Zechariah 12

Zechariah 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.^[1][2] This book contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Zechariah, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.^[3][4]

Text

• The original text is written in Hebrew language.
• This chapter is divided into 14 verses.

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

• Masoretic Text (10th century)
• Dead Sea Scrolls: (2nd century BC)^[5][6]
  • 4Q80 (4QXII^e): extant: verses 7‑12^[5]
  • 4Q82 (4QXII^g): extant: verses 1‑3^[5]

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

• Septuagint (3rd century BC)
• Theodotion version (~AD 180)

Structure

NKJV groups this chapter into:

• Zechariah 12:1-9 = The Coming Deliverance of Judah
• Zechariah 12:10-14 = Mourning for the Pierced One

Verse 10

And I will pour upon the house of David,
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications:
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son,
and shall be in bitterness for him,
as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.^[1]

1. ^ Zechariah 12:10

• "And I will pour" - As He promised by Joel, "I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28. See vol. i. pp. 193, 194), largely, abundantly,^[7]
• "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced" The Speaker is Jehovah. To "look upon or unto" implies trust, longing, and reverence (compare Numbers 21:9; 2 Kings 3:14; Psalm 34:5; Isaiah 22:11). We may say generally that the clause intimates that the people, who had grieved and offended God by their sins and ingratitude, should repent and turn to him in faith. But there was a literal fulfilment of this piercing, i.e. slaying (Zechariah 13:3; Lamentations 4:9), when the Jews crucified the Messiah, him who was God and Man, and of whom, as a result of the hypostatic union, the properties of one nature are often predicated of the other. Thus St. Paul says that the Jews crucified "the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8), and bids the Ephesian elders "feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28; for the reading Θεοῦ, see the critics). St. John (John 19:37) refers to these words of Zechariah as a prophecy of the Crucifixion of Jesus (compare Revelation 1:7). The LXX. renders, Ἐπιβλέψονται πρὸς μὲ ἀνθ ῶν κατωχρήσαντο, "They shall look to me because they insulted," either reading the last verb differently, or understanding it figuratively in the sense of assailing with cutting words; but there is no doubt about the true reading and interpretation. Vulgate, Aspicient ad me quem confixerunt. "Me" has been altered in some manuscripts into "him:" but this is an evident gloss received into the text for controversial purposes, or to obviate the supposed impropriety of representing Jehovah as slain by the impious. That St. John seems to sanction this reading is of no critical importance, as he is merely referring to the prophecy historically, and does not profess to give the very wording of the prophet. A suffering Messiah was not an unknown idea in Zechariah's time. He has already spoken of the Shepherd as despised and ill-treated, and a little further on (Zechariah 13:7) he intimates that he is stricken with the sword. The prophecies of Isaiah had familiarized him with the same notion (Isaiah 53, etc.). And when he represents Jehovah as saying, "Me whom they pierced," it is not merely that in killing his messenger and representative they may be said to have killed him, but the prophet, by inspiration, acknowledges the two natures in the one Person of Messiah, even as Isaiah (Isaiah 9:6) called him the "Mighty God," and the psalmists often speak to the same effect (Psalm 2:7; Psalm 45:6, 7; Psalm 110:1, etc.; comp. Micah 5:2). The "looking to" the stricken Messiah began when they who saw that woeful sight smote their breasts (Luke 23:48); it was carried on by the preaching of the apostles; it shall continue till all Israel is converted; it is re-enacted whenever penitent sinners turn to him whom they have crucified by their sins. Critics have supposed that the person whose murder is deplored is Isaiah, or Urijah, or Jeremiah; but none of these fulfill the prediction in the text.^[8]
• "Me … him": The change of person is due to Jehovah-Messiah speaking in His own person first, then the prophet speaking of Him. The Jews, to avoid the conclusion that He whom they have "pierced" is Jehovah-Messiah, who says, "I will pour out … spirit," altered "me" into "him," and represent the "pierced" one to be Messiah Ben (son of) Joseph, who was to suffer in the battle with Cog, before Messiah Ben David should come to reign. But Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic oppose this; and the ancient Jews interpreted it of Messiah. Psalm 22:16 also refers to His being "pierced." So John 19:37; Revelation 1:7. The actual piercing of His side was the culminating point of all their insulting treatment of Him. The act of the Roman soldier who pierced Him was their act (Matthew 27:25), and is so accounted here in Zechariah. The Hebrew word is always used of a literal piercing (so Zechariah 13:3); not of a metaphorical piercing, "insulted," as Maurer and other Rationalists (from the Septuagint) represent.^[9]
• "As one mourneth for his only son... for his firstborn": The depth and poignancy of this mourning are expressed by a double comparison, the grief felt at the loss of an only son, and of the firstborn. Among the Hebrews the preservation of the family was deemed of vast importance, and its extinction regarded as a punishment and a curse, so that the death of an only son would be the heaviest blow that could happen (see Isaiah 47:9; Jeremiah 6:26; Amos 8:10). Peculiar privileges belonged to the firstborn, and his loss would be estimated accordingly (see Genesis 49:3; Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 21:17; Micah 6:7). The mention of "piercing," just above, seems to connect the passage with the Passover solemnities and the destruction of the firstborn of the Egyptians (see Expositor, vol. 6. p. 131, etc.).^[8]
• "And shall be in bitterness for him": as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn; sin is a bitter thing, and makes work for bitter repentance.^[10]

