Zechariah 9:12

Turn ye to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope,.... "That hope for redemption", as the Targum paraphrases it; not for redemption from the Babylonish captivity, at the end of seventy years, which

Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; Turn you to the strong hold - in contrast to the "pit" (Zechariah 9:11) [ bitsaarown

Turn you: the prophet exhorts the Jews, both those in Babylon still, and those already in Canaan, to hasten up to the strong hold; to Jerusalem, say some, which had been a strong hold, and which was now to be built again, as the high places of the earth; or to Christ, who is the salvation and high tower of his church. Ye prisoners of hope; captives in Babylon, yet under a promise from God, and under an edict from Cyrus, that you shall return; this gives you hope, this maketh you prisoners of expectation. Even today, in this day of lowest distress, I declare that I will render double unto thee; either more than thy fathers ever received, or double, that is, twice as much, good enjoyed as ever was thy evil suffered, as . Turn you: the prophet exhorts the Jews, both those in Babylon still, and those already in Canaan, to hasten up to I declare that I will render double unto thee; either more than thy fathers ever received, or double, that is, twice as much, good enjoyed as ever was thy evil suffered, as .

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;Ver. 12. Turn ye to the strong hold] i.e. To Christ, the Rock of Ages, Isaiah 26:4; the hope of Israel, Jeremiah 17:13; the expectation of all the ends of the earth, Luke 2:25; Luke 2:38. Or to the promise, that strong tower, whereunto the righteous run and are safe; that are Christi munitissima, the strongest defence of Christ, as Cyril here saith, strong hold of Christ. "Thou art my shield," saith David, "I trust in thy word," Psalms 119:114. And again, "Remember thy word to thy servant, wherein thou hast caused me to trust," Psalms 119:49. When young Joash was sought for to the shambles by his murderous grandmother, Athaliah, he was hidden in the house of the Lord for six years. But whence was this safety? Even from the faithful promise of God, 2 Chronicles 23:3 "Behold, the king’ s son must reign, as the Lord had said of the sons of David," that he should never want a man to reign after him. Hence, Psalms 91:4, his faithfulness and his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Under this shield, and within this strong hold of the promises God had made them in the foregoing verses, these prisoners of hope, these heirs of the promises, were to shroud and secure themselves amidst those dangers and distresses as encompassed them on every side. And that they might know that "the needy should not always be forgotten, the expectation of the poor should not perish for ever," Psalms 9:18, here is precious promise of present comfort. Even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee] Though you be now at never so great an under, yet I do make an open promise unto you, verbis non solum disertis sed et exertis, I do assure you, in the word of truth, that I will render unto thee, thou poor soul, that liest panting under the present pressure, double, that is, life and liberty, saith Theodoret; grace and glory, saith Lyra. Or double to what thou hopest; I will be better to thee than thy hopes, saith Jerome; or double, that is, multiplied mercy; but especially Christ, who is called "the gift of God," by an excellence, John 4:10 "the benefit," 1 Timothy 6:2, that which shall abundantly countervail all crosses and miseries, Mark 10:30. Job had all double to him. Valentinian had the empire, Queen Elizabeth the crown. God will be to his Hannahs better than ten children.

(12) Strong hold.—Better, steepness of their own land. Those who still remained in Babylon are exhorted to come forth. Somewhat similarly, in Zechariah 8:8 (which is on all sides admitted to be written after the return from the captivity) we read: “And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” They are “prisoners of hope,” being prisoners still in Babylon, and “of hope,” because, if they chose to accept them, they are the subjects of glorious hopes and promises. Double.—Recompense for all these sufferings (Isaiah 61:7).

Verse 12. Turn you to the strong hold] Ye who feel your sins, and are shut up under a sense of your guilt, look up to him who was delivered for your offences, and rose again for your justification. Ye have hope; let that hope lead you to faith, and that faith to the blood of the covenant; and, through that blood, to GOD, the Father of all. I will render double unto thee] Give thee an abundance of peace and salvation.

12. This verse coheres closely with the verse which precedes it, and a full stop should be printed at the end of it, as in R. V. There is a sharp contrast between the stronghold here and the pit there. And the prisoners of hope in this verse are the prisoners to whom, while yet in the pit, the promise and hope of deliverance had been given in that verse. strong hold] There may be a reference to the hill of Zion, or to the rocky fastnesses of Palestine, to which the exiles who had escaped from the pit or dungeon in Babylon were to turn, or return; but it may be merely a figurative expression (comp. Psalms 40:2), and certainly is so in its higher spiritual and Christian application (Luke 4:18-21). prisoners of hope] Comp. ἡκτίσιςὑπετάγηἐπʼ ? ἐλπίδι, κ. τ. λ., Romans 8:20-21. double] Comp. Isaiah 61:7. From Exodus 16:22, Job 42:10, it would appear that this means a very large and full measure (lit. twice as much as before) of blessing and prosperity.

Turn ye to the stronghold - that is, Almighty God; as the Psalmists so often say, “The Lord is the defense of my life” (Psalms 27:1, add Psalms 31:5; Psalms 37:39; Psalms 43:2; Psalms 52:9); and

THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, Zechariah 9:1 to Zechariah 14:21.