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Zechariah
Chapter Twelve
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 12
This
chapter contains a prophecy of the defence, protection, and salvation of the
church of God; and of the effusion of the Spirit; and of the conversion of the
Jews in the latter day. It begins with a title and preface, describing the
power of God, from the creation of the heavens and earth, and soul of man, Zechariah 12:1 then
follows the subject matter of the prophecy, in a way of judgment upon the
enemies of the people of God, and in a way of salvation to them. The judgments
on their enemies are signified by various metaphors; by Jerusalem's being a cup
of trembling, a burdensome stone, and a hearth, and torch of fire to them, Zechariah 12:2. The
effects of which are to them astonishment, madness, blindness, and utter
destruction; and to the people of God confidence in him, salvation from him,
and strength and protection by him, Zechariah 12:4 and,
at the same time that God will destroy all the enemies of his people, he will
pour out his Spirit upon his chosen ones among the Jews. The consequence of
which will be, their faith in Christ, signified by looking to him whom they
have pierced; and their repentance towards God, expressed by mourning; and this
illustrated by mourning for an only and firstborn son, Zechariah 12:9 and
which is further illustrated by the mourning for Josiah in the valley of
Megiddon; and by an enumeration of the several families in Jerusalem, that
should separately mourn on this account, Zechariah 12:11.
Zechariah 12:1 The burden[a] 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:
YLT
1The burden of a word of
Jehovah on Israel. An affirmation of Jehovah, Stretching out heaven, and
founding earth, And forming the spirit of man in his midst.
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel,.... And
against their enemies; for the good of the church of God, for its joy, comfort,
and salvation; or, "concerning Israel"F24על "de", Piscator, Drusius; "super
Israele", Cocceius, Burkius. ; what shall befall them in the latter day,
as the destruction of antichrist, prophesied of in the preceding chapter Zechariah 11:1; and
what is hereafter said may be believed that it shall be accomplished. The Lord
is described in the greatness of his power, speaking as follows:
saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens: as a curtain,
Psalm 104:2 the
expanse or firmament of heaven, which is stretched out as a canopy over all the
earth around:
and layeth the foundation of the earth; firm and
sure, though upon the seas and floods, yea, upon nothing, Psalm 24:2,
and formeth the spirit of man within him; the soul of
man, with all its powers and faculties, gifts and endowments; which is of his
immediate creation, and which he continues daily to form, and infuse into the
bodies of men, and holds in life there; hence he is called the Father of
spirits, Hebrews 12:9.
Zechariah 12:2 2 “Behold,
I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when
they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.
YLT
2Lo, I am making Jerusalem a
cup of reeling To all the peoples round about, And also against Judah it is, In
the siege against Jerusalem.
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. The phrase denotes the punishment inflicted by the Lord upon the
enemies of his church and people; see Isaiah 51:22,
when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and
against Jerusalem; not by Antiochus Epiphanes; nor by Titus Vespasian; nor by Gog
and Magog, as Kimchi; but by the antichristian powers, especially the Mahometan
nations, the Turks, which shall come against Jerusalem, when the Jews are
returned thither, and resettled in their own land; see Ezekiel 38:5. The
words should be rendered, "and upon Judah shall it be"F25וגם על יהודה
יהיה "et etiam super Jehudah erit",
Pagninus, Montanus, Burkius. , i.e. the cup of trembling, "in the siege
against Jerusalem"; according to the Targum, and the Jewish commentators,
the nations of the earth shall bring the men of Judah by force to join with
them in the siege of Jerusalem; as, in the times of Antiochus, many of the Jews
were drawn in to fight against their brethren; but the meaning is, that not
only the wrath of God will come upon the Mahometan nations that shall besiege
Jerusalem; but also on those who bear the Christian name, who are Jews
outwardly, but not inwardly; and shall join with the Turks in distressing the
people of the Jews upon their return to their own land: to besiege Judah, or a
country, is not proper and pertinent: Jerusalem, when again in the hands of the
Jews, according to this prophecy, only is to be besieged, as it will, by the
Turks; and it should be observed, that it never was besieged by Antiochus, and
therefore the prophecy can not be applied to his times, as it is by many.
