“... Even the most potent military resources available to ancient rulers will ‘fall.’ This last word is a euphemism for death, the cause of which is identified in the final phrase (‘each by the sword of his brother’). While many have seen here an allusion to Gideon’s defeat of Midian in Judges 7:22, the vocabulary is closer to Ezekiel’s description of the defeat of Gog in Ezekiel 38:21, a defeat that also speaks of the subjugation of the nations for the sake of Israel. In the end God causes such confusion in his enemies that ironically they are the ones who enact judgment on themselves, confirming the ineptitude of human political power and military prowess. Such ineptitude has been demonstrated to this Jewish community in the recent Persian upheaval at the accession of Darius. There are surprising connections between this section and the end of Ezekiel, which envisions the return of God’s people after exile (Ezekiel 36–37) in a scenario where ‘my servant David’ (37:24) plays a key role and is intimately linked to ‘my sanctuary’ (37:26–28). The defeat of the nations in chapters 38–39 is followed then by a vision of a new temple (chapters 40–48) ...”