And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back again; for I will have mercy upon them; and they shall be as though I had not cast them off for I am Jehovah their God, and I will answer them.
God speaks this promise to a scattered people. In one breath He names two houses that had long been apart. Has this promise ever come true? If not, when will it?
One writer tests the words against Israel's history. Reading from this verse to the end of the chapter, he asks a plain question:
Zechariah 10:6, to the end. When was it that Israel had been as "though the Lord had not cast them off?" Never.
So the promise still lies ahead. The rest of the verse shows how God will keep it, house by house.
The verse does not treat Judah and Joseph the same way, and the difference is deliberate. One commentator matches each verb to where each house stands when the Messiah appears:
The exact words used will strike any thoughtful reader. I will "strengthen" the house of Judah, and I will "save" the house of Joseph, and "bring them again," and so on. Judah would already be in the land before the appearing of their Messiah, and once delivered, He would "strengthen" them. The house of Joseph — Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes — will still be scattered among the nations and undiscovered, despite modern claims. That lasts until after the return of Christ to Zion. So these are the terms used in our passage.
The ten tribes broke away from Judah and were scattered among the nations. This verse is where Zechariah reaches for them:
"I will strengthen the house of Judah" (v. 6). Judah will grow so weak that they despair of recovery. But the strength of the Lord will change this completely. The house of Joseph is also mentioned here. The Lord will save them. In verses 6-12 we have the one direct reference to the ten tribes in Zechariah. They are first spoken of as Joseph, then as Ephraim. Ephraim was the son of Joseph, and he came to represent the ten tribes. They are sometimes called Ephraim, sometimes Joseph and often Israel.
God gives one reason for all of it: "because I have compassion on them." The same writer shows what that mercy does to a judgment God Himself sent:
Judah had despised the other tribes for breaking away in the reign of Rehoboam. Yet God reminds Judah that He will have mercy on those tribes. They shall be as though God had not cast them off. Wonderful is the grace of God that can reverse the painful blows of His disciplinary judgments, once those judgments have done their work. He can do this because He is "the Lord their God," and will hear them. They have been "lost" or "hidden" for centuries. But He knows where they are.
The closing clause names God's relationship to them, not their record. Dennett hears in it the same reversal Hosea announced to people God had once refused to call His own:
This is God's declaration of His unchangeable purposes of grace towards His ancient people. It reveals the depth of His patience and unchanging love, despite their repeated wrongs and sins. That is why He says He has mercy on them. Hosea says the same: God will have mercy on the one who had not received mercy, and will tell those who were not His people, "You are my people," and they shall say, "You are my God." They are once more the objects of the Lord's mercy, in the beautiful and tender words used here: "they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them."
Another writer sets the promise after Israel's last battle, at the end of its worst distress:
The great final victory is announced in this section. They shall fight and conquer, for the LORD of hosts is with them as of old. They will be saved out of the time of Jacob's trouble: "they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them." Ephraim will be there, the restored ten tribes.
- Mercy strengthens. Judah is already in the land when Messiah appears. So the word for them is not rescue but strength — strength for people who had despaired of recovery.
- Mercy saves. Joseph — the ten tribes, also called Ephraim — is still scattered and untraced, so for them the word is "save" and "bring back."
- Mercy finds. Men have called them lost for centuries, but God knows where they are. Their obscurity does not limit Him.
- Mercy erases. Grace can reverse a discipline God Himself sent, once it has done its work. They are left as if the casting off had never happened.
- Mercy answers. The ground is God's own word: "I am the LORD their God." The relationship never changed, and He ends by promising to hear them. Israel has never yet lived this, so it waits on Christ's return.
And [they of] Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their hearts shall rejoice as through wine; and their children shall see [it], and rejoice; their heart shall be joyful in Jehovah.
Zechariah's tenth chapter promises that God will gather both parts of a divided nation. Verse 7 turns from Judah to Ephraim, the tribes long lost from view. It promises them two things: the strength of a warrior, and a gladness like wine drawn from a source wine can never reach.
The name in this verse points to the ten tribes that broke away from Judah. Scripture calls them by several names.
