Zechariahchapter 12
14 verses · Zechariah · 520 to 518 BC · The Twelve
Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Introduction
Zechariah, The Twelve, Zechariah Overview.
This chapter opens the second burden of the book's last part, and it speaks of Jerusalem at the end of a long line of sieges. Zechariah's hearers lived in a small city whose walls still lay in ruins, a city any empire could take. The chapter tells them what God intends that city to become among the nations. It then turns from war to grief, and the grief is the larger event of the two. Listen for the phrase that marks each new step, and for the one whom the people mourn. The Gospel of John and the book of Revelation both quote this chapter of Jesus.
Context
- Who
- A defenseless city being told it would one day be the hardest thing in the world to move
- What
- The first half of the second burden: Jerusalem defended against the nations, then a spirit of grace poured out and a nation mourning the one they pierced.
- Where
- Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, with the mourning compared to the wailing in the plain of Megiddo.
- When
- Undated, and usually placed after the book's dated oracles of 520 to 518 BC, either late in Zechariah's life or in the fifth century BC or after.
- Why
- To promise Judah that God will defend Jerusalem and then bring its people to grieve over their sin against Him.
Historical context
Two images carry the first half. Jerusalem is made "a cup of trembling" to the surrounding peoples, a cup of strong drink that makes whoever picks it up stagger. And she is made "a burdensome stone": a heavy stone that men try to lift and cut themselves on. Test lifting-stones were a real feature of ancient towns, used to prove strength, and men did injure themselves on them.
Show the rest of the historical context, 5 more paragraphs
For a province with no army and no walls, both pictures were absurd on their face. That is the point of them.
The chapter also insists on something socially unusual: God saves the tents of Judah first, "that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves." The countryside gets rescued before the capital, on purpose.
Then the tone drops. God pours out on the house of David and on 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."
The mourning is compared to "the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon." Megiddo is where King Josiah, the last good king, whose death ended Judah's last hope of reform, was killed by an Egyptian arrow, and Chronicles says the mourning for him became a lasting custom.
The chapter then breaks the mourning into families, each grieving apart, and the wives apart from the husbands. It is private grief on a national scale, not a public ceremony.
Significance
To hearers, the shape of the chapter was the surprise. It begins with military deliverance and ends with a funeral, and the funeral is the greater event.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The one they mourn is one they pierced, and the mourning is the fruit of grace poured out on them, not of guilt driven into them. Deliverance from enemies came first; deliverance from their own hearts came second and mattered more.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts. It carries nothing for the special Sabbaths, the festival days or the fast days, so this card names no public reading of chapter 12 and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
How it is read
Two commentators on this chapter carry English in the corpus. Rashi is quoted from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Radak is quoted from Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation is held to fifty words or fewer.
Rashi reads the chapter as the close of the word against "those who devour Israel - Esau and his ilk" (Rashi on Zechariah 12:1:1). The stone of burden draws both commentators. Radak says "all those who wear themselves out fighting against Jerusalem will be beaten by her" (Radak on Zechariah 12:3:1). Rashi reads it as a stone laid on men by a ruler's order, "to the extent that all who bear it become gashed" (Rashi on Zechariah 12:3:1).
Judah in the siege stands apart in his reading. The men of Judah come against Jerusalem against their will, and the Lord opens his eyes to protect them (Rashi on Zechariah 12:2:2 and 12:4:1). The tents of Judah are saved first so that the city has no cause "to boast over them and to say, “You were saved only because of us.”" (Rashi on Zechariah 12:7:2).
The ninth verse carries two readings. Rashi takes the seeking to destroy as exact judgment and then reports the Sages in Avodah Zarah 4a, who read it as a search for merit (Rashi on Zechariah 12:9:1). The spirit of grace and supplication he reads as the wish to pray (Rashi on Zechariah 12:10:1). The mourning of the eleventh verse he divides into two mournings, Ahab's at Ramoth Gilead first, and says Hadadrimmon has no connection to the valley (Rashi on Zechariah 12:11:1).
