Zechariah 9:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

24:7, 8). This served as a shadow of the reality, with that reality being Christ, who redeemed us all with the blood of the covenant. As stated by His disciple, we have been delivered not by perishable silver or gold but by the precious blood of Christ, the unblemished Lamb (1 Pet. 1:18, 19).

Thus, You, O just and gentle King, have liberated those who were made Your captives by the blood of the covenant—those whom You bound with the cords of love, encouraging them to submit to Your yoke and to openly bind the thoughts of their hearts. You have rescued them from the pit that holds no water, which we interpret as hell itself, devoid of life, since water symbolizes sustenance. We can also understand hell as the enticement of false idols; it is indeed a pit that steals life eternally from anyone who falls into it. The triumph of Christ, who descended to the dead, emptied hell, and opened the gates of the underworld to the souls in captivity, is clearly evident to all. The God of all, through the words of Jeremiah, lamented the Israelites who turned away from Him to follow idolatry, saying, "Heaven was terrified at this, and trembled greatly, saith the Lord. My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jer. 2:12, 13). Just as true and reliable knowledge of God is the source of life, so the broken cisterns represent the empty idols and misconceptions about Him.

The meaning of this pit can be interpreted in various ways within the framework of true faith. In my view, it metaphorically represents the arid and desolate depths of human destitution, devoid of life-giving truth and rife with the filth of wickedness. The Psalm echoes this sentiment: "He brought me up out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay" (Psalm 39:3).

- Following the declaration from the prophet, specifically God the Father Almighty, who proclaimed to Zion and Jerusalem that their King would gently come to them, riding on a colt and a donkey, with dominion from sea to sea and from the rivers to the ends of the earth, He then speaks directly of Christ, the subject of this prophecy, saying, You are also in the blood of Your covenant, or, The covenant has released Your prisoners from the dry pit. This implies: Through the sacrifice of Your suffering, You have mercifully liberated those imprisoned in hell, a place devoid of mercy. Ultimately, post-resurrection, those bound by Adam’s sin, or as some interpret, by the chains of original sin and death, were raised alongside the Lord and made their appearance in the holy city. He Himself refers to this covenant's blood when addressing His disciples, foretelling the coming sufferings: ‘Receive and drink from it, all of you; this is the cup of the covenant in My blood’ (Matt. 26:27, 28). In a similar manner to this dry pit, Joseph was cast into a cistern by his brothers (Gen. 37:24-25), as well as Daniel (Dan. 6:16) and Jeremiah by the Chaldeans and the people of Judah (Jer. 37:17, 18 and Jer. 38:6). Additionally, Benaiah descended into a pit during the snow and cold to strike down a lion there (2 Sam. 23:20). However, Jeremiah was not submerged in water but rather in mire and filth, making him more prone to drowning than finding relief from thirst. Thus, it is stated in a psalm: I am deep in distress, and there is no footing for me (Psalms 68:3). In this deep abyss of hell, the rich man, once robed in purple, experienced such anguish that his tongue seemed to burn with torment, wishing merely for a drop of water to ease his suffering (Luke 16:24). Conversely, a message is given to those held captive, who are to be liberated through Christ's mercy: Turn toward the stronghold, O prisoners of hope. The implication is this: You who are presently shackled in the relentless confinement of hell, anticipating your liberation through Christ's arrival, aim for the stronghold, or take your place in the stronghold of which it is said, 'The fear of the Lord is a stronghold for the righteous,’ enabling you to declare, ‘Be for me a refuge, O God, and a fortress of salvation’ (Psalm 70:3); and the prophet will also proclaim concerning you, ‘See, a fortified city; He will make our salvation a wall and a bulwark’ (Isaiah 31:1). This stronghold, to which God invites the hopeful captives of the Church, should be understood as the dwelling place of paradise, into which the thief and the Lord first entered (Luke 23:43); and now it is referenced by the prophet Zechariah, for from that moment the Lord promised that following a brief trial they would receive eternal reward, or as the LXX reads: For one day of your journey I will repay you double. Indeed, compared to eternity, all we endure in this life may be viewed as a single day, not merely a day of residence but a day of pilgrimage, for like our ancestors, we are merely wanderers and strangers. Our momentary afflictions produce in us vast eternal glory, far exceeding our trials, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor. 4:17, 18).

Those who were captives in the pit have now been released and, through His precious blood, have been given freedom by the Lord Christ, who guides them toward the path of life and grants them a new covenant. Additionally, the Prophet also states: