Charles Ellicott Commentary Zechariah 13:7-9

"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God." — Zechariah 13:7-9 (ASV)

It has been objected that “The mention of the ‘house of David’ (Zechariah 12:7; Zechariah 13:1) is inconsistent with the supposition of the authorship of Zechariah.” The answer is obvious, namely, that the house of David had not ceased with the captivity; on the contrary, Zerubbabel was its representative on the return.

There is also (not to mention more generally known cases) a family living to this day in Aleppo. The members of this family, on account of its claim to be descended from the “house of David,” are, in accordance with Genesis 49:10, always allowed to take precedence over all others in exercising the functions of dayyânîm, “judges.” The famous Abarbanel also laid claim to be a descendant of David.

Moreover, the thought expressed by the prophet in Zechariah 12:7, that the glory of the house of David, and that of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, should not magnify itself over Judah, is one which could never have entered into the conceptions of a prophet writing before the exile.