Bible Strands
Zechariah 11:1
Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet pronounces a declaration of impending judgment to Lebanon, a metaphor for Judah’s leadership and temple, immediately preceding the wailing over fallen trees in verse 2. The words — פְּתַ֥ח (pe.Tach) means open, and אֵ֖שׁ ('esh) means fire, establishing the command to invite destruction upon the cedars. The thread — This imagery of Lebanon and its cedars facing divine judgment recurs in Jeremiah 22:6 and Jeremiah 22:23. Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that invited judgment will dismantle prideful structures, demanding a sober reckoning with unflinching divine action.
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
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 22:6 For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; but I will surely turn you into a desert, like cities that are uninhabited.
- Jeremiah 22:23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
- Luke 21:23 How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
- Habakkuk 2:8 Because you have plundered many nations, the remnant of the people will plunder you—because of your bloodshed against man and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.
- Habakkuk 2:17 For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of animals will terrify you, because of your bloodshed against men and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.
- Haggai 1:8 Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD.
- Zechariah 10:10 I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon until no more room is found for them.
- Zechariah 14:1 Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.
- Matthew 24:1 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.