Zechariah 9:4
What does Zechariah 9:4 mean?
A plain-English look at Zechariah 9:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Zechariah 9:4 means
This verse delivers the stark judgment against Tyre. Despite its impressive fortifications and vast wealth described in the previous verse, the Lord declares that He will dispossess the city and shatter its power in the sea, which was the source of its mercantile strength and influence. Ultimately, Tyre is predestined "to be devoured with fire," signifying complete and devastating destruction. This demonstrates God's sovereign power to dismantle even the most formidable human strongholds and overturn the greatest accumulations of worldly wealth, bringing to nothing that which trusts in itself.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949See, the Lord will take away her heritage, overturning her power in the sea; and she will be burned up with fire.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Lo, the Lord doth dispossess her, And He hath smitten in the sea her force, And she with fire is consumed.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Behold the Lord shall possess her, and shall strike her strength in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Behold, the Lord will take possession of her, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
Context
This verse climactically fulfills the prophetic judgment initiated against Tyre in verse 2 and further elaborated by its description of wealth and fortifications in verse 3. It directly contrasts Tyre's human-made security with God's ultimate power to destroy. This severe judgment then sets the stage for the reactions of other Philistine cities in verse 5, observing Tyre's downfall as a warning and a precursor to their own fate.
v.3And Tyre did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
v.4This passage
v.5Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also, and shall be sore pained; and Ekron, for her expectation shall be put to shame; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Isaiah 23:1
The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
- Amos 1:10
But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
- Ezekiel 26:17
And they shall take up a lamentation over thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, that caused their terror to be on all that dwelt there!
- Ezekiel 27:26
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas.
- Ezekiel 28:2
Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art man, and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God;—
- Joel 3:8
and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
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