And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod - "bastard," not the rightful heir; vile and low men such as are bastards (Deuteronomy 23:2). (Grotius.) An alien; so the Septuagint; implying the desolation of the region, wherein men shall not settle, but sojourn only as aliens passing through (Calvin). х Mamzeer (H4464), from maazar, to be illegitimately born: born of an alien woman.] Perowne (Smith, 'Bible Dictionary') explains it: during the exile Arabs had established themselves in Southern Palestine, and the prophet foresees they would occupy Ashdod. Hence, we learn, from Nehemiah 13:24, 'the speech of Ashdod' was unintelligible to the Jews. And, in Nehemiah 4:7 the people of Ashdod appear as a distinct tribe, united with other Arabians against Judah. But the PROPHECY, as such, reaches beyond Zechariah's time, though the special language in which it is couched may be taken from such a fact as that of the Arab settlements in South Palestine in the prophet's days. Another and partial fulfillment has already taken place in the subjugation of many cities of the aliens [as the Septuagint calls the Philistines, tous allofulous] by the Maccabees (Josephus, 12: 12; 1Ma 5:66).