Zechariah 14:10

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁸And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike. ⁹On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth-the LORD alone, and His name alone. ¹⁰All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.¹¹People will live there, and never again will there be an utter destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell securely. ¹²And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. ¹³On that day a great panic from the LORD will come upon them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other. ¹⁴Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected-gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. ¹⁵And a similar plague will strike the horses and mules, camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the land: Zechariah 4:6, Zechariah 4:7, Isaiah 40:3, Isaiah 40:4, Luke 3:4-6

turned: or, compassed

from Geba: Joshua 21:17, 1 Kings 15:22, Isaiah 10:29

Rimmon: Joshua 15:32, Judges 20:45, Judges 20:47, Judges 21:13, 1 Chronicles 4:32, 1 Chronicles 6:77

inhabited: or, shall abide, Zechariah 2:4, Zechariah 12:6, Jeremiah 30:18

from Benjamin's: 2 Chronicles 25:23, Nehemiah 3:1, Nehemiah 12:39, Jeremiah 31:38-40, Jeremiah 37:13, Jeremiah 38:7

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 13:3 - Geba 2 Kings 14:13 - the corner 2 Kings 23:8 - Geba 2 Chronicles 16:6 - Geba 2 Chronicles 26:9 - the corner gate Isaiah 44:26 - that saith Jeremiah 20:2 - in the high Zechariah 14:4 - a very Zechariah 14:21 - in the

Cross-References

Genesis 11:3
And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

Genesis 19:17
As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, "Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!"

Genesis 19:30
Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains-for he was afraid to stay in Zoar-where they lived in a cave.

Joshua 8:24
When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword.

Psalms 83:10
who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.

Isaiah 24:18
Whoever flees the sound of terror will fall into a pit, and whoever escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Jeremiah 48:44
He who flees the panic will fall into the pit, and he who climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare, for I will bring against Moab the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

All the land shall be turned as a plain,.... That is, all the land of Israel round about Jerusalem, which was encompassed with mountains, Psalms 125:2 but now these mountains shall become a plain, that that may be seen; since it follows,

from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; Geba was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, on the northern border of the land, Joshua 21:17 and Rimmon was in the tribe of Judah, given to Simeon on the southern part, Joshua 15:32 so that from Geba to Rimmon was the same as from Geba to Beersheba, which was in the same tribe, 2 Kings 23:8 and, according to the Jewish writers, the south of Jerusalem was a plain; wherefore the meaning seems to be, that the whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, should be like that. Jerom makes mention of a village called Remmon in his time, fifteen miles to the north of Jerusalem, which cannot be the place here meant, and yet speaks of it as in the tribe of Simeon or Judah; and afterwards takes notice of another village called Remmus in Daroma, or the south m; to me it seems that Geba and Rimmon were places near one to another, and both in the tribe of Benjamin; see 1 Samuel 14:2 where the word rendered "pomegranate" is Rimmon, and is the proper name of a place, according to some; the same with that in Judges 20:47 where was a rock called the rock Rimmon; and Jonathan ben Uzziel, on 1 Samuel 14:2 renders it, "the plain of the pomegranate"; or rather the plain of Rimmon: and the Jews make mention in their Talmud n of the valley of Rimmon, where seven elders met to intercalate the year; and here, they say, was a marble rock, in which everyone fastened a nail, and therefore it is called the rock of nails. Now the sense seems to be, that all the land of Israel should become a plain, like the valley that was between Geba and Rimmon. Jarchi interprets it of the whole world. And this will be literally true of the new earth, in the thousand years' reign, which will be without hills mountains, and seas, Revelation 21:1. It may be mystically understood of the spiritual reign of Christ, when the whole world will become Christian; when Jews and Gentiles, and even the kings of the earth, shall bow the knee to Christ, and be subject to him.

And it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place; that is, Jerusalem, which shall appear very high, all the land round about being a plain; and, being rebuilt, shall be inhabited on the same spot of ground it formerly was: or the church may be meant, which in the latter day will be greatly exalted, and will be filled with, and inhabited by, some of all the nations of the world, Isaiah 2:2:

from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate; not that called the high gate of Benjamin, and which was near the temple,

Jeremiah 20:2 and seems to be one of its gates; and such an one there was, which in Arabic was called "Bab Alasbat", the gate of the tribes, where was the pool of the blood of the sacrifices; and is said to be not far from another gate, called the gate of mercy o; but this is that which led out of the city, and was one of its gates towards the land of Benjamin, from whence it had its name, and through which Jeremiah attempted to go when he was stopped by the captain of the ward, Jeremiah 37:13 this, according to Grotius, was on the north of Jerusalem: Mr. Fuller p places it more rightly in the northeast part of it, as does Adrichomius q, who wrongly confounds it with the corner gate later mentioned, which is here manifestly distinguished from it; and which mistake also Schindler r gives into, and likewise Arias Montanus s and others. "The first gate" is the same with "the old gate" in Nehemiah 3:6.

