Zechariah 10

6. Judah . . . Joseph--that is, the ten tribes. The distinct mention of both Judah and Israel shows that there is yet a more complete restoration than that from Babylon, when Judah alone and a few Israelites from the other tribes returned. The Maccabean deliverance is here connected with it, just as the painter groups on the same canvas objects in the foreground and hills far distant; or as the comparatively near planet and the remote fixed star are seen together in the same firmament. Prophecy ever hastens to the glorious final consummation under Messiah.
bring them again to place them--namely, securely in their own land. The Hebrew verb is compounded of two, "I will bring again," and "I will place them" ( Jeremiah 32:37 ) MAURER, from a different form, translates, "I will make them to dwell."

7. like a mighty man--in the battle with the foe ( Zechariah 10:3 Zechariah 10:5 ).
rejoice--at their victory over the foe.
children shall see it--who are not yet of age to serve. To teach patient waiting for God's promises. If ye do not at present see the fulfilment, your children shall, and their joy shall be complete.
rejoice in the Lord--the Giver of such a glorious victory.

8. hiss for them--Keepers of bees by a whistle call them together. So Jehovah by the mere word of His call shall gather back to Palestine His scattered people ( Zechariah 10:10 , Isaiah 5:26 , Ezekiel 36:11 ). The multitudes mentioned by JOSEPHUS [Wars of the Jews, 3:2], as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the prophecy.
for I have redeemed them--namely, in My covenant purpose "redeemed" both temporally and spiritually.
as they have increased--in former times.

9. sow them among . . . people--Their dispersion was with a special design. Like seed sown far and wide, they shall, when quickened themselves, be the fittest instruments for quickening others (compare Micah 5:7 ). The slight hold they have on every soil where they now live, as also the commercial and therefore cosmopolitan character of their pursuits, making a change of residence easy to them, fit them peculiarly for missionary work [MOORE]. The wide dispersion of the Jews just before Christ's coming prepared the way similarly for the apostles' preaching in the various Jewish synagogues throughout the world; everywhere some of the Old Testament seed previously sown was ready to germinate when the New Testament light and heat were brought to bear on it by Gospel preachers. Thus the way was opened for entrance among the Gentiles. "Will sow" is the Hebrew future, said of that which has been done, is being done, and may be done afterwards [MAURER], (compare Hosea 2:23 ).
shall remember me in far countries--( Deuteronomy 30:1 , 2 Chronicles 6:37 ). Implying the Jews return to a right mind in "all the nations" where they are scattered simultaneously. Compare Luke 15:17 Luke 15:18 , with Psalms 22:27 , "All the ends of the world remembering and turning unto the Lord," preceded by the "seed of Jacob . . . Israel . . . fearing and glorifying Him"; also Psalms 102:13-15 .
live--in political and spiritual life.

10. Egypt . . . Assyria--the former the first, the latter among the last of Israel's oppressors (or representing the four great world kingdoms, of which it was the first): types of the present universal dispersion, Egypt being south, Assyria north, opposite ends of the compass. MAURER conjectures that many Israelites fled to "Egypt" on the invasion of Tiglath-pileser. But Isaiah 11:11 and this passage rather accord with the view of the future restoration.
Gilead . . . Lebanon--The whole of the Holy Land is described by two of its boundaries, the eastern ("Gilead" beyond Jordan) and the northern ("Lebanon").
place shall not be found for them--that is, there shall not be room enough for them through their numbers ( Isaiah 49:20 , 54:3 ).

11. pass . . . sea with affliction--Personifying the "sea"; He shall afflict the sea, that is, cause it to cease to be an obstacle to Israel's return to Palestine ( Isaiah 11:15 Isaiah 11:16 ). Vulgate translates, "The strait of the sea." MAURER, "He shall cleave and smite." English Version is best ( Psalms 114:3 ). As Jehovah smote the Red Sea to make a passage for His people ( Exodus 14:16 Exodus 14:21 ), so hereafter shall He make a way through every obstacle which opposes Israel's restoration.
the river--the Nile ( Amos 8:8 , 9:5 ), or the Euphrates. Thus the Red Sea and the Euphrates in the former part of the verse answer to "Assyria" and "Egypt" in the latter.
sceptre of Egypt . . . depart--( Ezekiel 30:13 ).

12. I . . . strengthen them in . . . Lord--( Hosea 1:7 ). I, the Father, will strengthen them in the name, that is, the manifested power, of the Lord, Messiah, the Son of God.
walk . . . in his name--that is, live everywhere and continually under His protection, and according to His will ( Genesis 5:22 , Psalms 20:1 Psalms 20:7 , Micah 4:5 ).