Zechariah 12:3-7

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 12:6

I will make the governors of Judah like a hearth - or “cauldron” of fire large, broad, deep, and full of fire, among the wood which is prepared for burning, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf The fire could not kindle the wood or the sheaf, of itself, unless applied to it. All is of the agency of God: “I will make.”Ribera: “He foretells the increase of the Church, which by such persecutions shall not be diminished, but shall be marvelously increased. The preachers of the Church shall raise up... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 12:7

The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first - Still it is, ‘the Lord shall save.’ We have, on the one side, the ‘siege,’ the gathering of all the peoples of the earth ‘against Jerusalem, the horse and his rider.’ On the other, no human strength; not, as before, in the prophecy of the Maccabees, the bow, the arrow, and the sword, though in the hand of God Zechariah 9:13. It is thrice, ‘I will make’ Zechariah 9:2-3,; ‘I will smite’ (Zechariah 9:4 bis); and now, ‘The Lord shall save.’ By... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 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... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zechariah 12:4-5

Zechariah 12:4-5. In that day This expression, in the prophetical writings, is of large extent, and not only signifies that particular point of time last spoken of, but some time afterward. I will smite every horse with astonishment Many commentators explain this of the victories which Judas Maccabæus gained over Antiochus’s captains, whose chief force consisted in cavalry. But, as Archbishop Newcome observes, the language is much too strong, as it is also Zechariah 12:6-9, to denote the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zechariah 12:6

Zechariah 12:6. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth of fire, &c. The word may be rendered, a pot. The Arabs, according to Harmer, (vol. 1. p. 233,) make a fire in a great stone pitcher, and when it is heated, spread paste upon it, which is baked almost in an instant. By a hearth of fire, however, here may be meant, a firebrand taken from the hearth, which, though small, will set other things on fire, and even whole cities. This is thought by some to be a... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zechariah 12:7

Zechariah 12:7. The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first Some MSS. and versions read כראשׁנה , as at the first; “but the meaning here is, that God would save the tents of Judah first, or previously to any other; and for this the reason immediately follows, that the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem might not be tempted to value themselves too highly on the preference given to them (supposing that had been the case) above the rest of Judah.” Blayney. As the house of David... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Zechariah 12:1-14

Victory, but with mourning (12:1-13:1)On occasions God used Gentile nations to punish his people Israel, but if his desire was to fight for Israel, no enemy attack could be successful. On the occasion that Zechariah speaks of in Chapter 12, God strengthens his people to overthrow the armies that besiege Jerusalem (12:1-3). The charging horses of the enemy are thrown into confusion as God comes to the help of his people. The Jewish leaders acknowledge that, above all, God is the cause of... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Zechariah 12:3

And = And it shall come to pass that in that day, &c. a burdensome stone . A stone difficult to lift or to move; not a stone to throw. Occurs only here. burden, &c. i.e. seek to lift it. cut in pieces = lacerated. Assyria, Persia, Rome, Greece, Egypt of old, and in later days Spain, Portugal. and Russia have been so lacerated on account of their treatment of the Jews. read more

E.W. Bullinger