“In days to come,
Jacob shall take root.
Israel shall blossom.
Israel shall put forth shoots.
They will fill the whole world
With fruit.
Has he struck them down
As he struck those
Who struck them?
Or have they been killed
As their killers
Were killed?
By expulsion,
By exile,
You struggled against them.
He removed them
With his fierce blast
In the day of the east wind.
Therefore by this
The guilt of Jacob will be expiated.
This will be the full fruit
Of the removal of his sin.
When he makes all the stones of the altars
Like chalkstones
Crushed to pieces.
No sacred poles will remain standing.
No incense altars will remain standing.”
In some future date, not specified, Jacob or Israel will take root and blossom with many sprouts so that its fruits will be all over the world. Yahweh has struck down and killed those who had struck and killed the Israelites. Thus this appears to be a post-exilic comment. However, the punishment for Israel had been merely banishment or exile via the powerful wind of the Near Eastern powers. That punishment was enough for them to remove the guilt of their sins. Now, however, he was going to remove all those sacred poles and stone altars of incense to the false idol gods. These worship places were to be crushed to pieces like stones or chalk.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 