Ashkelon will see and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, as will Ekron, for her hope will wither. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will be uninhabited. Ashkelon will see it and fearThe city of Ashkelon, one of the five major Philistine cities, is mentioned here. The Hebrew root for "see" is "רָאָה" (ra'ah), which implies not just physical sight but also understanding or perceiving something significant. Historically, Ashkelon was a prosperous city, often associated with strength and resilience. The prophecy that Ashkelon will "fear" suggests a divine intervention so powerful that even the mighty will tremble. This fear is not merely an emotional response but a recognition of God's sovereignty and the impending judgment. Gaza will writhe in agony
Gaza, another principal city of the Philistines, is depicted as experiencing intense suffering. The Hebrew word for "writhe" is "חִיל" (chil), which conveys the idea of twisting or trembling in pain, often used to describe the labor pains of childbirth. This imagery suggests a profound and unavoidable distress, symbolizing the collapse of human pride and power before God's will. Historically, Gaza was a fortified city, and its agony signifies the dismantling of its defenses and the futility of its resistance against divine judgment. and also Ekron
Ekron, the northernmost of the Philistine cities, is included in this prophecy. The mention of Ekron alongside Ashkelon and Gaza emphasizes the comprehensive nature of the judgment. Ekron's inclusion signifies that no city, regardless of its location or strength, will escape the consequences of turning away from God. The historical context of Ekron, often a center of idolatry, underscores the theme of divine retribution against false worship and reliance on human power. for her hope will wither
The phrase "her hope will wither" uses the Hebrew root "אָבַל" (abal), meaning to mourn or languish. This suggests a loss of vitality and expectation, indicating that the sources of confidence and security for these cities will fail. In a broader spiritual sense, it reflects the futility of placing hope in anything other than God. The withering of hope serves as a metaphor for the spiritual desolation that follows when people or nations reject divine guidance. There will be no king in Gaza
The absence of a king in Gaza symbolizes the loss of leadership and authority. In ancient times, a king represented stability, governance, and protection. The prophecy that there will be "no king" indicates a complete breakdown of societal structure and order. This can be seen as a direct consequence of divine judgment, where human leadership is rendered powerless in the face of God's ultimate authority. and Ashkelon will be deserted
The desolation of Ashkelon is a powerful image of abandonment and ruin. The Hebrew word for "deserted" is "שָׁמֵם" (shamem), which conveys a sense of being laid waste or left in a state of desolation. This prophecy highlights the totality of God's judgment, where once-thriving cities become empty and lifeless. It serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of turning away from God and the inevitable downfall that follows when divine warnings are ignored. Persons / Places / Events 1. AshkelonAn ancient Philistine city located on the Mediterranean coast, known for its strategic and commercial significance. 2. GazaAnother major Philistine city, often mentioned in the Bible as a place of conflict and judgment. 3. EkronOne of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis, often associated with idolatry and opposition to Israel. 4. PhilistinesA people frequently in conflict with Israel, representing opposition to God's people. 5. The King of AshkelonSymbolizes leadership and authority in Philistine cities, whose downfall signifies the collapse of Philistine power. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty Over NationsThe prophecy against Philistine cities demonstrates God's control over all nations, not just Israel. Believers can trust in God's ultimate authority and justice. The Consequences of Opposing GodThe fear and shame of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron serve as a warning against opposing God's will. This encourages self-reflection on areas where we might resist God's guidance. The Futility of Earthly PowerThe perishing of the king of Ashkelon highlights the temporary nature of human authority. Christians are reminded to place their hope in God's eternal kingdom rather than earthly powers. Hope in God's JusticeWhile the passage speaks of judgment, it also reassures believers that God will right wrongs and bring justice. This offers hope to those facing injustice today. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the prophecy against Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron reflect God's sovereignty over all nations, and how can this understanding impact our view of current global events? 2. In what ways might we, like the Philistine cities, be resisting God's will in our lives, and how can we seek to align ourselves more closely with His purposes? 3. How does the downfall of the king of Ashkelon serve as a reminder of the temporary nature of earthly power, and how should this influence our priorities and ambitions? 