John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 9:13

"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." — Zechariah 9:13 (ASV)

God declares here that the Jews would be the conquerors of all nations, though they were then despised. That people, we know, were hated by all; and they were at the same time weak, and had hardly any strength to be able to resist the wrongs done to them on every side. Since this trial might have terrified weak minds, the Prophet says that the Jews would be, as it were, the bow and the quiver of God, so that they would be able to pierce all nations with their arrow; and that they would also be like a sword, which would wound and lay prostrate the strongest.

We now perceive the meaning of the words and also see the reason why the Prophet made this addition: because the Jews were filled with terror on seeing themselves surrounded on every side by violent and strong enemies, to whom they were far inferior in strength. Now, these similes, we know, occur elsewhere in Scripture, and their meaning seems to be this — that the Jews would be the conquerors of all nations, not by their own prowess, as they say, but because the Lord would guide and direct them by his own hand. For what is a bow unless it is bent? And the bow itself is useless unless the arrow is discharged. The Prophet then teaches us that though the Jews could do nothing by themselves, yet there was strength enough in God’s hand alone.

I have bent for me, he says, Judah as a bow. The Lord reminds the Jews of his own power, so that they might not regard their own strength, but acknowledge that they were made strong from above, and that strength to overcome their enemies would be given to them. Hence he compares Ephraim to a quiver. But we saw yesterday that Judah and Ephraim are to be taken as the same; for as it had been a divided body, God intimates here that when the Jews were again united and joined together, and when the ten tribes showed brotherly kindness towards the kingdom of Judah, then the people would be to him like a bow well furnished, being fully supplied with arrows.

He then adds, I will rouse thy sons, O Sion, against thy sons, O Javan. This apostrophe is more emphatic than if the third person had been adopted; for by addressing first Sion, and then Greece, he shows that he possesses power over all nations, so that he raises up the one and casts down the other, as he pleases.

As to the word יון, Ivan, we have seen elsewhere that it is to be taken for Greece, and in this context for all the countries beyond the sea. Yet many think that the word Jonah is derived from this Hebrew word and, as it often happens, is corruptly pronounced. But we may gather from many instances that יון, Ivan, is used for Greece, or for distant countries, and specifically for Macedonia.

It is then the same as if he had said — That the Jews would be superior to all heathen nations, even if they were to unite and bring vast forces from distant lands. For the Greeks could not have waged war in Judea with a small force; they must have brought with them large armies to fight in a country strange and unknown to them.

Nor could the Jews have attacked the Greeks or other remote nations, unless they were favored with aid from heaven. For this reason also he adds, that they would be like a sword, by which a strong man can destroy others of lesser power. Let us now go on —