Bible Strands
Zechariah 10:5
They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Zechariah speaks to the post-exilic community of Judah and Israel, urging them to seek the Lord’s provision before He restores their fortunes. The oracle follows a call to prayer in Zechariah 10:1 and precedes a promise of divine strengthening in Zechariah 10:6.
The words — The text highlights בּוֹסִים (bosim), literally “treading down,” and כְּגִבֹּרִים (k’gibborim), meaning “like warriors,” to describe the restored people’s combat effectiveness. The phrase בְּטִיט חוּצוֹת (be-tit chutzot) specifies that this trampling occurs “in the mud of the streets,” emphasizing total enemy humiliation.
The thread — This imagery of divine-enabled combat echoes Zechariah 9:13, where the Lord fits Judah with a bow and rouses Zion’s sons against foreign powers. It also parallels Psalm 20:7, which contrasts reliance on military might with trust in the name of the LORD, and anticipates Haggai 2:22’s promise to overturn the power of kingdoms and their chariots.
Why it lands — The passage declares that the people’s victory depends solely on the presence of the LORD, not on their own strength or conventional weapons. It demands a reader to recognize that divine accompaniment transforms ordinary communities into decisive forces that shame earthly military power.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
Cross-references
- Haggai 2:22 I will overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overturn chariots and their riders; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
- Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Zechariah 9:13 For I will bend Judah as My bow and fit it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece. I will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
- Zechariah 12:8 On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD going before them.
- Romans 8:31 What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Deuteronomy 20:1 When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you.
- Joshua 10:14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.
- Joshua 10:42 And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
- 1 Samuel 16:18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.”
- 2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.