James Trimm’s Nazarene Commentary on Zechariah Chapter 12

The Last Battle and Return of Messiah

12:1-2

1 The burden of the word of YHWH, concerning Yisra’el. The saying of YHWH, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him:
2 Behold, I will make Yerushalayim a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about, and upon Y’hudah also shall it fall, to be in the siege against Yerushalayim.
(Zech. 12:1-2 HRV)

This prophecy relates to the last battle in which the gentile armies shall surround Jerusalem and bring it under siege (see Zech. 14:2)

According to the Targum Jonathan and Rashi, At this battle, some of the House of Judah (Jews) will be forced by the gentile armies to fight against Jerusalem. Rashi writes:

and upon Y’hudah: the nations that will be in siege against Jerusalem will impose upon Judah, for the house of David will be inside and the gentiles will besiege them. And also, the children of Judah will come, against their will, to besiege Jerusalem. So did Targum Jonathan render it.

12:3-4

3 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Yerushalayim a stone of burden for all the peoples. All that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded: and all the nations of the earth, shall be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, says YHWH, I will smite every horse with bewilderment, and his rider with madness. And I will open My eyes upon the House of Y’hudah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.
(Zech 12:3-4 HRV)

Rashi interprets that YHWH will divinely protect those of the House of Judah who have been forced to fight against Jerusalem. He writes:

I will smite every horse: of those gathered there with bewilderment and blindness, and their riders with madness (Shem Ephraim). But upon the [members of the] house of Judah, who are among those gathered against their will, I will open My eyes to protect them from this plague.

12:5

5 And the chiefs of Y’hudah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Yerushalayim are my strength, through YHWH Tzva’ot, their Elohim.
(Zech. 12:5 HRV)

Rashi says:

And the chiefs of Y’hudah shall say in their heart: when they see that the others who were gathered are plagued with this plague, and they are saved.

The inhabitants of Yerushalayim are 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.

12:6

6 In that day, will I make the chiefs of Y’hudah like a pan of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves. And they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Yerushalayim shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Yerushalayim.
(Zech. 12:6 HRV)

Seeing this divine protection, the House of Judah will turn on the gentile armies that had forced them to fight against Jerusalem. As Rashi writes:

In that day, will I make the chiefs of Y’hudah: They will return and wage war with those who brought them there.

7 YHWH also shall save the tents of Y’hudah first, that the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, be not magnified above Y’hudah.
(Zech. 12:7 HRV)

Rashi explains:

YHWH also shall save the tents of Y’hudah first, Before the inhabitants of Jerusalem come out of the city, they shall have a salvation – to return to their tents and to their homes – and afterwards the salvation shall come to the inhabitants of the city. That is the salvation concerning which it is stated (14:3): “And the Lord shall go forth and wage war.”

be not magnified, etc., shall not increase: to boast over them and to say, “ You were saved only because of us.”

12:8

8 In that day shall YHWH defend the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and he that stumbles among them at that day, shall be as David. And the house of David shall be as a godlike being–as the angel of YHWH before them.
(Zech. 12:8 HRV)

and he that stumbles among them at that day, shall be as David. They will receive a great revelation (see 12:10) The Zohar says of this verse:

Said.R. Judah: ‘Ah, had I come here only in order to hear these mystic revelations, it would have sufficed! It is.also written: “And he that stumbled among them on that day shall be as David” (Zech. Xll, 8). “As David”,.who said: “In my poverty I have prepared for the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold…”; “as.David”, who said of himself: “For I am poor and needy” (Ps. LXXXVI, I); yea, he called himself thus, who.was king above all other earthly kings!’
(Zohar 2:122a)

godlike being – The Hebrew is literally כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים “like Elohim” which Targum Jonathan renders כְּרַבְרְבִין “like great ones”

12:9

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Yerushalayim.
(Zech. 12:9 HRV)

What does this mean “seek”? The Talmud says:

R. Alexandri: What is the meaning of the verse, And it shall come to pass on that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations (Zech. 12:9)— ‘seek’ among whom? What the Holy One, blessed be He, says is, I will seek their records:17 if they have any meritorious deeds to their credit, I will redeem them, but if not, I will destroy them.
(b.Avodah Zarah 4a)

This is certainly in keeping with the events recorded in Zechariah 13:4-6 where the Messiah interrogates a false prophet upon his return.

12:10

And I will pour upon the house of David,
and upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim,
the spirit of grace and of supplication.
And they shall look unto Me, whom they pierced through,
and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son:
and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn.
(Zech. 12:10 HRV)

Although this passage is a Messianic prophecy of the crucifixion of Messiah, it does so as a sort of “flashback” in a prophecy about the return of the Messiah. In fact, both Matthew (Matt. 24:30) and Revelation (Rev. 1:7) connect this passage (Zech. 12:10-14) with the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven in Daniel 7:13-14. This coming of the Messiah in Zechariah 12 will lead into the Messianic judgement of purification and refinement in Zechariah 14.

