And Hamath... thereby. — Better, And even upon Hamath, [which] borders on it: viz., on Damascus.
Thus far concerning Syria; now he speaks of Phœnicia. The terms of the denunciation of Syria are so general, that if they stood alone we should be at a loss to fix the era of their fulfilment. But the case is different with Tyre (Zechariah 9:2-4); for, though Tyre was besieged by Shalmanezer, and perhaps even taken by Nebuchadnezzar, it was certainly never “devoured with fire” until (B.C. 333) Alexander, “having slain all save those who fled to the temples, ordered the houses to be set on fire” (Q. Curtius). At the same time, though he attacked Phœnicia with the main body of his army, he sent a detachment under Parmenio to operate against Syria. To this date, then, we consider this prophecy to refer. (On the mention of these nations in particular, and the argument founded on the supposed similarity of Zechariah 1:1-8, and Amos 1:1 to Amos 2:6, see Introduction, B. 2.)