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Zechariah 12:4

in Zechariah 12

On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.

KJV

In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

This verse in Zechariah 12

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

smite every horse with astonishment

on Zechariah 12:4-6

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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Zechariah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Vers. 4.) On that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with dismay, and its rider with madness; but upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes, and all the horses of the peoples I will strike with blindness. LXX: On that day, says the Lord Almighty, I will strike every horse with astonishment, and its rider with madness; but upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes, and all the horses of the peoples I will strike with blindness.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The church's infantry shall be too hard for the enemy's cavalry; and those who were upbraided with trusting in horses shall be baffled by those who were forbidden to multiply horses. It is promised that Jerusalem shall be re-peopled and replenished (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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 . . .
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, stupefying - Zechariah revives the words concentrated by Moses, to express the stupefaction at their ills, which God would accumulate upon His people, if they perseveringly rebelled against Him. Each expresses the intensity of the visitation. “The horse and his rider” Deut. 27:28 had, through Moses’ song at the Red Sea, become the emblem of worldly power, overthrown. That song opens; “I will sing unto the Lord; for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He cast into the sea” Exo 15:1. The scared cavalry throws into confusion the ranks, of which it was the boast and strength. And on the house of Judah I will open My eyes - In pity and love and guidance, as the Psalmist says, “I will counsel, with Mine eye upon thee” Psa 32:8, in contrast with “the blindness” with which God would smite the powers arrayed against them.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • בַּיּ֨וֹםon the day

    baiyomH31172304 times

  • הַה֜וּא<the> that

    hahu'H19311879 times

  • נְאֻם־[the] utterance of

    neum-H5002376 times

  • יְהוָ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אַכֶּ֤הI will strike

    ʾakehH5221499 times

  • כָל־every

    khol-H36055413 times

  • סוּס֙horse

    susH5483140 times

  • בַּתִּמָּה֔וֹןwith <the> bewilderment

    batimahonH8541

  • וְרֹכְב֖וֹand rider its

    verokhevoH739278 times

  • בַּשִּׁגָּע֑וֹןwith <the> madness

    bashigaonH7697

  • וְעַל־and over

    veal-H59215755 times

  • בֵּ֤ית[the] house of

    beitH10042046 times

  • יְהוּדָה֙Judah

    yehudahH3063819 times

  • אֶפְקַ֣חI will open

    ʾefkachH6491

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • עֵינַ֔יeyes my

    ʾeinaiH5869887 times

  • וְכֹל֙and every

    vekholH36055413 times

  • ס֣וּס<the> horse of

    susH5483140 times

  • הָֽעַמִּ֔יםthe peoples

    haamimH59711873 times

  • אַכֶּ֖הI will strike

    ʾakehH5221499 times

  • בַּֽעִוָּרֽוֹן׃with <the> blindness

    baivaronH5788

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Acts 17:30

    Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.

    it leads to

    • Acts 14:16

      In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.

    • Titus 2:11–12

      For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

    • Luke 24:47

      and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

    • Romans 3:25

      God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

    • Ephesians 4:17–32

      So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

  • Through

    Zechariah 12:3

    On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 21:44

      He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

    • Zechariah 14:2–4

      For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the…

    • Daniel 2:34–35

      As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.

Where this verse is studied

About Zechariah

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.