And I will cut off the chariot - The horse is the symbol of worldly power, as the ass is of meekness. "Some," says the Psalmist, "put their trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God" Psalm 20:7. "A horse is but a vain thing to save a man" Psalm 33:17. "He delighteth not in the strength of a horse" Psalm 147:10). In scarcely any place in Holy Scripture is the horse spoken of in relation to man, except as the instrument of war. It represents human might, which is either to be consecrated to the Lord, or destroyed by Him (see Micah 5:10). As the "stone, cut out without hands" Daniel 2:34, broke in pieces and absorbed into itself all the kingdoms of the world, so here He, whose Kingdom should not be of this world, should supersede human might. His kingdom was to begin by doing away, among His followers, all, whereby human kingdoms are established. He first cuts off the chariot and the horse, not from His enemies, but from His own people; His people, not as a civil polity, but as the people of God. For the prophet speaks of them as Ephraim and Judah, but Ephraim had no longer a distinct existence.

And He shall speak peace unto the pagan - As the Apostle says, "He came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh" Ephesians 2:17. He shall speak it to them, as He who hath power to give it to them, peace with God, peace in themselves, the reconciliation of God and man, and the remission of their sins.

Osorius: "At His birth the heavenly host announced peace to men; all His doctrine has peace for its end; when His death was at hand, He especially commended peace to His disciples, that peace which the world knoweth not, which is contained in tranquility of mind, burning zeal for charity. Divine grace. This same peace He brought to all who gathered themselves to His empire and guidance, that, emerging from intestine wars and foul darkness, they might behold the light of liberty, and, in all wisdom keep the grace of God."

And His dominion shall be from sea to sea - The bounds of the promised land, in its utmost range, on the west, were the Mediterranean sea; on the east, "the great river," the Euphrates. The prophet pictures its extension, so as to embrace the whole world, taking away, first the one bound, then the other. "From sea to sea" is from the Mediterranean to the most extreme east, Where the Ocean encircles the continent of Asia; "from the river to the ends of the earth," is from the Euphrates to the most extreme west, embracing the whole of Europe; and whatever may lie beyond, to the ends of the earth, where earth ceaseth to be . It is this same lowly and afflicted king, whose entry into Jerusalem is on a despised animal, who shall, by His mere will, make war to cease, who shall, by His mere word, give peace to the pagan.

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem - No wars shall be employed to spread the kingdom of the Messiah; for it shall be founded and established, "not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts," Zechariah 4:6.

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,.... That is, the military one; signifying that wars shall cease, Psalm 46:9,

and the horse from Jerusalem; the warlike one; see Micah 5:10. Ephraim designs the ten tribes, and Jerusalem stands for the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; and the sense is, that these shall be one in the days of the Messiah, as Kimchi observes; and that all instruments of war shall be removed from them, and there shall be an entire peace between them; see Isaiah 11:13,

and the battle bow shall be cut off; another instrument of war. The Targum paraphrases it,

"I will break the strength of those that make war, the armies of the people;''

all this does not design so much the outward peace that should be in the world at the birth of Christ, as the spiritual peace of his kingdom; and that, as it is not of this world, so neither is it spread, supported, and defended by carnal weapons; and also the peaceableness and safety of his subjects, and the destruction of their enemies:

and he shall speak peace unto the heathen; not only the church of Christ, gathered out of the Jews, should enjoy great spiritual peace, prosperity, and safety; but the Gentiles also should share in it, to whom Christ went, and preached peace; not in his own person, being the minister of the circumcision: but by his apostles, who had the ministration of reconciliation committed to them; and being sent forth by Christ, went everywhere preaching peace by him, who is Lord of all, unto all nations; see Ephesians 2:17,

and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth; according to Aben Ezra, from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth: or, as Kimchi cites him, from the south sea, called the sea of Edom, to the north sea, which is the sea of the ocean; from the river that goes out from Eden, which is at the beginning of the east, unto the ends of the earth, which is the end of the west: or, as the Targum paraphrases it,

"from the sea to the west, and from Euphrates to the ends of the earth.''

The phrases are expressive of the extensiveness of Christ's dominion, through the preaching of the Gospel, both in Judea and in the Gentile world, before the destruction of Jerusalem; and especially in the latter day; see Psalm 72:8. This and the preceding clause are allowed to belong to the Messiah, by a modern Jewish writer (i).

(i) R. Isaac, Chizzuk Emuna, par. 1. c. 1. p. 43, 44. So Kimchi in Isaiah 65.19.

