Zechariahchapter 12
14 verses · Zechariah · 520 to 518 BC · The Twelve
Key verse
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.
It stands in They shall look on me whom they have pierced, verses 10 to 14.
The chapter
Chapter summary
'The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel,' spoken by the God who stretches out the heavens and 'formeth the spirit of man within him.' Jerusalem becomes a cup of reeling to the peoples round about and 'a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded,' with all the nations of the earth gathered against it, a siege still ahead of history. God strikes the horses with terror and their riders with madness, saving the tents of Judah first so no house may boast. Then the mourning: 'they shall look unto me whom they have pierced' (12:10), grieving as for an only son, the verse John 19 and Revelation 1 both quote of Christ.
Context
Prophecy · Zechariah · Zechariah overview
The world behind this chapter
Zechariah 12The history
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.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
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.
What it meant to them
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.
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.
Sources cited
- John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets
- Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament
Where the chapter sits
Zechariah 12 falls in Two burdens (chapters 9–14). ‘Thy King cometh … riding upon an ass’ (9:9); the thirty pieces of silver (11); ‘they shall look upon me whom they have pierced’ (12:10); ‘one LORD, and his name one’ (14:9).
Him whom they have pierced. The mourning of the house of David.
Before it: Fasts and future, chapters 7–8.
The whole shape of Zechariah→The structure of this chapter
Threads running through this chapter
- They shall look on him whom they piercedPattern, v. 10
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone
1. (vv. 1-2)
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
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
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel: The oracle opens by naming its speaker in full, the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, credentials the bench reads as answering any doubt that a mere burden of local politics could carry such weight. Jerusalem is made a cup of trembling to all the peoples round about, a vessel of judgment poured out on whoever besieges her, in a siege that reaches Judah as well as Jerusalem. Keil and Pusey take the double siege language as binding city and countryside into one people under the same coming trial, with the era of that trial named as disputed and left there.
2. (v. 3)
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
a burdensome stone for all people: Jerusalem becomes a burdensome stone that cuts to pieces all who try to lift it, though every people on earth gather themselves against the city. Henry and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown read the figure from the ancient practice of testing strength by hoisting heavy stones, the city proving too heavy for any nation's grip. The verse states the outcome, cut in pieces, without the notes assigning it to any named conflict of any era, the parking order governing the whole horizon that runs from here through chapter 14.
3. (vv. 4-6)
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
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
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
smite every horse with astonishment: The Lord promises to smite every horse of the besieging nations with astonishment and its rider with madness, striking the cavalry blind while keeping his own eyes open upon the house of Judah. Judah's governors become in that day like a hearth of fire in the wood and a torch in a sheaf, devouring the surrounding peoples on the right hand and the left, and Jerusalem is inhabited again in her own place. Gill and Barnes read the reversal, panic falling on the strong horses of the nations while the weak governors of Judah turn to fire, as the pattern the whole chapter repeats, human strength undone and human weakness armed.
4. (vv. 7-8)
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
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
shall save the tents of Judah first: The Lord saves the tents of Judah, the ordinary countryside, before the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the capital's greater glory cannot boast itself over the rest of the land. In that day the feeblest among the defenders is made as David, and the house of David itself is made as God, as the angel of the Lord before them, language the older commentators take at full strength as royal empowerment rather than a claim of deity for the dynasty. Wesley and Keil read the order, country before capital, as the Lord's own check on Jerusalem's pride, the strongest promises paired here with a warning against presuming on them.
5. (v. 9)
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 .”
Zechariah 12:9-10
seek to destroy all the nations: The Lord announces he will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem, and in the same breath pours out on the house of David and the inhabitants of the city the spirit of grace and of supplications. Then comes the chapter's most argued line, they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son, a shift from first person to third person the bench reads through several proposed solutions rather than one settled grammar. John 19:37 quotes the verse of the crucifixion directly, with Revelation 1:7 carrying its language forward, and the pronoun crux is named here with its readings rather than resolved by the note.
B. They shall look on me whom they have pierced
1. (v. 10)
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
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')
2. (vv. 11-14)
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
“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.”
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 12:12
“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
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
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
the mourning of Hadadrimmon: The mourning to come is measured against the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon, which the commentators tie to the national grief over King Josiah's death there (2 Chronicles 35:22-25), a known depth of sorrow used to measure an even greater one. The land mourns family by family and apart, David's house, Nathan's house, Levi's house, and Shimei's house each named on its own, with every remaining family following the same pattern. Henry and Pusey read the private, household grief, husbands and wives mourning apart from each other, as marking a repentance too deep and too personal for a single public ceremony to hold.
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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; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.