Zechariah 9:3

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹An Oracle: The word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach and will rest upon Damascus-for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the LORD- ²and also upon Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd. ³Tyre has built herself a fortress; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.⁴Behold, the Lord will impoverish her and cast her power into the sea, and she will be consumed by fire. ⁵Ashkelon 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. ⁶A mixed race will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. ⁷I will remove the blood from their mouths and the abominations from between their teeth. Then they too will become a remnant for our God; they will become like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites. ⁸But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of those who march to and fro, and never again will an oppressor overrun My people, for now I keep watch with My own eyes.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

build: Joshua 19:29, 2 Samuel 24:7

heaped: 1 Kings 10:27, Job 22:24, Job 27:16, Isaiah 23:8, Ezekiel 27:33, Ezekiel 28:4, Ezekiel 28:5

Reciprocal: Job 3:15 - who filled their houses Isaiah 23:11 - strong holds Ezekiel 26:4 - destroy Ezekiel 26:12 - thy merchandise Ezekiel 27:34 - General Ezekiel 28:3 - thou art Matthew 11:22 - Tyre

Cross-References

Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:3
Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.

Genesis 9:5
And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:

Genesis 9:12
And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:

Genesis 9:14
Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,

Genesis 9:15
I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures: Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

Genesis 9:21
But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Genesis 9:22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside.

Genesis 9:25
he said, "Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers."

Genesis 9:26
He also declared: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the servant of Shem.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold,.... Tyre was built upon a rock, and was a strong fortress itself, from whence it had its name; and, besides its natural defence, it had a wall one hundred and fifty feet high, and its breadth was answerable to its height e; but yet, as it could not defend itself against Alexander the great, who took it; so neither against the Gospel of Christ, which found its way into it, and was mighty to pull down strong holds in a spiritual sense:

and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets; the riches of these cities, especially Tyre, are often made mention of; they were famous for their wealth, being places of great trade and merchandise; see Isaiah 23:2 all which were to be holiness to the Lord, and for the sufficient feeding and durable clothing of them that dwell before him, Isaiah 23:18 his ministers.

e Arrian. de Exped. Alex. l. 2. c. 21.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And Tyre did build herself a stronghold - She built it for herself, not for God, and trusted to it, not to God, and so its strength brought her the greater fall. The words in Hebrew express yet more. “Tyre” (Zor) literally, “the rock,” “built herself mazor, tower,” a rock-like fort, as it were, a rock upon exceeding strength, binding her together. . “The walls, 150 feet high and of breadth proportionate, compacted of large stones, embedded in gypsum,” seemed to defy an enemy who could only approach her by sea. “In order to make the wall twice as strong they built a second wall ten cubits broad, leaving a space between of five cubits, which they filled with stones and earth.” Yet high walls do not fence in only; they also hem in. Mazor is both “a stronghold” and “a siege.” Wealth and strength, without God, do but invite and embitter the spoiler and the conqueror.”

And she heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets - “Though he heap up silver as the dust,” Job says, “The King” Job 27:16, Solomon, “made silver in Jerusalem as stones” 2 Chronicles 9:27. Through her manifold commerce she gathered to herself wealth, as abundant as the mire and the dust, and as valueless. “Gold and silver,” said a pagan, “are but red and white earth.” Its strength was its destruction. Tyre determined to resist Alexander, , “trusting in the strength of the island, and the stores which they had laid up,” the strength within and without, of which the prophet speaks.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 9:3. And Tyrus did build herself — The rock on which Tyre was built was strongly fortified; and that she had abundance of riches has been already seen, Ezekiel 28:1, &c.