familiar · noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֖הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
say
וְאָֽמְר֛וּve.'a.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
heart
בְּלִבָּ֑םbe.li.Bam
H3820
the heart · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
inhabitants
יֹשְׁבֵ֣יyo.she.Vei
H3427
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔םye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
strength
אַמְצָ֥ה'am.Tzah
H556
force · noun, common feminine singular absolute
LORD
בַּיהוָ֥הba.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֖וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
God
אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם'e.lo.hei.Hem
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
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
Psalms 18:32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
Joel 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be th…
Zechariah 10:12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.
Psalms 18:39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
Psalms 144:1 Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
Psalms 20:6-7 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Isaiah 28:6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 12:1-8
Here is, I. The title of this charter of promises made to God's Israel; it is the burden of the word of the Lord, a divine prediction; it is of weight in the delivery of it; it is to be pressed upon people, and will be very pressing in the accomplishment of it; it is a burden, a heavy burden, to all the church's enemies, like that talent of lead, Zac 5:7, Zac 5:8. But it is for Israel; it is for their comfort and benefit. As even the fiery law (Deu 33:2), so the fiery prophecies and fiery providences that come from God's right hand, come for them; the word that speaks terror to their enemies speaks peace to them, as the pillar of cloud and fire, which turned a bright side towards the Israeli…
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.
Adam Clarke on Zechariah 12:5
The governors of Judah - This supposes a union between the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
John Gill on Zechariah 12:5
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 Lor…
The Church Fathers
(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 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…
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).
Zechariah 12:5
5. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
5. Et dicent duces Iehudah in cordibus suis, Fortitudo mihi (vel, robus) habitatores Ierusalem in Iehova exercituum Deo suo.
He still continues the same subject -- that however small and feeble the flock of God would be, it would yet have sufficient strength; for the Lord would stand on the side of those who fled to him. Though then Jerusalem was not as yet filled with citizens, and though there was but one city, yet Zechariah testifies that its strength would be invincible; but he speaks of the chiefs of Judah comparatively. Formerly, we…
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 con…
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: This title emphasizes God’s irrepressible power (see study note on 1:3). The frequent repetition of this title in Zechariah’s second oracle (chs 12–14) assured his audience that the divine promises concerning Judah’s victory would certainly be fulfilled (12:7).
Rashi on Zechariah 12:5
And the princes of Judah shall say to themselves when they see that the others who were gathered are plagued with this plague, and they are saved.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem were my strength, etc. The inhabitants of Jerusalem, who know that we came upon them against our will, strengthened my help with their prayer by the Lord, their God.
