Jerome, on Zech 9:1

“The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and of Damascus the rest thereof: for the eye of man, and of all the tribes of Israel is the Lord’s.”

“(Chapter 9, verse 1) The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Adrach, and Damascus shall be his rest: for the Lord hath an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel. LXX: The assumption of the word of the Lord in the land of Adrach (or Sedrach) and Damascus shall be his sacrifice, for the Lord regards men, and all the tribes of Israel. All this vision or burden of the word of the Lord, as Aquila interpreted it, pertains to the calling of the Gentiles and the rebuilding of the Church. And the order of the words is: Assumption of the word of the Lord, sharp towards sinners, gentle towards the righteous. Adrach (for this name is composed of two whole words: Ad, sharp, Rach, gentle and tender), and not as some read it incorrectly, Sedrach. Some refer Adrach to the Jewish people and Damascus to the calling of the Gentiles. Therefore, the people, or the assumption of the word of the Lord, takes place on the land of Adrach, on which the Lord exercised both severity and mercy (Isaiah XI, 10 in the Septuagint). Austerity towards those who refused to believe: mercy towards those who have returned with the Apostles. However, Damascus is for the rest of the Lord, according to what is written in Isaiah: And his rest shall be honor. For before the child knew how to choose good or evil, and call his father and mother, he received the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria (Isa. VIII, 4). Therefore, Damascus is translated into our language as 'drinking blood' or 'the blood of a hair shirt,' in order to signify the bloody people in the former interpretation; the second interpretation associates it with his cruelty and repentance. And what follows: Because the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel belong to the Lord, thus they have said: Therefore the temple of God must be built by both peoples, that is, by the land of Adrach and by the rest of Damascus: because whoever looks upon God, and hopes in Him, is of the nations, and is of all the tribes of Israel: or, according to the Septuagint, because the Lord equally regards all men, and all the tribes of Israel. Let us speak in another way: in the land of Adrach, the burden of the word of the Lord is heavy and of great weight. But in Damascus, his victims and sacrifices, because the Lord regards the faith of the nations and the unfaithfulness of circumcision without any partiality, and he is equally the God of all: imposing the weight of his own judgment and resting in the seat of others. The Jews say that all these things are to be fulfilled in the coming of Christ, whom they expect in the last times, and that the land of Adrach, and Damascus, and Emath, and Tyre, and Sidon, and Ascalon, and Gaza, and even Accaron and Ashdod and the Philistines, will bow their necks to the most powerful king and serve him who dwells in Jerusalem, and no one shall dare to raise a hand against Israel after they have been pacified throughout the land. Which we spiritually comprehend in the coming of the Lord and in the events of his Church.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.