Albert Barnes Commentary


Albert Barnes Commentary
"And [they of] Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine; yea, their children shall see it, and rejoice; their heart shall be glad in Jehovah." — Zechariah 10:7 (ASV)
And Ephraim, they shall be like a mighty man - Prophecy, through the rest of the chapter, turns to Ephraim, which had not yet been restored. Concerning them, human victory recedes from view, although undoubtedly, when their wide imprisonment was broken at the destruction of the Persian empire, many were free to return to their native country. Others spread throughout the West, in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, and thus some may have taken part in the victories of the Maccabees.
Yet it is not victory, but strength, and gladness beyond natural gladness (as through wine, by which the mind is exhilarated above itself); and this state (lasting and transmitted to their children), large increase, and a holy life in God, are the outlines of the promise.
Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord - (Psalms 44:3): “As the principal object, the first, highest, most worthy Giver of all good, to whom all gladness that arises from created goods is to be attributed, so that ‘whose glorieth may glory in the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 10:17), in whom alone the rational creature ought to take delight.”