Zechariah 12:11 Kommentar

The apostle (Gal 4:25, Gal 4:26) distinguishes between "Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children" - the remaining carcase of the Jewish church that rejected Christ, and "Jerusalem that is from above, that is free, and is the mother of us all" - the Christian church, the spiritual Jerusalem, which God has chosen to put his name there; in the foregoing chapter we read the doom of the former, and left that carcase to be a prey to the eagles that should be gathered to it. Now, in this chapter, we have the blessings of the latter, many precious promises made to the gospel-Jerusalem by him who (Zac 12:1) declares his power to make them good. It is promised, I. That the attempts of the church's enemies against her shall be to their own ruin, and they shall find that it is at their peril if they do her any hurt (Zac 12:2-4, Zac 12:6). II. That the endeavours of the church's friends and patrons for her good shall be pious, regular, and successful (Zac 12:5). III. That God will protect and strengthen the meanest and weakest that belong to his church, and work salvation for them (Zac 12:7, Zac 12:8). IV. That as a preparative for all this mercy, and a pledge of it, he will pour upon them a spirit of prayer and repentance, the effect of which shall be universal and very particular (Zac 12:9-14). These promises were of use then to the pious Jews that lived in the troublous times under Antiochus, and other persecutors and oppressors; and they are still to be improved in every age for the directing of our prayers and the encouraging of our hopes with reference to the gospel-church.

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, Zac 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, Zac 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, Zac 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, Zac 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, Zac 12:11.

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. Lightfoot (i) 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, Jdg 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 to (k); 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 Kg1 22:31 and of the latter, Kg2 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 Jezreel (l); and mention is made by Jewish (m) writers of the valley of Rimmon, in which place the elders intercalated the year; though Jerom elsewhere (n) 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. (i) Works, vol. 1. p. 46. (k) Vid. T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 3. 1. & Gloss. in ib. & Moed Katon, fol. 28. 2. (l) Vid. Reland. Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. p. 892. (m) T. Hieros. Chagigah, fol. 78. 4. (n) Trad. Heb. fol. 86. I.

(Verse 11, 12.) On that day there will be great lamentation in Jerusalem, like the lamentation of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land will mourn, family by family: the families of the house of David separately, and their women separately (for the Hebrew word Nese, that is, γυναῖκες, signifies both). The families of the house of Nathan separately, and their women separately. The families of the house of Levi separately, and their women separately. The families of the house of Shimei separately, and their women separately. All the remaining families, each family separately, and their women separately. LXX: In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning for a bitter fruit that is cut down in the field, and the land will mourn by tribes and tribes: the tribe of David separately, and their women separately; the tribe of the house of Judah separately, and their women separately; the tribe of the house of Nathan separately, and their women separately; the tribe of the house of Levi separately, and their women separately; the tribe of Simeon separately, and their women separately; all the remaining tribes separately, and their women separately. Adadremmon, for which LXX translated as Rhoonos, is a city near Jerusalem, which was once called by this name and is now called Maximianopolis in the field of Megiddo, where Josiah, a just king, was wounded by Pharaoh Nechao (2 Kings 23:29). It is on this occasion that Jeremiah wrote Lamentations, which are read in the Church, and the book of Chronicles testifies that he wrote them (2 Chronicles 35). Just as at that time, after wicked kings, all the people's hope was in Josiah, and when he was killed, a great mourning was stirred in the city, as we read in Hebrew: The spirit of our mouth, the Lord Christ, was taken captive in our sins, to whom we said: In your shadow we will live among the nations (Lamentations 4:20) (although others, according to spiritual understanding, relate this to the Lord Jesus). In the same way, with the crucified Savior, mourning will be renewed in Jerusalem, just as it once was in the city of Adadremmon, in the field of Megiddo. And what follows: Families and families, or tribes and tribes separately: the families of the house of David separately, and their wives or women separately. This signifies that in times of tribulation and mourning we should not be concerned with marriage and wedding ceremonies. Hence in Joel, when captivity was near, it is said to the Jews: Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber, and the bride out of her room (Joel 2:16). And with the flood approaching, Noah is commanded: Enter into the ark, you and your sons, and your wife, and the wives of your sons (Gen. VII, 1). And afterwards, when the flood had ended, it is said to him: Come out, you and your wife, and your sons, and their wives (Gen. VIII, 16), so that those who were separated in the ark during the impending danger could be restored to the world and serve the future generation and their children. And this not only happens in times of distress, but also in times of prayer: when we want to supplicate the Lord, as the Apostle says to the Corinthians: Do not defraud one another, unless perhaps by agreement for a limited time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer (I Cor. VII, 5). Therefore, now the three houses of David, and the three houses of Nathan, and the three houses of Levi, and the three houses of Semei, are separated from their wives: so that they may mourn the only-begotten and first-born Lord Jesus, of whom it was said: His blood be upon us, and upon our children (Matt. 27:25). In the royal house of David, the tribe of Judah is included. In the prophetic order, the house of Nathan is described. The house of Levi pertains to the priests, from whom the priesthood originated. In Semei, teachers are accepted: for from this tribe swarms of masters have sprung up. He is silent about the other tribes, which do not have any privilege of dignity. In that which he says, 'All the other tribes, each tribe separately, and their wives separately, he includes them all without naming them. Let us say, according to the Septuagint, it is called a grove, not one tree of pomegranates, that is, of the pomegranate tree, but a place planted with these trees, about which the Bridegroom says, according to the spiritual understanding, in the Song of Songs: I went down to see in the generative stream if the vineyard had blossomed, if the pomegranates had blossomed (Song of Songs 6:10).' For the Savior descended to the stream of this world and its troubled waters, from which even in the type of him Elias is said to have drunk (III Kings 17): so that after the flowers of the vineyard and the fruit of the pomegranate tree, he might receive both, and, inebriating his Church, be heard by her, saying: 'You will give me to drink the wine of aromatics, of pomegranates of my orchard.' (Song of Solomon 8:2). Such a potion not only drives away the heat of the stomach, but is also said to heal a corrupted bowel and benefit the other viscera. Nothing is more beautiful than this apple; in its redness, it signifies the modesty of the Church: in the order of its seeds, it represents the degrees and members of the whole body, distributed through individual functions. When the Savior did not find fruit on such a vineyard and on the apple tree, he will say: Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (John 15:2). And in another place, John the Baptist proclaims: And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees (Matthew 3:10). Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Luke 3:9). In the gathering of vices or evils, when on the day of judgment all the names of dignities will be set aside, and that which is written will be fulfilled: Behold the man and his works (Matthew 3, Luke 3); and the chaff separated from the wheat, there will be great mourning not in another place, but in Jerusalem. For indeed the plague and judgment will begin with the saints, and kings and priests and prophets and teachers will strike their chests with their hands when they see that the most beautiful evils have been cut down, and the one whom they had pierced reigning in the majesty of the Father and his own (1 Peter 4).

