Zechariah 14 · Verse 5

Zechariah 14:5

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Zechariah 14:5, King James Version

Zechariah 14:5 in other translations

BSBYou will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
WEBYou shall flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel. Yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. The LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.
ASVAnd ye shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and Jehovah my God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee.
YLTAnd ye have fled to the valley of My mountains, For join doth the valley of the mountains to Azal, And ye have fled as ye fled before the shaking, In the days of Uzziah king of Judah, And come in hath Jehovah my God, All holy ones are with Thee.
DARBYAnd ye shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: ye shall even flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. And Jehovah my God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee.
BBEAnd the valley will be stopped... and you will go in flight as you went in flight from the earth-shock in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah: and the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.
WebsterAnd ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal: yes, ye shall flee as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

What does Zechariah 14:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. ye shall flee to the valley--rather "through the valley," as in 2Sa 2:29. The valley made by the cleaving asunder of the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4) is designed to be their way of escape, not their place of refuge [Maurer]. Jerome is on the side of English Version. If it be translated so, it will mean, Ye shall flee "to" the valley, not to hide there, but as the passage through which an escape may be effected. The same divinely sent earthquake which swallows up the foe, opens out a way of escape to God's people. The earthquake in Uzziah's days is mentioned (Am 1:1) as a recognized epoch in Jewish history. Compare also Is 6:1: perhaps the same year that Jehovah held His heavenly court and gave commission to Isaiah for the Jews, an earthquake in the physical world, as often happens (Mt 24:7), marked momentous movements in the unseen spiritual world. of the mountains--rather, "of My mountains," namely, Zion and Moriah, peculiarly sacred to Jehovah [Moore]. Or, the mountains formed by My cleaving Olivet into two [Maurer]. Azal--the name of a place near a gate east of the city. The Hebrew means "adjoining" [Henderson]. Others give the meaning, "departed," "ceased." The valley reaches up to the city gates, so as to enable the fleeing citizens to betake themselves immediately to it on leaving the city. Lord my God ... with thee--The mention of the "Lord my God" leads the prophet to pass suddenly to a direct address to Jehovah. It is as if "lifting up his head" (Lu 21:28), he suddenly sees in vision the Lord coming, and joyfully exclaims, "All the saints with Thee!" So Is 25:9. saints--holy angels escorting the returning King (Mt 24:30, 31; Jude 14); and redeemed men (1Co 15:23; 1Th 3:13; 4:14). Compare the similar mention of the "saints" and "angels" at His coming on Sinai (De 32:2, 3; Ac 7:53; Ga 3:19; He 2:2). Phillips thinks Azal is Ascalon on the Mediterranean. An earthquake beneath Messiah's tread will divide Syria, making from Jerusalem to Azal a valley which will admit the ocean waters from the west to the Dead Sea. The waters will rush down the valley of Arabah, the old bed of the Jordan, clear away the sand-drift of four thousand years, and cause the commerce of Petra and Tyre to center in the holy city. The Dead Sea rising above its shores will overflow by the valley of Edom, completing the straits of Azal into the Red Sea. Thus will be formed the great pool of Jerusalem (compare Zec 14:8; Eze 47:1, &c.; Joe 3:18). Euphrates will be the north boundary, and the Red Sea the south. Twenty-five miles north and twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem will form one side of the fifty miles square of the Lord's Holy Oblation (Eze 48:1-35). There are seven spaces of fifty miles each from Jerusalem northward to the Euphrates, and five spaces of fifty miles each southward to the Red Sea. Thus there are thirteen equal distances on the breadth of the future promised land, one for the oblation and twelve for the tribes, according to Eze 48:1-35. That the Euphrates north, Mediterranean west, the Nile and Red Sea south, are to be the future boundaries of the holy land, which will include Syria and Arabia, is favored by Ge 15:8; Ex 23:31; De 11:24; Jos 1:4; 1Ki 4:21; 2Ch 9:26; Is 27:12; all which was partially realized in Solomon's reign, shall be antitypically so hereafter. The theory, if true, will clear away many difficulties in the way of the literal interpretation of this chapter and Eze 48:1-35.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 Ye shall flee to the valley - Some think this refers to the valley through which Zedekiah and others endeavored to escape when Nebuchadnezzar pressed the siege of Jerusalem: but it appears to speak only of the Jewish wars of the Romans. Azal - This, as a place, is not known. If a place, it was most probably near to Jerusalem; and had its name from that circumstance.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Zechariah 14:1-7

