Zechariah 12:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
to spill forth (blood · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
house
בֵּ֨יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
David
דָּוִ֜ידda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
inhabitants
יוֹשֵׁ֣בyo.Shev
H3427
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗םye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
spirit
ר֤וּחַRu.ach
H7307
wind · noun, common feminine singular construct
grace
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail becaus…
Ezekiel 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
John 19:34-37 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Joel 2:28-29 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your ol…
Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentat…
Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this,…
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh interces…
Amos 8:10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness u…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 12:9–end
The day here spoken of is the day of Jerusalem's defence and deliverance, that glorious day when God will appear for the salvation of his people, which, if it do refer to the successes which the Jews had against their enemies in the time of the Maccabees, yet certainly looks further, to the gospel-day, to Christ's victories over the powers of darkness and the great salvation he has wrought for his chosen. Now we have here an account of two remarkable works designed in that day.
I. A glorious work of God to be wrought for his people: "I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem, Zac 12:9. Nations come against Jerusalem, many and mighty nations; but they shall all be des…
Future conversion of the Jews is to flow from an extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Jer 31:9, Jer 31:31-34; Eze 39:29).
spirit of grace . . . supplications--"spirit" is here not the spirit produced, but THE HOLY SPIRIT producing a "gracious" disposition, and inclination for "supplications." CALVIN explains "spirit of grace" as the grace of God itself (whereby He "pours" out His bowels of mercy), "conjoined with the sense of it in man's heart." The "spirit of supplications" is the mercury whose rise or fall is an unerring test of the state of the Church [MOORE]. In Hebrew, "grace" and "supplications" are kindred terms; translate, therefore, "gracious supplications." The plural imp…
I will pour upon the house of David - This is the way in which the Jews themselves shall be brought into the Christian Church.
1. "They shall have the spirit of grace," God will show them that he yet bears favor to them.
2. They shall be excited to fervent and continual prayer for the restoration of the Divine favor.
3. Christ shall be preached unto them; and they shall look upon and believe in him whom they pierced, whom they crucified at Jerusalem.
4. This shall produce deep and sincere repentance; they shall mourn, and be in bitterness of soul, to think that they had crucified the Lord of life and glory, and so long continued to contradict and blaspheme, since that time.
The Church Fathers
"For the Lord shall build up Zion." This work is going on now. O you living stones, run to the work of the building, not to ruin. Zion is building; beware of the ruined walls. The tower is building, the ark is in building; remember the deluge. This work is in progress now, but when Zion is built, what will happen? "And he will appear in his glory." That he might build up Zion, that he might be a foundation in Zion, he was seen in Zion, but not in his glory: "We have seen him, and he had no form or comeliness." But truly when he shall have come with his angels to judge, shall they not then look upon him whom they have pierced? And too late they shall [be] put to confusion, who refused confusion in early and healthful repentance.
Then shall the son of perdition be brought forward as the accuser, with his demons and with his servants, by angels stern and inexorable. And they shall be given over to the fire that is never quenched, and to the worm that never sleeps, and to the outer darkness. For the crucifiers shall see him in human form, as he appeared to them "when he came" by the holy virgin in the flesh and as they crucified him. And he will show them the "prints of the" nails in his hands and feet, and his side pierced with the spear, and his head crowned with thorns, and his honorable cross. And once for all shall the people of the Hebrews see all these things, and they shall mourn and weep, as the prophet exclaims, "They shall look on him whom they have pierced."
Now, indeed, that body is worthy of a heavenly dwelling place, not subject to death, not changeable through the ages [of life]. For as he had grown to that age from infancy, so he does not decline to old age from the age which was young adulthood. He remains as he ascended; he is going to come to those to whom, before he comes, he wanted his word to be preached. So therefore he will come in a human form. The ungodly too will see this; those placed to the right will see it too; those separate to the left will see it too, as it was written, "They shall see him whom they have pierced." If they will see him whom they have pierced, they will see the same body that they thrust through with a spear, [for] the Word is not struck by a spear.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Messiah — (Heb. mashiah), in all the thirty-nine instances of its occurring in the Old Testament, is rendered by the LXX. “Christos.” It means anointed. Thus priests (Ex. 28:41; 40:15; Num. 3:3), prophets (1…
Mourn — Frequent references are found in Scripture to, (1.) Mourning for the dead. Abraham mourned for Sarah (Gen. 23:2); Jacob for Joseph (37:34, 35); the Egyptians for Jacob (50:3-10); Israel for Aaron…
Spirit — (Heb. ruah; Gr. pneuma), properly wind or breath. In 2 Thess. 2:8 it means “breath,” and in Eccl. 8:8 the vital principle in man. It also denotes the rational, immortal soul by which man is…
First Born, The · Precious and valuable — Precious and valuable
Grace · The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of — The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of
Jews, The · Promises respecting: The pouring out of the Spirit upon them — Promises respecting: The pouring out of the Spirit upon them
Paschal Lamb, Typical Nature Of · Eaten with bitter herbs — Eaten with bitter herbs
Prayer · The holy spirit: Promised as a Spirit of — The holy spirit: Promised as a Spirit of
Prophecies Respecting Christ · His being pierced — His being pierced
Repentance · By the operation of the Holy Spirit — By the operation of the Holy Spirit
Titles And Names Of The Holy Spirit · Spirit of grace — Spirit of grace
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
חֵן֙chen
H2580
graciousness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
supplications
וְתַ֣חֲנוּנִ֔יםve.Ta.cha.nu.Nim
H8469
earnest prayer · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
look
וְהִבִּ֥יטוּve.hi.Bi.tu
H5027
to scan · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
pierced
דָּקָ֑רוּda.Ka.ru
H1856
to stab · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
mourn
כְּמִסְפֵּד֙ke.mis.Ped
H4553
a lamentation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
mourneth
וְסָפְד֣וּve.sa.fe.Du
H5594
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
bitterness
כְּהָמֵ֥רke.ha.Mer
H4843
to be (causatively · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
firstborn
הַבְּכֽוֹרha.be.Khor
H1060
firstborn · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
John Gill on Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,.... The Jews that belong to the family of Christ, and to the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven:
the Spirit of grace and of supplications; by which is meant the Holy Spirit of God, who is called the "Spirit of grace"; not merely because he is good and gracious, and loving to his people, and is of grace given unto them; but because he is the author of all grace in them; of gracious convictions, and spiritual illuminations; of quickening, regenerating, converting, and sanctifying grace; and of all particular graces, as faith, hope, love, fear, repentance, humilit…
Zechariah 12:10
10. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
10. Et effundam supe domum Davidis, et super habitatorem Ierosolymae Spiritum gratiae et miserationum; (vel, precationum, vertunt alii;) et respicient ad me quem confixerunt; et lugebunt super ipsum tanquam luctu super inigenitum; et amarulenti erunt super eum, quasi amarulentia quae est super primogenitum.
At the beginning of this verse the Prophet int…
But the Lord will do still more than this for His people. He will renew it by pouring out His spirit of grace upon it, so that it will come to the knowledge of the guilt it has incurred by the rejection of the Saviour, and will bitterly repent of its sin. Zac 12:10. "And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look upon me, whom they have pierced, and will mourn over him like the mourning over an only one, and will grieve bitterly over him, as one grieves bitterly over the first-born." This new promise is simply attached to the previous verse by ו consec. (ושׁפכתּי). Through this mode of attachment…
pour out: This word describes the outpouring of God’s spirit of prophecy upon Israel and all people on the day of the Lord (cp. Ezek 39:28-29; Joel 2:28-29) and God’s judgment upon the wicked (Lam 2:4; Hos 5:10; Zeph 3:8). • a spirit of grace: God’s unmerited and unsought favor persuades God’s people to seek him in contrite and repentant prayer (see Ps 86:15-16). • me whom they have pierced: The New Testament understands the piercing of God as a reference to the piercing of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth (John 19:34-37; Rev 1:7).
Rashi on Zechariah 12:10
a spirit of grace and supplications That it should come into their mind to supplicate Me, and they will be in My good graces.
a spirit Talant in Old French, a desire.
they shall look to Me because of those who have been thrust through Jonathan renders: And they shall supplicate Me because of their wanderings.
And they shall look to Me. to complain about those of them whom the nations thrust through and slew during their exile.
and they shall mourn over it Over that slaughter.
as one mourns over an only son As a man mourns over his only son. And our Sages expounded this in tractate Sukkah (52a) as referring to the Messiah, son of Joseph, who was slain.
