Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem,.... By whom are meant, not the inhabitants of Jerusalem in common; nor the children in it, that said Hosannas to the son of David;

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Rejoice greatly: the prophet calls for such a joy as expresseth itself in outward gesture, as indeed the daughters of Zion did in their hosannas, when this had its accomplishment. Daughter of Zion; Jerusalem’ s inhabitants, or the church. Shout; proclaim aloud your joy at the news I now tell you. Before it was daughter of Zion, now it is daughter of Jerusalem, both the church and state among the Jews had great cause to triumph at this. Thy King; the Redeemer, expected, promised Messiah, Son of David, the only restorer of your lapsed state. Cometh unto thee; Christ cometh to thee, to redeem and save thee; he cometh for thee, as well as to time. He is just; the righteous One, who cometh to fulfil all righteousness, and to be our righteousness. Having salvation; designs to save, and hath that in his eye, that he can save, it is in his power; he can save us as he did save himself, by raising himself from the dead. Lowly; low and mean of state, and meek or lowly of mind. Riding upon an ass; a beast of no state or price, an emblem of his outward state. And upon a colt the foal of an ass: in this some footsteps of sovereignty appeared in the colt’ s taking and bearing him quietly, .

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.Ver. 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion] Draw all thy waters with joy out of this well spring of salvation. Lo, here is the sum of all the good news in the world; and that which should make the saints everlastingly merry, even to shouting and singing in the height of Zion, that their king cometh, Jeremiah 31:12. This should swallow up all discontents, and make them sing, "Hosanna in the highest; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Behold, thy King cometh] Not Zerubbabel, or Judas Maccabeus, as some Jews interpret it; nor yet Alexander the Great (as some others); but a greater than he, even Messiah the prince, as Christ is styled, Daniel 9:25, who shall cut off the chariot, &c., as it followeth in the next verse, yea, all the four chariots or monarchies, as some expound Zechariah 6:1-15 : how much more Tyre, Gaza, Ekron, Damascus, &c., of which he spake before in this chapter. Unto thee] i.e. Merely for thy behoof and benefit, and not for his own. Other kings are much for their own profit, pleasures, pomp, &c.; Christ emptied himself of all his excellencies that we might be filled with his fulness. He is just and having salvation] That he may justify thee by his righteousness, and save thee by his merit and Spirit. The Vulgate rendereth it, Just and a Saviour; so doth the Chaldee. Salvation properly denotes the negative part of man’ s happiness, freedom from all evils and enemies; but it is usually taken for the positive part also, viz. fruition of all good; because it is easier to tell from what than unto what we are saved by Jehovah our righteousness. Lowly] Or poor, afflicted, abject. See them set together, Zephaniah 3:12 Philippians 4:12. I have learned to want and to be abased. Poverty rendereth a man contemptible and ridiculous. Pauper ubique iacet, men go over the hedge where it is lowest; the poor are trampled upon, and despised, as Luke 16:30. This thy son, he scorned to call him brother, because he was poor. Now Christ became poor to make us rich, 2 Corinthians 8:9; a worm and no man ( nullificamen populi, as Tertullian phraseth it), that we might be advanced to glory and honour and immortality, Romans 2:7. Neither was he more low and mean in his estate than lowly and meek in mind; as far from pride and stateliness as his state was from pomp and magnificence. Riding upon an ass] A poor silly beast, used by the meaner sort of people. Yea, upon a colt the foal of an ass] Heb. Asses, because the colt whereon Christ rode ran after two asses coupled together in one yoke, whereof one was his dam, Matthew 21:5.

(9-17) The advent of the king. It has been urged as an objection against the post-exilic authorship of this passage that “Ephraim” and “Jerusalem” are mentioned, as though Israel were still separated from Judah. But, on the contrary, Ephraim and Jerusalem are here strictly parallel terms, as are also “Judah” and “Ephraim” (Zechariah 9:13), where both are represented as equally opposed to the sons of Javan. The nation was now one (Ezekiel 37:22) and known by the names of “Israel” (Zechariah 12:1; Malachi 1:1; Malachi 1:5), “all the tribes of Israel” (Zechariah 9:1), also the “house of Judah” (Zechariah 10:3; Zechariah 10:6), “house of Joseph” and “Ephraim” (Zechariah 10:6-7). For now that the “dead bones of the whole house of Israel” were revived (Ezekiel 37:11), and “my servant David” was about to be “King over them” (Ezekiel 37:24), the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:16-17) was fulfilled, and the staves (tribes, shibhete) of Joseph and of Judah had become one in God’s hand. Hence the interchangeable terms. This passage is now generally admitted to be Messianic. But the prophecy was not to be immediately fulfilled. The nation had yet severe sufferings to endure and triumphs to achieve, viz. in those struggles with the “sons of Greece” which render the Maccabean period (B.C. 167-130) one of the most noble pages in Jewish history. Those who still remained in the land of their exile are exhorted to come forth (comp. Zechariah 2:7-13), confident in the help of the Lord of Hosts, who would wield the reunited Judah and Ephraim (comp. Isaiah 11:13) as His weapons of war (comp. Jeremiah 51:20); He Himself will appear as their champion, with the rolling of the thunder as His war-trumpet, the forked lightning as His arrows, “the wild storm blowing from the southern desert, the resistless fury of His might.” And then, when they had fought the good fight, and not before, God promises “the flock His people” the blessings of peace (Zechariah 9:16-17).

Verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion] See this prophecy explained on Matthew 21:5. Behold, thy King cometh] Not Zerubbabel, for he was never king; nor have they had a king, except Jesus the Christ, from the days of Zedekiah to the present time. He is just] The righteous One, and the Fountain of righteousness. Having salvation] He alone can save from sin, Satan, death, and hell. Lowly] Without worldly pomp or splendour; for neither his kingdom, nor that of his followers, is of this world. Riding upon an ass] God had commanded the kings of Israel not to multiply horses. The kings who broke this command were miserable themselves, and scourgers to their people. Jesus came to fulfil the law. Had he in his title of king rode upon a horse, it would have been a breach of a positive command of God; therefore, he rode upon an ass, and thus fulfilled the prophecy, and kept the precept unbroken. Hence it is immediately added-

9–17. The Coming of the King The great event for which all that had been foretold in the preceding verses of the chapter, and indeed all the preceding history of Israel and of the world, had been a preparation, and in which as purposed and promised by God was the pledge of Israel’s preservation for its accomplishment, is now announced and its consequences are unfolded. Sion is called upon to welcome with exultation her just and lowly King, who comes to her in humble state (Zechariah 9:9), whose kingdom of peace shall cover all the land and embrace all nations (Zechariah 9:10), and who, mindful of His covenant with her, shall give deliverance to the captives of Israel (Zechariah 9:11-12). Using them, now once more an united nation, as the instruments of His warfare (Zechariah 9:13), Himself fighting for them and manifesting Himself as their Protector (Zechariah 9:14), He will make them victorious over all their enemies (Zechariah 9:15), and will promote them to safety and honour (Zechariah 9:16), magnifying His “goodness” and His “beauty” in the prosperity with which He crowns them (Zechariah 9:17).

From the protection, which God promised to His people and to His House, the prophet passes on to Him who was ever in his thoughts, and for whose sake that people and temple were preserved.

THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, Zechariah 9:1 to Zechariah 14:21.