In verses 6-12 we have the one direct reference to the ten tribes in Zechariah. They are first called Joseph, then Ephraim. Ephraim was the son of Joseph, and he came to represent the ten tribes. Those tribes are sometimes called Ephraim, sometimes Joseph, and often Israel.
From verse 7 onward the prophet's subject changes. He also says where these people will come from.
In the last part of this chapter (v. 7-12) we no longer find Judah, but Ephraim — "the house of Israel" — gathered out from the nations, mostly from Assyria and Egypt, to be brought back into the land of Israel.
God had set these tribes aside under His discipline. The promise of verse 7 rests on a mercy that can reverse what God Himself once sent.
Judah is reminded of this. They have despised the other tribes for breaking away during the reign of Rehoboam. Yet God will have mercy on these tribes, and they will be as though God had never cast them off. How wonderful is the grace of God, which can reverse the painful blows of His governmental judgments once those judgments have done their work! He can do this because He is "the LORD their God," and will hear them. They have been "lost" or "hidden" for centuries. But He knows where they are, and will bring them back, as it were, from their graves.
Ephraim receives the same description Judah received earlier in the chapter.
"Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior" (v. 7), just as verse 5 says of Judah. This is a wonderful change.
The strength is not their own. It comes from the Lord who saves them, and it shows in the name they walk in.
He would strengthen Judah and save Ephraim… They would be strong in Jehovah their God, and walk in His name.
The wine image shows how strong the joy is. The verse then names its real source.
Their hearts shall be glad as with wine. This shows the high character of their joy. Then, to show that it is more than natural gladness, the verse adds, "their hearts shall rejoice in the LORD" — in Jehovah their God. He had sought them out in all the places where they had been scattered. He brought them up again to their own land, and made them joyful in His own presence and blessing.
Wine wears off. That raises a question about a joy compared to wine.
The difference is that wine cheers a person only for a short time. The joy of Ephraim will be lasting and full… They will rejoice not only in their circumstances, but "in the LORD." Knowing the Lord Jesus Himself will make all the difference.
The blessing does not stop with one generation. The children watch what happens to their parents.
There is tenderness in the words too: "Their children shall see it and be glad" — glad in the gladness of their parents, so that they reflect back their parents' joy.
When does this happen? One writer answers from the different promises made to the two houses in verse 6.
The exactness of the words used will hardly fail to strike a careful reader. I will "strengthen" the house of Judah, and I will "save" the house of Joseph, and "bring them back"… Judah would already be in the land before the appearing of their Messiah, and when they were delivered, He would "strengthen" them. The house of Joseph — Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes — will still be scattered among the nations and undiscovered… until after the return of Christ to Zion.
- Mercy first. Ephraim's future rests on grace that can undo God's own judgments once they have done their work.
- Mercy makes them strong. Ephraim's warrior-strength is not their own. They are strong in the Lord their God and walk in His name.
- Strength brings joy. The verse compares their gladness to wine to show how high it rises. This is not quiet relief but full-hearted celebration.
- Joy points past wine. Wine's cheer fades. This heart rejoices "in the LORD," so the joy lasts as long as its object does.
- Joy spreads to the children. The next generation sees the change in their parents and is glad, reflecting back the same joy.
I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them and they shall multiply as they used to multiply.
In Zechariah 10, God turns from the failure of Israel's leaders to what He Himself will do. Two things drive verse 8. There is a call that reaches a scattered people wherever they are. And there is the reason for that call, which lies in God's own work.
Older translations read "I will hiss for them." That sounds strange today. The picture is a signal that summons.
In Scripture the word "hiss" often carries the idea of summoning (see, for example, Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 7:18). Here it teaches that the Lord, in His own way, will get the attention of His scattered people. He will make His mighty call reach their hearts. At the same time He will create in them a response to His word, before He works out their deliverance.
The picture behind the word comes from shepherding.
"I will whistle for them and gather them in" (v. 8). The word for whistle refers to a shrill-noted pipe used by shepherds to gather the sheep. Israel will respond to the authoritative call of the Lord Jesus in that day and will return to Him.
The middle clause gives the reason: God has redeemed them. The same word runs through the Psalms and Prophets for Israel's future deliverance. It always rests on one foundation.
