Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 10:10
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and [place] shall not be found for them.
10. Egypt Assyria ] It is of Ephraim, or the ten tribes, that the prophet is here speaking. In Zec 10:3-6 of this chapter the promise is to the house of Judah. In Zec 10:6 the house of Joseph is introduced as sharing in it. In Zec 10:7-12 this part of the promise is exclusively pursued. Hence, there is no mention here of the return of the two tribes from Babylon, not because, as has been alleged, this prophecy was written before their captivity, but because (not only was that return already open to them all and an accomplished fact to many of them, but) they are not contemplated here. In like manner Hosea speaks of Egypt and Assyria, as the countries from which Ephraim should return (Zec 11:11).
Gilead, Lebanon ] the territory assigned to these tribes on the E. and on the W. of Jordan.
place shall not be found ] Comp. Isa 49:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt – Individuals had fled to Egypt ; but here probably Egypt and Assyria stand, as of old, for the two great conflicting empires, between which Israel lay, at whose hands she had suffered, and who represent the countries which lay beyond them. Hosea unites (Hos 11:10-11; Isa 11:15-16; add Isa 19:23-25; Isa 27:13; Isa 52:4; Mic 7:12. See ab. p. 96), the West, Assyria, Egypt, the three then known divisions of the world, Europe, Asia, Africa (see at Hos 11:11, vol. i., p. 115). Asshur, after Nineveh perished, stands clearly for the world-empire of the East at Babylon , and then in Persia Ezr 6:22. Balaam includes under Asshur, first Babylon, then the third world-empire (Num 24:22-24; coll. Dan 11:30).
Babylon, which was first subject to Nineveh, then subjected it, was at a later period known to Greek writers (who probably had their information from Persian sources) as part of Assyria .
And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon – Their old dwellings, east and west of Jordan. And place shall not be found for them, as Isaiah says, The children of thy bereaved estate shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place, that I may dwell Isa 49:20.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. Out of the land of Egypt] I will bring them out of all the countries where they have been dispersed, and bring them back to their own land; and they shall be so numerous that they shall scarcely find there, in all its length and breadth, a sufficiency of room. If all the Jews that are now scattered over the face of the earth were gathered together, they would make a mighty nation. And God will gather them together. As a wonderful providence has preserved them in every place, so a wondrous providence will collect them from every place of their dispersion. When the great call comes, no one soul of them shall be left behind.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt; into which doubtless some hasted by an early flight from the Babylonians before they wasted Canaan, and others fled though forbidden, Jer 43; where also in after-days some Jews sought a repose, and where they wonderfully increased, if Josephuss story be true, of one hundred and twenty thousand Jews set at liberty by Ptolemy Philadelphus, when he procured the seventy-two elders to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. These Egyptian Jews shall be brought back.
And gather them out of Assyria; in which many yet did linger, loth to depart, but when God hisseth for them they shall come.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead, which was the eastern frontier of the land of Canaan, and Lebanon; this was the north frontier of the land, and both fruitful and pleasant: they are here mentioned as part for the whole, as before, Zec 8:7.
And place shall not be found for them; the land should be too narrow for them, so Isa 49:20; 54:2,3, which was in part fulfilled according to the historical and literal part, but fully in the spiritual part.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. Egypt . . . Assyriatheformer the first, the latter among the last of Israel’s oppressors(or representing the four great world kingdoms, of which itwas the first): types of the present universal dispersion,Egypt being south, Assyria north, opposite ends of the compass.MAURER conjecturesthat many Israelites fled to “Egypt” on the invasion ofTiglath-pileser. But Isa 11:11and this passage rather accord with the view of the futurerestoration.
Gilead . . . LebanonThewhole of the Holy Land is described by two of its boundaries, theeastern (“Gilead” beyond Jordan) and the northern(“Lebanon”).
place shall not be found forthemthat is, there shall not be room enough for them throughtheir numbers (Isa 49:20;Isa 54:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt,…. The Targum paraphrases it,
“and as I brought them out of the land of Egypt, so will gather their captivity out of Assyria;”
suggesting there would be a likeness between the one and the other. Egypt may denote the state of distance and bondage in which all men are by nature; and the Jews, at their conversion, will be brought out of it, into the glorious liberty of the children of God, by the mighty arm of the Lord, according to his purposes and promises. Moreover, as Cocceius observes, Egypt may signify Rome, or the Romish jurisdiction, which is spiritually called Egypt and Sodom, Re 11:8 for darkness, idolatry, tyranny, and cruelty; and out of which the Jews, as many of them as are there, will be brought at the time of their conversion:
and gather them out of Assyria; which may design the Turkish or Persian dominions, or both, as the above commentator suggests; from whence the Jews, as many as are in those parts, will be brought into their own land, as follows; see Isa 11:11:
and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; Gilead was a land of pasture, and signifies “a heap of testimonies”; and may mystically intend the Scriptures, which testify of Christ, and direct to green pastures, beside the still waters: and Lebanon, that goodly mountain, and hill of frankincense, and where cedars grew, may design the church, whither the converted Jews will be brought, and worship before it, Re 3:9 or both may literally be understood, which they shall return unto; Gilead being, as Kimchi observes, beyond Jordan eastward; and Lebanon, comprehending the whole land of Israel, on this side of it:
and [place] shall not be found for them; they will be so numerous; see Isa 49:20 the Targum is,
“and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and the sanctuary, and it shall not be sufficient for them;”