Zechariah 12:3 3 And
it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for
all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though
all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
YLT 3And it hath come to pass,
in that day, I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples, All
loading it are completely pressed down, And gathered against it have been all
nations of the earth.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all
people,.... The Targum renders it "a stone of offence"; at
which they shall stumble and fall; but it seems to design the immovableness of
the state and condition of Jerusalem, that those who attempt to remove her out
of her place, or to make any alteration in her happy circumstances, will not be
able to do it, Psalm 125:1. Jerom
makes mention of a custom in the cities of Palestine, and which continued to his
times throughout all Judea, that large, huge, round stones, used to be placed
in the towns and villages, which the youths exercised themselves with, by
trying to lift them up as high as they could, by which they showed their
strength; and the same ancient writer observes that a like custom obtained in
Greece; for he says he himself saw in the tower at Athens, by the image of
Minerva, a globe of brass, of at very great weight, which he, through the
weakness of his body, could not move; and asking the meaning of it, he was told
that the strength of wrestlers was tried by it; and no man might be admitted a
combatant, until it was known, by the lifting up of that weight, with whom he
should be matched; and the throwing of the "discus" was an ancient
military exercise, as old as the times of Homer, who speaksF26Iliad.
2. & 23. of it; and is mentioned by Latin writers, as appears from some
lines of MartialF1"Splendida cum volitent Spartani pondera
disci Este procul pueri; sit se nel ille nocens." ---Epigr. l. 14. Ep.
157. ; see the Apocrypha:
"In
like manner also Judas gathered together all those things that were lost by
reason of the war we had, and they remain with us,' (2 Maccabees 2:14)
and
this, as it tried the strength of men, so it was sometimes dangerous to
themselves, or to bystanders, lest it should fall upon their heads: and as it
was usual to defend themselves and oppress enemies by casting stones at them,
so young men used to exercise themselves by lifting up and casting large
stones; to which VirgilF2"Certabant Troes contra defendere
saxis." ---Aeneid. l. 9. "Mijaculis, illi certent defendere
saxis." --Aeneid. l. 10. --Vid. Lydium de Re Militari, l. 5. c. 2. p. 178,
179. & Menochium de Republica Hebr. l. 6. col. 555, 556. sometimes refers;
and it is well known that Abimelech was killed even by a woman casting a piece
of a millstone upon his head, Judges 9:53 and
such heavy stones, and the lifting of them up, in order to cast them, may he
alluded to here:
all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces; all that
attempt to unsettle and remove it shall be pressed down with the weight of it,
and be utterly destroyed: or, "shall be torn to pieces"F3שרוט ישרטו "incidendo
incidentur", Montanus, Burkius; "lacerando lacerabuntur",
Pagninus, Cocceius. ; as men's hands are cut and torn with rough and heavy stones,
The Targum is,
"all
that injure her shall be consumed;'
which
gives the sense of the passage:
though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it; so safe and
secure will the people of God be; he being a wall of fire round about them, and
the glory in the midst of them.
Zechariah 12:4 4 In
that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with
confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of
Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
YLT
4In that day -- an
affirmation of Jehovah, I do smite every horse with astonishment, And its rider
with madness, And on the house of Judah I open My eyes, And every horse of the
peoples I smite with blindness.