4. What parallels can we draw between the judgment of the Philistine cities and the warnings given to other nations in the Bible, and what lessons can we learn from these examples? 5. How can the themes of justice and hope in Zechariah 9:5 encourage us in times of personal or societal injustice, and what steps can we take to be agents of God's justice in our communities? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 14:29-31This passage also speaks of judgment against Philistine cities, highlighting God's sovereignty over nations. Jeremiah 47:1-7Describes the coming destruction upon the Philistines, reinforcing the theme of divine judgment. Amos 1:6-8Amos prophesies against Gaza and other Philistine cities, emphasizing God's justice against their transgressions. 1 Samuel 5:1-12The Ark of the Covenant's presence in Philistine territory brings calamity, illustrating God's power over their gods and cities. People Aram, Javan, Jebusites, Zechariah, ZidonPlaces Ashdod, Ashkelon, Damascus, Ekron, Euphrates River, Gaza, Greece, Hadrach, Hamath, Jerusalem, Philistia, Sidon, Tyre, ZionTopics Agony, Ashkelon, Deserted, Disappointed, Ekron, Expectation, Fear, Gaza, Hope, Inhabited, Lose, Perish, Wither, WritheDictionary of Bible Themes Zechariah 9:5 4819 dryness
5782 agony
5835 disappointment
5916 pessimism
8754 fear
9611 hope, nature of Library Messiah's Entrance into Jerusalem
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. -- And He shall speak peace unto the heathen. T he narrowness and littleness of the mind of fallen man are sufficiently conspicuous in the idea he forms of magnificence and grandeur. The pageantry and parade of a Roman triumph, or of an eastern monarch, as described in history, exhibit him to us …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1And the Manner of his Entry into Jerusalem, which was the Capital of Judæa...
And the manner of His entry into Jerusalem, which was the capital of Judæa, where also was His royal seat and the temple of God, the prophet Isaiah declares: Say ye to the daughter of Sion, Behold a king corneth unto thee meek and sitting upon an ass, a colt the foal of an ass. [233] (Isa. lxii. 11, Zech. ix. 9) For, sitting. on an ass's colt, so He entered into Jerusalem, the multitudes strewing and putting down for Him their garments. And by the daughter of Sion he means Jerusalem. …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching Caesarea. Strato's Tower.
The Arabian interpreter thinks the first name of this city was Hazor, Joshua 11:1. The Jews, Ekron, Zephaniah 2:4. "R. Abhu saith," (he was of Caesarea,) "Ekron shall be rooted out"; this is Caesarea, the daughter of Edom, which is situated among things profane. She was a goad, sticking in Israel, in the days of the Grecians. But when the kingdom of the Asmonean family prevailed, it overcame her, &c. R. Josi Bar Chaninah saith, What is that that is written, 'And Ekron shall be as a Jebusite?' (Zech …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica History of the Interpretation.
1. AMONG THE JEWS. This History, as to its essential features, might, a priori, be sketched with tolerable certainty. From the nature of the case, we could scarcely expect that the Jews should have adopted views altogether erroneous as to the subject of the prophecy in question; for the Messiah appears in it, not in His humiliation, but in His glory--rich in gifts and blessings, and Pelagian self-delusion will, a priori, return an affirmative answer to the question as to whether one is …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Hosanna!
Assuredly, this honor paid to our Lord was passing strange; a gleam of sunlight in a day of clouds, a glimpse of summer-tide in a long and dreary winter. He that was, as a rule, "despised and rejected of men", was for the moment surrounded with the acclaim of the crowd. All men saluted him that day with their Hosannas, and the whole city was moved. It was a gala day for the disciples, and a sort of coronation day for their Lord. Why was the scene permitted? What was its meaning? The marvel is, that …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891 And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah
"And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto Me (one) [Pg 480] to be Ruler in Israel; and His goings forth are the times of old, the days of eternity." The close connection of this verse with what immediately precedes (Caspari is wrong in considering iv. 9-14 as an episode) is evident, not only from the [Hebrew: v] copulative, and from the analogy of the near relation of the announcement of salvation to the prophecy of disaster …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Christian State
Scripture references: Matthew 22:17-22; 17:24-27; Acts 23:5; John 6:15; Matthew 4:8-10; John 18:36-38; Mark 14; 61,62; John 18:33; 19:19; Isaiah 9:6,7; 60:3; Zechariah 9:10; Daniel 7:14; Matthew 26:64; 26:53,54; 16:16,17; 25:31,32. CHRIST AND THE STATE The Relation of Christ to the State.--He was an intense patriot. He loved His country. The names of His great countrymen, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua and David, were ever on His lips. He offered Himself as the national Messiah (Matthew 21:1-17), …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.
