John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 10:11

"And he will pass through the sea of affliction, and will smite the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall dry up; and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart." — Zechariah 10:11 (ASV)

The Prophet confirms what he had said respecting the power of God, which is so great that it can easily and without any effort lay prostrate all the mighty forces of the world. Since then the impediments which the Jews observed might have subverted their hope, the Prophet here removes them; he reminds the Jews that God’s power would be far superior to all the impediments which the world could throw in their way. But the expressions are figurative, and allusions are made to the history of the first redemption.

Pass through the sea shall distress. As God formerly gave his people a passage through the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), so the Prophet now testifies that this power was unchangeable, so that God could easily restore his people, even if the sea were to be dried up and rivers were to be emptied.

He says first, Pass shall distress through the sea, that is, spread shall distress, and so on, for so the verb עבר, ober, is to be taken here. Pass then shall distress through the sea; that is, the Lord will terrify the sea, and so shake it with his power that the waters will obey his command.

But he afterwards explains himself in other words, He will smite the waves in the sea. He means that God’s command is sufficient to change the order of nature, so that the waters would immediately disappear at his bidding. He then adds, All the depths of the river shall dry up; some read, “shall be ashamed,” deriving the verb from בוש, bush; but it comes from יבש, ibesh: and this indeed means sometimes to be ashamed, but it means here to dry up.

Others regard it as transitive: “The wind shall dry up the depths.” But concerning the Prophet’s purpose, the passive or active sense of the verb is of no importance; for the Prophet undoubtedly means here that there would be so much force in the very nod of God as to dry up rivers suddenly, according to what happened to Jordan, which, being struck by the rod of Moses, dried up and provided a passage for the people.

He finally speaks clearly, Cast down shall be the pride of Asshur, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart. In the preceding metaphor Zechariah alludes, as I have said, to the first redemption, as was usual for all the Prophets to remind the people of the former miracles, so that they might expect from the Lord in the future what their fathers had witnessed. However, he now declares that God would be the Redeemer of his people, even though the Assyrians on one side, and the Egyptians on the other, were to attempt to frustrate his purpose; for they could achieve nothing by their obstinacy, as God could easily subdue them both. He finally adds—