Charles Ellicott Commentary Zechariah 9:9-17

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee. For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man. And Jehovah shall be seen over them; and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord Jehovah will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south. Jehovah of hosts will defend them; and they shall devour, and shall tread down the sling-stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar. And Jehovah their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for [they shall be as] the stones of a crown, lifted on high over his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins." — Zechariah 9:9-17 (ASV)

The advent of the king. It has been urged as an objection against the post-exilic authorship of this passage that “Ephraim” and “Jerusalem” are mentioned, as though Israel were still separated from Judah. But, on the contrary, Ephraim and Jerusalem are here strictly parallel terms, as are also “Judah” and “Ephraim” (Zechariah 9:13), where both are represented as equally opposed to the sons of Javan.

The nation was now one (Ezekiel 37:22) and known by the names of “Israel” (Zechariah 12:1; Malachi 1:1; Malachi 1:5), “all the tribes of Israel” (Zechariah 9:1), also the “house of Judah” (Zechariah 10:3; Zechariah 10:6), “house of Joseph” and “Ephraim” (Zechariah 10:6–7). For now that the dead bones of the whole house of Israel were revived (Ezekiel 37:11), and my servant David was about to be King over them (Ezekiel 37:24), the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:16–17) was fulfilled, and the staves (tribes, shibhete) of Joseph and of Judah had become one in God’s hand.

Hence the interchangeable terms. This passage is now generally admitted to be Messianic. But the prophecy was not to be immediately fulfilled.

The nation had yet severe sufferings to endure and triumphs to achieve, namely, in those struggles with the “sons of Greece” which render the Maccabean period (B.C. 167-130) one of the most noble pages in Jewish history. Those who still remained in the land of their exile are exhorted to come forth , confident in the help of the Lord of Hosts, who would wield the reunited Judah and Ephraim as His weapons of war ; He Himself will appear as their champion, with the rolling of the thunder as His war-trumpet, the forked lightning as His arrows, “the wild storm blowing from the southern desert, the resistless fury of His might.”

And then, when they had fought the good fight, and not before, God promises the flock His people the blessings of peace (Zechariah 9:16–17).