THE BOW OF JUDAH AND THE
ARROWS OF EPHRAIM
Parallels in Prophecy
between the Maccabees
and Ephraim in the Future.
Relatively Recent Rabbinical Commentators seem to have taken these verses
in Zechariah as referring to both the Hasmonean Maccabees of Judah (though
actually from the Tribe of Levi) in Second Temple times as well as to the
Messiah Son of Joseph and future leader of the Ten Tribes. It was as if in some
way the Maccabees served as prototypes for the Ten Tribes when in the future
they will return. The Festival of Chanukah (Feast of Lights) is sometimes taken
(cf. the book "Bnei Yissachar") as in a way reflecting the personality of
Joseph.
This is the NKJV version of the passage:
Zechariah 9:
12 Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I
will restore double to you.
13 For I have bent Judah, My bow, Fitted the bow with Ephraim, And raised up
your sons, O Zion, Against your sons, O Greece, And made you like the sword of a
mighty man.'
14 Then the LORD will be seen over them, And His arrow will go forth like
lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, And go with whirlwinds from the
south.
This whole section is referring to BOTH Judah and Ephraim.
The expression, "That I will restore double to you" (Zechariah 9:14) in Hebrew
can be understood literally as saying,
"I AM DECLARING A TWO-FOLD MESSAGE FOR YOU TO TAKE TO HEART".
In other words the massage may be understood to apply to both Judah
and Ephraim in parallel format.
Anyway, for the time being, let us quote the Commentary of the Malbim
(1809-1879) on this subject:
[Zechariah
9:12] TURN YOU TO THE STRONG HOLD, YE PRISONERS OF HOPE: EVEN TO DAY DO I
DECLARE THAT I WILL RENDER DOUBLE UNTO THEE;
Return from the Imprisonment of Exile to THE STRONG HOLD meaning Zion which will
be fortified. You have been PRISONERS OF HOPE. You have waited long for
Redemption. EVEN TO DAY DO I DECLARE THAT I WILL RENDER DOUBLE UNTO THEE: The
Miracles will be doubled and take place at two different times. In the past we
had the Wars of the [Maccabee-]Hasmoneans
against Antiochus [Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, Hellenist Ruler over
Syria who oppressed the Jews, reigned ca. 175-164 BCE]. In the future there will
take place the War of the Children of Ephraim against
Gog
and Magog.
Both events at the time they were prophesied were yet to take place. This is
what Zechariah intended in saying EVEN TO DAY DO I DECLARE it...
Zechariah 9:13] WHEN 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.
Malbim
on [Zechariah 9:13]: WHEN I HAVE BENT JUDAH FOR ME: This is one announcement [of
the double message] referring to the what will happen in Second Temple Times
when the Children of Judah will defeat the Children of
Yavan
[i.e. the Macedonian-Greeks]. This will take place through Divine Salvation in a
manner above that attributable to natural causes. Judah will be like a drawn bow
in the hand of the Almighty to fight against the
Yavanites.
The Second [part of the double Prophetic] announcement ["FILLED THE BOW WITH
EPHRAIM"] is that the bow will be filled with [the arrows] of EPHRAIM. In the
future Gog
and Magog
will be aroused. The Children of Ephraim meaning descendants of the Ten Tribes
(who were not present in the Second Temple Period) will then be the bow of the
Almighty ready to war against Gog
and Magog.
The messages are parallel to each other:
WHEN I HAVE BENT JUDAH FOR ME.....AND RAISED UP THY SONS, O ZION, AGAINST THY
SONS, O GREECE: This refers to Second Temple Times concerning the inhabitants
of Zion and of the Tribe of Judah.
FILLED THE BOW WITH EPHRAIM....AND MADE THEE AS THE SWORD OF A MIGHTY MAN: At
that time the Children of Ephraim shall kill with their bow and sword the hosts
of Gog
and Magog
who will have come in armies against them.
[Zechariah 9:14] AND THE LORD SHALL BE SEEN OVER THEM, AND HIS ARROW SHALL GO
FORTH AS THE LIGHTNING: AND THE LORD GOD SHALL BLOW THE TRUMPET [Hebrew: "shofar"],
AND SHALL GO WITH WHIRLWINDS OF THE SOUTH.
Malbim
on [Zechariah 9:14]: These messages are also parallel to each other. IN the time
of the Maccabees
the Almighty made HIS presence felt amongst them to save them... HIS ARROW SHALL
GO FORTH AS THE LIGHTNING...in the Last War against
Gog
and Magog,
He SHALL BLOW THE TRUMPET [Hebrew: "shofar"]
to gather in the outcasts from the four corners of the earth, as it says,
http://www.britam.org/isaiah/Isaiah26to30.html
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY, THAT THE GREAT TRUMPET [Shofar]
SHALL BE BLOWN, AND THEY SHALL COME who were lost IN THE LAND OF ASSYRIA [Isaiah
27:13].
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