Verse 11

In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.^[1]

1. ^ Zechariah 12:11

• "As the mourning of (at) Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon": This is generally supposed to refer to the death of King Josiah of a wound received at Megiddo, in the battle with Pharaoh-Necho (609 BC) ),and to the national lamentation made for him and long observed on the anniversary of the calamity (see 2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chronicles 35:20-25). This universal and perennial mourning is a figure of the continual remembrance of the death of Christ in the Church. There is a difficulty about the identification of Hadadrimmon. St. Jerome says it was a place in the Plain of Megiddo, near Jezreel, and known in his day by the name of Maximianopolis. This is supposed to be Rummaneh, seven miles northwest of Jezreel, on the southern edge of the Plain of Esdraelon. But the identification is far from certain. The Assyrian name given to the place may, as Lowe suggests, be a confirmation of the post-exilian origin of the prophecy.^[8]

Verse 12

And the land shall mourn, every family apart;
the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart;
the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;^[1]

1. ^ Zechariah 12:12

• "David... Nathan" First the royal family is mentioned generally, to show that no one, however, high in station, is exempted from this mourning; and then a particular branch is named to individualize the lamentation. Nathan is that son of David from whom descended Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:5; Luke 3:27-31).^[8]
• "Nathan": A branch from Nathan, a son of David and whole brother of Solomon 1 Chronicles 3:5, was continued on in private life yet was still to be an ancestral line of Jesus Luke 3:31.^[7]
• "Their wives apart." In private life the females of a household dwelt in apartments separate from the males, and in public functions the sexes were equally kept distinct (see Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34; 1 Samuel 18:6; 2 Samuel 6:5).^[8]

Verse 13

The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart;
the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;^[1]

1. ^ Zechariah 12:13

• "Levi... Shimei": As before, the priestly family is first mentioned generally, and then individualized by naming Shimei, the son of Gershon, and grandson of Levi, of whom was the family of the Shimeites (Numbers 3:17, 18, 21). The LXX (Septuagint), Syriac Peshitta, and Arabic versions, read "the family of Simeon" or "the tribe of Simeon," instead of "the family of Shimei." But there is no reason for singling out this tribe. In one sense, this prophecy began to be fulfilled when a great company of priests were converted by the preaching of the apostles (Acts 6:7).^[8] These names are also found in a branch from Nathan, a son of David and whole brother of Solomon 1 Chronicles 3:5, which was continued on in private life yet was still to be an ancestral line of Jesus (Luke 3:23-31: "(23) Jesus... the son of Joseph,... (24) ... the son of Levi, ... (26) ...the son of Semei, ...(29) ... the son of Levi, ... (30) ... the son of Simeon, ... (31) ... the son of Nathan, which was the son of David").^[7]

See also

• Related Bible parts: 2 Samuel 5, 1 Chronicles 3, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Matthew 27, Luke 3, John 19, Revelation 1, Revelation 16

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links

Jewish

• Zechariah 12 Hebrew with Parallel English
• Zechariah 12 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

• Zechariah 12 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate