John Gill Commentary Zechariah 9

The burden of the word of the Lord
A prophecy, as in (Proverbs 31:1) which is sometimes of things sorrowful and distressing, as the destruction of people, as in (Isaiah 31:1) (15:1) (17:1) (19:1) (Isaiah 21:1Isaiah 21:11) and sometimes of things joyful, as in (Zechariah 13:1) and here it contains good news to the church of Christ, (Zechariah 9:9) ; and is called a "burden", because the word of the Lord is often so to carnal men; see (Jeremiah 23:33–39) the words may be rendered, a "declaration", or "a publication", of "the word of the Lord"^F21; it signifies a publishing of it or bringing it forth; and so the Arabic version renders it "a revelation of the word of the Lord"; a carrying of it about: which was made in the land of Hadrach;

this is either the name of a man; of some king, as Aben Ezra observes; and some Jewish writers^F23 say the King Messiah, who is (dx) "sharp" to the nations of the world, and (Kr) "tender" to the Israelites: or rather the name of a place, and may design Syria, to which Damascus belonged; see (Isaiah 7:8) or some place near it: says R. Jose^F24, ``I am of Damascus, and I call heaven and earth to witness that there is a place there, the name of which is Hadrach.'' Hillerus<sup>F25</sup> takes it to be the same with Coelesyria, or hollow Syria, a vale which lay between Libanus and Antilibanus, and goes by many names; the same that is called Hoba, (Genesis 14:15) the plain of Aren, and the house of Eden, (Amos 1:5) and here Hadrach; and thinks it had its name from Hadar, a son of Ishmael, (Genesis 25:15) and observes what is said, (Genesis 25:18) , that the "Ishmaelites dwelt from Havilah", which is to the south of Palestine, "unto Shur", a town situated over against Egypt, "as you go to Assyria"; that is, to the Agra of Ptolemy in Susiana. The Targum renders it ``in the land of the south.'' There was a city in Coelesyria, called Adra by Ptolemy^F26; which, as Jerom says^F1, was distant from Bostra twenty five miles; since called the city of Bernard de Stampis; where were Christian churches in the fourth and fifth centuries, whose bishops were present at councils held in those times^F2; and, according to this prophecy, here the word of the Lord was to be published; and it may have respect to the conversion of the inhabitants of it in future times: though some take it to be not the proper name of a place, but an appellative, and render it, "the land about", or "the land about you"^F3; that is, about Judea; the nations round about it, particularly Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.

And Damascus [shall be] the rest thereof;
either of the Lord himself; his glorious Shechinah shall rest there, as Kimchi interprets it; and so the Targum paraphrases it, ``and Damascus shall be converted, that it may be of the house of his Shechinah;'' see (Isaiah 11:10) or of the word of the Lord, which should be declared and published there, as it was by the Apostle Paul, who was converted near it, and preached in it, (Acts 9:3Acts 9:19Acts 9:20) or of Hadrach, or the adjacent country: unless it is to be understood of the burden of the Lord resting on it, or of the taking of this city in the times of Alexander the great; which, with the destruction of the cities after mentioned, some make a type or symbol of the abolition of Paganism in the Roman empire; but the former sense seems best.

When the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, [shall] be
towards the Lord;
or, "when the eyes of men shall be to the Lord, and to all the tribes of Israel"; so Kimchi and Ben Melech; that is, as they interpret it, when the eyes of all men shall be to the Lord, and not to their idols; and also to all the tribes of Israel, to go along with them in their ways; as it is said above (Zechariah 8:23) , "we will go with you": or they shall look to the Lord, even as the tribes of Israel themselves do; and which is true of sinners when converted, whether Jews or Gentiles; and particularly was true of that great man, the Apostle Paul, who was converted near Damascus, when the eyes of his understanding being enlightened, and he seeing the insufficiency of all other objects, looked to the Lord alone for pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation; even as all true Israelites do, who are after the Spirit, and not after the flesh. Though some understand these words of the eyes of the Lord being upon every man, as well as upon the tribes of Israel; upon wicked men to punish them, as upon his people to protect and defend them: and to this sense the Targum inclines, paraphrasing the words thus, ``for before the Lord are manifest the works of the children of men, and he is well pleased with all the tribes of Israel.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (rbd avm) "prolatio verbi Jehovae", Cocceius.
• F23: R. Judah in Jarchi, & R. Benaiah in Kimchi in loc. & R. Nehemiah in Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 24. 1.
• F24: Shirhashirim ib. Siphre in Yalkut Simeoni in loc.
• F25: Onomast. sacr. p. 578.
• F26: Geograph. l. 5. c. 15.
• F1: De locis Hebr. fol. 97. I.
• F2: Reland. Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. p. 548.
• F3: (Krdx Urab) "in terram circumstantem te", Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius; "super terram quae te circuit", Grotius; "in terra circa te", Cocceius; "ad verbum, in terram circuitus tui", De Dieu.

And Hamath also shall border thereby
By the land of Hadrach, or by Damascus; and that it was near Damascus is clear from (Isaiah 10:9) (Jeremiah 49:23) it is called Hamath the great in (Amos 6:2) and according to Jerom ^F4 , is the same with Antioch, which he says was so called by some; and the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on (Numbers 13:21) , renders Hamath by Antioch: and, if so, here was the Lord's rest likewise; here the Gospel was preached, and many converted, and a church, consisting of Jews and Gentiles, was formed; and here the disciples were first called Christians, (Acts 11:26) .

