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Zechariah 10:8

8 "I will call my people and gather them together. I will rescue them and make them as numerous as they used to be.

Zechariah 10:8 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 10:8

I will hiss for them
Or "whistle for them" F16; the word signifies, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, the motion of the lips with the voice, and is a sign of calling; and so the Targum renders it, I will cry or call for them; and it denotes the call of them by the Gospel, which is the voice of Christ, which is soft, sweet, and melodious; is a sound of love, grace, and mercy; of peace, pardon, life, and salvation: the allusion seems to be to the shepherd gathering his sheep together with his pipe or whistle, and which was a reed; and so may denote the weakness of the instrument, the ministry of the word in itself, which is made the power of God unto salvation: and gather them;
from the places where they are scattered, into their land; or, by effectual calling, out from the state and condition in which they are, and from among the men of the world, to the Lord himself, as their Redeemer and Saviour; and to him for pardon and righteousness; and into his churches, and communion with him there: Kimchi observes, that some interpret this verse of future time; and Jarchi says it relates to it; and in the Talmud F17 it is applied to the times of the Messiah; where they speak of a bird called "racham", which we translate the gier eagle, ( Deuteronomy 14:17 ) and they say it is so called, because, when that comes, mercies come into the world, which this word signifies. R. Bibi bar Abi says, when it sits, it makes a whistling or hissing, from whence it is called "sarakrak", a word derived from what is here used; and when it sits on the ground, and hisses or whistles, the Messiah will come, as it is said, "I will hiss for them"; the gloss is, when it stands not, but sits and chirps, it is a sign of good news. The design, seems to be to show, that the Messiah's coming is owing mercy, and would be good news, which the Gospel publishes. For I have redeemed them;
from sin, Satan, the law, death, and hell, and every enemy, by his precious blood, and the sacrifice of himself when here on earth; and this is the foundation of the effectual calling of any and every sinner; and will be the reason of the conversion and ingathering of the Jews in the latter day; they being a people redeemed and purchased by the blood of Christ, ( Isaiah 43:1 ) : and they shall increase as they have increased;
either when in Egypt, or in the days of Solomon; their number shall be as the sand of the sea, ( Hosea 1:10 ) a nation shall be born at once; they shall be multiplied, and not be few, and glorified, and not be small; yea, the place shall be too strait for them to dwell in, ( Jeremiah 31:18 ) ( Isaiah 49:18-22 ) ( 66:8 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F16 (hqrva) "sibilabo", i. e. "fistula pastorali", Grotius, Burkius.
F17 T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 63. 1.

Zechariah 10:8 In-Context

6 "I will make the people of Judah strong; I will rescue the people of Israel. I will have compassion on them and bring them all back home. They will be as though I had never rejected them. I am the Lord their God; I will answer their prayers.
7 The people of Israel will be strong like soldiers, happy like those who have been drinking wine. Their descendants will remember this victory and be glad because of what the Lord has done.
8 "I will call my people and gather them together. I will rescue them and make them as numerous as they used to be.
9 Though I have scattered them among the nations, yet in far-off places they will remember me. They and their children will survive and return home together.
10 From Egypt and Assyria I will bring them home and settle them in their own country. I will settle them in Gilead and Lebanon also; the whole land will be filled with people.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.