In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with
astonishment, and his rider with madness,.... The meaning is, the
enemies of God's people shall be astonished at the failure of their attempts,
and be filled with fury and madness because they cannot accomplish their
designs; and shall be at their wits' end, not knowing what course to take:
perhaps reference is had to the Turkish armies, that shall be brought against
Jerusalem to recover it into their possession, which generally consist of a
large cavalry; see Revelation 9:16,
and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah; which phrase
is sometimes used, as expressive of the wrath of God against his enemies, Amos 9:4 and, if
the house of Judah signifies the same as Judah, joined with the nations of the
earth in the siege, Zechariah 12:2, it
must be so understood here; but rather it seems to be different, and to intend
those who will inhabit other parts of Judea, and who will be truly the people
of God, Jews not only literally, but spiritually; and so is to be interpreted
in a good sense, of the divine love to them, care of them, and protection over
them; see Job 14:13 and so
the Targum paraphrases it,
"and
upon those of the house of Judah, I will reveal my power to do them good:'
and will smite every horse of the people with blindness: that is,
every rider of them, either with blindness of mind or body, or both. It may be,
as the former smiting, mentioned in the beginning of the verse, respects the
mind, this may regard the body; so that they shall not see their way, and their
hands shall not perform their enterprise.
Zechariah 12:5 5 And
the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are
my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’
YLT
5And leaders of Judah have
said in their heart, `Strength to me [are] the inhabitants of Jerusalem, In
Jehovah of Hosts their God.'
And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart,.... The
governors of the rest of the cities in Judea, besides Jerusalem, when they
shall observe the armies of the people, their horses and their riders, smitten
by the Lord, as above, shall take heart, and be of good courage: and secretly
say within themselves,
The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the
Lord of hosts their God; that is, they, in the strength of the Lord, shall overcome their
enemies, and so be the means of preserving and securing the other cities of
Judah from destruction: the governors do not place their strength and
confidence in the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but as they are strengthened in and
by the Lord their God, from whom all strength, safety, and salvation come. In
this and the following verse Zechariah 12:6, by
"the governors of Judah" are not meant Judas Maccabeus, and his
brethren, as some think; for though there are some things in the context that
seem to agree with them, and they may be an emblem of the governors in the
times referred to, for their courage, bravery, and success; yet the thread of
history, and series of prophecy, will not admit such a sense.
Zechariah 12:6 6 In
that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and
like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding
peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited
again in her own place—Jerusalem.
YLT
6In that day I make the
leaders of Judah As a hearth of fire among trees, And as a torch of fire in a
sheaf, And they have consumed -- on the right and on the left -- all the
peoples round about, And Jerusalem hath inhabited again her place in Jerusalem.
In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth of
fire among the wood,.... As a large hearth of fire, with wood all about it, devours
and consumes it; so shall the governors of Judah be to the nations that shall
come up against Jerusalem. The Targum renders it,
"as
a garment of fire among wood:'
and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; of wheat, which
presently destroys it; see Obadiah 1:18,
and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right
hand and on the left; on the south and on the north, as the Targum interprets it. The
phrase denotes the utter destruction of the people on all sides:
and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even
in Jerusalem; upon that very spot of ground which was formerly called
Jerusalem shall the city be built again, and inhabited; and shall continue,
notwithstanding the attempts of all the nations of the earth to destroy it; see
Jeremiah 30:18.
Zechariah 12:7 7 “The
Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house
of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater
than that of Judah.
YLT
7And saved hath Jehovah the
tents of Judah first, So that become not great against Judah Doth the beauty of
the house of David, And the beauty of the inhabitant of Jerusalem.
The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first,.... That is,
the Jews, who will be in other parts of the land encamped in tents, to defend
themselves against their enemies; these will be saved out of the hands of them,
before the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be saved; and in such a manner, that
it will evidently appear that their salvation is of the Lord: and his end in so
doing will be,
that the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, do not magnify themselves against Judah; lest the
chief of the family of David, and the principal inhabitants of Jerusalem,
should glory over their brethren in other parts of Judea; and say it was owing
to them that they were saved and delivered out of the hands of their enemies.
Zechariah 12:8 8 In
that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble
among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be
like God, like the Angel of the Lord before
them.