The Lord Jesus often stood upon the Mount of Olives when on earth. He ascended from thence to heaven, and then desolations and distresses came upon the Jewish nation. Such is the view taken of this figuratively; but many consider it as a notice of events yet unfulfilled, and that it relates to troubles of which we cannot now form a full idea. Every believer, being related to God as his God, may triumph in the…

Read the full comment on Zechariah 14:1-7 →

Zechariah 14:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְנַסְתֶּ֣םve.nas.Temand you will fleeH5127
גֵּֽיא\־gei'-[the] valley ofH1516
הָרַ֗יha.Raimountains myH2022
כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
יַגִּ֣יעַya.Gi.a'it will reachH5060
גֵּי\־gei-[the] valley ofH1516
הָרִים֮ha.RimmountainsH2022
אֶל\־'el-toH413
אָצַל֒'a.TzalAzalH682
וְנַסְתֶּ֗םve.nas.Temand you will fleeH5127
כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רka.'a.Sherjust asH834
נַסְתֶּם֙nas.Temyou fledH5127
מִפְּנֵ֣יmi.pe.Neifrom beforeH6440
הָרַ֔עַשׁha.Ra.'ashthe earthquakeH7494
בִּימֵ֖יbi.Meiin [the] days ofH3117
עֻזִּיָּ֣ה'u.zi.YahUzziahH5818
מֶֽלֶךְ\־Me.lekh-[the] king ofH4428
יְהוּדָ֑הye.hu.DahJudahH3063
וּבָא֙u.Va'and he will comeH935
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהַ֔י'e.lo.HaiGod myH430
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
קְדֹשִׁ֖יםke.do.Shimholy [ones]H6918
עִמָּֽךְ\׃'i.Makh[will be] with youH5973

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Zechariah 14:5

  • Jude 1:14-15

    And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

  • Amos 1:1

    The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

  • Matthew 25:31

    When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

  • Matthew 16:27

    For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

  • 1 Thessalonians 3:13

    To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

  • Psalms 96:13

    Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

  • Isaiah 29:6

    Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

  • Isaiah 66:15-16

    For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

  • Deuteronomy 33:2

    And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

  • 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

    And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

  • Daniel 7:9-14

    I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. …

  • 2 Thessalonians 2:8

    And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the mountains. or, my mountains. for the, etc. or, when heshall touch the valley of the mountains to the place he separated. ye shall flee.
Nu 16:34; Re 11:13; 16:18-21
ye fled.
Isa 29:6; Am 1:1
the Lord.
Ps 96:13; 97:4-6; 98:9; Isa 64:1-3; 66:15,16; Da 7:9-14,21-27
Mt 16:27; 24:3,27-31; 25:31; Mr 13:26,27; Lu 21:27; 2Th 2:8; Jas 5:8
Jude 1:14,15; Re 6:16,17; 20:4,11
and all.
De 33:2; Joe 3:11; 1Th 3:13; 2Th 1:7-10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Zechariah 14:4

    And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

  • Zechariah 14:5

    And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

  • Zechariah 14:6

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

Read all of Zechariah 14

Zechariah 14:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y huiréis al valle de los montes; porque el valle de los montes llegará hasta Hasal; y huiréis de la manera que huisteis por causa del terremoto en los días de Uzzías, rey de Judá: y vendrá Jehová mi Dios, y con él todos los santos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et vous fuirez dans la vallée de mes montagnes; car la vallée des montagnes s’étendra jusqu’à Atsal; et vous fuirez comme vous avez fui devant le tremblement de terre, aux jours d’Ozias, roi de Juda. – Et l’ Éternel, mon Dieu, viendra, et tous les saints avec toi.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und ihr werdet in das Tal meiner Berge fliehen, und das Tal der Berge wird bis Azel reichen; und ihr werdet fliehen, wie ihr vor dem Erdbeben geflohen seid in den Tagen Ussijas, des Königs von Juda. Und kommen wird Jehova, mein Gott, und alle Heiligen mit dir.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et fugietis ad vallem montium eorum, quoniam conjungetur vallis montium usque ad proximum: et fugietis sicut fugistis a facie terræmotus in diebus Oziæ regis Juda: et veniet Dominus Deus meus, omnesque sancti cum eo.