The corpus carries 3 further notes on this chapter without an English text, each marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They stand cited and unquoted here. Ibn Ezra on Zechariah is cited at 12:1:1, 12:4:1 and 12:9:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries 40 rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here and none is quoted. The verse numbers are the corpus's own.
At 12:1 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 14:4, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayigash 1 and Kohelet Rabbah 8:8:1. It also holds Midrash Yelamdenu, Selections from Yalkut Talmud Torah 109:1 there. At 12:2 it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Megillah 1:2, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Moed Katan 3:18 and Otzar Midrashim, Midrash on Psalms, Midrash on Psalm 118 4. At 12:2 to 3 it holds Midrash Tehillim 118:13. At 12:3 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 98:8, Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 49:10:3 and Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 44:13:2.
It also holds Shemot Rabbah 25:9 there. At 12:4 it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Shirah 2:26 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 243:5. At 12:6 it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 15:7, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Shirah 6:12 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 247:1. At 12:7 it holds Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 4:3:6 and Midrash Tehillim 107:2. At 12:8 it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan, Recension B 43:16, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 17 and Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 49:9:3.
It also holds Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 49:27:26 there. At 12:9 it holds Avodah Zarah 4a:6, Esther Rabbah 1:6 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Mishpatim 4:1. At 12:10 it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 11:6, Bereshit Rabbah 29:4 and Eikhah Rabbah 2:8. It also holds Eikhah Rabbah 4:14 there. At 12:11 it holds Ein Yaakov, Megillah 1:2, Ein Yaakov, Moed Katan 3:35 and Megillah 3a:9.
It also holds Moed Katan 28b:17 there. At 12:12 it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sukkah 5:4, Ein Yaakov, Sukkah 5:7 and Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 5:2:3. It also holds Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on The Messiah, Aggadah on The Messiah 4 there. At 12:13 it holds Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 182:3. At 12:19 it holds Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim 5:10.
What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Zechariah 12:1:1 to 12:11:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Radak, Radak on Zechariah 12:3:1, Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology, reported CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Zechariah 12:1:1, 12:4:1 and 12:9:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no text it may quote; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/zechariah/12.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane through haftarahUsesForChapter("zechariah", 12) and festivalReadingForBook("zechariah").
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone
Zechariah 12:1-2
the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: The oracle names its speaker as the One “who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth”. He will “make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples”, a cup of judgment for those who besiege her. The siege reaches Judah “as well as Jerusalem”.
Zechariah 12:1
“Since then Zechariah speaks only of God's favor and aid, he seems to have mentioned burden here improperly or unreasonably; for ms', mesha, we know, is rightly to be taken for a threatening prophecy.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
a cup of drunkenness: Jerusalem had drunk the cup of God's wrath herself, as Isaiah 51:17 says. Here the nations who attack her will drink it and stagger. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain the image as a cup that makes those who drink it reel.
Zechariah 12:2
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about,.... The Targum renders it, "a vessel full of inebriating liquor;'' which intoxicates and makes giddy, and causes to tremble, stagger, and fall like a drunken man.”
2 more voices on this verse
Zechariah 12:2
“Jerusalem a cup of trembling - The Babylonians, who captivated and ruined the Jews, shall in their turn be ruined. I incline to think that what is spoken in this chapter about the Jews and Jerusalem, belongs to the “glory of the latter times.” Shall be in the siege - This may refer to some war against the Church of Christ, such as that mentioned Rev 20:9.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Zechariah 12:2
“When the kings were assembled against her, and saw how God was known in her palaces for a refuge, they trembled and hasted away; fear took hold upon them, as we find, Ps. xlviii. Thus Alexander the Great was struck with amazement when he met Jaddus the high priest, and was deterred thereby from offering any violence to Jerusalem.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a heavy stone for all the peoples: The LORD will “make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples”, and “all who would heave it away will be severely injured”. Henry and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown draw the figure from the ancient custom of testing strength by lifting heavy stones.
