John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 9:10

"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." — Zechariah 9:10 (ASV)

The Prophet here expresses more clearly what he had briefly referred to by the word poor, and by the metaphor which we have explained. Therefore, he says that there would be no horses, no chariots, no bows, no instruments of war in Christ’s kingdom, for tranquility would prevail in it. The sum of the whole is that Christ and his people would not be kept safe and secure by human defenses, by many soldiers and similar assistance being at hand; but that God would restrain, and even compose and calm all warlike commotions, so that there would be no need of such aids. We now understand the Prophet’s purpose.

But we must notice the language used here. God declares here that he would be the giver of peace, so that the Messiah would continue safe in his kingdom. I will cut off, he says. For it might have been objected— “If he is to be poor, what hope can there be for safety?” The answer is that it will be God’s work to restrain all the assaults of enemies. He means, in short, that the Messiah’s kingdom would be safe because God from heaven would check all the rage of enemies. Thus, however inclined they might be to do harm, they would still find themselves held captive by the hidden bridle of God, unable to move a finger.

But after having said that the Jews and Israelites would be safe, though stripped bare of all defenses, he adds, He will speak peace to the nations; that is, although he will not use threats or terrors, nor assemble great armies, the nations will still obey him, as there will be no need to employ any force. To speak peace to the nations, then, means that they will calmly listen, though not terrified or threatened. Some, with more ingenuity, interpret the meaning to be that Christ, who reconciles the Father to us, will proclaim this favor of reconciliation. But the Prophet, as I think, with more simplicity, says that Christ would be content with his own word, since the Gentiles would become obedient and quietly submit to his authority. The import of the whole is that Christ would rule so far and wide that even those farthest away would live contentedly under his protection and not cast off the yoke laid on them.

Finally, he states that his dominion would be from sea to sea—that is, from the Red Sea to the Syrian Sea, towards Cilicia—and from the river—that is, the Euphrates—to the extreme borders of the earth. By 'the earth,' we are not to understand the whole world, as some interpreters have unwisely said, for the Prophet undoubtedly mentioned those places already known to the Jews. For we know that remarkable oracle:

He shall reign from sea to sea (Psalms 72:8).

But in that Psalm, God speaks of David only, and the words are the same as here; and there was no oracle more commonly known among the Jews. The Prophet, then, who presents nothing new here, only reminds the Jews of what they had heard long ago and repeats, so to speak, word for word what was familiar to all of them. For we must bear in mind what I said at the beginning: the Prophet here strengthens the minds of the godly. He does this because the Messiah—on whose coming the people's unmerited adoption and their hope of salvation were founded—had not yet appeared. We now, therefore, understand the true meaning of this passage. He then adds: