Zechariah 12

Zechariah 12
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Book of Zechariah (6:15-13:9) in Latin in Codex Gigas, made around 13th century.
Book	Book of Zechariah
Category	Nevi'im
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	38

Zechariah 12 is the twelfth of the 14 chapters in the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.^[1][2][3] This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Zechariah, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.^[4] This chapter is a part of a section (so-called "Second Zechariah") consisting of Zechariah 9–14.^[5] This chapter and chapter 13 verses 1–6 are a section, forming a three-section "entity" with 13:7–9 and 14:1-21.^[6]

Text

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

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (from year 895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (930), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[7][8] Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q80 (4QXII^e; 75–50 BCE) with extant verses 7–12.^{[9][10][11][12]} and 4Q82 (4QXII^g; 50–25 BCE) with extant verses 1–3.^{[9][10][12][13]}

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^Q; 6th century).^[14]

Structure

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

The Coming Deliverance of Judah (12:1–9)

This section contains the oracle focusing on 'the final onslaught of all nations on Jerusalem.'^[15]

Verse 1

The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:^[16]

• "Burden": here means "oracle" or "prophecy".^[17]

This verse contains the heading of the oracle which 'seems to cover the whole of the rest of the book' (chapters 12–14), with a 'doxology on creation' bringing ideas about "creation and origins" (the Urzeit) projected forwards onto the "end of time" (the Endzeit).^[15]

Mourning for the Pierced One (12:10–14)

The mourning in this section is based on the piercing of Yahweh, who is the only one speaking in first person throughout chapters 12 to 14; first compared to the loss of an only (or firstborn) son (verse 10), then to the death of king Josiah in the "plain of Megiddo" (verse 11; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:20–25; 2 Kings 23:29–30; traced to Jeremiah in 2 Chronicles 35:25);^[18] and the mourning spreading from Jerusalem to the entire land (verse 12) following by the references to particular subgroups or clans in the community even further according to the gender ("wives" separated from the "husbands"; verses 12–14).^[19]

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.^[20]

• "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced" The speaker in first person is Yahweh (throughout chapters 12 to 14).
  Micah 5:2). The "looking to" the stricken Messiah is signified when those watching the crucifixion beat their breasts (Luke 23:48).^[21]
• "Me … him": The change of person is due to Yahweh-Messiah speaking in His own person first, then the prophet speaking of "him". Later Jewish literature refers the "pierced" one to be Messiah Ben (son of) Joseph, who was to suffer in the battle with Gog, before Messiah Ben David should come to reign. Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic versions oppose this; and the ancient Jews interpreted it of Messiah.
  Revelation 1:7, representing the act of the people (Matthew 27:25), and is so accounted here in Zechariah. The Hebrew word is always used of a literal piercing (so Zechariah 13:3).^[22]
• "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.^[21]
• "In bitterness for him": as one that is "in bitterness for his firstborn".^[23]

Verse 11

In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.^[24]

• "The mourning of (at) Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon": This is generally supposed to refer to the death of King
  Maximianopolis, now Rummaneh, seven miles northwest of Jezreel, on the southern edge of the Plain of Esdraelon, but the identification is far from certain.^[21]

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;[25]

• "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).^[21]
• "Nathan": A branch from Nathan, a son of David and whole brother of Solomon 1 Chronicles 3:5, in the ancestral line of Jesus (Luke 3:31).^[26]
• "Their wives apart." In private life the females of a household dwelt in apartments separate from the males, and in public functions the genders were equally kept distinct (see Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34; 1 Samuel 18:6; 2 Samuel 6:5).^[21]

Verse 13

The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart;
the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;^[27]

• "Levi... Shimei": The priestly family is generally mentioned first, and then individualized by naming Shimei, the son of Gershon, and grandson of Levi (
  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 known reason to mention this tribe.^[26] 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).^[21] 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 in the 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").^[26]

Notes and references