Zechariah 13:9
in Zechariah 13This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.
KJV
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
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This verse in Zechariah 13
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd I will bring the third part through the fire,.... Into tribulation, as the Targum explains it; or into great distresses, comparable to fire, as Kimchi observes; this is the hour of temptation that will be in the Philadelphian church state, Rev 3:
This site's exposition
two-thirds will be cut off and perish
on Zechariah 13:8-9
In all the land “two-thirds will be cut off”, and the LORD brings the third that is left “through the fire”. The covenant formula then runs both ways: “They are My people” and “The LORD is our God”. Pusey and Barnes set the formula beside the covenant of Exodus.
This site's exposition
I will refine them like silver
Refining removes what is false and keeps what is true. Adam Clarke reads the fire as affliction that refines God's people without consuming them. The verse ends with the covenant said in both directions.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
These cases occur in persecutions more than at other times (for it is then that we are approved or condemned, humbled or corrected). Their general occurrence is permitted or commanded by him at whose will they happen even partially; by him, I mean, who says, "I am he who makes peace and creates evil"—that is, war, for that is the antithesis of peace. But what other war has our peace than persecution? If in its issues persecution emphatically brings either life or death, either wounds or healing, you have the author too of this.
(Verse 7 and following) "I will raise up a spear against my shepherd, and against the man who is my associate," says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. And they shall be in all the land, says the Lord, two parts in it shall be cut off and perish, and the third part shall be left. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them as gold is tested.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When Jerusalem and Judea were destroyed, all the Christians in that country, having among them the warning Christ gave them to flee to the mountains, shifted for their own safety, and were sheltered in a city called Pella, on the other side Jordan. We have here first the trials and then the triumphs of the Christian church, and of all the faithful members of it.
Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Behold the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, the sin of the church; for therefore was the Son of God manifested, to take away our sin, 1 John iii. He takes away the guilt of sin by the blood of his cross (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I will bring the third part through the fire - Such is always God’s ways. “Thou hast proved us, O God; Thou hast tried us, like as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the snare, Thou laidest trouble upon our loins: we went through fire and water, and Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place” Psa 66:9-11. “I have refined thee, but not with silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” Isa 48:10; and, “Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God” Act 14:
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will bring the third part through the fire - The Christian Church shall endure a great fight of afflictions, by which they shall be refined - not consumed. They shall call on my name - In this way shall they offer all their prayers and supplications to God. I will say, It is my people - The Church that I have chosen in the place of the Jews who have filled up the measure of their iniquity. And they shall say, The Lord is my God - And thus communion shall be established between me and them for ever. Thus there shall be a general restoration.
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵבֵאתִ֤י | veheveti | and I will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשְּׁלִשִׁית֙ | hashelishit | the third [part] | H7992 → | 107 times |
| בָּאֵ֔שׁ | baesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וּצְרַפְתִּים֙ | utzeraftim | and I will refine them | H6884 → | |
| כִּצְרֹ֣ף | kitzrof | as refines | H6884 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֶּ֔סֶף | hakesef | <the> silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| וּבְחַנְתִּ֖ים | uvechantim | and I will test them | H974 → | |
| כִּבְחֹ֣ן | kivchon | as tests | H974 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַזָּהָ֑ב | hazahav | <the> gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| ה֣וּא׀ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יִקְרָ֣א | yikra' | it will call | H7121 → | 733 times |
| בִשְׁמִ֗י | vishmi | on name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| וַֽאֲנִי֙ | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֶעֱנֶ֣ה | ʾeeneh | I will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אֹת֔וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙ | ʾamarti | I will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַמִּ֣י | ʾami | [is] people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| ה֔וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וְה֥וּא | vehu' | and it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יֹאמַ֖ר | yomar | it will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהָֽי׃ ס | ʾelohai | [is] God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
וְהֵבֵאתִ֤יand I will bring
vehevetiH935 →2568 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשְּׁלִשִׁית֙the third [part]
hashelishitH7992 →107 times
בָּאֵ֔שׁin the fire
baeshH784 →378 times
וּצְרַפְתִּים֙and I will refine them
utzeraftimH6884 →
כִּצְרֹ֣ףas refines
kitzrofH6884 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכֶּ֔סֶף<the> silver
hakesefH3701 →403 times
וּבְחַנְתִּ֖יםand I will test them
uvechantimH974 →
כִּבְחֹ֣ןas tests
kivchonH974 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַזָּהָ֑ב<the> gold
hazahavH2091 →389 times
ה֣וּא׀it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יִקְרָ֣אit will call
yikra'H7121 →733 times
בִשְׁמִ֗יon name my
vishmiH8034 →864 times
וַֽאֲנִי֙and I
vaaniH589 →874 times
אֶעֱנֶ֣הI will answer
ʾeenehH6030 →331 times
אֹת֔וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙I will say
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
עַמִּ֣י[is] people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
ה֔וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
וְה֥וּאand it
vehu'H1931 →1879 times
יֹאמַ֖רit will say
yomarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהָֽי׃ ס[is] God my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 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
Psalms 50:15Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
it leads to
- Psalms 107:28
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Psalms 34:3–4
Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.
- Psalms 107:19
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
- Psalms 81:7
You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
- Psalms 107:28
Through
Acts 2:21And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
it leads to
- Romans 10:12–13
For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
- Joel 2:32
And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among the remnant called by…
- Romans 10:12–13
Through
Isaiah 48:10See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- 1 Peter 4:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
On this chapter
About Zechariah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, ON FLIGHT IN TIME OF PERSECUTION 3.