John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 2:7

"Ho Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon." — Zechariah 2:7 (ASV)

The Prophet repeats the same thing, though briefly and in other words; but while he briefly touches on what he meant to say, he confirms and clarifies the contents of the former verse. He shows that it was a very great disgrace that Babylon should become, as it were, the grave of Sion, for God had chosen that mount as the place where He was to be worshiped.

Babylon, we know, was a filthy cavern, accursed by God. It was therefore to subvert, as it were, the order of nature for the Jews to bury, so to speak, the holy mount of God in that infernal region. This way of speaking appears somewhat harsh at first, yet is most suitable, for by Sion the Prophet means the Jews, who were still dispersed in Chaldea.

The temple had indeed not been moved from its place, but only burned and destroyed by the Chaldeans, and there was no other temple built among the Babylonians. What then does the Prophet mean by saying, O Sion, who dwellest with the daughter of Babylon, return to your own place?

He even reminds the Jews that they were bound, as it were, to the temple, for it was a sacred and an indissoluble bond of mutual union between God and them (1 Kings 6:13). For when God proposed that a temple should be built for Him on Mount Sion, He at the same time added,

I will dwell among you; this is my rest (Psalms 132:14).

Since the Jews, then, became united to their God, the temple was introduced as a pledge of this sacred union. Thus justly and fitly does the Prophet give the name of Sion to the Jews, for they were, as it has been said, tied as it were to the temple, unless they meant to deny God.

Hence he says, “Is it right that you should dwell among the Chaldeans? For you are, as it were, the stones of God’s temple. There is therefore for you no fixed and permanent abode except on Mount Sion, as you are in a sense that very mount itself.” Therefore he says, “Sion, hasten and return to your own place; for it is strange and preposterous that you should dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”

In short, the Prophet shows that God’s favor ought not to have been rejected when He stretched forth His hand and gave them free liberty to return. Since God thus appeared as the deliverer of His people, the Jews ought not to have remained exiles but should have immediately ascended to Jerusalem, so that they might again worship God.

And why did the Prophet mention this? It was so that the Jews might know they had nothing to fear, though surrounded by dangers. They were to understand that even if Satan suggested many perils, many difficulties, and many troubles, yet the grace of God would not be defective, evanescent, or fallacious; rather, He would complete His work and not disappoint those to whom He had once testified that they would again have a quiet habitation in the land of Judah.