The same principle applies to the very frequent use of the word redemption in the Psalms and Prophets for the future deliverance of Israel for His kingdom on earth. See Psalm 103:4, Psalm 106:10, Psalm 107:2; Isaiah 41:14, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 63:9, and others. Another word also carries the same meaning, as in Isaiah 35:10, Jeremiah 31:11, Hosea 13:14, Micah 6:4, and Zechariah 10:8. All of it, however, rests on His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was an outward sample and pledge.
Israel already knew this pattern. Blood shed once became the basis of everything God did for them afterwards.
In Egypt the blood of the Passover Lamb was the all-sufficient ground on which God acted. On that ground He delivered His people from Egypt, brought them through the wilderness, and put them in possession of Canaan. In the same way, the redemption Christ accomplished by His death will be the foundation on which God works. On that ground He will rescue His people from the hands of their enemies and regather them to the land of their fathers.
The gathering promised here is far wider than the return from exile in Babylon.
The Lord here promises to strengthen the house of Judah and to save the house of Joseph. So this is clearly the future ingathering of the whole nation — the "all Israel" that God will save. It is not a mere remnant returning from Babylon. It is a complete ingathering of the people from every quarter.
That includes the tribes no one can now trace. Their disappearance is no obstacle to God.
The grace of God is wonderful. It can reverse the painful blows of His governmental judgments once those judgments have done their work. He can do this because He is "the Lord their God," and will hear them. They have been "lost" or "hidden" for centuries. But He knows where they are, and will bring them figuratively from their graves.
The last clause promises numbers restored to what they once were. Commentators read the increase as literal and large enough to press against the borders of the land itself.
And when there, place should not be found for them, because of their increase in number and prosperity as promised before (v. 8; compare Isaiah 49:20).
- Whistle. The signal here is a shepherd's pipe, not a threat. It is an authoritative call that reaches scattered people wherever they are.
- Ground. The call carries because God has redeemed them. That redemption rests on blood-shedding, as the Passover blood carried Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the land.
- Reach. God promises the whole nation, not a fraction. The return from Babylon was only a sample and pledge of it.
- Recovery. God knows where the lost tribes are. His grace reverses His own judgments once they have done their work.
- Result. The gathered people multiply as they did in former days, under His rule and kingdom.
And I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children and return.
Zechariah 10 promises to restore the whole nation. God strengthens Judah and saves the house of Joseph. Verse 9 looks at what happens to the ten tribes in the long wait before that day. What does God mean by sowing a people among the nations? Is it judgment that scatters, or planting that multiplies?
The verb matters. One writer argues that the word used here never means scattering. That makes it a promise of growth while the people are still far from home.
The word "people" should be translated "peoples," that is, nations. Jehovah would sow His people among the nations. Some say that the word "sow" is never used to mean scattering, and so it must mean increase or blessing. The similar expression in Hosea, "I will sow her to Myself in the earth," together with its context, supports this. If so, it means this. Before God steps in to gather the ten tribes back, He will cause them to prosper and multiply where they are among the nations. At the same time He will begin to work in their hearts, just as He did with His people in Egypt, and so cause them to remember Him in far countries.
(The ESV renders the Hosea line "I will sow her for myself in the land.")
Commentators differ. Another writer reads the line as the scattering itself, and finds the wonder in what God has kept alive:
God was in perfect control of Israel's scattering and foretold it long before. Their scattering has lasted far longer than anyone might have imagined. Some have argued that it has gone on too long for Israel even to be recognised if God gathers them back. But God's sovereign work shows itself wonderfully here. Jews have kept their national identity, though scattered among other nations for centuries. As for the ten tribes, God is just as able to bring them back as He is to bring those of Judah back to the land, as He has been doing in recent years.
The two readings need not be rivals. The prophet Hosea named a son Jezreel, and that one name looks both ways:
The name means "God shall scatter" (Jer. 31:10); but it also means "God shall sow" (Zech. 10:9). So God would scatter Israel and sow them among the nations.
God's people remember Him in far countries. That memory is not their own doing. It answers a call He Himself sends out:
God in His grace speaks of remembering His people again. So is it not God Himself who blows the trumpet to call His people to remember Him?
The verse before this one says God will whistle for them and gather them. That call reaches their hearts before He works out their rescue:
The Lord in His own way will get the attention of His scattered people. He will make His mighty call reach their hearts. At the same time He will create in them a response to His word, before He works out their deliverance. The ground of His action lies in the words, "I have redeemed them."
