John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 9:16

"And Jehovah their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for [they shall be as] the stones of a crown, lifted on high over his land." — Zechariah 9:16 (ASV)

He continues the same subject but uses various figures, so that he might more fully confirm what was then incredible. He indeed reminds them that God would not save His people in an ordinary way, such as is common among humans. He compares them to sheep, so that they might know, as I have already said, that their salvation would come from heaven, since they themselves were weak and had no strength and no power; for the object of this comparison was to show this.

He then declares that the Jews would be saved because God would supply them with everything necessary to conquer their enemies. However, He would also help their weakness in a wonderful manner, just like a shepherd when He rescues his sheep from the jaws of a wolf.

For the sheep that escape death by the shepherd's arrival have no reason to boast of victory; all the praise is due to the shepherd. So also God says that it will be His work to deliver the Jews from their enemies.

By saying, his own people, he seems to confine to His elect what appeared too general; for he had said, save then will God. However, it is certain that the people, who were then few, had been cut off, so that the greater part had perished. But at the same time, it was true that God was a faithful guardian of His people, for there were then many Israelites, naturally descended from their common father Abraham, who were Israelites in name only.

He then adds another comparison—that they would be elevated high, like precious stones in a crown, which are worn on the head of a king, as though he had said that they would be a royal priesthood, according to what is said in the Law. He had said before, They shall subdue the stones, or, with the stones, of a sling.

The opinion of those who read with the stones of a sling seems more correct; that is, that the Jews would conquer their enemies not with swords or arrows, but only with stones, in the same manner as David slew Goliath. Although not skilled in warlike arts, nor trained in the use of arms, they would still, as the Prophet shows, be conquerors; for their slings would be sufficient to slay their enemies.

But some think that heathens and unbelievers are compared to the stones of the sling because they are worthless and of no importance; which at first sight seems ingenious, but it is a strained interpretation. At the same time, it is not improper to consider that there is here an implied contrast between the stones of the sling and the stones of a crown: the Jews would cast stones from their slings to destroy their enemies, and they themselves would be precious stones.

The Prophet seems here to represent the Holy Land as the chief part of the whole world. Elevated, he says, shall be the stones of crown over the land of God. If he had said over Egypt or over Assyria, the connection of the clauses would not have been as appropriate; but he names Judea as the head of the world. He implies that the Jews, when prosperous and happy in it, would be like the stones of a crown, with all the parts set in due order.

In short, he shows that God's favor alone and His blessing would be sufficient to make the Jews happy, as they would then excel in honor, enjoy an abundance of all good things, and possess invisible courage to resist all their adversaries.

Let us now inquire when all these things were fulfilled. We have said that Zechariah, by promising fullness to the Jews, did not give them unbridled license to indulge in eating and drinking, but only expressed and extolled, in hyperbolic terms, the immense kindness and bounty of God toward them. This is one thing.

But at the same time, we must, by the way, consider another question: He says that they would be like arrows and swords. Now, since they were too much inclined to shed blood, he seems here to excite them, in a way, to take full vengeance on their enemies, which was by no means reasonable.

The answer to this is plain: the Jews were not to forget what God prescribed in His Law. For just as when God promised a large abundance of wine and plentiful provisions, He did not retract what He had already commanded—that they were to practice temperance in eating and drinking—so now when He promises victory over their enemies, He is not inconsistent with Himself. Nor does He condemn what He had once approved, nor abrogate the precept by which He commanded them not to exercise cruelty toward their enemies, but to restrain themselves and to show mercy and kindness.

Hence, we see that we are not to judge from these words what is right for us to do, or how far we may go in taking revenge on our enemies; nor to determine what liberty we have in eating and drinking. Such things are not to be learned from this passage or similar passages; for the Prophet here only sets forth the power of God and His bounty toward His people.

Now again, it may be asked, when has God fulfilled this? When has He made the Jews victorious far and wide and the destroyers of their enemies? All Christian expositors give us an allegorical explanation: that God sent forth His armies when He sent forth Apostles into all parts of the world, who pierced the hearts of people, and that He slew with His sword the wicked whom He destroyed.

All this is true; but in the first place, a simpler meaning must be drawn from the words of the Prophet, and that is, that God will make His Church victorious against the whole world. And this is most true; for though the faithful are not equipped with swords or any military weapons, yet we see that they are kept safe in a wonderful manner under the shadow of God's hand.

When adversaries exercise cruelty toward them, we see how God returns their wicked schemes on their own heads. In this way, what we read here is truly fulfilled—even that the children of God are like arrows and swords, and that they are also preserved as a flock; for they are too weak to stand their ground, if the Lord did not put forth His power when He sees them violently assailed by the wicked.

There is then no need to interpret the Prophet’s words allegorically, when this fact is evident: that God’s Church has been kept safe because God has always blunted all the weapons of enemies; yes, He has often by a strong hand discharged His arrows and brandished His sword.

For when Alexander the Great had crossed the sea, marched through the entire region of the Mediterranean Sea, and filled all the country with blood, he finally came to Judea. How was it that he left it without committing any slaughter or exercising any cruelty, except that God restrained him?

It will not weary you if I relate what we read in Josephus; and I have no doubt it is true. Josephus says that when Alexander came, he was full of wrath and breathing threats against those Jews by whom he had not been assisted, and who seemed to have despised his authority.

After giving vent to his rage in this way, he finally came into the presence of Jaddua the high priest. Seeing him adorned with a miter, Alexander fell down and humbly asked for pardon. While all were amazed, his answer was that God had appeared to him in that form while he was still in Greece and had encouraged him to undertake that expedition.

Therefore, when he saw the image or figure of the God of heaven in that priestly attire, he was compelled to give glory to God. So far Josephus, whose testimony in this instance has never been doubted.

There is then no reason for anyone to weary himself in discovering the Prophet's meaning, since this fact is clear enough—that God’s elect have been victorious because God has always sent forth His arrows and brandished His sword.

At the same time, there is another view of this victory: for foreign and remote peoples were subdued by the sword of the Spirit, that is, by the truth of the gospel. But this is a meaning deduced from the other.

For when we grasp the literal meaning of the Prophet, an easy path then opens to us, by which we may come to the kingdom of Christ. These remarks refer to the abundance of provisions as well as to the victory over enemies.