Tyrus and Zidon ;
these were famous cities of Phoenicia; upon the borders of these our Lord himself was, (Matthew 15:21) of the conversion of the inhabitants of these places the psalmist prophecies, (Psalms 45:12) here likewise the Lord has his resting place; we read of the disciples here, (Acts 21:3Acts 21:4) (27:3) : though it be very wise ;
particularly Tyre, which was famous for wisdom, (Ezekiel 28:3Ezekiel 28:4) which the Lord confounded by the preaching of the Gospel, and by the foolishness of that saved them that believe. Kimchi refers this to the times of the Messiah; his note is, she shall not trust in her wisdom in the time of the Messiah: so Ben Melech.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: Comment. in Amos, fol. 44. C. & Quaest. Hebr. in Genesim, fol. 67. B. So Cyril. in Amos, p. 312.

And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold
Tyre was built upon a rock, and was a strong fortress itself, from which it had its name; and, besides its natural defence, it had a wall one hundred and fifty feet high, and its breadth was answerable to its height ^F5 ; but yet, as it could not defend itself against Alexander the great, who took it; so neither against the Gospel of Christ, which found its way into it, and was mighty to pull down strong holds in a spiritual sense:

and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the
streets ;
the riches of these cities, especially Tyre, are often made mention of; they were famous for their wealth, being places of great trade and merchandise; see (Isaiah 23:2Isaiah 23:8) (Ezekiel 27:3) (Ezekiel 28:4Ezekiel 28:5) all which were to be holiness to the Lord, and for the sufficient feeding and durable clothing of them that dwell before him, (Isaiah 23:18) his ministers.

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: Arrian. de Exped. Alex. l. 2. c. 21.

Behold, the Lord will cast her out
Or "inherit her" {f}, or "them", as the Septuagint render the words; when, being converted, she would become the Lord's inheritance and possession, and her riches should be devoted to his service:

and he will smite her power in the sea ;
for Tyre was situated in the sea, at the entry of it, and was strong in it, (Ezekiel 26:17) (27:3) . Kimchi interprets this of her humiliation and subjection in the days of the Messiah; and in a spiritual sense it has been verified in such who have been spoiled of their carnal strength, in which they trusted, and have laid down their weapons, and have submitted to the sceptre of Christ:

and she shall be devoured with fire ;
with the spirit of judgment, and of burning, which purges and removes the filth of sin; and with the fire of the word, which burns up and consumes its lusts; and with the flames of divine love, which make souls as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. This was literally accomplished in the burning of Tyre by Alexander ^F7 , which injected fear and dread in cities near it, as follow:

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Curtius, l. 4. c. 4.

Ashkelon shall see [it], and fear
That is, as Kimchi explains it, when Ashkelon shall see that Tyre humbles herself and submits, she shall humble herself and submit also: and the sense may be, that the inhabitants of Ashkelon, seeing that Tyre, with all her wisdom and strong reasoning, could not stand before the power of the Gospel, but submitted and embraced the Christian religion, were induced, through the efficacy of divine grace, to do the same; and certain it is that this place became Christian; we read ^F8 of a bishop of Ashkelon, in the synod of Nice, and of other bishops of this place in later councils: it belonged to Palestine, and was one of the five lordships of the Philistines, (Joshua 13:3) .

Gaza also [shall see it], and be very sorrowful ;
this was a city of Palestine, near to Ashkelon; they are mentioned together, (Judges 1:18) the Gentile inhabitants of this place, when they saw the progress the Gospel made in Tyre, Zidon, and Ashkelon, were grieved at it, but many among them submitted to it: very likely Philip the evangelist first preached the Gospel here; see (Acts 8:26) there was a Christian bishop of this place in the Nicene council, and others in after ones ^F9 .

And Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed ;
this was also one of the five lordships of the Philistines, (Joshua 13:3) (1 Samuel 6:16 1 Samuel 6:17) which, being near to Tyre, had its dependence on that, expecting it could never be taken; but when they saw that it was taken by Alexander, it was ashamed of its vain expectation, hope, and confidence: and so the inhabitants of this place, when the Gospel came to it, were "ashamed of the house of [their] confidence", as the Targum paraphrases the words; the confidence they had in their idols, and in the works of their own hands; and were also "ashamed because of their iniquities", as the Arabic version renders them; being convinced of them, and humbled for them, and betaking themselves to Christ for salvation from them. It is probable, that Philip preached the Gospel here, seeing it was not far from Azotus or Ashdod, next mentioned, where Philip is heard of after the baptism of the eunuch: and if Ekron is the same with Caesarea, that was called Strato's tower, as say the Jews ^F11 ; and which also Jerom ^F12 observes, some say are the same it is certain that Philip was there, (Acts 8:40) there were several Christian bishops of this place in later times ^F13 .

And the king shall perish from Gaza ;
some understand this of Batis, who was governor of Gaza, when it was taken by Alexander; who was fastened to a chariot, and dragged about the city, as Curtius ^F14 relates; but this man was not a king, but governor of the city under one: I rather think the idol Marnes, which signifies "the lord of man", and was worshipped in this place, is here meant; which when it became Christian was destroyed, and a Christian church built in the room of it, as is reported by Jerom ^F15 .

And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited ;
by Heathens, but by Christians.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Reland. Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. p. 594.
• F9: Ib. p. 795.
• F11: T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 6. 1.
• F12: De locis Hebraicis, fol. 88. D.
• F13: Reland. ib. p. 676
• F14: Hist. l. 4. c. 6.
• F15: Comment in Isa. xvii. tom. 5. fol. 39. H. Epist. ad Laetam, tom. 1. fol. 19. E.