Zechariah 12:3
“I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all nations - What is “a stone to all nations?” It is not a rock or anything in its own nature immovable, but a “stone,” a thing rolled up and down, moved, lifted, displaced, piled on others, in every way at the service and command of people, to do with it what they willed.”
1 more voice on this verse
Zechariah 12:3
“Compare Mt 21:44: The Jews "fell" on the rock of offense, Messiah, and were "broken"; but the rock shall fall on Antichrist, who "burdens himself with it" by his assault on the restored Jews, and "grind him to powder." all . . . people of . . . earth--The Antichristian confederacy against the Jews shall be almost universal.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Zechariah 12:4-6
I will strike every horse with panic: The LORD will “strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness”, while He keeps “a watchful eye on the house of Judah”. He makes “the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile”, and they “consume all the peoples around them”.
Zechariah 12:4
“I will smite . . . horse--The arm of attack especially formidable to Judah, who was unprovided with cavalry. So in the overthrow of Pharaoh (Ex 15:19, 21). open mine eyes upon . . .”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Zechariah 12:4
“I will open mine eyes - I will watch over my people for good. This eye of God open upon his people, is his wise, powerful, gracious providence for them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Zechariah 12:4
“I will smite every horse - Some apply this to the wars of the Maccabees with the Syrians; but it is more likely to be a prophecy not yet accomplished. The terms are too strong for such petty and evanescent victories as those of the Maccabees.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The leaders of Judah see where their strength lies. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as the city with its people as the means, and the LORD of Hosts as the source of power. The countryside draws courage from the capital because God dwells there.
Zechariah 12:5
“Jerusalem--here distinguished as the country and the metropolis. Judah recognizes her "strength" to be "Jerusalem and its inhabitants" as the instrument, and "Jehovah of hosts their God" (dwelling especially there) as the author of all power (Joe 3:16). My strength is the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who have the Lord their God as their help.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
like a firepot in a woodpile: A pan of coals soon lights a woodpile. John Gill takes the picture to mean the leaders of Judah will consume the nations that come against Jerusalem. Matthew Henry notes the church's old motto, that whoever attacks her does so at his peril.
Zechariah 12:6
“Like a hearth - A hearth on which fire is thoroughly kindled. In her own place - Not built as Nineveh, Babylon, or Rome, in some place near old cities, but in the very same place where old Jerusalem stood.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Zechariah 12:6
Jerusalem shall be inhabited again - This seems to refer to the future conversion of the Jews, and their “return to their own land.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Zechariah 12:7-8
The LORD will save the tents of Judah first: “The LORD will save the tents of Judah first”. On that day “the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God”. The older commentators read this as strength given to the royal house, with no claim of deity.
Zechariah 12:7
“The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first - Still it is, ‘the Lord shall save.’ We have, on the one side, the ‘siege,’ the gathering of all the peoples of the earth ‘against Jerusalem, the horse and his rider.’ On the other, no human strength; not, as before, in the prophecy of the Maccabees, the bow, the arrow, and the sword, though in the hand of God Zec 9:13. It is thrice, ‘I will make’ Zec 9:2-3,; ‘I will smite’ (Zec 9:4 bis); and now, ‘The Lord shall save.’ By ‘the tents,’ he probably indicates their defenselessness.”
2 more voices on this verse
Zechariah 12:7
“The tents - The unfenced places, the open country, the cottages, or tents. First - First the weaker are saved, next the stronger. The glory - That the illustrious house of David, and the glorious citizens of Jerusalem may not boast of their power, policy and courage.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Zechariah 12:7
“Judah is to be "first saved," because of her meek acknowledgment of dependence on Jerusalem, subordinate to Jehovah's aid. tents--shifting and insecure, as contrasted with the solid fortifications of Judah. But God chooses the weak to confound the mighty, that all human glorying may be set aside.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the weakest among them will be like David: The promise climbs by steps. The weakest become like David, the highest picture of strength to a Jew, and the house of David becomes like the angel of the LORD. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown identify that angel with the one who went before Israel through the wilderness.