YLT
8In that day cover over doth
Jehovah the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And the stumbling among them hath been in
that day as David, And the house of David as God -- As a messenger of Jehovah
-- before them.
In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem,.... As with a
shield against their enemies; and such is the Lord to all his people; he is
their shield to protect them; he keeps and guards them by his power; he
encompasses them about with his favour, as with a shield; and gives unto them
the shield of salvation; all which will eminently appear to be the case of the
Jews at this time:
and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; they that
have the most fearful hearts, and feeble minds, shall be as courageous, as
valiant, and as victorious as David; and they that are the weakest, in a
spiritual sense, in the grace and in the doctrine of faith, and in that part of
it, respecting the use of things indifferent, who are ready to be
"offended, stumble, and fall"F4נכשל
"lapsabundus, ad lapsum propensus, proprie qui facile offendit",
Drusius; "corruens", Montanus; "collapsus", Burkius. ; for
the spiritual reign, which will at this time take place, will not be a state of
perfection; even those will be like David, beloved of the Lord, kings as well
as priests unto God, and as strong in faith as he:
and the house of David shall be as God; the stronger
sort of believers among them, such as are strong in the Lord, in the grace of
faith, and in the doctrines of the Gospel; they shall have much of God with
them, great grace upon them, and be like unto him in goodness, truth, and holiness:
or they shall be like "Elohim", the angels, as this word is rendered,
Psalm 8:5 for
knowledge, purity, and readiness to do the will of God; and it follows:
as the Angel of the Lord before them; that is, as
Christ, who is the Angel of the covenant, and of the divine Presence; and in
whom the name of the Lord is; who is at the head of his people, and goes before
them, as their Leader and Commander, and the Captain of salvation, Micah 2:13 whose
image they bear, and into which they are changed from glory to glory by the
spirit of God; and which will now be very clearly discerned upon the saints in
the latter day glory. Kimchi and Ben Melech, by "the house of David",
understand the King MessiahF5R. Isaac Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. c. 36.
p. 307. , who was to be of the seed of David; and so does Cocceius, who takes
the "as" to be a note, not of similitude, but of truth, he being
truly God, and the Angel of Jehovah. The Targum is,
"the
house of David shall be like great men or princes that shall prosper, as the
Angel of God before them.'
Zechariah 12:9 9 It
shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that
come against Jerusalem.
YLT
9And it hath come to pass,
in that day, I seek to destroy all the nations Who are coming in against
Jerusalem,
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 Ezekiel 38:1.
Zechariah 12:10 10 “And
I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and
grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
YLT
10And I have poured on the
house of David, And on the inhabitant of Jerusalem, A spirit of grace and
supplications, And they have looked unto Me whom they pierced, And they have
mourned over it, Like a mourning over the only one, And they have been in
bitterness for it, Like a bitterness over the first-born.
