Israel
Zechariah 9:11-17
Zechariah · ~520 BC · Status: Future · Confidence: 60%
“As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;”
King James Version · the opening — all 7 verses are below
Prisoners freed from the waterless pit by the blood of the covenant, pointing to Christ's blood releasing captives.
Read the whole passage — all 7 verses (KJV)
9:11As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
9:12Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
9:13When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
9:14And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the LORD GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
9:15The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
9:16And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.
9:17For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
Fulfillment References
Hebrews 13:20 1 Peter 1:18-19 Luke 4:18
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal'By the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit.' God frees His captives by covenant blood — fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, 'the blood of the everlasting covenant' (Heb. 13:20), who proclaims liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18). The 'prisoners of hope' are restored double; the God who redeems by His own blood is God in flesh, the Lord Jesus.
JewishGod's promise to free His covenant people from the 'pit' of exile and restore them double, defending and saving them; deliverance by covenant faithfulness.
CatholicThe redemption by the blood of the covenant, fulfilled in Christ's blood that frees the captives of sin.
ProtestantThe 'blood of the covenant' fulfilled in Christ (Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 1:18-19); the prisoners of hope set free.
AcademicPart of Deutero-Zechariah's restoration oracles; the 'blood of the covenant' echoes Exodus 24:8, applied by the NT to Christ.
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