At a prayer breakfast in Jerusalem in the 1980’s Reverend W.A. Criswell once asked Rabbi Shlomo Goren, “What are you going to do when the Messiah comes and he is Jesus?”

To which Rabbi Goren responded “I would have no problem with that, what are you going to do when Yeshua returns and he is an Orthodox Jew?”

This prophecy is telling us that at the second coming of Messiah, many Jewish people who had not accepted him, seeing that Yeshua is the Messiah, will accept him in that moment.

In the Talmud Rabbi Dosa (who lived around 250 CE) teaches regarding Zech. 12:10:

What is the cause of the mourning [of Zech. 12:12]–…
It is well according to him who explains that
the cause is the slaying of Messiah the son of Joseph,
since that well agrees with the Scriptural verse:
And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
And they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his
only son. (Zech. 12:10)
(b.Sukkot 52a)

(See comments to 12:11-14 for more on this passage of Talmud in the overall context of Zech 12:10-14)

In fact the Jerusalem Targum to Zechariah also identifies this one being pierced in Zechariah 12:10 as the “Messiah ben Ephraim”.

Lets look at a key phrase from this verse in the Hebrew:

והביטו אלי את אשר דקרו

“And they shall look toward me whom they pierced.”

Although many attempts have been made to translate this passage in other ways, the Hebrew is obvious. The article את points to the next term אשר דקרו “whom they have pierced” as receiving the action of the verb והביטו “and they shall look” while the preposition אלי must be understood “toward me” as the final י indicates the first person “me”.
Now lets look at how this was translated in the Aramaic Peshitta Tanak:

Note that the Aramaic translation adds the phrase “at him” to the passage.  This is because the Aramaic translator was attempting to translate the Hebrew word for word into Aramaic.  In his quest for such a word for word translation, he attempted to translate the untranslatable Hebrew word את with “at him” במן so as to convey the idea of a pointer to “whom they pierced” as the direct object.  The Hebrew word את is a preposition which is unique to Hebrew and which points to the next word or phrase as the direct object receiving the action of the verb.  In this case the word indicates that the ”whom they pierced” is receiving the action of  ”and they shall look toward me”.  The Aramaic translator has added ”at him” so at to connect ”whom they pierced” with ”they shall look toward me”. 

Now lets look at how this appears as quoted in Yochanan 19:37 in the Peshitta Aramaic:

Note that the Aramaic as it appears in Jn. 19:37 differs from the Peshitta Aramaic of Zech. 12:10 only by one word.  This Aramaic reading omits the phrase ”toward me” and retains only ”at him”.  Either Yochanan or the scribe of the Aramaic text of Zech 12:10 which served as his source text, seems to have found the phrase “toward me at him” to be redundant and thus omitted the phrase ”toward me”.  This shift from “toward me” to “at him” could only have occurred in the Aramaic text of Yochanan 19:37 and been translated into the Greek text of John 19:37.  Thus pointing to the Aramaic origin of the book of Yochanan and explaining the shift in the reading of this verse.

Now if we look at Zech. 12:10 in context we will see that the speaker here is YHWH:

 The saying of YHWH concerning Israel…
I [YHWH] will seek to destroy all of the nations
that come against Jerusalem.
And I will pour upon the house of David
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The Spirit of grace and of supplication;
And they shall look toward me whom they pierced
And they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son…
(Zech. 12:1, 9-10)

So we see that:

1.      “Me” the speaker is YHWH.
2.      YHWH (“Me”) is being looked upon.
3.      The one receiving the action of being pierced is the “Me” being looked upon.
4.      Therefore the one being pierced here is YHWH.

Many translations have bent over backwards to try to avoid this reading.  For example the JPS (1917) text has:

“And they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through.”

And the Hebrew Publishing Company 1916 text has:

“and they shall look unto me for every one whom they have pierced”

As we have said above the Hebrew word ET את is an untranslatable Hebrew preposition which points to the next word or phrase as the direct object which receives the action.  While often Hebrew is very ambiguous, here is could not be more specific in saying that the one being pierced is the one being looked upon.  These Rabbinic versions are aimed at making the one looked upon be YHWH and the one being pierced as being someone else.  Another translation that mistranslates Zech. 12:10 is the Jehovah’s Witnesses “New World Translation” which reads:

and they will certainly look to the One
whom they pierced through

These translators do not have the luxury of making the one “looked upon” and the one “pierced” be different because Yochanan 19:37 makes it clear that they are the same.

Their only “way out” has been to wrongly translate אלי ”toward me” as “to the One”.  This translation is intended to avoid the problem presented to Jehovah’s Witnesses (who reject the idea that Messiah was YHWH incarnate) by a text that plainly says that the “Me” (YHWH) is being both looked upon and pierced.  Since Yochanan identifies the one pierced as well as the one looked upon as Yeshua, the JW’s must find some way to prevent this from being YHWH.   They do so by mistranslating אלי as “to the One”.  In reality the אל means “toward” and the י suffix is the first person indicator.  This י cannot mean simply “the One” but must mean “Me”.  This is clear to any first year Hebrew student.

