Zechariah 9:15

The Lord of hosts shall defend them See, for examples of the first fulfilment, 1Ma 3:16-24; 1Ma 4:6-16; 1Ma 7:40-50.

devour It is not said what they shall devour. Calvin takes this and what follows literally of eating and drinking, i.e. of enjoying plenty: "Adjungit etiam fore illis copiam panis et vini, ut saturentur." Others, as Pusey, supply "their enemies" after "devour" and take it as an image of "destruction or absorption only, as in that, thou shall consume[lit. eat all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee, Deuteronomy 7:16." Comp. Numbers 14:9. But then no adequate sense is given to the following clauses, Thou shalt drink, &c. It seems best to regard the whole as a figurative description of a wild beast devouring its prey: they shall devour(the flesh of their enemies, comp. Numbers 23:24); they shall tread on(them, as on) sling stones; they shall drink(their blood) and make a noise as through wine; they shall be filled(with it) like bowls(which hold the blood of the sacrifices), like the corners of the altar(round which it is copiously poured). See Leviticus 4:7; Leviticus 4:18; Leviticus 4:30.

sling stones Comp. Job 41:28-29. The comparison of the Israelites to the precious "stones of a crown" in the next verse favours the view that their enemies themselves, and not the weapons which they hurl at them, are here compared to the "stones of a sling." "Their enemies shall fall under them, as harmless and as of little account, as the sling-stones which have missed their aim (or spent their force), and lie as the road to be passed over." Pusey.