Zechariah 9:5

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

Ashkelon: Isaiah 14:29-31, Jeremiah 47:1, Jeremiah 47:4-7, Ezekiel 25:15-17, Zephaniah 2:4-7, Acts 8:26

and be: Jeremiah 51:8, Jeremiah 51:9, Ezekiel 26:15-21, Revelation 18:9-17

for: Isaiah 20:5, Isaiah 20:6, Romans 5:5, Philippians 1:20

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 2:23 - Azzah Joshua 10:41 - Gaza Joshua 15:45 - Ekron 1 Samuel 6:17 - Askelon Nehemiah 4:7 - Ashdodites Isaiah 11:14 - the Philistines Isaiah 14:30 - and I Jeremiah 25:20 - Philistines Jeremiah 47:5 - Gaza Amos 1:6 - Gaza Amos 1:7 - a fire Obadiah 1:19 - the plain

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 9:9
"Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you,

Genesis 9:10
and with every living creature that was with you-the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth-every living thing that came out of the ark.

Genesis 9:28
After the flood, Noah lived 350 years.

Genesis 9:29
So Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

Exodus 20:13
You shall not murder.

Exodus 21:12
Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.

Leviticus 19:16
You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.

Psalms 9:12
For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Matthew 23:35
And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ashkelon shall see [it], and fear,.... That is, as Kimchi explains it, when Ashkelon shall see that Tyre humbles herself and submits, she shall humble herself and submit also: and the sense may be, that the inhabitants of Ashkelon, seeing that Tyre, with all her wisdom and strong reasoning, could not stand before the power of the Gospel, but submitted and embraced the Christian religion, were induced, through the efficacy of divine grace, to do the same; and certain it is that this place became Christian; we read h of a bishop of Ashkelon, in the synod of Nice, and of other bishops of this place in later councils: it belonged to Palestine, and was one of the five lordships of the Philistines, Joshua 13:3.

Gaza also [shall see it], and be very sorrowful; this was a city of Palestine, near to Ashkelon; they are mentioned together, Judges 1:18 the Gentile inhabitants of this place, when they saw the progress the Gospel made in Tyre, Zidon, and Ashkelon, were grieved at it, but many among them submitted to it: very likely Philip the evangelist first preached the Gospel here; see Acts 8:26 there was a Christian bishop of this place in the Nicene council, and others in after ones i.

And Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; this was also one of the five lordships of the Philistines, Joshua 13:3 which, being near to Tyre, had its dependence on that, expecting it could never be taken; but when they saw that it was taken by Alexander, it was ashamed of its vain expectation, hope, and confidence: and so the inhabitants of this place, when the Gospel came to it, were "ashamed of the house of [their] confidence", as the Targum paraphrases the words; the confidence they had in their idols, and in the works of their own hands; and were also "ashamed because of their iniquities", as the Arabic version renders them; being convinced of them, and humbled for them, and betaking themselves to Christ for salvation from them. It is probable, that Philip preached the Gospel here, seeing it was not far from Azotus or Ashdod, next mentioned, where Philip is heard of after the baptism of the eunuch: and if Ekron is the same with Caesarea, that was called Strato's tower, as say the Jews k; and which also Jerom l observes, some say are the same it is certain that Philip was there, Acts 8:40 there were several Christian bishops of this place in later times m.

And the king shall perish from Gaza; some understand this of Batis, who was governor of Gaza, when it was taken by Alexander; who was fastened to a chariot, and dragged about the city, as Curtius n relates; but this man was not a king, but governor of the city under one: I rather think the idol Marnes, which signifies "the lord of man", and was worshipped in this place, is here meant; which when it became Christian was destroyed, and a Christian church built in the room of it, as is reported by Jerom o.

And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited; by Heathens, but by Christians.

h Reland. Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. p. 594. i Ib. p. 795. k T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 6. 1. l De locis Hebraicis, fol. 88. D. m Reland. ib. p. 676, &c. n Hist. l. 4. c. 6. o Comment in Isa. xvii. tom. 5. fol. 39. H. Epist. ad Laetam, tom. 1. fol. 19. E.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ashkelon shall see and fear - The words express that to see and fear shall be as one. The mightiest and wealthiest, Tyre, having fallen, the neighbor cities of Philistia who had hoped that her might should be their stay, shall stand in fear and shame. Tyre, being a merchant-city, the mother-city of the cities of the African coast and in Spain, its desolation caused the more terror Isaiah 23:5-11.

And the - (a) king shall perish from Gaza - that is it shall have no more kings. It had been the policy of the world-empires to have tributary kings in the petty kingdoms which they conquered, thus providing lot their continued tranquil submission to themselves . The internal government remained as before: the people felt no difference, except as to the payment of the tribute. The policy is expressed by the title “king of kings,” which they successively bore. Sennacherib speaks of the kings of Ascalon, Ekron and Gaza .

A contemperary of Alexander mentions, that the king of Gaza was brought alive to Alexander on its capture. Alexander’s policy was essentially different from that of the world-monarchs before him. They desired only to hold an empire as wide as possible, leaving the native kings, if they could; and only, if these were intractable, placing their own lieutenants. Alexander’s policy was to blend East and West into one. . These petty sovereignties, so many insulated centers of mutual repulsion, were essentially at variance with this plan, and so this remnant of sovereignty of 1,500 years was taken away by him, when, after a siege in which he himself was twice wounded, he took it. Alexander wholly depopulated it, and repeopled the city with strangers.

And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited - Ashkelon yielded at once to Jonathan, when he “camped against it” (1 Macc. 10:86), after he had taken and “burned Ashdod and the cities round about it.” In another expedition of Jonathan its inhabitants “met him honorably,” while “they of Gaza shut him out” at first (1 Macc. 11:60, 61). “Simon - passed through the country unto Ascalon, and the holds there adjoining,” without resistance, whereas “he turned aside to Joppe, and won it” (1 Macc. 12:33). He placed Jews in Gaza, but of Ascalon nothing is said. The ruins of a Christian city, built on its site, “khirbet-Ascalon,” have been lately discovered in the hills near Tell Zakariyeh, , and so, a little south of Timnath, a Philistine city in the days of Samson, whence Samson went to it, to gain the 30 changes of raiment Judges 14:19. Commentators have assigned reasons, why Samson might have gone so far as the maritime Ascalon, whereas, in fact, he went to a city close by.

That city, in 536 a.d., had its Bishop . : “The site shows the remains of an early Christian Church or convent:” as a great lintel of stone , resembling somewhat the Maltese Cross, lies on the ground.” It was probably destroyed by the inundation of Muslim conquest. In 1163 a.d. it was a ruin. The distance of the ruins from the Ascalon Maiumas corresponds to that assigned by Benjamin of Tudela, being twice the distance of that city from Ashdod ; but since he was at Beth Jibrin, he must have been not far from the spot where it has been recently discovered . The Ashkelon, which was Herod’s birth-place and which he beautified, must have been the well-known city by the sea; since the distance from Jerusalem assigned by Josephus is too great for the old Ashkelon, and he speaks of it as on the sea .

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 9:5. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear — All these prophecies seem to have been fulfilled before the days of Zechariah; another evidence that these last chapters were not written by him.

Her expectation shalt be ashamed — The expectation of being succoured by Tyre.