The first part of this chapter, with several passages in chap. 14, relates to an invasion that shall be made on the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem in the latter ages of the world, some time after the restoration and settlement of the Jews in their own land. It also describes, in very magnificent terms, the signal interposition of God in their favor. From this the prophet proceeds in the latter part of the chapter, Zac 14:10-14, to describe the spiritual mercies of God to converting his people; and gives a very pathetic and affecting account of the deep sorrow of that people, when brought to a sense of their great sin in crucifying the Messiah, comparing it to the sorrow of a parent for his first-born and only son, or to the lamentations made for Josiah in the valley of Megiddon, Ch2 35:24, Ch2 35:25. A deep, retired sorrow, which will render the mourners for a season insensible to all the comforts and enjoyments of the most endearing society.

A great mourning - A universal repentance. As the mourning of Hadadrimmon - They shall mourn as deeply for the crucified Christ as their forefathers did for the death of Josiah, who was slain at Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. See Ch2 35:24, Ch2 35:25.

JERUSALEM THE INSTRUMENT OF JUDGMENT ON HER FOES HEREAFTER; HER REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION. (Zac 12:1-14) burden--"weighty prophecy"; fraught with destruction to Israel's foes; the expression may also refer to the distresses of Israel implied as about to precede the deliverance. for Israel--concerning Israel [MAURER]. stretcheth forth--present; now, not merely "hath stretched forth," as if God only created and then left the universe to itself (Joh 5:17). To remove all doubts of unbelief as to the possibility of Israel's deliverance, God prefaces the prediction by reminding us of His creative and sustaining power. Compare a similar preface in Isa 42:5; Isa 43:1; Isa 65:17-18. formeth . . . spirit of man-- (Num 16:22; Heb 12:9).

As in Zac 12:10 the bitterness of their mourning is illustrated by a private case of mourning, so in this verse by a public one, the greatest recorded in Jewish history, that for the violent death in battle with Pharaoh-necho of the good King Josiah, whose reign had been the only gleam of brightness for the period from Hezekiah to the downfall of the state; lamentations were written by Jeremiah for the occasion (Kg2 23:29-30; Ch2 35:22-27). Hadad-rimmon--a place or city in the great plain of Esdraelon, the battlefield of many a conflict, near Megiddo; called so from the Syrian idol Rimmon. Hadad also was the name of the sun, a chief god of the Syrians [MACROBIUS, Saturnalia, 1.23]. A universal and an individual mourning at once.