And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem,.... The Jews that belong to the family of Christ, and to the
heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in
heaven:
the Spirit of grace and of supplications; by which is
meant the Holy Spirit of God, who is called the "Spirit of grace";
not merely because he is good and gracious, and loving to his people, and is of
grace given unto them; but because he is the author of all grace in them; of
gracious convictions, and spiritual illuminations; of quickening, regenerating,
converting, and sanctifying grace; and of all particular graces, as faith,
hope, love, fear, repentance, humility, joy, peace, meekness, patience,
longsuffering, self-denial, &c.; as well as because he is the revealer,
applier, and witnesser of all the blessings of grace unto them: and he is
called the "Spirit of supplications"; because he indites the prayers
of his people, shows them their wants, and stirs them up to pray; enlarges
their hearts, supplies them with arguments, and puts words into their mouths;
gives faith, fervency, and freedom, and encourages to come to God as their
Father, and makes intercession for them, according to the will of God: pouring
it upon them denotes the abundance and freeness of his grace; see Isaiah 44:3,
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced; by nailing
him to the tree at his crucifixion; and especially by piercing his side with a
spear; which, though not personally done by them, yet by their ancestors, at
least through their instigation and request; and besides, as he was pierced and
wounded for their sins, so by them: and now, being enlightened and convicted by
the Spirit of God, they shall look to him by faith for the pardon of their
sins, through his blood; for the justification of their persons by his
righteousness; and for eternal life and salvation through him. We Christians
can have no doubt upon us that this passage belongs to Christ, when it is
observed, upon one of the soldiers piercing the side of Jesus with a spear, it
is said, "these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled;
they shall look on him whom they have pierced"; and it seems also to be
referred to in Revelation 1:7 yea,
the Jews themselves, some of them, acknowledge it is to be understood of the
Messiah. In the TalmudF6T. Bab. Succah, fol. 52. 1. , mention being
made of the mourning after spoken of, it is asked, what this mourning was made
for? and it is replied, R. Dusa and the Rabbins are divided about it: one says,
for Messiah ben Joseph, who shall be slain; and another says, for the evil
imagination, that shall be slain; it must be granted to him that says, for
Messiah the son of Joseph that shall be slain; as it is written, "and they
shall look upon whom they have pierced, and mourn", &c. for, for the
other, why should they mourn? hence Jarchi and Kimchi on the place say, our
Rabbins interpret this of Messiah the son of Joseph, who shall be slain; and
the note of Aben Ezra is, all the nations shall look unto me, to see what I
will do to those who have pierced Messiah the son of Joseph. Grotius observes,
that Hadarsan on Genesis 28:10
understands it of Messiah the son of David. The Jews observing some prophecies
speaking of the Messiah in a state of humiliation, and others of him in an
exalted state, have coined this notion of two Messiahs, which are easily
reconciled without it. The Messiah here prophesied of appears to be both God
and man; a divine Person called Jehovah, who is all along speaking in the context,
and in the text itself; for none else could pour out the spirit of grace and
supplication; and yet he must be man, to be pierced; and the same is spoken of,
that would do the one, and suffer the other; and therefore must be the θεανθρωπος, or God-man in one
person. As to what a Jewish writerF7R. Isaac Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1.
c. 36. p. 309. objects, that this was spoken of one that was pierced in war, as
appears from the context; and that if the same person that is pierced is to be
looked to, then it would have been said, "and mourn for me, and be in
bitterness for me"; it may be replied, that this prophecy does not speak
of the piercing this person at the time when the above wars shall be; but of
the Jews mourning for him at the time of their conversion, who had been pierced
by them, that is, by their ancestors, hundreds of years ago; which now they
will with contrition remember, they having assented to it, and commended it as
a right action; and as for the change from the first person to the third, this
is not at all unusual in Scripture:
and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son; or, "for
this"F8עליו "super hoc",
Junius & Tremellius; "propter hoc", Gussetius; "super
illo", Piscator, Cocceius. ; that is, piercing him; for sin committed
against him; because of their rejection of him, their hardness of heart, and
unbelief with respect to him; and on account of their many sins, which were the
occasion of his being pierced; which mourning will arise from, and be increased
by, a spiritual sight of him, a sense of his love to them, and a view of
benefits by him. Evangelical repentance springs from faith, and is accompanied
with it; and this godly sorrow is like that which is expressed for an only son;
see Amos 8:10 and
indeed Christ is the only begotten of the Father, as well as the firstborn
among many brethren, as follows:
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.
Zechariah 12:11 11 In
that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at
Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.[b]
YLT
11In that day, great is the
mourning of Jerusalem, As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of
Megiddon,
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. LightfootF9Works,
vol. 1. p. 46. 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, Judges 20:47 and
may be rendered, "the sad shout of Rimmon"; and the other in the
valley of Megiddo, for the death of Josiah. Some take Hadadrimmon to be the
name of a man, as Aben Ezra; and the Targum and Jarchi say who he was, and also
make two mournings to be alluded toF11Vid. T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 3.
