Zechariah 10:8

“I will hiss for them, etc.] Or “whistle for them”f232; the word signifies, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, the motion of the lips with the voice, and is a sign of calling; and so the Targum renders it, I will cry or call for them; and it denotes the call of them by the Gospel, which is the voice of Christ, which is soft, sweet, and melodious; is a sound of love, grace, and mercy; of peace, pardon, life, and salvation: the allusion seems to be to the shepherd gathering his sheep together with his pipe or whistle, and which was a reed; and so may denote the weakness of the instrument, the ministry of the word in itself, which is made the power of God unto salvation: and gather them; from the…”

“hiss for them--Keepers of bees by a whistle call them together. So Jehovah by the mere word of His call shall gather back to Palestine His scattered people (Zac 10:10; Isa 5:26; Eze 36:11). The multitudes mentioned by JOSEPHUS [Wars of the Jews, 3:2], as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the prophecy. for I have redeemed them--namely, in My covenant purpose "redeemed" both temporally and spiritually. as they have increased--in former times.”

“I will hiss for them - Formerly God had so spoken of His summoning the enemies of His people to chastise them. “It shall be in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria, and they shall come, and shall rest all of them in. the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns and upon all bushes” Isaiah 7:18-19. “He will hiss unto them from the ends of the earth, and behold they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary or stumble among them” . He would gather them, like the countless numbers of the insect creation, which, if united, would irresistibly…”

“I will hiss - Though they are now scattered far off, I will call them as a shepherd, and they shall run with speed back to the flock. As they have increased - As they did of old time. Zechariah 10:9”

“10:8 When I whistle to them: Shepherds in biblical times herded their flocks by whistling or piping to them (see Judg 5:16). • Redeemed can also mean “ransomed”—buying slaves out of their servitude or indentured status (see Deut 15:15; 24:18). • numerous as . . . before: The proliferation of the Hebrew people was one of God’s covenant promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 22:17; 32:12).”

“hiss: Isa 5:26, Isa 7:18, Isa 11:11, Isa 11:12, Isa 27:12, Isa 27:13, Isa 55:1-3; Mat 11:28; Rev 22:17 for: Zac 9:11; Isa 44:22, Isa 51:11, Isa 52:1-3; Jer 31:10, Jer 31:11; Ti1 2:4-6 and they: Exo 1:7; Kg1 4:20; Isa 49:19-22; Jer 30:19, Jer 30:20, Jer 33:22; Eze 36:10, Eze 36:11, Eze 36:37, Eze 36:38; Hos 1:10 Zechariah 10:9”

“In order to remove all doubt as to the realization of this promise, the deliverance of Ephraim is described still more minutely in Zac 10:8-12. Zac 10:8. "I will hiss to them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they will multiply as they have multiplied. Zac 10:9. And I will sow them among the nations: and in the far-off lands will they remember me; and will live with their sons, and return. Zac 10:10. And I will bring them back out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Asshur, and bring them into the land of Gilead and of Lebanon; and room will not be found for them." That these verses do not treat of a fresh (second) dispersion of Ephraim, or represent the carrying away…”