John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 9:7

"And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also shall be a remnant for our God; and he shall be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite." — Zechariah 9:7 (ASV)

Interpreters also pervert the whole of this verse; and as for the following verse, that is, the next, they do nothing but lead readers far astray from its real meaning. God says now that he will take away blood from the mouth of enemies; as if he had said, “I will check their savage disposition, so that they may not thus swallow down the blood of my people.” For no change is described here, as if they were to become a different people—as if the Syrians, the Sidonians, the Philistines, and other nations, who had been given to plundering and raged cruelly against the miserable Jews, would assume the gentleness of lambs. The Prophet does not mean this; instead, he introduces God here as armed with power to suppress the barbarity of their enemies and to prevent them from cruelly assaulting the Church.

I will take away blood, he says, from their mouth; and he says, from their mouth, because they had been hardened in cruelty. I will ensure, then, that they may not, as they have until now, satiate their own lust for blood. He adds, and abominations; that is, I will take from the midst of their teeth their abominable plunders, for he calls all those things abominations which had been taken by robbery and violence. And he compares them to wild beasts, who not only devour the flesh but also drink the blood and tear apart the raw carcass. In short, he shows here, using the likeness of wolves, leopards, and wild boars, how great the inhumanity of enemies to the Church had been, for they devoured the miserable Jews as wild and savage beasts are accustomed to devour their prey.

After this follows, and he who shall be a remnant. Some translate this as, “and he shall be left,” and explain it as referring to the Philistines and other nations who were mentioned. But the Prophet undoubtedly means the Jews. For though only a few had returned to their country as remnants from their exile, yet he says that this small number would be sacred to God, and that all who remained would be, as it were, leaders in Judah, however despised they might have been.

For there was no superiority even in the chief men among them; they only spontaneously paid reverence to Zerubbabel, who was of the royal seed, and to Joshua on account of the priesthood, while all of them were in a low and lowly condition. But the Prophet says that the most despised of them would be leaders and chiefs in Judah.

We now perceive the Prophet’s meaning. For after predicting the ruin that was near for all the enemies of the Church, he now sets forth the purpose and use of his prophecy. This purpose was that God would provide for the good of the miserable Jews. These people had long been exiles and, though now restored to their country, were still exposed to the ill treatment of all. They were also despised and even made objects of scorn by their enemies.

He then who shall be a remnant, even he shall be for our God, as if he had said, “Though the Lord had for a time repudiated you as well as your fathers, when he drove you here and there and scattered you, yet now God has gathered you, and for this purpose—that you may be his people. You shall then be the peculiar people of God, though you are small in number and contemptible in your condition.”

Then he adds, these remnants shall be as leaders in Judah; that is, God will raise them to the highest honor. Though they are now without any dignity, almost all of them shall yet be made princes by God. It then follows, And Ekron shall be as a Jebusite.

Some explain it thus—that the citizens of Ekron would dwell in Jerusalem, which the Jebusites had formerly possessed. Others offer another view, but it is irrelevant. The Prophet is not speaking here of God’s favor to the citizens of Ekron but, on the contrary, shows the difference between God’s chosen people and heathen nations, who gloried in their own good fortune. Therefore, he says that they would be like the Jebusites, for eventually they would have to endure a similar destruction. We indeed know that the Jebusites had been driven out of that town when Jerusalem was later built, but this happened late, even under David. Since, then, they had long held that place and were eventually dislodged, this is the reason the Prophet says that though the citizens of Ekron now seemed to be in the very middle of the Holy Land, they would be made like the Jebusites; for the Lord would drive away and destroy them all. He later adds—