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9. Judgment on Israel's Enemies

¹ A prophecy:

   The word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrak
   and will come to rest on Damascus—
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
   are on the LORD— Or Damascus. / For the eye of the LORD is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
² and on Hamath too, which borders on it,
   and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.
³ Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
   she has heaped up silver like dust,
   and gold like the dirt of the streets.
⁴ But the Lord will take away her possessions
   and destroy her power on the sea,
   and she will be consumed by fire.
⁵ Ashkelon will see it and fear;
   Gaza will writhe in agony,
   and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
   and Ashkelon will be deserted.
⁶ A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
   and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.
⁷ I will take the blood from their mouths,
   the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God
   and become a clan in Judah,
   and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
⁸ But I will encamp at my temple
   to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
   for now I am keeping watch.

The Coming of Zion’s King

    ⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
   Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
   righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
   and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
   and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
   His rule will extend from sea to sea
   and from the River That is, the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
   I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
   even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
¹³ I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
   and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
   against your sons, Greece,
   and make you like a warrior’s sword.

The LORD Will Appear

    ¹⁴ Then the LORD will appear over them;
   his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet;
   he will march in the storms of the south,
    ¹⁵ and the LORD Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
   and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
   they will be full like a bowl
   used for sprinkling Or bowl, / like the corners of the altar.
¹⁶ The LORD their God will save his people on that day
   as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
   like jewels in a crown.
¹⁷ How attractive and beautiful they will be!
   Grain will make the young men thrive,
   and new wine the young women.

He now declares that God would be an avenger. Behold, he says, Jehovah will possess, or cause to possess, as some read, but they are mistaken, owing to the two meanings of the verb ירש, iresh, which means to possess and also to expel or impoverish; ⁹⁷⁹⁷ This verb is here confounded with [רש], which means to impoverish in Hiphil. But the Hiphil of [יוש] has the idea of expelling or driving out; it means literally to cause one to be inherited or heired, that is, by making another to succeed in his place. To dispossess, according to Henderson, rather than to cast out, according to our version and Newcome, is the idea of the original. The explanation here disapproved by Calvin, which is wholly inconsistent with the whole passage, has been derived from the Septuagint, who have rendered the verb as though it were in Kal, [κληρονομησει]. The Targum gives it the idea of driving or casting out. The Greek fathers, Theodoret and Cyril, not knowing Hebrew, could give no other explanation. Similar has been the source of not a few interpretations given by the fathers. — Ed. for interpreters think that a hope of favor and of salvation is here given to these cities, and say that they are now chosen by God as a possession. But this is wholly contrary to the intention of the Prophet, as it appears more clearly from a view of each clause.

Jehovah then will expel her, and smite her strength. The Prophet no doubt alludes to what he had already said — that Tyrus had heaped silver and gold; now on the other hand he declares that Tyrus would be exposed to a scattering; for the heap of gold and silver it had laid up would be dissipated by God: he will then dissipate; or if one chooses to take the verb as meaning to reduce to want, the contrast would thus be suitable — God will then impoverish, or expel her. Afterwards he adds, In the sea will he smite her strength. As Tyrus, we know, was surrounded by the sea, the Prophet by this reference shows God’s power in taking vengeance on her; for the sea would be no restraint or hindrance to God, when he resolved to enter there. The Syrians, indeed, thought themselves safe from every hostile attack, for they had the sea on every side as a triple wall and a triple rampart. Nor was Tyrus altogether like Venice; for Venice is situated in a stagnant sea, while the situation of Tyrus was in a very deep sea, as historians plainly show who relate its assault by Alexander the Great. It had indeed been before taken and plundered; but he did what none had ever thought of — he filled up a part of the sea, so that Tyrus was no longer an island.

We now see what Zechariah had in view, when he threatened ruin to Tyrus, though its strength was in the midst of the sea, beyond the reach of fortune, as it is commonly said. And she shall be consumed by fire. He means that Tyrus would not only be plundered, but wholly demolished; for we know that even the strongest things are consumed by fire. It follows —