius: “Without change in Myself, I am turned to that people from the effect of justice to the sweetness of mercy, “and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,” in the temple and the people, indwelling the hearts of the good by charity and grace. Christ also, Very God and Very Man, visibly conversed and was seen in Zion.” Osorius: “When He says, ‘I am turned,’ He shows that she was turned too.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

My decree to that effect is gone forth. Jerusalem . . . city of truth--that is, faithful to her God, who is the God of truth (Isa 1:21, 26; Never yet fully fulfilled, therefore still to be so. the mountain of the Lord-- (Isa 2:2, 3). holy mountain-- (Jer 31:23).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I am returned unto Zion - I have restored her from her captivity. I will dwell among them. The temple shall be rebuilt, and so shall Jerusalem; and instead of being false, unholy, and profligate, it shall be the city of truth. and my holy mountain. Truth shall dwell in it.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כֹּ֚הthus

    kohH3541577 times

  • אָמַ֣רhe says

    ʾamarH5595305 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • שַׁ֚בְתִּיI have returned

    shavtiH77251056 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • צִיּ֔וֹןZion

    tziyonH6726154 times

  • וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖יand I will dwell

    veshakhantiH7931129 times

  • בְּת֣וֹךְin [the] midst of

    betokhH8432418 times

  • יְרֽוּשָׁלִָ֑םJerusalem

    yerushalimH3389643 times

  • וְנִקְרְאָ֤הand it will be called

    venikreahH7121733 times

  • יְרוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙Jerusalem

    yerushalimH3389643 times

  • עִ֣יר־[the] city of

    ʾir-H58921090 times

  • הָֽאֱמֶ֔ת<the> faithfulness

    haemetH571127 times

  • וְהַר־and [the] mountain of

    vehar-H2022546 times

  • יְהוָ֥הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • צְבָא֖וֹתof hosts

    tzevaotH6635485 times

  • הַ֥ר[the] mountain of

    harH2022546 times

  • הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃ ס<the> holiness

    hakodeshH6944469 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    John 1:14

    The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

    it leads to

    • 1 John 4:9

      This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.

    • 1 Timothy 3:16

      By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world,…

    • Galatians 4:4

      But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

    • John 1:1

      In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    • Isaiah 40:5

      And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

  • Through

    John 14:23

    Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

    it leads to

    • John 14:21

      Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”

    • John 14:15

      If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

  • Through

    Revelation 21:3

    And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 37:27

      My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.

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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; 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.