And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
I will take away his blood out of his mouth - literally, bloods. Blood was forbidden as food (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26). The sense is, I will rescue the Jews, my people, out of the hands of their bloody enemies, the Philistines, who seek to devour them. The enemy shall no more glut himself with blood-sheddings.
And his abominations from between his teeth - things sacrificed to idols; as, for instance, to Dagon, the Philistine god, half-man/half-fish in form (corresponding to the maritime position of Philistia), and then partaken of by the worshippers (Numbers 25:2,; Acts 15:29; 1 Corinthians 10:19, etc.) The sense is, 'I will cause the Philistines to cease from the worshiper idols.' The metaphor is from wild beasts which tear their prey with their teeth.
But he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God - "even he," like Hamath Damascus, Tyre, etc, which these words imply shall also be converted to God (Isaiah 56:3, "The son of the stranger that hath joined himself to the Lord"). (Rosenmuller.) The "even," however, may mean, besides the outcast Hebrews, "even" the Philistine shall be "gathered" to worship Yahweh (so Isaiah 56:8; Luke 6:17; Acts 21:3-4). (Maurer.)
He shall be as a governor in Judah. On the conversion of the Philistine prince, he shall have the same dignity "in Judah as a governor;" there shall be no distinction (Henderson). The Philistine princes, with their respective states, shall equally belong to the Jews' communion, as if they were among the "governors" of stated "in Judah" (Maurer).
And Ekron as a Jebusite - the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of Jerusalem, who, when subjugated by David, were incorporated with the Jews (2 Samuel 24:16, etc.), and enjoyed their spiritual privileges, but in a subordinate position civilly (1 Kings 9:20-21). This is the, fulfillment of the prophecy in part. The Jebusites' condition under Solomon being that of bond-servants and tributaries, Calvin explains the verse differently: 'I will rescue the Jew from the teeth of the Philistine foe (image from wild beasts rending their prey with their teeth), who would have devoured him, as he would devour blood or flesh of his abominable sacrifices to idols; and even he, the seemingly ignoble remnant of the Jews, shall be sacred to our God (consecrated by His favour): and though so long in a servile position, and bereft of dignity,. I will make them all to be as governors, or princes ruling others and Ekron, shall be a tributary bond-servant as the Jebusite.' Thus the antithesis is between the Jew that remaineth (the elect-remnant) and the Ekronite: and I think this view preferable.