God will defend his church, and bring over even her enemies to the faith. The meek coming of Christ, to bring peace, to deliver the captives by his blood, and to give us all good things.

¹ The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and its respite in Damascus. For the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is of the Lord.¹

1. 9:1Hadrach: Syria.(Challoner)

² Hamath also is at its limits, and Tyre and Sidon. For, of course, they have assumed themselves to be exceedingly wise.

³ And Tyre has built herself a fortress, and she has piled together silver, as if it were soil, and gold, as if it were the mud of the streets.

⁴ Behold, the Lord will possess her, and he will strike her strength in the sea, and she will be devoured by fire.

⁵ Ashkelon will see and be afraid. Both Gaza and he will be very sorrowful, as well as Ekron, because her hope has been confounded. And the king will pass away from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶ And the divider will sit in Ashdod, and I will scatter the arrogance of the Philistines.

⁷ And I will take away his blood from his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth, and yet he will be left for our God, and he will be like a governor in Judah, and Ekron will be like a Jebusite.¹

1. 9:7His blood: It is spoken of the Philistines, and particularly of Azotus, (where the temple of Dagon was,) and contains a prophecy of the conversion of that people from their bloody sacrifices and abominations to the worship of the true God.(Challoner)

⁸ And I will encircle my house with those who serve me in war, going and returning, and the exactor will no longer pass over them. For now I have seen with my eyes.¹

1. 9:8That serve me in war: Viz., the Machabees.(Challoner)

⁹ Rejoice well, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King will come to you: the Just One, the Savior. He is poor and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt, the son of a donkey.

¹⁰ And I will scatter the four-horse chariot out of Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be destroyed. And he will speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power will be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth.

¹¹ You, likewise, by the blood of your testimony, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit, in which there is no water.¹

1. 9:11The word ‘vinctos’ refers to those who have been bound or chained.(Conte)

¹² Turn back to the fortress, prisoners of hope. Today, I also announce that I will repay you double,

¹³ because I have stretched out Judah for myself, like a bow; I have filled Ephraim. And I will raise up your sons, Zion, above your sons, Greece. And I will set you as the sword of the strength.¹²

1. 9:13Greece was the birthplace of democracy. The sons of Zion, those who are holy, have a higher place in God’s eyes than those who are part of a just democracy. For mercy is greater than justice, and it is better to love God than to rule over men.(Conte)
2. 9:13Thy sons, O Sion, etc: Viz., the apostles, who, in the spiritual way, conquered the Greeks, and subdued them to Christ.(Challoner)

¹⁴ And the Lord God will be seen over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning. And the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and he will go forth into the whirlwind of the South.

¹⁵ The Lord of hosts will protect them. And they will devour and subdue with the stones of the sling. And, when drinking, they will become inebriated, as if with wine, and they will be filled like bowls and like the horns of the altar.

¹⁶ And in that day, the Lord their God will save them as the flock of his people. For holy stones will be lifted up over his land.¹

1. 9:16Holy stones: The apostles, who shall be as pillars and monuments in the church.(Challoner)

¹⁷ For what is his goodness and what is his beauty, other than grain among the elect and wine springing forth virgins?¹

1. 9:17The corn, etc: His most excellent gift is the blessed Eucharist, called here The corn, that is, the bread of the elect, and the wine springing forth virgins; that is, makes virgins to bud, or spring forth, as it were, like flowers among thorns; because it has a wonderful efficacy to give and preserve purity.(Challoner)