Zechariah 14:14

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Zechariah 14:14-15. And Judah also shall fight at [or rather, for] Jerusalem — The meaning seems to be, that while the enemies of Jerusalem are engaged in fighting with each other, Judah also (Hebrew, וגם יהודה,) will come up and join their forces with those of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will fall upon the weakened nations, and take from them great spoil. And the wealth of all the heathen, &c., shall be gathered together — And shall fall into the hands of God’s people. Thus the wealth of the sinner is often laid up for the just; and the Israel of God are enriched with the spoil of the Egyptians. And so shall be the plague of the horse, &c. — The very cattle shall share in the plagues with which the enemies of God’s church shall be cut off, as they did in divers of the plagues of Egypt.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:8-15 Some consider that the progress of the gospel, beginning from Jerusalem, is referred to by the living waters flowing from that city. Neither shall the gospel and means of grace, nor the graces of the Spirit wrought in the hearts of believers by those means, ever fail, by reason either of the heat of persecution, or storms of temptation, or the blasts of any other affliction. Tremendous judgments appear to be foretold, to be sent upon those who should oppose the settlement of the Jews in their own land. How far they are to be understood literally, events alone can determine. The furious rage and malice which stir up men against each other, are faint shadows of the enmity which reigns among those who have perished in their sins. Even the inferior creatures often suffer for the sin of man, and in his plagues. Thus God will show his displeasure against sin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem - This seems more probable than the alternative rendering of the English margin, "against." For Judah is united with Jerusalem as one, in the same context Zechariah 14:21; and, if it had shared with the pagan, it must also have shared their lot. It is Judah itself, not "a remnant of Judah," as it is "every one that is left of all the nations" Zechariah 14:16, which is thus united to Jerusalem: it is that same Judah, as a whole, of which it is said, "it shall fight." Nor is anything spoken of" conversion," which is said of those left from the pagan nations, who had fought against her. Yet for Judah to have joined an exterminating pagan war against Jerusalem, even though constrained, had, like the constrained sacrifices to pagan gods, been apostasy. But there is not even a hint that, as Jonathan apologetically paraphrases , they were "constrained."

The war is to be Judah's free act: "Judah also shall fight." Again, those gathered against Jerusalem, and their warfare against it, had been described at the outset, as "all nations" (Zechariah 14:2-3 : here the subject is not the gathering or fighting, but the overthrow. Nor is there any decisive contrary idiom; for, although when used of people, it always means "fight against," yet, of place, it as often, means "fight in". Probably then the prophet means, that not only should God fight for His people, but that "Judah also" should do its part, as Paul says, "We, then, as workers together with Him" 2 Corinthians 6:1; and, "we are laborers together with God" 1 Corinthians 3:9; and, "I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" 1 Corinthians 15:10; or, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" Philippians 2:12. God so doth all things in the Church, for the conversion of the pagan, and for single souls, as to wait for the cooperation of His creature. : "God made thee without thee; He doth not justify thee without thee."

And the wealth of all the pagan round about shall be gathered - Whatever the world had taken in their war against the Church shall be abundantly repaid. "All the pagan" had combined to plunder Jerusalem; "the wealth of all the pagan" Zechariah 14:2 shall be gathered to requite them. Lap.: "As Isaiah says, The nations, converted to Christ, brought all their wealth to the Church, whence he congratulates the Church, saying, "Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breasts of kings - For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver" Isaiah 60:16-17; under which he typically understands, (Dionysius), "wisdom, philosophy, eloquence, learning, and all the other arts and sciences, liberal and mechanical, wherewith the pagan shall be adorned, who are converted to the faith. So shall the gifts of nature be perfected by the gifts of grace, and 'they' shall defend the Church who erstwhile attacked it."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. Judah … fight at Jerusalem—namely, against the foe: not against Jerusalem, as Maurer translates in variance with the context. As to the spoil gained from the foe, compare Eze 39:10, 17.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Judah; the Jews, and particularly those of the tribe of Judah, and possibly Judas Maccabeus might be intended too, as those who in that day were valiant warriors, and successful: against the church’s enemies. And many such have been among the Christians too since those days.

Shall fight, with courage, good conduct, and success.

At Jerusalem; both in the land of Judea, and also at Jerusalem.

The wealth of all the heathen; the nations round about them, who having by foreign war peeled and robbed many nations, had brought it herod, and now God gave it to the Jews; and in like manner have many Christians spoiled those that spoiled them.

Judah; the Jews, and particularly those of the tribe of Judah, and possibly Judas Maccabeus might be intended too, as those who in that day were valiant warriors, and successful: against the church’s enemies. And many such have been among the Christians too since those days.

Shall fight, with courage, good conduct, and success.

At Jerusalem; both in the land of Judea, and also at Jerusalem.

The wealth of all the heathen; the nations round about them, who having by foreign war peeled and robbed many nations, had brought it herod, and now God gave it to the Jews; and in like manner have many Christians spoiled those that spoiled them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem,.... These are the professing people of Christ, the armies in heaven, the chosen, called, and faithful, who will follow the Lamb, and attend him when he goes forth to make war with the antichristian princes, and shall overcome them, Revelation 17:14,

and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold and silver, and apparel, in great abundance; by which are meant the riches of the Papists, called Gentiles or Heathens, Revelation 11:2 which will fall into the hands of the followers of Christ at the time of Rome's destruction; and which are signified by the flesh of the whore, and by the flesh of kings, captains, and mighty men, which will then be eaten; they will be stripped and spoiled of all their substance, Revelation 17:16.

