Wisdom of Tyre

Zechariah 9:1-4 focuses on the conquest of Tyre, the “wise” city, shrewd at least in amassing wealth (v. 3). But the celebratory description contains a subversive pun. The Hebrew for Tyre is tsor (“rock”), and Zechariah says that Tyre has built herself a fortress, a word built on the same Hebrew root ( matsor ). But the word for “fortress” is more commonly used to mean “siege” (Deut 28:53; 2 Kings 24:10; Ezekiel 4:2-3). In her “wisdom,” Tyre thinks she’s building a fortress, but is actually preparing a siege that will destroy her.

The pun continues in verse 12, an exhortation to return to the stronghold ( bitstsaron ), apparently a reference to Jerusalem, the city to which prisoners return. Jerusalem is the true fortress/stronghold, the true “stone” ( eben , 12:3), the true city of wisdom.