Zechariah 13:8

Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein.

Ver. 8. Two parts therein shall be cut off and die] q.d. They shall, they shall, however strange or incredible this sad tidings seems to you; it shall be even so, take my word for it. "Behold the severity of God," Rom 11:22. In the Greek it is the resection, or, cutting off (αποτομιαν), as a surgeon cutteth off proud and dead flesh. "The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity," &c., Zep 3:5. Fiat iustitia, ruat coelum, Let justice be done, let the heavens be destroyed, may seem to be his motto. In point of justice he stands not upon multitudes, Psa 9:17. It is all one to him "whether against a nation or against a man only," Job 34:29. National sins bring national plagues; heinous sins heavy punishments. In the universal deluge God swept away all, as if he had blotted out that part of his title, "The Lord, the Lord, gracious, merciful," &c., and had taken up that of Attilas, Orbis flagellum, the world’s scourge. Sodom’s sins were multiplied above measure; "therefore God took them away as he saw good," Eze 16:49-50; and hath thrown them out (προκεινται), as St Jude speaketh, for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Herodotus, a heathen historian, saith the very same of the destruction of Troy, viz. that the ruins and rubbish thereof are set forth for an example of that noted rule, that God greatly punisheth great offences, and that heinous sins bring hideous plagues. Here we have two parts of three cut off in the land of Judea; as it happened at the last destruction thereof by the Romans; at which time more than a million of men perished, see Mat 24:21. {See Trapp on "Mat 24:21"} And what think we shall become of Babylon the Great? Her sins reach up to heaven, whereunto they are even glued and fastened, as the word εκολληθησαν signifies, Rev 18:5, therefore she shall be brought down to hell with Capernaum (for flagitium et flagellum sicut acus et filium), therefore shall her plagues come in one day to confute their fond conceit of an eternal empire, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be utterly overthrown with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her, full able to effect it, seem it to Babel’s brats never so improbable or impossible, Rev 18:18. It was never besieged since it became Papal, but it was taken; whereas before it was held invincible. Sin that lieth at the bottom will easily undermine and overturn the walls, though never so strong built; as the voice from heaven told Phocas the murderer. The blood of that innocent Lamb of God lies heavily upon the whole nation of the Jews to this day. Their last devastation and present dismal dispersion is such, as that one of their own Rabbis concludes from thence that their Messiah must needs be come; and they must needs suffer so much for killing him.

But the third shall be left therein] A holy remnant kept for a reserve. Good husbands cast out all their grain into the oven, but keep some for seed. "But yet in it shall be a tenth," saith another prophet, Isa 6:13 : there shall be "two or three berries in the top of a tree, four or five in the outmost branches," Isa 17:6. God’s elect are so very few, that the world shall wonder, Isa 8:18, and even hoot to see Christ’s flock so very little, little, as our Saviour speaks, Luk 12:22, as Israel stood like two little flocks of kids, when the Syrians filled the country, 1Ki 20:27. There were but a few names in Sardis; and many bad in the best Churches; as at Philippi, Php 3:18. Christ wondered at one good Nathanael, as rara avis in terris; a rare bird in the earth, and when he comes, shall he find faith? How many, think you, shall be saved in this city? saith Chrysostom, in his fourth sermon to the people at Antioch. It will be a hard speech to you, but I will speak it: Though there be so many thousands, yet there cannot be found a hundred that shall be saved. And I doubt about them, too. And again, in his third sermon upon the Acts, he breaks out into this speech, Non arbitror inter sacerdotes multos esse qui salvi fiant, I do not think that there are many, no, not among the ministry, that can be saved, since many are called, but few are chosen; like as all the people were called together by Samuel, but Saul only was chosen king. Only the called according to purpose are elected, and shall be glorified, Rom 8:28-29. Christ at the last day will do as Joshua did to find out who had stolen the Babylonish garment; there were many brought together, and all to find out one, Jos 7:16-21 So, all shall then appear; out of them a small number deducted, that have heard of Christ. Out of them, those that have professed him, and out of them, those that have professed him in sincerity, and these will be Mithe mispar, a small few indeed. Hence they are called pearls, which are but few to the number of pebbles; jewels, which are but little to the lumber; strangers, that are nothing so many as homedwellers; sons of God, and of the royal blood; and of such there are but a few to common subjects. They are as a fold in a wide field; as a garden in a wild waste. Rari quippe boni, saith the poet (Juvenal). And Pauci sunt qui philosophantur, few there are who philosophize, saith Ulpian, the lawyer.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it shall come to pass