Just as the coming of the King does not contain within itself a sign of earthly power and exaltation, so will His kingdom not be established by worldly power. The war-chariots and horses, in which the kingdoms of the world seek their strength, will be exterminated by Jehovah out of Ephraim and Jerusalem (cf. Micah 5:9). And so also will the war-chariots, for which "the battle-bow" stands synecdochically. Ephraim denotes the former kingdom of the ten tribes, and Jerusalem is mentioned as the capital in the place of the kingdom of Judah. Under the Messiah will the two kingdoms that were formerly divided be united once more, and through the destruction of their military power will their nature be also changed, the covenant nation be divested of its political and worldly character, and made into a spiritual nation or kingdom. The rule of this King will also speak peace to the nations, i.e., will not command peace through His authoritative word (Hitzig, Koehler, etc.), but bring the contests among the nations to an end (Micah 4:3); for dibbēr shâlōm does not mean to command peace, but it either simply denotes such a speaking as has peace for its subject, giving an assurance of peace and friendship, i.e., uttering words of peace (a meaning which is inapplicable here), or signifies to speak peace for the purpose of bringing disputes to an end (Esther 10:3). But this is done not by authoritative commands, but by His gaining the nations over through the spiritual power of His word, or establishing His spiritual kingdom in the midst of them. It is only as thus interpreted, that the statement concerning the extension of His kingdom harmonizes with the rest. This statement rests upon Psalm 72:8, "from sea to sea," as in Amos 8:12 and Micah 7:12, viz., from the sea to the other end of the world where sea begins again. "From the river:" i.e., from the Euphrates, which is intended here by nâhâr without the article, as in Micah 7:12 and Isaiah 7:20, and is mentioned as the remotest eastern boundary of the land of Israel, according to Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31, as being the terminus a quo, to which the ends of the earth are opposed as the terminus ad quem.

The leading thought in the promise (Zechariah 9:8-10) is therefore the following: When the catastrophe shall burst upon the Persian empire, Israel will enjoy the marvellous protection of its God, and the promised King will come for Zion, endowed with righteousness and salvation, but in outward humiliation; and through the extermination of the materials of war out of Israel, as well as by the peaceful settlement of the contests of the nations, He will establish a kingdom of peace, which will extend over all the earth. On the fulfilment of this prophecy, we learn from the gospel history, that when Jesus took His last journey to Jerusalem, He so arranged His entrance into this city, that our prophecy (Zechariah 9:9), "Say ye to the daughter Zion, Behold, thy King cometh," etc., was fulfilled (cf. Matthew 21:2., Mark 11:2., Luke 19:30., and John 12:14.). The exact agreement between the arrangement made by Jesus on this occasion and our prophecy is especially evident from the account given by Matthew, according to which Jesus ordered not only the ass's foal (πῶλον ὀνάριον), upon which He rode into Jerusalem, to be brought, as Mark, Luke, and John relate, but a she-ass and a foal with her (Matthew 21:2, Matthew 21:7), "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet" (Matthew 21:4), although He could really only ride upon one animal. The she-ass was to follow, to set forth Zechariah's figurative description with greater completeness. For we see, from the corresponding accounts of the other three evangelists, that Jesus only mounted the ass's foal. John, even when quoting our prophecy, only mentions the "sitting on an ass's colt" (John 12:15), and then adds in John 12:16, that the allusion in this act of Jesus to the Old Testament prophecy was only understood by the disciples after Jesus was glorified. By this mode of entering Jerusalem before His death, Jesus intended to exhibit Himself to the people as the King foretold by the prophets, who, coming in lowliness, would establish His kingdom through suffering and dying, so as to neutralize the carnal expectations of the people as to the worldly character of the Messianic kingdom. The fulfilment, however, which Jesus thereby gave to our prophecy is not to be sought for in this external agreement between His act and the words of the prophet. The act of Jesus was in itself simply an embodiment of the thought lying at the basis of the prophecy, - namely, that the kingdom of the Messiah would unfold itself, through lowliness and suffering, to might and glory; that Jesus, as the promised Messiah, would not conquer the world by the force of arms, and so raise His people to political supremacy, but that He would found His kingdom by suffering and dying, - a kingdom which, though not of this world, would nevertheless overcome the world. The figurative character of the prophetic picture, according to which "riding upon an ass" merely serves to individualize עני, and set forth the lowliness of the true King of Zion under appropriate imagery, has been already pointed out by Calvin

(Note: Calvin says: "I have no doubt that the prophet added this clause (viz., 'riding upon an ass,' etc.) as an appendix to the word עני, as much as to say: The King of whom I speak will not be illustrious for His magnificent and splendid state, as earthly princes generally are." He then gives this explanation of the riding upon the ass: "He will not prevail by His great exaltation; nor will He be conspicuous for arms, riches, splendour, the number of his soldiers, or even the royal insignia, which attract the eyes of the people.")

and Vitringa; and the latter has also correctly observed, that the prophecy would have been fulfilled in Christ, even if He had not made His entry into Jerusalem in this manner.

