Zechariah 12

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:1-9

The security of Zion. I. MIGHT OF HER KING . The worlds of matter and of mind are under his control. If so, there is no such thing as chance. Then whatsoever God has promised he will certainly perform. Then to trust and to obey God must be the great end of our being. God's friends are blessed ( Zechariah 12:2 , Zechariah 12:4 ). His enemies, intoxicated by pride, muster for the fight. They are discomfited and driven back in headlong rout. Blindness seizes them, terror... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:2

A cup of trembling; a bowl of reeling— a bowl whose contents cause staggering and reeling, ὡς πρόθυρα σαλευόμενα , "as tottering porticoes"; superliminare crapulae (Vulgate). This Jerome explains to mean that any one who crosses the threshold of Jerusalem in hostile guise shall totter and fall. Jerusalem is the capital and type of the Messianic theocracy; the hostile powers of the world crowd round her, like thirsting men round a bowl of wine; but they find the drought is fatal to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:2-3

Sin self-punishment. "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." There is in this passage a principle by which the Governor of the world punishes malicious men. That principle is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:3

A burdensome stone. Jerusalem shall prove to all the nations that attack it a weight not only too heavy to lift, but one which, itself remaining unhurt, shall wound and injure those who attempt to carry it. Jerome supposes here an allusion to a custom in the towns of Palestine, which prevailed to his day (and, indeed, in Syria even now), of placing round stones of great weight at certain distances, by lifting which the youths tested their bodily strength. But we do not know that this custom... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:4

I will smite every horse with astonishment ( consternation ). Cavalry represents the forces of the enemy. Astonishment, madness, and blindness are threatened against Israel in Deuteronomy 28:28 ; here they arc inflicted on the enemy. Madness . The riders should be so panic stricken that they knew not what they did, and shall turn their arms against each other ( Haggai 2:22 ). Open mine eyes upon the house of Judah; i.e. will regard with favour and protect ( Deuteronomy 11:12 ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:4-9

A good time for good people. "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," etc. These words, which are confessedly difficult if not impossible to interpret correctly (for some say they are to be taken literally, others spiritually; some historically, others prophetically), may be fairly used to illustrate a good time for good... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:5

The governors ( chieftains ) of Judah shall say in their heart . The leaders of Judah have a profound, settled conviction that Jehovah is on his people's side. The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be ( are ) my strength. When they see the enemy discomfited ( Zechariah 12:2-4 ) each of them shall have confidence in the Divine election of Jerusalem, foregoing their former jealousy, and see in her success a token of God's protection and their own final victory. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:5-8

A wonderful people. "And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength," etc. In the preceding verses the dominant idea is that of Jerusalem as a city besieged. In these we have a vision of it as a city inhabited (note end of Zechariah 12:6 , and the thrice-recurring expression, "the inhabitants of Jerusalem"). And there are three aspects in which, when so regarded, we seem called upon to admire it, viz. I. JERUSALEM SAFE .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:6

A hearth; literally, a pan. The victory should be easy and complete. The chieftains of Judah shall be like a chafing dish full of fire set among dry faggots (comp. Obadiah 1:18 ; Nahum 1:10 ). In a sheaf; among sheaves. Jerusalem shall be inhabited again; rather, Jerusalem shall yet again dwell. Jerusalem is personified as a female. In spite of all the attacks of the enemy, who tried to destroy and remove her, she shall remain firm and unshaken in her own place . In... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 12:7

Shall save the tents of Judah first. Instead of "first," a preferable reading, supported by the Greek, Latin, and Syriac Versions, is "as in the beginning," or "as in former days." The prophet declares that the open towns and villages of Judah, which can offer no effectual resistance to an enemy like the fortified city Jerusalem, shall be saved by the aid of God, as so often has happened in old time. If "first" be the genuine reading, the meaning is that the country people shall first be... read more

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