What Does Zechariah 9:2 Mean?
Hamath too shall be bound to it; Tyre and Sidon, though she is very wise.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.THE KEY
The verse places Tyre’s celebrated wisdom inside the very boundary that contains it.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a defined border and a city described as very wise together. Tyre’s discernment remains real, but it does not make the city unbounded or place it beyond the announced word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that enough wisdom makes a person or society untouchable dissolves here: Tyre is very wise and still lies within the boundary.
THE ROOT
חכמה
ḥăkāmāh
GROWS FROM
חכם
Wisdom, discernment, or skillful ability.
The form translated “wise” shares its consonantal root with the Hebrew word for “wisdom,” joining the city’s discernment to wisdom itself. This root can also describe practiced skill: Tyre’s capacity is real, yet it remains within the boundary named here.
ALSO GROWS
ḥākām: A wise or skillful person.
חָכָם
It shows wisdom as a quality embodied in a person, not only an abstract idea.
ḥokhmāh: Wisdom or skill.
חָכְמָה
It shares the root of the verse’s word for “wise,” keeping the city’s character and its wisdom joined.
ḥākam: To be or become wise; to act with skill.
חָכַם
It lets wisdom name a practiced capacity as well as a reputation.
THE PATTERN
Human wisdom can be real and formidable, yet it cannot place its bearer outside the LORD’s reach.
Look, you are wiser than Daniel, and no sealed thing is hidden from you.There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel facing the LORD.For it is written, I will make the wisdom of the wise perish, and I will set aside the understanding of the discerning.THE THREAD
Look, you are wiser than Daniel, and no sealed thing is hidden from you.Both verses name Tyre and use words from the Hebrew root חכם, wisdom and skillful discernment. Zechariah calls the city wise; Ezekiel shows that this same capacity remains visible to the LORD.
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