Zechariah 12:11-14

Zechariah 12:11-14 continue the description of the intensity and universality of the lamentation.

11. Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon This expression has received many different interpretations; even the ancient versions differ from one another. At present two views stand out most prominently: (1) The Plain of Megiddo was the scene of one of the most disastrous events in Hebrew history, the fatal wounding of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chronicles 35:20 ff.). For many years a public lamentation was held in commemoration of the death of this king (2 Chronicles 35:25; compare Jeremiah 22:10); and it is with this mourning over the death of Josiah that the mourning mentioned here is connected by many. Hadadrimmon is then understood as the place where Josiah fell. To this interpretation it has been objected that the mourning for Josiah took place in Jerusalem, not at the place of his death. The force of this objection is recognized by many, hence they understand the reference not of the public mourning but of the lamentation which arose as soon as the news of Josiah’s fatal injury spread. Another difficulty is presented by the name Hadadrimmon, for no place bearing that name has yet been found, though it has been identified with the small village Rummaneh, near Megiddo. (2) Some commentators connect the phrase with the weeping for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14), who is identical with the Phoenician deity Adonis. The name Hadadrimmon consists of two elements, both names of the storm god, who is thought to be the same as Tammuz-Adonis. That it was customary to hold mournings for the latter is proven by the passage in Ezekiel, but the identification of Hadadrimmon with Adonis is by no means certain; besides, it is exceedingly doubtful that a prophet or any other devout Israelite would illustrate the depth of repentance and sorrow by a reference to an abominable heathen practice. Targum identifies Hadadrimmon with the slayer of King Ahab (1 Kings 22:34 ff.), but this identification also is improbable; therefore the most probable view is still that which connects the passage with the lamentation for Josiah upon the battlefield, immediately after his fatal wounding.

Zechariah 12:12-14 describe the universality of the lamentation. All parts of the community will participate, and all will weep as over the loss of a loved one.

Their wives apart The men were the moving spirits in the rejection of the representative of Jehovah, but the women will feel themselves involved in the guilt. For the separation of the sexes compare Exodus 15:20.

Family Is used here not in the narrow sense in which we are accustomed to use the term, but in the wider sense of clan or tribe. The community is made up of a great number of such; of these four representative families are named; the others are included in “all the families that remain” (Zechariah 12:14).

David… Nathan… Levi… Shimei The last is literally “the Shimeites.” Jerome reproduces the rabbinical interpretation of these names thus: “In David the regal tribe is included, that is, Judah; in Nathan the prophetic order is described. Levi refers to the priests, for from him sprang the priesthood. In Simeon the teachers are included, as the companies of masters sprang from that tribe. He says nothing about the other tribes, as they had no special privilege or dignity.” So far as Simeon is concerned, the explanation breaks down, for Shimeites has no connection with Simeon; it is rather the patronymic of Shimei. Only two of the groups named can be determined with certainty. House of David means the successors of David, that is, the civil rulers (see on Zechariah 12:7); house of Levi represents the priesthood, the ecclesiastical rulers. The two are mentioned to indicate that even the most prominent in the community will join in the mourning. Nathan might be the well-known prophet bearing that name (2 Samuel 7:2); if so, house of Nathan would denote the prophetic order. In view of Zechariah 13:2 ff., this interpretation is improbable; besides, the use of house implied in the interpretation would not be in accord with its use in the other expressions.

Perhaps it is better to see here a reference to Nathan, the son of David (2 Samuel 5:14; Luke 3:31); if so, house of Nathan denotes the descendants of this son of David. If this is the correct interpretation, then it becomes quite probable that the other name denotes a branch of the family of Levi, namely, Shimei, the grandson of Levi (Numbers 3:17 ff.); the Shimeites are the descendants of this Shimei. Why these two unimportant families should be singled out and placed alongside of the chief representatives we do not know; it may be simply to indicate that the families of prominence as well as those living in obscurity will participate in the mourning.