Bible Strands
Zechariah 9:11
As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — YHWH speaks in the first person to His people ("you"), at the moment of eschatological peace following the cessation of war (v. 10). The address shifts from the nations' peace to the people's liberation.
The words — בּוֹר (bor, "pit") modified by אֵין ("without") yields "waterless pit," a cistern with no water — not merely confinement but abandonment. The phrase דַּם בְּרִית (dam berit, "blood of covenant") ties the release to the covenant ratification at Sinai.
The thread — The "blood of the covenant" language echoes Exodus 24:8, where Moses splatters blood on the people. Isaiah 51:14 pairs the same promise: the captive will be freed and "will not die in the dungeon."
Why it lands — The basis of release is stated as "My covenant," not the people's righteousness or the captors' mercy. A reader is asked to locate deliverance in what God has bound Himself to do, not in any human act of rescue.
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
As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 51:14 The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking.
- Exodus 24:8 So Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
- Psalms 102:19 For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth
- Isaiah 42:7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Matthew 26:28 This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
- Psalms 40:2 He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.
- Isaiah 49:9 to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.
- 1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
- Hebrews 10:29 How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
- Psalms 30:3 O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.