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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 (Mic 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 (Est 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 Psa 72:8, “from sea to sea,” as in Amo 8:12 and Mic 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 Mic 7:12 and Isa 7:20, and is mentioned as the remotest eastern boundary of the land of Israel, according to Gen 15:18; Exo 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 (Zec 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 (Zec 9:9), “Say ye to the daughter Zion, Behold, thy King cometh,” etc., was fulfilled (cf. Mat 21:2., Mar 11:2., Luk 19:30., and Joh 12:14.).