Zechariah 9:5 (LSB)

Passage

Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, for her hope has been put to shame. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

Nearby Context

Zechariah 9:3 So Tyre built herself a tight fortification And tied up silver like dust And fine gold like the mire of the streets.

Zechariah 9:4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her And strike her wealth down into the sea; And she will be consumed with fire.

Zechariah 9:5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, for her hope has been put to shame. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

Zechariah 9:6 And those of illegitimate birth will inhabit Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

Zechariah 9:7 And I will remove their blood from their mouth And their detestable things from between their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant for our God, And be like a clan in Judah, And Ekron like a Jebusite.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ashkelon", "afraid", "gaza", "writhe", "great", "pain", "ekron", and "hope". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ashkelon" and "afraid", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Behold the Lord will dispossess her And..." into verse 6's "And those of illegitimate birth will inhabit...", so "ashkelon" and "afraid" belong inside that flow. In Zechariah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "ashkelon" and "afraid" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.