480 VISIONS AND PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH
and brought about the new and more universal phase of the dispersal of the Jewish people among all the nations of the earth, which is continued to this day.
But while this terrible judgment would fall on the nation, a little remnant would remain the object of His compassion and care. This is expressed in the words D njfon hy S T nia^ni (vehashibhothi yadi al hatsoarim} " I will turn My hand upon (or back upon ) the little (or small ones)."
The idiomatic phrase, " to turn (or bring back ) the hand over a person," is usually used in connection with the infliction of judgment ; as, for instance, in Amos i. 8, " I will turn My hand over (or against Ekron " ; or Ps. Ixxxi. 14: "I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned My hand over ( against ) their adversaries." But I agree with Keil, Hitzig, Dr. Wright, and others, that the phrase is used here in a good sense, namely, that God will turn His hand upon " the little ones," for salvation, though that salvation may be brought about by means of chastisement. It occurs in this sense in Isa. i. 25, "in relation to the grace which the Lord will manifest towards Jerusalem by purifying it from its dross " ; and it is used here in Zech. xiii., also in that same sense as vers. 8 and 9 clearly show, according to which the judgment which is to come upon Israel in consequence of the Shepherd being smitten, will only be the cause of ruin to the greater portion of the nation, whereas it will bring salvation to the remnant.
The particular form of the word translated " little ones " (tsoarim) does not occur elsewhere in the Hebrew- Bible. Its true signification is, " those who appear as little" " those who make themselves small, or," the patient, the humble ones. 1
They are to be identified with " the poor of the flock " of chap. xi. 7, namely, the poor and righteous in the nation who suffer oppression from the godless majority.
i is not equivalent to the adjective Q TJJ?. It is the active participial form of the verb iyy, and is found only in this passage.