What is especially interesting is that those who wish to avoid the clear meaning of Zech. 12:10 cannot agree together on what it is supposed to say instead. This is because they are all trying to make it say something other than what the Hebrew text actually does say.

12:11-14

11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Yerushalayim, as the mourning of Hadad-Rimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart: the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Natan apart, and their wives apart;
13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
14 All the families that remain: every family apart, and their wives apart.
(Zech. 12:11-14 HRV)

Both Matthew (Matt. 24:30) and Revelation (Rev. 1:7) connect this passage (Zech. 12:10-14) with the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven in Daniel 7:13-14.

The Talmud records that there was a debate between Rabbi Dosa and other Rabbis concerning the meaning of Zechariah 12:10.  The Talmud says:

What is the cause of the mourning [mentioned in Zech 12:12]?
R. Dosa and the Rabbis differ on the point.
One [Rabbi Dosa] explained, The cause is the slaying of Messiah the son of Joseph,
and the other [the Rabbis] explained, The cause is the slaying of the Evil Inclination.

It is well according to him who explains that the cause is the slaying of Messiah the son of Joseph, since that well agrees with the Scriptural verse, And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son (Zech. 12:10).

But according to him who explains the cause to be the slaying of the Yetzer Ra (Evil Inclination), is this [it may be objected] an occasion for mourning? Is it not rather an occasion for rejoicing? Why then should they weep? — [The explanation is] as R. Judah expounded: In the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the Evil Inclination and slay it in the presence of the righteous and the wicked. To the righteous it will have the appearance of a towering hill, and to the wicked it will have the appearance of a hair thread. Both the former and the latter will weep; the righteous will weep saying, ‘How were we able to overcome such a towering hill!’ The wicked also will weep saying, ‘How is it that we were unable to conquer this hair thread!’ And the Holy One, blessed be He, will also marvel together with them, as it is said, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, it shall also be marvelous in My eyes.
(Sukkah 52a)

However, when we understand the how the destruction of the Yetzer Ra is achieved, we will see that there is in reality no conflict between the view of Rabbi Dosa (not only Rabbi Dosa, but the Targum Jonathan to Zech. 12:10 which agrees with Dosa’s view) and the view of the Rabbis.

Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (1194-1270 C.E.) wrote one of the most authoritative Torah commentaries in Rabbinic Judaism. In his commentary to Deut. 29:6 he tells us about the destruction of the Yetzer Ra:

And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart (Deut. 30:6) It is this which the Rabbis have said, “If someone comes to purify himself, they assist him” [from on High]. The verse assures you that you will return to Him with all your heart and He will help you.

This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked. This [grant of free will] applies likewise to the entire Torah period, so that people can gain merit upon choosing the good and punishment for preferring evil. But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it. This is the “circumcision” mentioned here, for lust and desire are the “foreskin” of the heart, and circumcision of the heart means that it will not covet or desire evil.

Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will, as I have explained in Seder Bereshit.

It is this which Scripture states in [the Book of] Jeremiah 31:30], Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers ..etc. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Eternal, I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.

This is a reference to the annulment of the Yetzer Ra (evil inclination) and to the natural performance by the heart of its proper function. Therefore Jeremiah said further, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know YHWH; ‘for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them

Now, it is known that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth and it is necessary to instruct them, but at that time it will not be necessary to instruct them [to avoid evil] for their Yetzer Ra (evil inclination) will then be completely abolished. And so it is declared by Ezekiel, A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to walk in My statutes . (Ezekiel 36:26)

The new heart alludes to man’s nature, and the [new] spirit to the desire and will. It is this which our Rabbis have said : “And the years draw nigh, when you shall say: I have no pleasure in them; these are the days of the Messiah, as they will offer opportunity neither for merit nor for guilt,” for in the days of the Messiah there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.
(Ramban on Deut. 29:6)

Notice that in describing the destruction of the Yetzer Ra, Ramban says that the Yetzer Ra is destroyed in the “days of Messiah”.  This phrase “days of the Messiah” is a reference to the teaching of the school of Elijah the prophet as recorded in the Talmud:

The Tanna debe Eliyyahu teaches: The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years are the days of Messiah, but through our many iniquities all these years have been lost….
Rab said: All the predestined dates have passed, and the matter [now] depends only on repentance and good deeds.
(b.San. 97a-97b)

This passage of Talmud tells us that the school of the prophet Elijah taught that the ages of this world could be broken down into three ages (each of about 2,000 years).  2,000 years of chaos, 2,000 years of Torah and 2,000 years of the days of Messiah.  This would place Messiah’s coming right around the first century.  (The Talmud then continues through page 99a trying to explain why Messiah did not come in the first century after all.)

Is it possible that Rabbi Dosa and the Rabbis are both right?  Could it be that Zechariah 12:10 speaks both of the death of Messiah, and through his death, the destruction of the Yetzer Ra as well?