The promise names the children as well as the parents. Where the ESV says they will "return," older translations say "turn again":
This is the second time the chapter mentions the children. As the reader knows, the children of His people are always the objects of God's tender care and concern. Moses insisted, with the mind of God, that the children must come out of the land of Egypt with their parents. Now in this second "redemption" Jehovah promises that the children will live with their parents and will turn again — turn again first to God, and then with their faces towards Zion on their homeward march.
Some limit this promise to the return from Babylon.
So this is plainly the future gathering in of the whole nation, the "all Israel" that is to be saved… It is not a mere remnant returning from Babylon. It is a complete gathering in of the people from every quarter.
One writer names the price of that gathering, and where it ends:
Redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, their Messiah whom they once refused, God "will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria" into their own land.
- Sown, not lost. The word is a farmer's word. God spread this people among the nations to multiply them, not to end them.
- Scattered, yet kept. The name Jezreel means both "God will scatter" and "God will sow." Scattered among the nations for centuries, the Jews have kept their identity.
- Called, then remembering. They remember God in far countries because He calls them first. He sounds the trumpet that brings Him to mind.
- Redeemed. God gives one ground for it all: "I have redeemed them." The gathering rests on the blood of Jesus, their Messiah.
- Home, with the children. They turn first to God, then towards Zion. The children travel home with their parents.
And I will bring them again out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and [place] shall not be found for them.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he shall pass through the sea of affliction, and shall smite the billows in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall dry up; and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
Zechariah 10 promises that God will gather His scattered people from Egypt and Assyria. Verse 11 says what happens to the powers in the way — and it raises two questions: is "the sea" here water at all, and who passes through it?
One older translation reads, "He shall pass through the sea with affliction." The ESV has "the sea of troubles." That word "with" is not in the Hebrew, so the affliction is not something the sea brings. The affliction is the sea.
It simply reads in the Hebrew, "He shall pass through the sea, affliction," as if affliction were the sea meant here as a figure. If "the sea" is a figure, it stands for the nations (compare Rev. 17:15) that have oppressed Israel. Then the words that follow, "And shall smite the waves of the sea," mean that Jehovah will step in at that time. The nations will rise up and threaten to swallow His people, and He will strike the proud waves of their power to deliver them. At the same time there is certainly a look back to Israel's past, when God struck the proud waters of the Red Sea and brought His people through on dry land.
Commentators differ on the force of "He shall pass through." One reads it as the Lord being with His people in their trouble.
Notice that the eleventh verse must be applied to the Lord. He is with them in the sea of affliction, as He was with them in Egypt and went before them in the pillar of cloud.
Another reads the same words as the Lord moving through the nations to judge them:
The sea is a symbol of the Gentile nations (Rev. 17:15). The Lord Jesus will pass through all of these in His devastating judgment. The deeps of the river too, the sources of refreshment for those nations, will be dried up, leaving them desolate.
Drying up the Nile is no random disaster. Egypt lives by that river. And the two enemies named stand for more than themselves.
The two references ("the sea" and "the river") speak then of judgment, and above all of judgment on Egypt. Drying up the Nile would take from her the whole source of her life and fertility... Assyria and Egypt were the enemies of God's people to the north and to the south. So they will fall under judgment when the Lord brings His scattered people out from under their power. And not only these two. These long-standing enemies of Israel are named as a symbol of all the nations that will hold Israel captive.
The striking of the sea is not an end in itself. In the flow of the chapter, it clears a path for a people God is bringing home.
Jehovah would gather them in such numbers that there would be no place for them. He would dry up the sea and the river to make a way for them, and the pride of their enemies would be brought down. They would be strong in Jehovah their God, and walk up and down in His name.
A scepter is the symbol of who rules. Egypt's departs — and Scripture already says who will hold one instead.
One of the distinguishing marks of royalty: a rod or staff of dignity... The prophecy that "the scepter shall not depart from Judah... until Shiloh come" refers to Christ as the Prince of Peace (Gen. 49:10). The scepter is not now held by Judah while the people are set aside as "not My people," but their supremacy will be renewed when the purpose of God is fulfilled. Many passages speak of Christ sitting upon the throne of David, and reigning until His enemies are put beneath His feet. A scepter of righteousness will be the scepter of His kingdom.