Geneva Study Bible

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations around shall be gathered together, {o} gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

(o) The enemies are rich, and therefore will not come to entreat, but to destroy and shed blood.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. at Jerusalem] This, or in Jerusalem, and not against Jerusalem (R. V. and margin, A. V.), which would be a wholly meaningless and irrelevant statement here (comp. Zechariah 12:2, note), is the rendering that must be adopted. There is no question here of the strength or allies of the opposing force, but only of the threefold cause of their destruction, viz. (1) the plague sent by God, Zechariah 14:12; (2) mutual slaughter, Zechariah 14:13; (3) the onslaught of Judah, rallying to defend the capital, Zechariah 14:14. “A still further element of ‘confusion’ would be added to the adversaries. When Jonathan gained his wonderful victory over the Philistines’ garrison at Michmash, there was a confusion caused by God in the ranks of the Philistines (1 Samuel 14:20), which resulted, as here, in a terrible conflict taking place in their own ranks. Those Hebrews who on that occasion were with the Philistines, as well as Israelites who had fled into the holes or fastnesses of the mountains, plucked up courage when they saw the confusion of their adversaries, and stood up boldly against them. Thus in the picture here given, when the ranks of the enemies are thinned by pestilence and mutual slaughter, the prophet represents the whole of the people of Judah, not merely those who had escaped out of the city, but also those who were outside its walls, as once more fighting at Jerusalem, or in its very streets, against the terror-driven, plague-stricken, God-confounded foe.” (Rev. C. H. H. Wright.)

the heathen] the nations, R.V., as in Zechariah 14:16, where the same Heb. word is translated “nation” in A.V.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem. The adversus Jerusalem of the Vulgate and some Jewish interpreters is a mistake, and introduces a wholly irrelevant idea. The meaning is that the Judaeans outside of Jerusalem, the nation at large, rallying to the attack, shall fall on the enemy, now thinned by pestilence and internecine conflicts within the walls of the city, and prevail against them (comp. Zechariah 12:6). Septuagint, Ἰούδας παρατάξεται ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ," Judah shall draw up his forces in Jerusalem." The wealth of all the heathen (nations) round about. The costly booty of the enemy shall fall into Judah's hands. Thus the Church emerges victorious from persecutions, and is enriched and adorned by the means of those who planned her overthrow. Zechariah 14:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Punishment of the hostile nations. - Zechariah 14:12. "And this will be the stroke wherewith Jehovah will smite all the nations which have made war upon Jerusalem: its flesh will rot while it stands upon its feet, and its eyes will rot in their sockets, and its tongue will rot in their mouth. Zechariah 14:13. And it will come to pass in that day, the confusion from Jehovah will be great among them, and they will lay hold of one another's hand, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbour. Zechariah 14:14. And Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the riches of all nations will be gathered together round about, gold and silver and clothes in great abundance. Zechariah 14:15. And so will be the stroke of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the cattle, that shall be in the same tents, like this stroke." To the description of the salvation there is appended here as the obverse side the execution of the punishment upon the foe, which was only indicated in Zechariah 14:3. The nations which made war against Jerusalem shall be destroyed partly by the rotting away of their bodies even while they are alive (Zechariah 14:12), partly by mutual destruction(Zechariah 14:13), and partly by Judah's fighting against them (Zechariah 14:14). To express the idea of their utter destruction, all the different kinds of plagues and strokes by which nations can be destroyed are grouped together. In the first rank we have two extraordinary strokes inflicted upon them by God. Maggēphâh always denotes a plague or punishment sent by God (Exodus 9:14; Numbers 14:37; 1 Samuel 6:4). המק, the inf. abs. hiphil in the place of the finite verb: "He (Jehovah) makes its flesh rot while it stands upon its feet," i.e., He causes putrefaction to take place even while the body is alive. The singular suffixes are to be taken distributively: the flesh of every nation or every foe. To strengthen the threat there is added the rotting of the eyes which spied out the nakednesses of the city of God, and of the tongue which blasphemed God and His people (cf. Isaiah 37:6). The other kind of destruction is effected by a panic terror, through which the foes are thrown into confusion, so that they turn their weapons against one another and destroy one another, - an occurrence of which several examples are furnished by the Israelitish history (compare Judges 7:22; 1 Samuel 14:20, and especially that in 2 Chronicles 20:23, in the reign of Jehoshaphat, to which the description given by our prophet refers). The grasp of the other's hand is a hostile one in this case, the object being to seize him, and, having lifted his hand, to strike him dead. Zechariah 14:14 is translated by Luther and many others, after the Targum and Vulgate, "Judah will fight against Jerusalem," on the ground that נלחם ב generally signifies "to fight against a person." But this by no means suits the context here, since those who fight against Jerusalem are "all the heathen" (Zechariah 14:2), and nothing is said about any opposition between Jerusalem and Judah. ב is used here in a local sense, as in Exodus 17:8, with נלחם, and the thought is this: Not only will Jehovah smite the enemies miraculously with plagues and confusion, but Judah will also take part in the conflict against them, and fight against them in Jerusalem, which they have taken. Judah denotes the whole of the covenant nation, and not merely the inhabitants of the country in distinction from the inhabitants of the capital. Thus will Judah seize as booty the costly possessions of the heathen, and thereby visit the heathen with ample retribution for the plundering of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2). And the destruction of the enemy will be so complete, that even their beasts of burden, and those used in warfare, and all their cattle, will be destroyed by the same plague as the men; just as in the case of the ban, not only the men, but also their cattle, were put to death (cf. Joshua 7:24). Moreover, there is hardly any need for the express remark, that this description is only a rhetorically individualizing amplification of the thought that the enemies of the kingdom of God are to be utterly destroyed - namely, those who do not give up their hostility and turn unto God. For the verses which follow show very clearly that it is only to these that the threat of punishment refers.