Zechariah 9:8

The Lord promised to protect His people and land as with a band of soldiers since enemies would oppose them. "House" is probably a metonym for the whole land including its people. No enemy would oppress them ever again because the Lord had seen the plight of His people and would defend them (cf. Zechariah 4:10; Exodus 3:7; Psalms 32:8). This promise of no more oppression anticipates the second advent of Messiah.

"For their preservation at the time of Alexander and for their future deliverance from every oppressor, Israel is indebted to the providence of God which watched over them for good." [Note: Unger, p. 160.]

This section is a prophetic description of Yahweh’s march from the north, using Alexander the Great as His instrument, destroying Gentiles nations but preserving the Jews. Zechariah later predicted the coming Roman Empire (Zechariah 11:4-14) and the kingdom of Messiah (chs. 12-14).

"As history shows, the agent of the Lord’s judgment was Alexander the Great. After defeating the Persians (333 B.C.), Alexander moved swiftly toward Egypt. On his march he toppled the cities in the Aramean (Syrian) interior, as well as those on the Mediterranean coast. Yet, on coming to Jerusalem, he refused to destroy it." [Note: Barker, p. 657.]

Josephus reported that Alexander had a dream and because of it decided to spare Jerusalem. [Note: Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 11:8:3-5.]

"The first section of this . . . part of the book establishes from the start two important facts: the Lord’s victory is certain, and he intends to bring back to Himself peoples long alienated from Him. These truths underlie all that follows and culminate in the universal worship of the King, the Lord of hosts, in Zechariah 14:16-19." [Note: Baldwin, p. 162.]

"One should not . . . anticipate a future scenario in which God will literally march from Hadrach to Jerusalem, establishing his dominion over all opposition. What is at hand is a formulaic way of asserting an unquestionably literal establishment of YHWH’s kingship in the end times, a suzerainty to be achieved in the pattern well known to Zechariah and his fellow countrymen on the human level." [Note: Merrill, pp. 247-48. Cf. Chisholm, Handbook on . . ., p. 468.]