Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
Now gather thyself in troops - i:e., thou shalt do so, to resist the enemy. Lest the faithful should fall into carnal security because of the previous promises, he reminds them of the calamities which are to precede the prosperity.
O daughter of troops. Jerusalem is so called on account of her numerous troops.
He hath laid siege against us - the enemy hath.
They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek - the greatest of insults to an Oriental. Zedekiah, the judge (or king, Amos 2:3) of Israel, was loaded with insult by the Chaldeans, So also the other princes and judges (Lamentations 3:30). Hengstenberg thinks the expression, "the judge," marks a time when no king of the house of David reigned. The smiting on the cheek of other judges of Israel was a type of the same indignity offered to Him who, nevertheless, is the Judge not only of Israel but also of the world, and who is "from everlasting" (Micah 5:2; Isaiah 50:6, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting;" Matthew 26:67; Matthew 27:30).