Zechariah 13 now returns to the subject of Zec 12:10. Zec 13:8; Zec 13:9 refer to the sufferings of the remnant; Isa 1:9; Rom 11:5 preceding the great battle. Zechariah 14. is a recapitulation of the whole matter. The order is:

(1) The gathering of the nation, Zec 13:2 (see "Armageddon," Rev 16:14 (See Scofield "Rev 19:11")

(2) the deliverance, Zec 13:3;

(3) the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives, and the physical change of the scene, Zec 13:4-8;

(4) the setting up of the kingdom, and full earthly blessing, Zec 13:9-9.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:8 Two-thirds . . . one-third: The divine judgment would be catastrophic, but God would preserve a remnant and forgive their sin (see Isa 65:9; Jer 50:20; Ezek 5:2-12; Rev 9:15-18).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The greatest part shall have no portion of these blessings, and yet they that shall enjoy them, shall be tried with great afflictions, so that it shall be known that only God’s power and his mercies do preserve them.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in the Roman wars, and a third to survive. Probably from the context (Zac 14:2-9), which has never yet been fulfilled, the destruction of the two-thirds (literally, "the proportion of two," or "portion of two") and the saving of the remnant, the one-third, are still future, and to be fulfilled under Antichrist.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. Two parts therein shall be cut off] In the war with the Romans.

But the third shall be left] Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be preserved alive; and not one of these perished in the siege, or afterwards, by those wars.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He goes on with the same subject; for he reminds the faithful, that though God had resolved to restore his Church, and though his blessing would be evident, yet very heavy afflictions were not far distant; as though he had said, “God will give you a serene heaven and a bland air, that the land may bring forth its fruit; but still there is a heavy tempest impelling, and ye shall not be exempt from storms and hail. But when God has laid waste a part of the land, he will bless you with corn and wine, so that you shall have sufficient support.” So also in this place he says, “God will protect his Church, and will also be propitious to it, for he will wash away all the filth of wickedness, and will give to you faithful pastors, when he has removed the impostures of Satan: but in the meantime most grievous afflictions await you, and a hard state of things, and difficult to be borne, must be expected; for God will appear as though he intended to destroy his people: such will be the scattering.”

For this reason he says, that there will be through the whole land the most grievous calamities: Two parts, he says, shall die; the third only shall remain

We now see how all these things agree, and how the Prophet’s words harmonise. In short, he means, that what he had before promised respecting the future favor of God, does not belong indifferently to all, or to the whole body of the people, but to the faithful, whom God will in a wonderful manner deliver from ruin; for of the people God will only save the third part, as he had already resolved to destroy the other two parts. The intention of the Prophet is now by no means doubtful.

But we hence conclude, that what God daily promises to his Church is not to be extended indiscriminately to all, for many falsely profess his name: but he knows his own, as Paul says, and therefore exhorts them to depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:16.) Let us then know that promises of God’s favor do not appertain to hypocrites: for though he has decreed to deal kindly and graciously with his Church, he yet continues to diminish it, so that the third part only remains safe. Whenever then we speak of God’s mercy towards his Church, and of his aid and help, let us ever bear in mind the cleansing of which Zechariah now speaks, that God will reserve the third part, while the greater portion ever runs headlong into ruin. It is then enough that the third part should be delivered from destruction. But this verse, as it has already appeared, ought to be applied to the kingdom of Christ.

Literally we read, the mouth of the two; but פי, pi, is to be taken metaphorically for part or portion. A part then of the two in it, or two parts in it, (the plural is joined with the singular, as often is the case,) shall perish, shall be cut off. The verb כרת, caret, means to cut off; and then גוע, guo, signifies to die or to sink. Though he understands the same things by the two words, it is not yet an unmeaning repetition; for it might have seemed hard and unreasonable that only a third part of God’s people should remain. This diminution of the Church might have disturbed the minds of many, and might have appeared incredible: hence the Prophet, in order to confirm what in itself seemed a paradox, says, they shall die, they shall perish; it has been so decreed, and you are not to contend with God; for given up to ruin shall the greater number be, while a few only shall remain: the third part then shall remain in it. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(8) The land.—viz., of Israel. (Comp. Zec_14:9.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. in all the land] i.e. of Palestine, which agrees with the view taken above that “the flock” is the Jewish church and people.