Zechariah 12:8
“As David - A mighty man of valour. The house of David - Those of the royal line shall be for prudence, and prowess in the conduct of the armies of Israel, most excellent; exprest here in an hyperbole. As the angel - Nay, like the angel of the Lord, like Christ who is captain of our salvation.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Zechariah 12:8
“He that is feeble among them - shall be as David - Here is a marked difference between Judaism and Christianity. So clear, full, and efficient shall be the salvation of believers under the Gospel that the feeblest among them shall be as strong, as full of courage, and as successful as David when he went against Goliath. The least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than John the Baptist.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Zechariah 12:8
“It bodes well to a people when princes and great men go before the rest in that which is good, as 2 Chron. xx. The house of David is all summed up in Jesus Christ, the Son of David; and upon him, as the head, the Spirit of grace is poured out, from him to be diffused to all his members; from his fulness we receive, and grace for grace.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Zechariah 12:9-10
I will set out to destroy all the nations: The LORD will “set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem”. Then “they will look on Me, the One they have pierced” and mourn for Him “as one mourns for an only child”. John 19:37 quotes the verse at the crucifixion.
Zechariah 12:9
“And it shall come to pass in that day,.... So often mentioned in this chapter; by which is meant the latter part of the Gospel dispensation, the spiritual reign of Christ: that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem; and shall destroy them. The whole of this paragraph seems to refer to the same as in Eze 38:1.”
1 more voice on this verse
Zechariah 12:9
“In that day, I will seek to destroy - Woe indeed to those, whom Almighty God shall “‘seek’ to destroy!” Man may seek earnestly to do, what at last he cannot do. Still it is an earnest seeking. And whether it is used of human seeking which fails, or which succeeds 1Sa 14:4; 1Sa 23:10; Ecc 12:10, inchoate or permitted 1Ki 11:22; Zec 6:7, it is always used of seeking to do, what it is a person’s set purpose to do if he can. Here it is spoken of Almighty God .”
They shall look on me whom they have pierced
a spirit of grace and prayer: The mourning begins with a gift from God, grace and a spirit of prayer. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Hebrew word for pierced always means a real piercing, as in 13:3. The grief is compared to mourning for an only child.
Zechariah 12:10
“I will pour upon the house of David - This is the way in which the Jews themselves shall be brought into the Christian Church. 1. “They shall have the spirit of grace,” God will show them that he yet bears favor to them. 2. They shall be excited to fervent and continual prayer for the restoration of the Divine favor. 3. Christ shall be preached unto them; and they shall look upon and believe in him whom they pierced, whom they crucified at Jerusalem.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Zechariah 12:10
“I will pour - This was fulfilled on Christ's exaltation, when he sent the Comforter to his disciples, it is daily performed to the children of God, and will be continually, 'till we are brought to be with Christ forever. The house of David - The whole family of Christ, his house who was the seed of David, and who is called David, Ezek. xxxvii, 24.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Zechariah 12:10
“NOTICE in this verse the very remarkable change of persons which you find in it, for you have, first, the first person, and then, the third—"They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him.''" It is the same Person who speaks in each case and He is speaking concerning Himself in both instances, so it is very remarkable that He should first say, "Me," and then say, "Him." What is this but another illustration of the Unity of the Godhead and yet the Trinity of the adorable Persons in it?”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2901: “Mourning at the Cross” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Zechariah 12:10
“But this promise has reference to, and is performed in, the graces of the Spirit given to all believers, as that Isa. xliv. 3 , I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, which was fulfilled when Jesus was glorified, John vii. It is a promise of the Spirit, and with him of all spiritual blessings in heavenly things by Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Zechariah 12:10
- Quoted inJohn 19:37And, as another Scripture says: “They will look on the One they have pierced.”
'They shall look on him whom they pierced' ('another scripture saith')
ConnectionsJohn 19:37
Zechariah 12:11-14
the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo: The wailing will be as great as “the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo”, which the commentators tie to King Josiah, killed there. The land mourns “each clan on its own”, and the houses of David, Nathan, Levi and Shimei are named one by one with their wives.