that is, to hold them. The Septuagint render it, “and not one of them shall be left”: all Israel shall now be converted and saved, though their number will be as the sand of the sea, Ho 1:10.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He confirms the same prediction — that though the Jews were like broken pieces, they were yet to entertain hope of their return and future restoration, since God was able to gather them from the remotest parts whenever he stretched forth his hand. He then names Egypt and Assyria, that the Jews might know that the redemptions here promised is equally open to them all, however far separated they might be. For though Egypt was not very far from Assyria, yet they who had fled to Egypt were regarded with more dislike than the rest, who had been forcibly driven into exile; for God had pronounced a curse on the flight of those who sought refuge in Egypt. Since then they were hated by the others, and as a hostile discord existed between them, the Prophet says that the gathering of which he speaks would belong to both. (127)
He then adds, that such would be the number of men, that there would be no place for them; for so ought these words to be understood, There shall not be found for them; that is, “They will cover the whole land,” according to what we have observed elsewhere. It is said in Isaiah, “Secede from me,” not that the faithful, when God shall increase his Church, will molest one another, or desire to drive away their brethren; but by this mode of speaking Isaiah means that the Church will be filled with such number of men that they will press on one another. So also now Zechariah says, that the number of people will be so great, that the place will be hardly large enough for so vast a multitude. It follows —
(127) This promise of restoration from Egypt and Assyria is considered by Grotius, Dathius, and Henderson, as having been fulfilled literally. Grotius says that one hundred and twenty thousand were restored from Egypt [a larger number than what was restored from Babylon] by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and that many were restored from Assyria by Alexander, the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and by Demetrius; and he refers to Josephus’s of the Fathers, and some moderns, such as Marckius and Henry, viewed the prophecy as fulfilled in a spiritual sense, that is, in the spiritual restoration of the Jews, the language being taken from what belonged to a temporal restoration. But Scott and Adam Clarke seemed disposed to regard this prophecy as yet to be fulfilled, in the restoration of the Jews to their own land, as well as to the faith of the gospel. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10, 11) These verses are evidently worded after the analogy of Isa. 11:11-16. Compare especially the mention of Egypt and Assyria, the reference to the dividing of the Red Sea, and the unity of Ephraim and Judah, as spoken of by Isaiah (Isa. 10:13), and by our prophet in the foregoing passage.
Egypt is, no doubt, mentioned here as the typical oppressor of Israel (Hos. 8:13; Hos. 9:3), as the exodus is the typical deliverance (Isa. 11:16).
Assyria may be mentioned (and not Babylon or Persia), because it was thither that the ten tribes (Ephraim) were carried away; or out of Egypt and Assyria may be looked upon as a stereotyped expression for deliverance; or, again, Assyria may actually denote Persia, as in post-captivity times the king of Persia in Babylon is often called the king of Assyria (e.g., Ezr. 6:22; 2Ki. 23:29; Jdt. 1:7; Jdt. 2:1; Herod. i. 178-188). The second interpretation seems to us the best, in view of the figurative reference to the passage of the Red Sea in Zec. 10:11.
Gilead and Lebanon represent the old territory of the ten tribes on the other side and on this side of Jordan.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Zec 10:10. And place shall not be found for them And it shall not suffice them. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Zec 10:10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and [place] shall not be found for them.
Ver. 10. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt ] Whither they fled for fear of the Babylonians, Jer 44:12 , and where it seems they became a mighty people, if that be true which Josephus writeth, viz. that Ptolemy Philadelphus sent back a hundred and twenty thousand of them into Judea, and by that royal beneficence obtained the seventy seniors to be sent by Eleazar, the high priest, for the translating of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. His successor, Ptolemy Lathurus, was nothing so courteous; for he slew thirty thousand of them with unheard of cruelty and made the living devour the dead.
And gather them out of Assyria
And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will bring them again, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 30:3, Deu 30:5). See App-92.
place. Supply: “[the necessary room]”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
out of the: Zec 8:7, Isa 11:11-16, Isa 19:23-25, Isa 27:12, Isa 27:13, Hos 11:11, Mic 7:11, Mic 7:12
into: Jer 22:6, Eze 47:18-21, Oba 1:20, Mic 7:14
place: Isa 49:19-21, Isa 54:2, Isa 54:3, Isa 60:22
Reciprocal: Ezr 6:22 – the king Dan 11:42 – and Hos 9:6 – Egypt Joe 3:19 – Egypt Zep 2:13 – will make Zec 11:1 – O Lebanon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 10:10. This verse names some of the countries in which these displaced Jews had been living. Gilead and Lebanon were districts in Palestine or near it and forming parts of the home country. Place shall not be found means that the restoration of these scattered Jews will be so successful that they will fill all the space in these territories.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Yahweh would bring the Israelites back from the land of Egypt to Israel’s south, where they had been slaves, and from the land of Assyria to its north, where they had been exiles, namely, from all over the world (cf. Isa 11:11-16; Isa 19:23; Hos 11:10). Probably Zechariah used Assyria as his example of a northern enemy rather than Babylonia because Assyria, and Egypt, were Israel’s most persistent and hostile enemies historically. He would bring the Israelites back into the fruitful Promised Land, into Gilead with its rich pastures east of the Jordan River and Lebanon with its mighty forests west of the Jordan. Again, the whole land is in view.
"The Lebanon . . . is referred to in the Old Testament as a symbol of strength, dignity and splendour (e.g., 2Ki 19:23; Isa 35:2), as are the mountains of Gilead. Hence the two are sometimes also mentioned together to denote power and pride . . . (Jer 22:6). In our verse too this combination may be intended to demonstrate the future power and glory of the Messianic kingdom of Israel." [Note: The Illustrated . . ., 8:95.]
Eventually there would be no more room because so many blessed Israelites would live there (cf. Isa 49:19-21; Isa 54:2-3).