(Verse 8 onwards) I will hiss for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them; and they shall be multiplied as they were multiplied before. And I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember me far off, and they shall live with their children and return. And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, and no place shall be found for them. LXX: I will show them signs and receive them, for I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied as they were many, and I will sow them among the peoples, and those who were far off shall remember me. I will nourish their children and they will return, and I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them from Assyria, and I will lead them to Gilead and Lebanon, and none of them will be missing. They will have a sign of their congregation, either under the Macedonians, or at the consummation of the world, as I said before. 'They will have my whistle,' says the Lord, 'so that I may gather them from my whistle and teach myself to be their shepherd. For I have redeemed them and delivered them from captivity with an outstretched arm. And I will multiply them, as I have multiplied before, so that the dispersion among the nations does not appear to be division, but rather the operation of sowing and the harvest of children and grandchildren multiplied, let them live with their sons. And they shall return not only from the land of Egypt, but also from Assyria, and from both sides of the world they shall return to Judah, and to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, which the tribes of Joseph and Ephraim used to possess, and the number of those who return will be so great that the land cannot contain them. According to the interpretation, the Lord signifies and calls to those who were held captive by sins before, and he speaks to them: Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and you will find rest for your souls. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:29-30). What could be more merciful than this meaning and call, through which the scattered people are gathered? But they have congregated because the Lord has redeemed them: not with corruptible silver and gold, from their vain conversation; but with precious blood, like that of an unblemished lamb, the Lord Jesus (I Pet. I). Therefore, it says in the Psalm: Delight, deliver me from those surrounding me (Psal. XXXI, 7). And again: You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth (Psal. XXX, 6). And he will multiply them as they were multiplied before, so that the promise made to Abraham may be fulfilled: I will multiply him, and I will bless him, and he will be blessed, so that he may become the father of many nations (Gen. XVII, 9). But we must not consider the sons of Abraham those to whom the Lord speaks: If you were the sons of Abraham, you would do the works of your father (John 8:39), but those of whom the Apostle says: All those who are of faith, they are the sons of Abraham (Rom. 8). Isaiah testifies to this multiplication in mystical language, saying: The little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation (Isaiah 60:22). However, we do not receive the multiplication and blessing of children in a carnal manner: otherwise Elijah and Elisha and Jeremiah and John the Baptist (who was greater than all born of women) (Matthew 11) would have been deprived of this blessing, but rather it is the one by which the multitudes of nations are called to faith. Finally, it follows: I will sow them among the peoples, and they will remember me from afar. They are sown among the peoples who have heard the word of the Lord: 'Go, teach all nations' (Matt. XXVIII, 19). And in another place: 'You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last' (John XV, 16). And when the apostles have been sown among the peoples, the nations and distant peoples will remember me, in accordance with this prophetic statement: 'All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord.' And all the families of the nations will worship in his presence. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he will rule over the nations (Ps. XXI, 28, 29). And what is said: From afar they will remember me, is similar to this: You who are far away, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem rise in your heart (Jer. XXXI). The multitude of all the nations was far away, but they remembered God, because we are all born from one parent. And when the apostles were sown among all the nations, the nations that were far away remembered God and will live with their children, so that those who were previously dead in unbelief may begin to live in faith. These are the children whom Paul nourished in the Gospel, writing to the Corinthians: I gave you milk to drink (1 Cor. 3:2). And Peter, in his letter to the dispersed faithful who had been reborn, writes: Not from corruptible seed, but from incorruptible, through the living and enduring word of God, like newborn infants, so that they may desire the rational milk and grow in it for salvation (1 Pet. 1). The evangelist John also wrote to these children: Little children, guard yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21). And I will bring them out from the land of Egypt, saith he, and I will gather them out of the Assyrians. And I will bring them unto the land of Galaad, and Libanus, and place shall not be found for them. Galaad is translated into our language, a testimony of transmigration, when we transition from the carnal to the spiritual, we come from a part to the whole: we leave earthly things behind and migrate to heavenly things: but Lebanon is interpreted as 'whiteness', that is, whitening. Therefore, we are led out of the darkness of Egypt, so that after we have passed over and migrated from the world, we are whitened in the Lord, and it is said of us: 'Who is this that goes up whitened?' (Song of Solomon 8:6). Others, according to the ambiguity of the Greek language, whereby both the Phoenician mountain and the Lebanese cedar are called 'Libanus', now interpret 'thu' as 'Libanus', and believe it signifies God, so that after we have passed from the earth to heaven, the prayer of the Savior may be fulfilled in us: 'Father, grant that they may be one in us, as I and you are one' (John 17:22). Therefore, the bride in the Song of Songs says to the bridegroom: 'The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon' (Song of Songs 4:11). And when he shall bring us into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, there shall be no place found unto us, that we may be not straitened by the narrowness of the land; but let us enjoy the breadth of the heavens.
Source: Commentary on Zechariah