Zechariah 10:8

8 When I whistle to them, they will come running, for I have redeemed them. From the few who are left, they will grow as numerous as they were before.

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 strengthen Judah and save Israel ; I will restore them because of my compassion. It will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the LORD their God, who will hear their cries.

7 The people of Israel will become like mighty warriors, and their hearts will be made happy as if by wine. Their children, too, will see it and be glad; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD .

8 When I whistle to them, they will come running, for I have redeemed them. From the few who are left, they will grow as numerous as they were before.

9 Though I have scattered them like seeds among the nations, they will still remember me in distant lands. They and their children will survive and return again to Israel.

10 I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will resettle them in Gilead and Lebanon until there is no more room for them all.