John Trapp on Zechariah 9:5

Verſe 5. Aſhkelon ſhall ſee it and fear] for, jam proximus ardet Ʋcalegon, her next neighbours houſe was now on fire; and ſhe might well fear ſhe ſhould be daſht at leaſt with the tail of that over-flowing ſtorm, that had ſwept away Tyrus. The ſword was now in commiſſion: it was riding circuite, Ezek. 14.17. and God had given it a ſpeciall charge againſt Aſhkelon, and againſt the Sea-ſhore: there had he appointed it, Jer. 47.6, 7. Now Aſhkelon, Gaza, and Ekron, were ſcituate all along the Sea-coaſt, Southward of Tyre and Sidon. All theſe were bitter enemies to the Church: and were therefore deſtroyed by Alexander the Great, that man of Gods hand.

Gaza alſo ſhall ſee it, and be very ſorrowfull] like a travailing woman, as Eſay 26.17, 18. where the ſame word is uſed: her heart ſhall ake and quake within her: ſhe ſhall have ſore throwes and throbs.

and Ekron: for her expectation ſhall be aſhamed] Her hope hath abuſed her, her confidence is cut off, her countenance is covered with confuſion. She looked that Tyrus ſhould have been a bulwark to her: or, at leaſt a refuge, if need were. But now ſhe ſeeth her expectation ſhamed: The expectation of the wicked ſhall periſh. They look out of the window with Siſerah's mother, and ſay, Have they not ſped? have they not divided the prey, &c? But what ſaith the Church, So let thine enemies periſh, O Lord, &c. Judg. 5.30, 31.

and the king ſhall periſh from Gaza] Rex, id eſt, Regulus: for there were five Princes of the Philiſtines; each great city having a Prince over it. The Prince of Gaza that is here deſigned to deſtruction may very well be that Betis, whom Darius the laſt king of Perſia had ſet over Gaza. He having kept out Alexander for two moneths, was at length taken by him together with the city, and put to a cruell death, as Curtius teſtifieth.Q. Curt. l. 4,

and Aſhkelon ſhall not be inhabited] It was ſo waſted by warre, and diſpeopled, that it became cottages for ſhepherds, and folds for ſheep. See Zeph. 2.4, [illegible: 1 letter]. Howbeit after this it was reinhabited; for that bloody Herod that ſlew the Infants was borne there, being ſirnamed Aſcalonita: and at this day it is a ſtrong gariſon of the Saracens. Saladine pulled down the walls of it: but our Richard the firſt ſet them up again, as Adrichomius telleth us out of Gul. Tyrius.