Zechariah 12:3

Zechariah 12:3. I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone Jerusalem is here compared to a stone of great weight, which, being too heavy for those who attempted to lift it up, or remove it, falls back upon them and crushes them to pieces. St. Jerome, in a note on the place, speaks of an exercise, which, he says, was common in Palestine, and throughout all Judea, in his days, in which the young men, who were ambitious to show their strength, used to lift up stones of enormous weight, as high as they could, some to their knees, others to their navel, their shoulders, and even their heads; and some placed them on the top of their heads, with their hands erect and joined together. In this exercise, it is evident, they must have been in great danger of the stone’s falling upon them and bruising them, or even crushing them to pieces. Mr. Lowth, who quotes this passage from Jerome, remarks that, to the same sense, Christ saith, Matthew 21:44, On whomsoever this stone shall fall, it will grind him to powder. All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces All that undertake to contend with Jerusalem shall be either destroyed or greatly injured, as men will have their flesh torn or bruised that let a heavy stone fall upon them. Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it It is obvious, that by all, here is meant only many people, as it is expressed Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:9; Ezekiel 38:15, Thou, and many people with thee.