Zechariah 9:2
New International Version
and on Hamath too, which borders on it, and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.

New Living Translation
Doom is certain for Hamath, near Damascus, and for the cities of Tyre and Sidon, though they are so clever.

English Standard Version
and on Hamath also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

Berean Standard Bible
and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.

King James Bible
And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.

New King James Version
Also against Hamath, which borders on it, And against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

New American Standard Bible
And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

NASB 1995
And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

NASB 1977
And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Hamath also, which borders on it; And Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

Amplified Bible
And Hamath also, which borders on it (Damascus), Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

Christian Standard Bible
and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.

American Standard Version
and Hamath, also, which bordereth thereon; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

Contemporary English Version
Judgment will also fall on the nearby city of Hamath, as well as on Tyre and Sidon, whose people are clever.

English Revised Version
and Hamath also which bordereth thereon: Tyre and Zidon, because she is very wise.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
and also Hamath, which borders on it, and Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. (The eyes of humanity and of all the tribes of Israel are on the LORD.)

Good News Translation
Hamath, which borders on Hadrach, also belongs to him, and so do the cities of Tyre and Sidon, with all their skill.

International Standard Version
Also Hamath, which borders on it— along with Tyre and Sidon— indeed they are very wise.

Majority Standard Bible
and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.

NET Bible
as are those of Hamath also, which adjoins Damascus, and Tyre and Sidon, though they consider themselves to be very wise.

New Heart English Bible
and Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Hamath also shall border by it; Tyre and Zidon, though it be very wise.

World English Bible
and Hamath, also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And also Hamath borders thereon, "" Tyre and Sidon, for—very wise!

Young's Literal Translation
And also Hamath doth border thereon, Tyre and Zidon, for -- very wise!

Smith's Literal Translation
And also Hamath shall be the bound in it; Tyre and Zidon, for it was wise exceedingly.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Emath also in the borders thereof, and Tyre, and Sidon: for they have taken to themselves to be exceeding wise.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Hamath also is at its limits, and Tyre and Sidon. For, of course, they have assumed themselves to be exceedingly wise.

New American Bible
Hamath also on its border, Tyre too, and Sidon, no matter how clever they be.

New Revised Standard Version
Hamath also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Against Hamath also which borders Damascus, and Tyre and Sidon, though they have become very wise.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Also Khamath shall border it, and Tyre and Tsidan, for they are very wise
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And Hamath also shall border thereon; Tyre and Zidon, for she is very wise.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And in Emath, even in her coasts, are Tyre and Sidon, because they were very wise.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgement Against Israel's Enemies
1This is the burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the LORD— 2and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd. 3Tyre has built herself a fortress; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.…

Cross References
Isaiah 23:1-18
This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus. / Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon, whose traders have crossed the sea. / On the great waters came the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre; she was the merchant of the nations. ...

Ezekiel 28:1-19
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, / “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god. / Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you! ...

Amos 1:9-10
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood. / So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre to consume its citadels.”

Jeremiah 47:4
For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.

Joel 3:4-8
Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads. / For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples. / You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland. ...

Matthew 11:21-22
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. / But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

Mark 7:24-30
Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice. / Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet. / Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ...

Luke 10:13-14
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. / But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

Acts 21:3-6
After sighting Cyprus and passing south of it, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo. / We sought out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. / But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us. ...

Isaiah 14:29-31
Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg. / Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root by famine, and your remnant will be slain. / Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there are no stragglers in its ranks.

Ezekiel 26:1-21
In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, / “Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken; it has swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will be filled,’ / therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, O Tyre, I am against you, and I will raise up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. ...

Psalm 87:4
“I will mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me—along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush—when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”

2 Samuel 8:5-6
When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men. / Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

1 Kings 5:1
Now when Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in his father’s place, he sent envoys to Solomon; for Hiram had always been a friend of David.

1 Chronicles 22:3-4
David provided a large quantity of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with more bronze than could be weighed / and more cedar logs than could be counted; for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.


Treasury of Scripture

And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.

Hamath.

Numbers 13:21
So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

2 Kings 23:33
And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

2 Kings 25:21
And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.

Tyrus.

Isaiah 23:1-18
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 Chittim it is revealed to them…

Ezekiel 26:1-28:26
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, …

Joel 3:4-8
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; …

Zidon.

1 Kings 17:9
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

Ezekiel 28:21-26
Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, …

Obadiah 1:20
And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

it be.

