Notes on Zechariah 9b

 I need to speed things up now. These chapters are super dense.

Zechariah 9:9-17 continues the flow of 9:1-8, where we saw Yhwh at work through the conquest of Syria to the north and the Philistine cities to the west. The kings of Ekron, Gaza and Ashkelon were no more, or were illegitimate, but as 9:9 begins there is a new king in town:

9:9 what the king is like
9:10 what the king will do
9:11-12 what the king will do for you

and then the rest of the chapter explains what this will mean into the future. 

With the third mention in 9:9 of מאד (greatly, cf 9:2,5) the people of Zion/Jerusalem are to rejoice because the king has come. He is different to the kings who conquered the Levantine coast, not least because he comes not atop a warhorse, but upon "a donkey, a colt, the son of asses." This suggests an immediate contrast with the most famous horse in the world, Bucephalus, and tells us this king will be different. He does not come in his own might and power (cf 4:6) but with meekness, not least because he has been released (נושע); he comes not as a conqueror but as one who has been rescued. 

What will he do? So much does he dislike horses (cf Deut 17:16) that he will smite riders of Ephraim and horses of Jerusalem. This is again not as a destroyer but as a bringer of peace: "he speaks peace to the nations, his ruler from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth." Re-reading this scene in light of the Triumphal Entry (Mark 11 and parallels), this makes sense of Jesus' repeated emphasis not on his signs and miracles but on his need to move on that he might preach and proclaim the kingdom of God (eg Mark 1:38). As he cos-plays this scene, he has consciously been seeking to show that he is the type of king one might expect from having read Zechariah 9:9-10.

With links to the calls earlier in Zechariah to the exiled remnant to return, in 9:11-12 we see the king's arrival means the prisoners can return from their waterless pits to this stronghold which is Zion ruled by Yhwh's king.

The last few verses move on to the new future, describing not so much the king but Yhwh, and Yhwh in comparison with a storm god. Yhwh wields lightning as arrows, thunder is his trumpet, he walks in the storm, for he is Yhwh of Armies.

With the paired verbs אכל/שתה (eat and drink) the people join in; they will eat, subduing sling stones, they will drink, roaring with wine (9:15), because their God has saved them on that day. 9:16 describes the people both as his sheep, as well as precious stones, sparkling in the dirt. I think this is a "now" thing, which leads to the "not-yet" thing. His people are now his sheep, sparkling though trampled underfoot, which leads to trust in what will come: Yhwh will save his people.

The result of all this is another picture of simples pleasures. In 3:10 it was siting under your vine and fig-tree with your neighbour, here in 9:17 we hear "how good! how pretty! Beer in the young lads, and young wine flourishing the ladies." I'm reading a bit into this, in that "beer" is דגן (grain), which I'm thinking is maybe talking about beer. And תירוש (young wine) may be just grape juice (or must). So it could just be about sustenance - porridge and juice, or it could be just sitting down with a quiet drink, relaxing and giving thanks to God for his goodness, without fear or threat.