Zechariah 13:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The remaining portion, or the faithful among the people of Israel, will undergo refinement through trials, likened to the refining of silver and gold; the lives of the saints are indeed fraught with challenges, as it is written, ‘yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution’ (2 Tim. 3:12). They are summoned to endure many tribulations and trials, being tested as in a furnace, enabling them to proclaim with assurance, ‘As thou hast tested us, O God, thou hast refined us, like silver is refined’ (Psalm 65:10). What is the purpose of this trial? What reward awaits those who have endured and been tried in such a manner? They are cherished and recognized by God, regarded as ‘a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a special people, that they should show forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light, who were once not a people but are now the people of God’ (1 Pet. 2:9-10 cf. Hos. 2:23). In the past, it was declared: ‘When you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear’ (Isaiah 1:15). Yet now it is proclaimed, ‘He that shall call upon my name, these are my people.’ Thus, they have become the inheritance of God the Father and have also been given to the Son, for He, together with the Father who begot Him, reigns over all creation, being a gracious and merciful Creator and Lord of all.

On that day, says the Lord, two parts will be cut off and perish, but the one-third will remain. I will bring this third through fire, refining them as silver is refined and testing them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear them, declaring, These are My people; and they will respond, The Lord is my God.

Notably, the Hebrew term for sword (חרב) contrasts with the Greek word for “spear” (ῥομφαία), and Aquila refers to a “short sword” or dagger (μάχαιρα). When referencing the husband clinging to Me (προςκεκολημμένονμοι), Aquila translates it as the husband of My tribesmen (σύμφυλόνμου), while Symmachus uses the phrase husband of My people, captured in the Hebrew amithi (עמיתי) and the Septuagint interpretation as the husband of his fellow-citizen. Theodotion reads it as the husband of his neighbor, with slight variations in the letters.

I find it astonishing that some attempt to diminish this prophecy through allegorical interpretations, which the Evangelist Matthew attributed to the Savior, asserting it was fulfilled after His disciples fled during His sufferings, leading them to claim superior insight. As Matthew states: Then Jesus said to them, This night you will all stumble because of Me; for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered (Matt. 26:31). He continues, And all this has occurred to fulfill the writings of the prophets. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled (Matt. 26:56). This affirmation is not merely borrowed from elsewhere; the Gospel asserts that the shepherd is struck by Him, echoing the command to the spear or sword: Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. This verse connects to the sword mentioned in the twenty-first Psalm, where the Lord implores the Father, Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only life from the hand of the dog (Ps. 21:21). The prophet Amos also speaks of this spear: All sinners of the earth shall die by the sword (Am. 9:10). This cannot be understood in a strictly literal sense, as many sinners meet their demise in other ways; yet through this sword and spear, all sinners are either destroyed or chastised, including the black Ethiopians whom Sophonias proclaims, And you Ethiopians shall be struck by My sword (Soph. 2:12).

Following the Good Shepherd—who laid down His life for His sheep (Jn. 10:11) and proclaimed to the Father, They have afflicted Me, and My wounds are a result of You (Ps. 68:27)—He who asserted, I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me (John 14:11)—was crucified and said, Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit (Luke 23:46), and immediately the flock was scattered. The Lord then turned His hand, as seen in the Septuagint, upon the shepherds, who misled many among the Jewish leaders; it’s more accurate, based on the Hebrew text, to interpret it as regarding the little ones, to whom the Lord advised in the Gospel, Do not fear, little flock (Luke 12:32), and as expressed in Isaiah: Behold, I and the children the Lord has given to me (Isaiah 8:18).

During this time of suffering, two-thirds perished among both Jews and Gentiles; indeed, the Psalmist’s lament was fulfilled: Save me, O Lord, for there are no more godly (Ps. 11:2) and: All have turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one (Ps. 13:3). Amid the devastation of the Gentiles and Jews, a third group emerged—a nation of Christians that remained. The text rightly states, The third part shall remain on it, meaning on the earth, as those preserved amidst the Jews and Gentiles were those who confessed the Lord. To ensure the steadfastness of this third part in their confession, they are refined and tested through fire, akin to the purification of silver and gold, as the Lord wished to ignite among believers (Luke 12:49) and the fervent trial sought by the Apostle (Romans 8:35). Hence, the Apostles, who were baptized with spirit and fire (Acts 2:3-4), affirm in the Psalm: You have tested us, O God; you have refined us as silver is refined (Psalm 65:10-11). Shortly thereafter, it is declared: We went through fire and through water, but You brought us out to rich fulfillment (Psalm 65:12). In another passage, it promises to the believer: When you pass through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames scorch you, for I am with you (Isaiah 43:2). The flames shall not consume, for the Lord's word extinguishes the fire (Ps. 28:7).

When the little ones are tested, as the Lord has turned His hand against them, and through their calling countless nations believe, the faithful will proclaim Christ by name, answering His declaration, You are My people, with their own affirmation, The Lord my God is You. The Jewish perspective views this prophecy as pertaining to the Messiah, anticipating its fulfillment in the future. The distinction lies in our belief in its current fulfillment, whereas they assert its yet-to-come realization.

The godly Paul noted that the Lord “appeared” to five hundred gathered together (1 Cor. 15:6), while Peter, preaching to the masses, brought to life “three thousand” (Acts 2:41) and later “five thousand” (Acts 4:4). The esteemed James remarked to the blessed Paul, “Do you see, brother, how many Jews there are who believe” (Acts 21:20)? God had foretold these events through the wise Zechariah, indicating that two-thirds would face destruction for their unbelief, but the remaining third, refined through trials and validated as good, would be acknowledged as His people, calling Him Lord and God. Additionally, God proclaims through another prophet, “And if the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, they shall be saved” (Isaiah 10:22). The blessed Zechariah reiterates these truths in his writings.