Israel's Conflict and Victory, Conversion and Sanctification - Zechariah 12:1-13:6 This section forms the first half of the second prophecy of Zechariah concerning the future of Israel and of the nations of the world, viz., the prophecy contained in ch. 12-14, which, as a side-piece to ch. 9-11, treats of the judgment by which Israel, the nation of God, will be refined, sifted, and led on to perfection through conflict with the nations of the world. This first section announces how the conflict against Jerusalem and Judah will issue in destruction to the nations of the world (Zac 12:1-4). Jehovah will endow the princes of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem with marvellous strength to overcome all their foes (Zac 12:5-9), and will pour out His Spirit of grace upon them, so that they will bitterly repent the death of the Messiah (Zac 12:10-14), and purify themselves from all ungodliness (Zac 13:1-6).

In Zac 12:11-14 the magnitude and universality of the mourning are still further depicted. Zac 12:11. "In that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo. Zac 12:12. And the land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart. Zac 12:13. The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeite apart, and their wives apart. Zac 12:14. All the rest of the families, every family apart, and their wives apart." In Zac 12:11, the depth and bitterness of the pain on account of the slain Messiah are depicted by comparing it to the mourning of Hadad-rimmon. Jerome says with regard to this: "Adad-remmon is a city near Jerusalem, which was formerly called by this name, but is now called Maximianopolis, in the field of Mageddon, where the good king Josiah was wounded by Pharaoh Necho." This statement of Jerome is confirmed by the fact that the ancient Canaanitish or Hebrew name of the city has been preserved in Rmuni, a small village three-quarters of an hour to the south of Lejun (Legio = Megiddo: see at Jos 12:21; and V. de Velde, Reise, i. p. 267). The mourning of Hadad-rimmon is therefore the mourning for the calamity which befel Israel at Hadad-rimmon in the death of the good king Josiah, who was mortally wounded in the valley Megiddo, according to Ch2 35:22., so that he very soon gave up the ghost. The death of this most pious of all the kings of Judah was bewailed by the people, especially the righteous members of the nation, so bitterly, that not only did the prophet Jeremiah compose an elegy on his death, but other singers, both male and female, bewailed him in dirges, which were placed in a collection of elegiac songs, and preserved in Israel till long after the captivity (Ch2 35:25). Zechariah compares the lamentation for the putting of the Messiah to death to this great national mourning. All the other explanations that have been given of these words are so arbitrary, as hardly to be worthy of notice. This applies, for example, to the idea mentioned by the Chald., that the reference is to the death of the wicked Ahab, and also to Hitzig's hypothesis, that Hadad-rimmon was the one name of the god Adonis. For, apart from the fact that it is only from this passage that Movers has inferred that there ever was an idol of that name, a prophet of Jehovah could not possibly have compared the great lamentation of the Israelites over the death of the Messiah to the lamentation over the death of Ahab the ungodly king of Israel, or to the mourning for a Syrian idol. But the mourning will not be confined to Jerusalem; the land (hâ'ârets), i.e., the whole nation, will also mourn. This universality of the lamentation is individualized in Zac 12:12-14, and so depicted as to show that all the families and households of the nation mourn, and not the men only, but also the women. To this end the prophet mentions four distinct leading and secondary families, and then adds in conclusion, "all the rest of the families, with their wives." Of the several families named, two can be determined with certainty, - namely, the family of the house of David, i.e., the posterity of king David, and the family of the house of Levi, i.e., the posterity of the patriarch Levi. But about the other two families there is a difference of opinion. The rabbinical writers suppose that Nathan is the well known prophet of that name, and the family of Shimei the tribe of Simeon, which is said, according to the rabbinical fiction, to have furnished teachers to the nation. (Note: Jerome gives the Jewish view thus: "In David the regal tribe is included, i.e., Judah. In Nathan the prophetic order is described. Levi refers to the priests, from whom the priesthood sprang. 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 of dignity.") But the latter opinion is overthrown, apart from any other reason, by the fact that the patronymic of Simeon is not written שׁמעי, but שׁמעני, in Jos 21:4; Ch1 27:16. Still less can the Benjamite Shimei, who cursed David (Sa2 16:5.), be intended. משׁפּחת השּׁמעי is the name given in Num 3:21 to the family of the son of Gershon and the grandson of Levi (Num 3:17.). This is the family intended here, and in harmony with this Nathan is not the prophet of that name, but the son of David, from whom Zerubbabel was descended (Luk 3:27, Luk 3:31). Luther adopted this explanation: "Four families," he says, "are enumerated, two from the royal line, under the names of David and Nathan, and two from the priestly line, as Levi and Shimei; after which he embraces all together." Of two tribes he mentions one leading family and one subordinate branch, to show that not only are all the families of Israel in general seized with the same grief, but all the separate branches of those families. Thus the word mishpâchâh is used here, as in many other cases, in the wider and more restricted meaning of the leading and the subordinate families.