Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Zechariah 14:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse turns from the city's violation to the LORD going out against the attacking nations.
Read It With
- Zechariah 14:1-5
Read Zechariah 14:3 with 14:1-5. This verse turns from the city's violation to the LORD going out against the attacking nations. The complete unit establishes this movement: The final vision does not hide Jerusalem's invasion, captivity, and sexual violence; it then portrays the LORD intervening and opening an escape route through cosmic theophany, imagery that must center victims rather than furnish a war or timetable script.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The book's final Day-of-the-LORD sequence begins at its darkest point so universal kingship and holiness cannot be mistaken for painless triumph. Within that movement, this verse turns from the city's violation to the LORD going out against the attacking nations.
What Remains True
Final defense belongs to the LORD rather than victimized people being abandoned.
How It Can Shape Life
- Seek lawful protection while refusing claims to embody divine vengeance.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Zechariah 14:1-5 — Jerusalem Violated, the LORD Goes ForthSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Zechariah 14:1-5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Zechariah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker changes, repeated formulas, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Zech.xml, 14:1-5
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Zechariah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and canonical-reception notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Zechariah PDF, printed pp. 1800-1801, translation and notes on 14:1-5
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Zechariah
Rex Mason
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, Persian and later horizons, literary boundaries, composition, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Mason, 'Zechariah,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 614-615, discussion of 14:1-5
Open source ↗