Has any of this happened yet? One writer weighs the promise against the actual return from exile.
The prophet Zechariah also foretells the recovery of the remnant of Israel from Assyria and Egypt... This recovery has not yet taken place. In the days of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, a remnant came back to the land from Babylon — a remnant of Judah. Those who were carried off into Assyria will yet be restored to their own land.
- Sea — the waters picture the nations that have oppressed Israel. The affliction itself is the sea to cross.
- Passage — the Lord Himself goes through it. Some read this as His presence with His people in trouble; others as His judgment moving through the nations.
- Drying — striking the sea and drying the river takes away what the oppressors live on. Egypt loses the very source of her life.
- Scepter — Egypt's rule ends. Judah's rule, long broken off, returns under Christ, whose scepter is one of righteousness.
- Still ahead — none of this happened at the return from Babylon. The road God opens is for a gathering yet to come.
And I will strengthen them in Jehovah; and they shall walk in his name, saith Jehovah.
Zechariah closes chapter 10 with one promise. The scattering, the gathering, and the fall of the great powers all lead to this: God says what His people will be. Two questions follow. Where does their strength come from, and what does a walk "in His name" look like?
One writer draws out both halves of the promise — where the strength comes from, and what the walk is for. He ties both to the new heart God gives:
Now they will learn that their strength is not in their armies, or in their alliances, but in the Lord alone (compare Ephesians 6:10). Free before Him, they will walk up and down. They will not do it to please themselves, or to serve their own ends, but as His servants and representatives, and so in His name. And this, as we gather from Micah, is what will distinguish them as the Lord's people. "For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever" (Micah 4:5). So along with their restoration, God will change their hearts, on the terms of the new covenant: "I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Hebrews 8:10).
To bear someone's name is to stand for them. Older translations read "walk up and down in His name." One writer places that walk at the end of a sequence God carries out step by step:
It will be an Israel made new in spirit, and gathered back in body too. God will 'hiss' for them, or 'pipe', as shepherds used to do when gathering their sheep. He will gather them out of Egypt to the south and out of Assyria to the north, as once He struck the river in the days of Moses. Once He has regathered them, He will strengthen them, so that they 'walk up and down' in His name. That means they will represent Him rightly on the earth at last. All this clearly looks on to the end of the age.
Verse 11 has just described the fall of the powers that held Israel down. Verse 12 says what freedom will mean for the people who come out from under them:
The Lord will strengthen the ten tribes to "walk up and down in His name" (v. 12). Enemies will no longer hold them back. They will be free in their own land, and willingly submit to the Lord's authority.
Commentators differ on how much of this chapter came true in the centuries after Zechariah wrote. One writer finds real history in the opening verses, and still refuses to stop there:
As to the early verses of the chapter, there seems no reason to question that they apply to the march of Alexander the Great's army, and to the heavy blows struck north and south of Judea... This is plain, and important in its own measure. But how much more important is it to see that the prophecy as a whole, like others, is not to be read on its own? It joins all the rest in converging on the great events of the last days. Then the King will make good the sure mercies of David, now established in His resurrection. He will come to them, not as before in humiliation, but in power and glory... He will save them in that day as the flock of His people. They will then be more remarkable for strength against every adversary than they have ever been for weakness and fear, and they shall walk up and down in His name, says Jehovah.
The principle behind the promise is not locked in the future. Anyone who walks under a name that is not his own is answerable to it:
It is a walk worthy of the Lord; in 1 Thessalonians it is a walk worthy of God. If I am walking about in my Father's name, I ought at least to walk worthy of Him.
- Source — Their strength will not be in armies or alliances, but in the Lord alone.
- Gift — Strength is God's to give, not theirs to raise. He gathers them first, then strengthens them.
- Change — The strength comes with a new heart. Under the new covenant, God writes His law within and says, "I will be their God."
- Reach — No past return exhausts this promise. The chapter converges on the last days, when the King comes in power and glory.
- Result — Free and strong, they walk in His name. They no longer serve their own ends. They represent Him on the earth at last.