two parts] Comp. 2Sa_8:2. This was terribly fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord,.... Either in all the land of Israel, as Kimchi interprets it; or rather in all the world, as Aben Ezra and others; for this prophecy seems to have respect, not to the calamities of the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, after the death of Christ, when a few were saved, a remnant according to the election of grace, yet so as by fire, for whose sake the days of tribulation were shortened; but to the external state of the church, and the trouble of it throughout Christendom, about the time of the destruction of antichrist:

two parts therein shall be cut off and die; all hypocrites, formalists, and outward court worshippers; who seem as if they would be at this time two thirds of the professors of true religion; who will not be able to stand the hour of temptation that will come upon all the earth, to try the inhabitants of it; which will be the last struggle of the beast of Rome, Rev 3:10 but will be twice dead, plucked up by the roots; will die to the profession of religion, and be cut off from the people of God, and have no more a name with them:

but the third shall be left therein; the few names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; the hundred forty and four thousand that will stand with Christ, and by him, on Mount Zion, being redeemed from among men, Rev 3:4 compare with this Rev 16:19.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In all the land, two parts therein shall be cut off and die - “In all the land of Israel,” says a Jewish interpreter; (Kimchi); “ - the land, in which the Good Shepherd had been slain and the sheep scattered, “that upon you.” our Lord had said, “may come all the righteous blood.” As David punished Moab, “with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive” 2Sa 8:2; and Ezekiel prophesied, “A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee” Eze 5:12; so now, the greater part should be destroyed, but a remnant should be saved. “But the third part shall be left therein. Even so then at this present time also,” Paul says, “there is a remnant according to the election of grace” Rom 11:5. Osorius: “The third part only shall be saved from the common destruction; yet not so, that they should suppose that glory was to be obtained amid ease.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Third. The greatest part of mankind will be lost. (Haydock) --- The few Jews who embrace the faith will be absorbed in the Gentile converts, and suffered to live, though proved by persecutions, while the rest shall be exterminated. Both shall lose their name, and be styled Christians. (Calmet) --- Those who adhere to Judaism, or to paganism, cannot be saved. This is the privilege only of Christian Catholics, who live piously, and are selected by God’s grace. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This verse may be a prediction of the great slaughter Titus made among the Jews, and also an emblem of the multitudes of them that perish, and paucity of them that are saved.

In all the land of Judea, or the whole world.

Two parts; not precisely two, but, more largely, the greater part by far.

Shall be cut off and die, a temporal death, by the sword of Titus, or an eternal death under unbelief and rejecting Christ.

But the third, i.e. a remnant, the lesser part, yet as many as are chosen, shall be left therein; shall escape or be preserved and saved.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In all the land; i.e. Palestine, the country in which the good Shepherd tended his flock (Zec 11), and which is a figure of the kingdom of God. (comp. Zec_12:12 Zec_14:9, Zec_14:10) Two parts therein shall be cut off and die; literally, the mouth, i.e. the portion of two, as Deu_21:17 2Ki_2:9, where it denotes the double portion inherited by the firstborn. The inheritance is divided into three portions, of which two parts are given over to death. Compare a similar allotment in the case of the Moabites. (2Sa_8:2) The doomed portion is supposed to represent the multitudes who perished at the siege of Jerusalem. This may be; but by analogy it stands for those who shall not accept the Messiah or be purified by suffering, even as Christ said, "Many are called, but few chosen". (Mat_20:16; comp. Mat_3:12) The third. This third part represents the faithful among the Jews, (Rom_11:5) and the Christian Church gathered out of all nations. (comp. Isa_6:13; and especially Eze_5:2, Eze_5:12)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Two parts - Not precisely two, but the greater part shall die a temporal death, by the sword of Titus, or in eternal death under unbelief. The third - A remnant, the lesser part, shall escape or be preserved.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

this is Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Zechariah 1:4. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

that two-thirds of it will be cut off! Those people will perish; only one-third will remain there

People being killed is spoken of as if they are cut off like cloth is cut from a garment or a branch is cut from a plant. AT: "that two out of every three people will die! Only one person out of three will remain in the land" (See: Metaphor and Fractions)

I will bring that third through the fire

Metal is passed through fire in order to purify or harden it. This expression serves here as a metaphor for exposing the people to suffering in order that they may become more faithful to God. (See: Metaphor)

refine them as silver is refined; I will test them as gold is tested

Refining refers to making precious metals such as silver more pure. Metals such as silver and gold are tested in order to discover how pure or strong they are. Both refining and testing are here metaphors for making the people more faithful to God. (See: Metaphor)

They will call on my name

Here "name" represents Yahweh. AT: "They will call out to me" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Yahweh

declare

cut off

perish

fire

silver

gold

test

call

name

people group

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and the third shall remain therein They shall proselytize and live.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.