Unto the corner gate; the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Ephraim, are the same, as is thought by Grotius; the distance between that gate and the corner gate was four hundred cubits, 2 Kings 14:13:

and [from] the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses; mention is made of the tower of Hananeel in Nehemiah 3:1 it was to the south of Jerusalem; and is called in the Targum the tower of Pikkus: "the king's winepresses" doubtless were where his vineyards were; King Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon, Song of Solomon 8:11. Grotius says the place where these winepresses were was at Sion, in the inmost part of the city; and so Adrichomius t places them in Mount Sion; though Kimchi speaks of them as without the city; and Jarchi makes mention of an Agadah, or exposition, which interprets them of the great ocean, which reaches from Jerusalem to the end of the world, the lakes which the King of kings has made. Very probably these places lay east, west, north, and south; and so denote the amplitude of the city, and the largeness and extensiveness of the church of Christ, signified thereby; see Ezekiel 48:1.

m De locis Heb. fol. 94. A. C. n T. Hieros. Chagiga, fol. 78. 4. o Cippi Hebr. p. 22. Geograph. Nub. p. 114. p Pisgah-Sight of Palestine, B. 3. c. 3. sect. 15. p. 322. q Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 167. r Lexic. Pentaglott. col. 1912. s Nehemias, sive de Antiqu. Jerus. situ. t Theatrum Terrae Sanct. Jerusalem, No. 25. p. 152.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All the land shall be turned as a plain from Rimmon to Gebah - Kimchi: “All the land, which is round about Jerusalem, which is now mountains, as is said, “The mountains are round about Jerusalem” Psalms 125:2, shall be level as a plain, but Jerusalem itself shall be exalted, and high above all the earth.” The dignity of the Church, as “a city set upon a hill, which cannot be hid” Matthew 5:14, is symbolized here by the sinking of all around and its own uprising; as in Micah and Isaiah, “The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills” Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1. Gebah, literally, hill,” now, “Jeva,” was a frontier-garrison, held once by the Philistines 1 Samuel 14:5, and fortified by Asa 1 Kings 15:22, in the northern boundary of Benjamin , together with Michmash (1 Sam. loc. cit.) (now Mukhmas), commanding an important pass, by which Jerusalem was approached Isaiah 10:28-29. “Rimmon, south of Jerusalem” is mentioned in Joshua among the southern towns of Judah Joshua 15:32, given to Simeon Joshua 19:7; 1 Chronicles 4:32. Both survived the Captivity . They mark then the north and south of the kingdom of Judah, a long mountain chain, which is pictured as sinking down into a plain, that Jerusalem alone might be exalted.

From Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate - Benjamin’s gate must obviously be a gate to the north, and doubtless the same as “the gate of Ephraim” , the way to Ephraim lying through Benjamin. This too has probably reference to the prophecy of Jeremiah, that “the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner” Jeremiah 31:38. “Jehoash, king of Israel, broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner-gate, four hundred cubits” 2 Kings 14:13; 2 Chronicles 25:23, after the war with Amaziah. Zechariah seems to speak of Jerusalem, as it existed in his time. For the tower of Hananeel Nehemiah 3:1 still existed; the “first gate” was probably destroyed, since he speaks not of it, but of its “place;” the gate of Benjamin and the corner-gate probably still existed, since Nehemiah Nehemiah 3:1, Nehemiah 3:3, Nehemiah 3:6, Nehemiah 3:13-15 mentions the building of the sheep-gate, the fish-gate, the old gate, or gate of the old city, the valley-gate, the dung-gate, the gate of the fountain; but not these.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 14:10. All the land shall be turned as a plain — Or rather, "He shall encompass the whole land as a plain." He shall cast his defence all around it; from Geba, in Benjamin, north of Jerusalem, (Joshua 21:17,) to Rimmon in Judah, to the south of Jerusalem, Joshua 15:32.

It shall be lifted up — The city shall be exalted.

And inhabited in her place — Jerusalem, shall be rebuilt in the very place in which it originally stood. From Benjamin's gate, which was probably on the north side of Jerusalem, unto the place of the first gate, supposed to be that called the old gate, Nehemiah 3:6; Nehemiah 12:39, placed by Lightfoot towards the southwest.

Unto the corner gate — See 2 Kings 14:13.

The tower of Hananeel — This tower and the corner gate seem to be placed as two extremities of the city.

Unto the king's wine-presses — Near to the king's gardens, southward.-See Newcome.