John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 2:8

"For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: After glory hath he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." — Zechariah 2:8 (ASV)

The Prophet pursues the same subject, for he shows that the way was not opened to the Jews so that they might soon after repent of their return, but so that the Lord might be with them. Their deliverance was a signal proof of His kindness and an evidence that He would continue what He had begun.

He then says that by God’s order the Gentiles would be restrained from accomplishing anything in opposition to the Jews. It is as though he had said, “Your liberty has been granted by Cyrus and by Darius; many rise up to hinder your return, but whatever they may attempt, they will accomplish nothing, for God will check all their efforts and frustrate all their attempts.”

But God’s herald here publicly testifies that he was commissioned to prevent the nations from doing any harm, and to declare that the people brought back to Judea were holy to the Lord, and that they were not permitted to be harmed by anyone. This is the meaning of the whole.

But a difficulty occurs here, for the context seems inconsistent: Thus saith Jehovah, Jehovah sent me. For it is not the Prophet who here receives the office of a herald; rather, it seems to be ascribed to God, which appears inconsistent. For whose herald can God be? And by whose order or command could He proclaim what the Prophet here relates?

It seems, then, unsuitable to ascribe this to God, though the words appear to do so—Thus saith Jehovah, After the glory he sent me to the nations. Who is the sender? Or who is he who orders or commands God? We therefore conclude that Christ is introduced here, who is Jehovah, and yet the Angel or the messenger of the Father.

Although, then, the being of God is one, expressed by the word Jehovah, it is not improper to apply it both to the Father and to the Son. Thus, God is one eternal being; but God in the person of the Father commands the Son, who also is Jehovah, to restrain the nations from harming the Jews by any unjust violence.

The rabbis give this explanation—that the Prophet says that he himself was God’s herald and thus recites his words; but this is forced and unnatural. Indeed, I do not wish to contend with them on this point, for being inclined to be contentious, they are disposed to think that we insist on proofs which are not conclusive. But there are other passages of Scripture which more clearly prove the divinity and the eternal existence of Christ, and also the distinction of persons. If, however, anyone closely examines the words of the Prophet, he will find that this passage must be forcibly distorted unless it is understood of Christ. We therefore consider that Christ is here set forth as the Father’s herald, and He says that He was sent to the nations.

What he adds—After the glory—is understood by some to mean that after the glory in which the Jews had previously boasted had ceased, the message of Christ would then be directed to the Gentiles. The meaning, then, according to them, is this: that shortly after the glory of the chosen people would depart, Christ, by the Father’s command, would pass over to the nations to gather a Church among them.

But this passage may also be applied to the nations who had cruelly afflicted the Church of God, as if he had said, “Though your enemies have had their triumphs for a time, yet their glory being brought to an end, God will send His messenger, so that those who have plundered you may become your prey.” It still seems probable to me that the Prophet speaks of the glory which he had mentioned shortly before.

We may therefore view him as saying that as God had begun to exercise His power and had in a wonderful manner restored His people, there would be no intermission until He had fully established His Church, so as to make the priesthood and the kingdom flourish again.

Then after the glory implies this: “You see the beginning of God’s favor, by which His power shines forth.” For undoubtedly it was no common instance of the Lord’s glory which He had manifested in restoring His people; and thus the Prophet encourages their confidence, since God had already in part dealt gloriously with them.

He then takes an argument from what had been begun, so that the Jews might hope to the end and fully expect the completion of their deliverance. As it is said elsewhere, “The Lord will not forsake the work of his own hands” (Psalms 138:8). So the Prophet now says, After the glory, that is, “Since God has once shone upon you in no common manner, should you not entertain hope? For He intended not to disappoint you of a full return to your country, but to fulfill what He had promised by His Prophets.”

Since God had spoken of the restoration of His Church and also of its perpetual condition, the Prophet here indirectly reproves the ingratitude of those who were not convinced that God would be faithful to the end, even when seeing the beginning of His work performed.

For as God had included both the return of His people and their continued preservation, so also His people should have included both favors: “The Lord, who has already begun to restore His people, will defend to the end those whom He has gathered, until their full and perfect redemption will be secured.”

Since, then, the Jews did not look for the end, though God led them as it were by the hand to the land of hope, the Prophet says to them, After the glory.

We may further observe that the glory mentioned here was not yet fully conspicuous; it had begun, so to speak, to glimmer, but it did not shine forth in full splendor until Christ came. It is then as if the Prophet had said, “God has already emitted some sparks of His glory; it will increase until it attains a perfect brightness. The Lord in the meantime will cause not only that the nations may restrain themselves from doing wrong, but also that they may become your prey.”

The reason for the order follows: Whosoever touches you, touches the apple of his own eye, or, of his eye. For the pronoun may be applied to any one of the pagan nations as well as to God Himself, and most interpreters prefer taking it as referring to any one of the nations.

Whosoever touches you touches the apple of his own eye. We say in French, Ils se donnent en l’oeil; that is, “Whoever assails my people will strike out his own eyes, for whatever your enemies may devise against you will fall on their own heads.” It will be the same as if one pierced his own heart with his own sword.

When, therefore, the nations consider you to be in their power, the Lord will cause them to pierce their own eyes or wound their own breasts, for the meaning is the same.

Whosoever then touches you, touches the apple of his own eye. There is no reason for you to fear. For however powerful your enemies may be, yet their fury will not be allowed to rage against you, because God will cause them to kill themselves with their own swords or to pull out their eyes with their own fingers. This is the meaning if we understand the passage as referring to the enemies of the Church.

But it may also be suitably applied to God: Whosoever touches you, touches the apple of his eye. And I am certainly more inclined to this view, for this idea occurs elsewhere in Scripture:

“He will protect us as the apple of his eye” (Psalms 17:8).

Since, then, the Holy Spirit has elsewhere used this likeness, I am inclined to regard this passage as suggesting that the love of God towards the faithful is so tender that when they are hurt, He burns with so much displeasure, as if one attempted to pierce His eyes.

For God cannot otherwise express how much and how ardently He loves us, and how careful He is of our salvation, than by comparing us to the apple of His eye. There is nothing, as we know, more delicate or more tender than this is in the human body.

For if someone were to bite my finger, or prick my arm or my legs, or even severely wound me, I would feel no such pain as by having my eye or the pupil of my eye injured. God, then, by this solemn message declares that the Church is to Him like the apple of His eye, so that He can by no means bear for it to be hurt or touched. It continues: