And Hamath also shall border {d} by it; Tyre, and Zidon, though it be {e} very wise.

(d) That is, by Damascus: meaning, that Harnath or Antiochia would be under the same rod and plague.

(e) He secretly shows the cause of their destruction, because they deceived all others by their craft and subtilty, which they cloaked with this name of wisdom.

Wesley's Notes

9:2 Hamath - A principal town of Syria. Shall border - Shall be so near the storm, that they shall not quite escape. Very wise - Each of them are subtle, and think by craft to save themselves, but God derides their wisdom.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. Hamath-a Syrian kingdom with a capital of the same name, north of Damascus.

shall border thereby-shall be joined to Damascus in treatment, as it is in position; shall share in the burden of wrath of which Damascus is the resting-place. Maurer understands "which"; "Hamath, which borders on Damascus, also shall be the resting-place of Jehovah's wrath" (the latter words being supplied from Zec 9:1). Riblah, the scene of the Jews' sufferings from their foe, was there: it therefore shall suffer (2Ki 23:33; 25:6, 7, 20, 21).

Tyrus . Zidon-lying in the conqueror's way on his march along the Mediterranean to Egypt (compare Isa 23:1-18). Zidon, the older city, surrendered, and Abdolonymus was made its viceroy.

very wise-in her own eyes. Referring to Tyre: Zec 9:3 shows wherein her wisdom consisted, namely, in building a stronghold, and heaping up gold and silver (Eze 38:3, 5, 12, 17). On Alexander's expressing his wish to sacrifice in Hercules' temple in New Tyre on the island, she showed her wisdom in sending a golden crown, and replying that the true and ancient temple of Hercules was at Old Tyre on the mainland. With all her wisdom she cannot avert her doom.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-8 Here are judgements foretold on several nations. While the Macedonians and Alexander's successors were in warfare in these countries, the Lord promised to protect his people. God's house lies in the midst of an enemy's country; his church is as a lily among thorns. God's power and goodness are seen in her special preservation. The Lord encamps about his church, and while armies of proud opposers shall pass by and return, his eyes watch over her, so that they cannot prevail, and shortly the time will come when no exactor shall pass by her any more.