פירוש על זכריה 9:13

For I bend Judah for Me Eventually, the Greeks will wrest the kingdom from the Persian kings and inflict harm upon you, and I will bend Judah to be a war bow for me; and Judah will wage war against the Greeks in the days of the Hasmoneans.

like a bow; I filled [the hand of] Ephraim – This is describing the war of Yehudah in the time of the Hasmoneans, because yehudah is the bow in the hand of Gd and Gd draws him. Because even though there was a miraculous element to this war, nevertheless the war itself was in a natural fashion. It was as if Gd shot His arrows from a distance by means of the bow who is Yehudah, drawn to fire into the heart of the Greeks. About this it says ‘and I will arouse your children, O Zion’ because Gd aroused and strengthened their hearts for war. It also describes the future war of Ephraim, because they are like the sword of the mighty warrior in the hand of Gd, which kills up close. About this it says ‘I will make you as the sword of a mighty man,’ and the drawing of the bow is given to Ephraim hims, as it says ‘like a bow I filled…’

a bow; I filled [the hand of] Ephraim This is an elliptical verse: Like a bow, I filled the hand of Ephraim; as (II Kings 9:24), “And Jehu put all his strength into his bow.” Ephraim shall be as a quiver full of arrows to Me.

and I will arouse your children, O Zion The children of Zion on the children of Javan.