I will cut off the chariot. All the apparatus of war will be removed, Messiah's rule being not established by physical force, or maintained by military defences. The Jews seem to have used war chariots from the time of Solomon, who, we are told, had fourteen hundred of them (1 Kings 10:26).
Ephraim … Jerusalem. The former term denotes the kingdom of the ten tribes; the latter, that of Judah; the two together comprising the whole Israelite nation. From the use of these terms here it cannot be concluded that the author wrote at a time when the two kingdoms existed side by side.
In the first place, the description of the whole people is given poetically, and must not be taken to have more significance than is intended; and secondly, in Zechariah 8:13, which is confessedly post-exilian, the "house of Judah," and the "house of Israel" are distinguished.
Dr. Cheyne notes, too, that in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:15-28), who prophesied during the Captivity, the ten tribes are distinguished by the name of Ephraim, and pertinently asks why such term may not be also used by one who wrote after the Captivity.
The battle bow stands for all weapons of war. That Messiah's kingdom should be peaceful and peace-bringing, see the prophecies (Psalms 72:7; Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 9:4-7; comp. Micah 5:10, Micah 5:11). He shall speak peace unto the heathen.
He will extend this peace to all the world, teaching the heathen to receive his spiritual rule, to compose their differences, to lay aside their arms, and live as one united family (comp. Ephesians 2:17).
From sea even to sea. Geographically, the phrase means from the Dead Sea on the east to the Mediterranean on the west, as in Exodus 23:31 and Psalms 72:8, from whence our passage is derived. Poetically, an Eastern sea, perhaps, is supposed to bound that side of the earth.
From the river even to the ends of the earth. From the Enphrates unto the utmost limits of the world (see Amos 8:12; Micah 7:12). Both expressions obtain an unlimited significance, and show the universal extent of Messiah's kingdom; for in him, according to the promise made to Abraham, all the families of the earth should be blessed.