Sacharja 12:5 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.

And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart,.... The governors of the rest of the cities in Judea, besides Jerusalem, when they shall observe the armies of the people, their horses and their riders, smitten by the Lord, as above, shall take heart, and be of good courage: and secretly say within themselves, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God; that is, they, in the strength of the Lord, shall overcome their enemies, and so be the means of preserving and securing the other cities of Judah from destruction: the governors do not place their strength and confidence in the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but as they are strengthened in and by the Lord their God, from whom all strength, safety, and salvation come. In this and the following verse Zac 12:6, by "the governors of Judah" are not meant Judas Maccabeus, and his brethren, as some think; for though there are some things in the context that seem to agree with them, and they may be an emblem of the governors in the times referred to, for their courage, bravery, and success; yet the thread of history, and series of prophecy, will not admit such a sense.

(Verse 5) And the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts: Let the inhabitants of Jerusalem be strengthened in the Lord their God. LXX: And the tribunes, that is, the commanders, will say in their hearts: Let us find for ourselves, those who dwell in Jerusalem, in the Almighty Lord their God. When the Lord opens His eyes upon Judah and strikes all the horses of the nations with blindness, the leaders of Judah, of whom it was said above, will be besieged against Jerusalem. They will make vows in their hearts, because they will not dare to speak freely, so that Jerusalem may overcome and Judah, defeated by the enemies, may conquer with its own citizens. For this reason, as we have said, let them be strengthened, and let them translate εὐρήσομεν ἑαυτοῖς as inveniemus nobis in Latin, as it is written in Hebrew Emsa LI (), which Aquila translated as καρτέρησον μοι, that is, comfort me, so that the meaning is: The chiliarchs, tribunes, and leaders of Judea will desire, and they will make their wishes in the secret place of the mind, that God may strengthen the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the Lord their God, and they may overcome their adversaries. According to the tropology, the apostles are the leaders and tribunes, and all the apostolic men and teachers who have been in charge of Christ's army, who would not find others for themselves except those who live in Jerusalem, in the vision of peace, and who live in the Lord Almighty their God. Among these leaders was the apostle Paul, who found Titus and Timothy, Luke and Silvanus: Peter also instructed Mark, the writer of the Gospel, and the other apostles who filled the whole world with their teaching and education, so that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would have disciples.

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.

The governors of Judah - This supposes a union between the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

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).

shall say--when they see the foe divinely smitten with "madness." Judah . . . Jerusalem--here distinguished as the country and the metropolis. Judah recognizes her "strength" to be "Jerusalem and its inhabitants" as the instrument, and "Jehovah of hosts their God" (dwelling especially there) as the author of all power (Joe 3:16). My strength is the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who have the Lord their God as their help. The repulse of the foe by the metropolis shall assure the Jews of the country that the same divine aid shall save them.

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).

Zac 12:5. "And the princes of Judah will say in their hearts, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are strength to me, in Jehovah of hosts their God. Zac 12:6. On that day will I make the princes of Judah as a basin of fire under logs of wood, and like a torch of fire under sheaves; and they will devour all nations round about, on the right and on the left; and Jerusalem will dwell still further in its place, at Jerusalem. Zac 12:7. And Jehovah will save the tents of Judah first, that the splendour of the house of David and the splendour of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not lift itself up over Judah." The princes of Judah are mentioned as the leaders of the people in war. What they say is the conviction of the whole nation ('allūph, as in Zac 9:7). אמצה (in this form ἁπ. λεγ.) is a substantive = אמץ, strength (Job 17:9). The singular lı̄ (to me) expresses the fact that every individual says or thinks this, as with the expression "should I weep" in Zac 7:3. The princes of Judah recognise in the inhabitants of Jerusalem their strength or might, not in this sense, that Judah, being crowded together before Jerusalem, expects help against the foe from the strength of the city and the assistance of its inhabitants, as Hofmann and Koehler maintain, for "their whole account of the inhabitants of the land being shut up in the city (or crowded together before the walls of Jerusalem, and covered by them) is a pure invention" (Koehler), and has no foundation in the text; but in this sense, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem are strong through Jehovah their God, i.e., through the fact that Jehovah has chosen Jerusalem, and by virtue of this election will save the city of His sanctuary (compare Zac 10:12 with Zac 3:2; Zac 1:17; Zac 2:12). Because the princes of Judah put their trust in the divine election of Jerusalem, the Lord makes them into a basin of fire under logs of wood, and a burning torch under sheaves, so that they destroy all nations round about like flames of fire, and Jerusalem therefore remains unconquered and undestroyed in its place at Jerusalem. In this last sentence Jerusalem is first of all the population personified as a woman, and in the second instance the city as such. From the fact that Jerusalem is still preserved, in consequence of the destruction of the enemy proceeding from the princes of Judah it is very evident that the princes of Judah are the representatives of the whole nation, and that the whole of the covenant nation (Judah with Jerusalem) is included in the house of Judah in Zac 12:4. And Zac 12:7 may easily be reconciled with this. The statement that the Lord will "save the tents of Judah first, that the splendour of the house of David may not lift itself up above Judah," contains the simple thought that the salvation will take place in such a manner that no part of the nation will have any occasion to lift itself up above another, and that because the salvation is effected not by human power, but by the omnipotence of God alone. "The tents of Judah, i.e., its huts, form an antithesis to the splendid buildings of the capital, and probably (?) also point to the defenceless condition of Judah, through which it was absolutely cast upon the help of God" (Note: Calvin observes: "In my opinion, the prophet applies the term 'tents' to huts which cannot protect their guests or inhabitants. We have thus a tacit contrast between huts and fortified cities.") (Hengstenberg). תּפארת, the splendour or glory, not the boasting. The house of David is the royal line, which was continued in Zerubbabel and his family, and culminated in Christ. Its splendour consists in the glorification promised in Zac 4:6-10 and Zac 4:14, and Hag 2:23; and the splendour of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is the promises which this city received through its election to be the city of God, in which Jehovah would be enthroned in His sanctuary, and also through the future glorification predicted for it in consequence (Zac 1:16-17; Zac 2:8, Zac 2:12, ff.). The antithesis between Jerusalem and the house of David on the one hand, and the tents of Judah on the other, does not serve to express the thought that "the strong ones will be saved by the weak, in order that the true equilibrium may arise between the two" (Hengst.), for Judah cannot represent the weak ones if its princes consume the enemy like flames of fire; but the thought is simply this: At the deliverance from the attack of the foe, Jerusalem will have no pre-eminence over Judah; but the promises which Jerusalem and the house of David have received will benefit Judah, i.e., the whole of the covenant nation, in like manner. This thought is expressed in the following way: The defenceless land will be delivered sooner than the well-defended capital, that the latter may not lift itself up above the former, but that both may humbly acknowledge "that the victory in both cases is the Lord's" (Jerome); for, according to Zac 12:8, Jerusalem will enjoy in the fullest measure the salvation of God.