(from Bethany to Jerusalem and Back, Sunday, April 2, a.d. 30.) ^A Matt. XXI. 1-12, 14-17; ^B Mark XI. 1-11; ^C Luke XIX. 29-44; ^D John XII. 12-19. ^c 29 And ^d 12 On the morrow [after the feast in the house of Simon the leper] ^c it came to pass, when he he drew nigh unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, ^a 1 And when they came nigh unto Jerusalem, and came unto Bethphage unto { ^b at} ^a the mount of Olives [The name, Bethphage, is said to mean house of figs, but the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The First Day in Passion-Week - Palm-Sunday - the Royal Entry into Jerusalem
At length the time of the end had come. Jesus was about to make Entry into Jerusalem as King: King of the Jews, as Heir of David's royal line, with all of symbolic, typic, and prophetic import attaching to it. Yet not as Israel after the flesh expected its Messiah was the Son of David to make triumphal entrance, but as deeply and significantly expressive of His Mission and Work, and as of old the rapt seer had beheld afar off the outlined picture of the Messiah-King: not in the proud triumph of war-conquests, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Formation of the Old Testament Canon
[Sidenote: Israel's literature at the beginning of the fourth century before Christ] Could we have studied the scriptures of the Israelitish race about 400 B.C., we should have classified them under four great divisions: (1) The prophetic writings, represented by the combined early Judean, Ephraimite, and late prophetic or Deuteronomic narratives, and their continuation in Samuel and Kings, together with the earlier and exilic prophecies; (2) the legal, represented by the majority of the Old Testament …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. )
Ver. 20. "And Noah began and became an husbandman, and planted vineyards."--This does not imply that Noah was the first who began to till the ground, and, more especially, to cultivate the vine; for Cain, too, was a tiller of the ground, Gen. iv. 2. The sense rather is, that Noah, after the flood, again took up this calling. Moreover, the remark has not an independent import; it serves only to prepare the way for the communication of the subsequent account of Noah's drunkenness. By this remark, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Fifthly, as this Revelation, to the Judgment of Right and Sober Reason,
appears of itself highly credible and probable, and abundantly recommends itself in its native simplicity, merely by its own intrinsic goodness and excellency, to the practice of the most rational and considering men, who are desirous in all their actions to have satisfaction and comfort and good hope within themselves, from the conscience of what they do: So it is moreover positively and directly proved to be actually and immediately sent to us from God, by the many infallible signs and miracles …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God The Gospel Feast
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"--John vi. 5. After these words the Evangelist adds, "And this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Thus, you see, our Lord had secret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His divine sense at once. He knew what He was about to do from the first, but He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII The Gospel of the Kingdom.
"This is He whom Seers in old time Chanted of with one accord; Whom the voices of the Prophets Promised in their faithful word." We have seen that, in the providence of God, John the Baptist was sent to proclaim to the world that "The Kingdom of Heaven" was at hand, and to point out the King. And as soon as the Herald had raised the expectation of men by the proclamation of the coming Kingdom, our Lord began His public ministry, the great object of which was the founding of His Kingdom for the salvation …
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it? Zechariah
CHAPTERS I-VIII Two months after Haggai had delivered his first address to the people in 520 B.C., and a little over a month after the building of the temple had begun (Hag. i. 15), Zechariah appeared with another message of encouragement. How much it was needed we see from the popular despondency reflected in Hag. ii. 3, Jerusalem is still disconsolate (Zech. i. 17), there has been fasting and mourning, vii. 5, the city is without walls, ii. 5, the population scanty, ii. 4, and most of the people …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Zechariah 9:5 NIVZechariah 9:5 NLTZechariah 9:5 ESVZechariah 9:5 NASBZechariah 9:5 KJV
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