1. & Gloss. in ib. & Moed Katon, fol. 28. 2. ; paraphrasing the words
thus,
"at
that time mourning shall be multiplied in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Ahab
the son of Omri, whom Hadadrimmon the son of Tabrimmon slew in Ramothgilead;
and as the mourning of Josiah, the son of Amon, whom Pharaohnecho, or the lame,
slew in the valley of Megiddo:'
and
so the Syriac version renders it,
"as
the mourning of the son of Amon in the valley of Megiddo.'
Of
the first of these, see 1 Kings 22:31 and
of the latter, 2 Kings 23:29
according to Jerom, it was the name of a place in the valley of Megiddo, near
to Jezreel; and which, in his time, went by the name of Maximianopolis, called
so in honour of the Emperor Maximian; it was seventeen miles from Caesarea in
Palestine, and ten miles from JezreelF12Vid. Reland. Palestina
Illustrata, tom. 2. p. 892. ; and mention is made by JewishF13T.
Hieros. Chagigah, fol. 78. 4. writers of the valley of Rimmon, in which place
the elders intercalated the year; though Jerom elsewhereF14Trad.
Heb. fol. 86. I. says, that Adadrimon was a king, the son of Tabrimmon, who
reigned at Carchemish, whom Pharaohnecho slew at the same time he slew Josiah.
Both words, Hadad, or Adad, and Rimmon, are names of idols with the Syrians.
Zechariah 12:12 12 And
the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David
by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by
itself, and their wives by themselves;
YLT
12And mourned hath the land
-- every family apart, The family of the house of David apart, And their women
apart; The family of the house of Nathan apart, And their women apart;
And the land shall mourn,.... That is, the
inhabitants of it; not only Jerusalem, but the land of Judea, and the people in
it everywhere: in the TalmudF15T. Hieros. Succah, fol. 55. 2. it is
said, this is the mourning of the Messiah, that is, on his account:
every family apart; though the mourning will be general and
public, yet it will be not in a body of the whole people together, but separate
and distinct:
the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the men by
themselves, and the women by themselves, which is according to the custom of
the Jews in public worship; those that belong to the family of David shall
mourn because of the Jews' long rejection of the King Messiah, Jesus the son of
David, the Saviour, whom God raised up of his seed:
the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; not of Nathan
the son of David, the brother of Solomon, as some think; for, as Aben Ezra
observes, he and his family are comprehended in the family of David; but of
Nathan the prophet, who will mourn because the Jews have so much slighted Jesus
the great Prophet, the Lord raised up in Israel, his doctrines and ordinances.
Zechariah 12:13 13 the
family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the
family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves;
YLT
13The family of the house of
Levi apart, And their women apart; The family of Shimei apart, And their women
apart,
The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart,.... Because
of the contempt of the priestly office of Christ, which theirs prefigured, and
was abolished by him; because of their trampling upon his blood, righteousness,
and sacrifice:
the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; not of Shimea
the son of David, 1 Chronicles 3:5 as
Jarchi thinks, for his family is comprehended in the family of David; nor of
Shimei the son of Merari, and grandson of Levi, 1 Chronicles 6:16,
for the same reason: some think that, by way of prophecy, the family of Semei,
mentioned among the progenitors of Christ, Luke 3:26, is
intended; and others have thought of Shammai, a famous Misnic doctor in the
times of Christ, whose disciples were called the house or family of Shammai, of
which frequent mention is made in the Misna and Talmud: but the Septuagint,
Syriac, and Arabic versions, read "the family of Simeon"; mentioned
together with Levi, as brethren in iniquity, and now mourn for the common
concern they had in the crucifixion of Christ, and their refusal of him.
Zechariah 12:14 14 all
the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
YLT
14All the families that are
left, Every family apart, and their women apart!
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, Isaiah 66:8.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)