“That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;”
Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us — the salvation Zechariah envisions is initially framed in the political and national language of the Old Testament: deliverance from enemies and those who hate Israel. The fullness of what this salvation means — that the enemies are not Rome but sin and death — will only become clear as the Gospel unfolds. Zechariah's expectation is not wrong but incomplete: the salvation coming is more comprehensive than he imagines.
Church Fathers on Luke 1:71
Having first briefly said, He has raised up a horn of salvation to us, he goes on to explain his words, adding, of salvation from our enemies. As if he said, He has raised up to us a horn, i.e. He has raised up to us salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us.
Let us not suppose that this refers to our bodily enemies, but our ghostly. For the Lord Jesus came mighty in battle to destroy all our enemies, that He might deliver us from their snares and temptation.
Catena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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