Zechariah 12:11
“In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem,.... Great numbers being awakened, convinced, and converted, and brought to true repentance: as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. Lightfoot (i) thinks the prophet alludes to the two great and general lamentations of Israel; the one about the rock Rimmon, where a whole tribe was come to four hundred (it should be six hundred) men, Jdg 20:47 and may be rendered, "the sad shout of Rimmon"; and the other in the valley of Megiddo, for the death of Josiah.”
2 more voices on this verse
Zechariah 12:11
“Hadad-rimmon--a place or city in the great plain of Esdraelon, the battlefield of many a conflict, near Megiddo; called so from the Syrian idol Rimmon. Hadad also was the name of the sun, a chief god of the Syrians [MACROBIUS, Saturnalia, 1.23].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Zechariah 12:11
“As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon - This was the greatest sorrow, which had fallen on Judah. Josiah was the last hope of its declining kingdom. His sons probably showed already their unlikeness to their father, whereby they precipitated their country’s fall. in Josiah’s death the last gleam of the sunset of Judah faded into night.”
each clan on its own: Jerome notes that the Hebrew word for wives can mean women generally. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take Nathan here as David's younger son, so the highest and the lowest of the royal house mourn alike. Each family grieves in its own place.
Zechariah 12:12
“Every family apart - The meaning of the word apart, which recurs here so often, may be this: Their sorrow shall be so deep and distressing, that every one will endeavor to avoid another, and vent his grief and distress of soul in private. And even husbands and wives shall separate from each other in this general mourning, as they were obliged to do by law in certain circumstances. See 1Co 7:5 (note), and the note there.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Zechariah 12:12
“The land itself put on mourning at the death of Christ, for there was then darkness over all the land, and the earth trembled; but this is a promise that, in consideration of the death of Christ, multitudes shall be effectually brought to sorrow for sin and turn to God; it shall be such a universal gracious mourning as was when all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord, 1 Sam. vii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Zechariah 12:12
“Nathan--representing the highest and lowest of the royal order. Nathan, not the prophet, but a younger son of David (2Sa 5:14; Lu 3:31). apart--Retirement and seclusion are needful for deep personal religion. wives apart--Jewish females worship separately from the males (Ex 15:1, 20).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the clan of the house of Levi: After the royal line comes the priestly line, and Shimei stands for a branch of it as Nathan did for David's house. Charles Spurgeon preached on the word apart, holding that true repentance is personal and always carries sorrow. No office exempts anyone from grief.
Zechariah 12:13
“The house of Levi - The sacerdotal tribe were the most bitter persecutors of Christ, they hired the traitor, they sought witness; the high priest, (head of that family) condemned him to die, for all which they shall one day reckon with God, and therefore above other tribes they are particularly named as chief mourners for their cruelty to Christ.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
all the remaining clans: The list ends by taking in every family left. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that retirement and seclusion are needed for deep personal religion. The mourning that began with the royal and priestly houses now reaches the whole nation, each household by itself.
Zechariah 12:14
“All the families that remain,.... That will be in being in those times; every family apart, and their wives apart; for the whole nation shall be born at once, and converted, and all Israel shall be saved, Isa 66:8.”
1 more voice on this verse
Zechariah 12:14
“Four several families are here specified as examples to others in this mourning:-- [1.] Two of them are royal families: the house of David, in Solomon, and the house of Nathan, another son of David, brother to Solomon, from whom Zerubbabel descended, as appears by Christ's genealogy, Luke iii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
How this psalm is built
The patterns in this chapter
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
The chapter opens with its own heading, the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel, which begins the second of the book's two burdens. The phrase on that day stands six times in its fourteen verses in the Berean Standard Bible, at verses 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11, and each time it opens a new step. Verses 1 to 9 describe the defence of Jerusalem, and verses 10 to 14 describe the mourning. Each line of the list of clans in verses 12 to 14 ends with their wives, so the grief is counted household by household.
Keep studying
Studies10
Places1
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
C. F. Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets and E. B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary.
The exposition
Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.