4 In that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I do smite every horse with astonishment, And its rider with madness, And on the house of Judah I open My eyes, And every horse of the peoples I smite with blindness.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples, All loading it are completely pressed down, And gathered against it have been all nations of the earth.
`Jehovah doth smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;
the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform,
And so is the plague of the horse, of the mule, Of the camel, and of the ass, And of all the cattle that are in these camps, As this plague.
In that day cover over doth Jehovah the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And the stumbling among them hath been in that day as David, And the house of David as God -- As a messenger of Jehovah -- before them. And it hath come to pass, in that day, I seek to destroy all the nations Who are coming in against Jerusalem,
In that day I make the leaders of Judah As a hearth of fire among trees, And as a torch of fire in a sheaf, And they have consumed -- on the right and on the left -- all the peoples round about, And Jerusalem hath inhabited again her place in Jerusalem.
And I have pitched for My house a camp, Because of the passer through, and of the returner, And pass not through against them again doth an exactor, For, now, I have seen with My eyes.
`Incline, O my God, Thine ear, and hear, open Thine eyes and see our desolations, and the city on which Thy name is called; for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before Thee, but for Thy mercies that `are' many.
for Thine eyes being open towards this house night and day, towards the place of which Thou hast said, My Name is there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant prayeth towards this place.
And I have set Mine eyes on them for good, And have brought them back to this land, And built them up, and I throw not down, And have planted them, and pluck not up.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, Jehovah layeth a charge on the host of the high place in the high place, And on the kings of the land on the land.
Spoiled themselves have the mighty of heart, They have slept their sleep, And none of the men of might found their hands. From Thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both rider and horse have been fast asleep. Thou, fearful `art' Thou, And who doth stand before Thee, Since Thou hast been angry!
let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father have sinned;
`Now, Mine eyes are open, and Mine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place;
`Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place:
And they come down unto it, and Elisha prayeth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Smite, I pray Thee, this nation with blindness;' and He smiteth them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Zechariah 12
Commentary on Zechariah 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
The apostle (Gal. 4:25, 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 (v. 1) declares his power to make them good. It is promised,
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.
Zec 12:1-8
Here is,
Zec 12:9-14
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.