(Note: Vitringa says, on Isaiah 53:4 : "In that passage of Zechariah, indeed, according to its spiritual and mystical sense, his meaning would have been evident without this accident of the entry of Christ into Jerusalem; but when God would put all the emphasis of which the words are capable upon the predictions uttered by the prophets, His own providence took care that this accident should also occur, so that no part of the machinery might be wanting here.")

Hengstenberg and Koehler adopt the same view. Nevertheless, this entry of Christ into Jerusalem forms the commencement of the fulfilment of our prophecy, and that not merely inasmuch as Jesus thereby declared Himself to be the promised Messiah and King of Zion, and set forth in a living symbol the true nature of His person and of His kingdom in contrast with the false notions of His friends and foes, but still more in this respect, that the entry into Jerusalem formed the commencement of the establishment of His kingdom, since it brought to maturity the resolution on the part of the Jewish rulers to put Him to death; and His death was necessary to reconcile the sinful world to God, and restore the foundation of peace upon which His kingdom was to be built. With the spread of His kingdom over the earth, treated of in Zechariah 9:10, the fulfilment continues till the annihilation of all the ungodly powers, after which all war will ceased. But this end can only be reached through severe conflicts and victory. This is the subject of the following section.

And I will cut off the {o} chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace to the nations: and his dominion shall be from {p} sea to sea, and from the {q} river to the ends of the earth.

(o) No power of man or creature will be able to stop this kingdom of Christ, and he will peaceably govern them by his word.

(p) That is, from the Red Sea, to the Sea called Syriacum: and by these places which the Jews knew, he meant an infinite space and area over the whole world.

(q) That is, from the Euphrates.

9:10 I will cut off - When the Messiah comes and sets up his kingdom, he will need no external force. Neither chariot, bow nor sword, brought salvation to him, neither shall they be mentioned in the day of his conquest. The heathen - The Heathens through him shall be reconciled unto God, and one another, Eph 2:17. From the river - From Euphrates to the utmost end of Canaan, to the Mediterranean sea; a type of all the world, which was in due time to be the inheritance of Christ.

[3] And I will cut off

Having introduced the King in Zech 9:9, Zech 9:10 and the verses which follow look forward to the end-time and kingdom. Except in verse 9, this present age is not seen in Zechariah.

10. (Isa 2:4; Ho 2:18; Mic 5:10).

Ephraim . Jerusalem-the ten tribes, and Judah and Benjamin; both alike to be restored hereafter.

speak peace-command it authoritatively.

dominion . from sea . river . ends of . earth-fulfilling Ge 15:18; Ex 23:31; and Ps 72:8. "Sea . sea," are the Red Sea and Mediterranean. The "river" is the Euphrates. Jerusalem and the Holy Land, extended to the limits promised to Abraham, are to be the center of His future dominion; whence it will extend to the remotest parts of the earth.

9:9-17 The prophet breaks forth into a joyful representation of the coming of the Messiah, of whom the ancient Jews explained this prophecy. He took the character of their King, when he entered Jerusalem amidst the hosannas of the multitude. But his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. It shall not be advanced by outward force or carnal weapons. His gospel shall be preached to the world, and be received among the heathen. A sinful state is a state of bondage; it is a pit, or dungeon, in which there is no water, no comfort; and we are all by nature prisoners in this pit. Through the precious blood of Christ, many prisoners of Satan have been set at liberty from the horrible pit in which they must otherwise have perished, without hope or comfort. While we admire Him, let us seek that his holiness and truth may be shown in our own spirits and conduct. These promises have accomplishment in the spiritual blessings of the gospel which we enjoy by Jesus Christ. As the deliverance of the Jews was typical of redemption by Christ, so this invitation speaks to all the language of the gospel call. Sinners are prisoners, but prisoners of hope; their case is sad, but not desperate; for there is hope in Israel concerning them. Christ is a Strong-hold, a strong Tower, in whom believers are safe from the fear of the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the assaults of spiritual enemies. To him we must turn with lively faith; to him we must flee, and trust in his name under all trials and sufferings. It is here promised that the Lord would deliver his people. This passage also refers to the apostles, and the preachers of the gospel in the early ages. God was evidently with them; his words from their lips pierced the hearts and consciences of the hearers. They were wondrously defended in persecution, and were filled with the influences of the Holy Spirit. They were saved by the Good Shepherd as his flock, and honoured as jewels of his crown. The gifts, graces, and consolations of the Spirit, poured forth on the day of Pentecost, Ac 2 and in succeeding times, are represented. Sharp have been, and still will be, the conflicts of Zion's sons, but their God will give them success. The more we are employed, and satisfied with his goodness, the more we shall admire the beauty revealed in the Redeemer. Whatever gifts God bestows on us, we must serve him cheerfully with them; and, when refreshed with blessings, we must say, How great is his goodness!