Ezekiel 28:3-5,12
Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: …

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Zechariah 9
1. God defends his church.
9. Zion is exhorted to rejoice for the coming of Christ, and his peaceable kingdom.
12. God's promises of victory and defense.














and also upon Hamath
The mention of "Hamath" refers to a significant city-state located in what is now modern-day Syria. Historically, Hamath was a prominent center in the ancient Near East, often associated with wealth and influence. The Hebrew root for Hamath, "חֲמָת" (Chamath), suggests a place of fortification or defense, indicating its strategic importance. In the context of Zechariah, the prophecy extends God's judgment beyond Israel to include neighboring nations, emphasizing the universal scope of God's sovereignty and justice.

which borders it
This phrase indicates the geographical proximity of Hamath to the land of Israel. The Hebrew word "גָּבוּל" (gabul) for "borders" implies a boundary or limit, suggesting that God's message through Zechariah is not confined to Israel but extends to its neighbors. This highlights the interconnectedness of the ancient world and the comprehensive nature of divine prophecy, which transcends national boundaries.

as well as Tyre and Sidon
Tyre and Sidon were prominent Phoenician cities known for their maritime trade and economic prowess. The Hebrew names "צֹר" (Tzor) for Tyre and "צִידוֹן" (Tzidon) for Sidon reflect their historical significance as centers of commerce and culture. These cities were often seen as symbols of human pride and self-sufficiency. By including them in the prophecy, Zechariah underscores the futility of relying on wealth and human wisdom in the face of divine judgment.

though they are very shrewd
The phrase "very shrewd" translates the Hebrew word "חָכְמָה" (chokmah), meaning wisdom or skill. Tyre and Sidon were renowned for their cunning and strategic acumen, particularly in trade and diplomacy. However, the prophetic message here is that human wisdom, no matter how advanced, is ultimately insufficient when contrasted with God's omniscience and power. This serves as a reminder of the limitations of human achievement and the need for humility before God.

Verse 2. - And Hamath also shall border thereby; Revised Version, and Hamath also which bordereth thereon. Hamath, which is near unto Damascus, shall share in the Divine judgment. The Authorized Version probably means that Hamath shall be the companion of Damascus in punishment. (For Hamath, see note on Amos 6:2.) These Syrian towns, as well as those below in Phoenicia and Philistia, shall be visited, because they were all once included in the territory promised to Israel (see Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:3l; Numbers 34:2-12; Deuteronomy 11:25; and comp. 2 Samuel 8:6, etc.; 1 Kings 4:21; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25). The judgment was inflicted by Alexander the Great after the battle of Issus, B.C. 333, when Damascus was betrayed into his hands and plundered of all its enormous treasures. Tyrus and Zidon. Tyre was taken after a siege of seven months, its walls were demolished, its houses burnt, ten thousand of its defenders were massacred, the women and children sold as slaves; and it never rose to greatness again. Zidon, originally the chief city of the country, had long been eclipsed by its daughter, Tyre: it submitted to Alexander without a struggle. Though it be very wise; or, because she is very wise. The pronoun refers to Tyre, the mention of Zidon being, as it were, parenthetical. In spite of, or because of, its boasted wisdom, Tyre should suffer heavy punishment. The wisdom of Tyre is spoken of in Ezekiel 28:3, 4. Wright, as the LXX., makes the clause refer to both cities, "though they be very wise." Vulgate, Assum pserunt quippe sibi sapientiam valde.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
and also
וְגַם־ (wə·ḡam-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

upon Hamath,
חֲמָ֖ת (ḥă·māṯ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2574: Hamath -- a place North of Damascus

which borders it,
תִּגְבָּל־ (tiḡ·bāl-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1379: To twist as a, rope, to bound

as well as Tyre
צֹ֣ר (ṣōr)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6865: Tyre -- a Phoenician city

and Sidon,
וְצִיד֔וֹן (wə·ṣî·ḏō·wn)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6721: Sidon -- a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast, also a son of Canaan

though
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

they are very
מְאֹֽד׃ (mə·’ōḏ)
Adverb
Strong's 3966: Vehemence, vehemently, wholly, speedily

shrewd.
חָֽכְמָ֖ה (ḥāḵ·māh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 2449: To be wise


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OT Prophets: Zechariah 9:2 And Hamath also which borders on it (Zech. Zec Zc)
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