Zechariah 12

"\nThe burden of the word of the Lord for Israel,.... And against their enemies; for the good of the church of God, for its joy, comfort, and salvation; or, "concerning Israel" {x}; what shall befall them in the latter day, as the destruction of antichrist, prophesied of in the preceding chapter Zec 11:1; and what is hereafter said may be believed that it shall be accomplished. The Lord is described in the greatness of his power, speaking as follows:\n\nsaith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens: as a curtain,\n Ps 104:2 the expanse or firmament of heaven, which is stretched out as a canopy over all the earth around:\n\nand layeth the foundation of the earth; firm and sure, though upon the seas and floods, yea, upon nothing, Ps 24:2:\n\nand formeth the spirit of man within him; the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, gifts and endowments; which is of his immediate creation, and which he continues daily to form, and infuse into the bodies of men, and holds in life there; hence he is called the Father of spirits, Heb 12:9.\n\n{x} \u05e2\u05dc "de", Piscator, Drusius; "super Israele", Cocceius, Burkius.\n\n\n\n "

12:1-8 Here is a Divine prediction, which will be a heavy burden to all the enemies of the church. But it is for Israel; for their comfort and benefit. It is promised that God will make foolish the counsels, and weaken the courage of the enemies of the church. The exact meaning is not clear; but God often begins by calling the poor and despised; and in that day even the feeblest will resemble David, and be as eminent in courage and every thing good. Desirable indeed is it that the examples and labours of Christians should render them as fire among wood, as a torch in a sheaf, to kindle the flame of Divine love, to spread religion on the right hand and on the left.

CHAPTER 12Zec 12:1-14. Jerusalem the Instrument of Judgment on Her Foes Hereafter; Her Repentance and Restoration.1. 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; 43:1; 65:17, 18.formeth … spirit of man—(Nu 16:22; Heb 12:9).

2. cup of trembling—a cup causing those who drink it to reel (from a Hebrew root "to reel"). Jerusalem, who drank the "cup of trembling" herself, shall be so to her foes (Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 13:13). Calvin with the Septuagint translates, "threshold of destruction," on which they shall stumble and be crushed when they attempt to cross it. English Version is better.both against Judah—The Hebrew order of words is literally, "And also against Judah shall he (the foe) be in the siege against Jerusalem"; implying virtually that Judah, as it shares the invasion along with Jerusalem, so it shall, like the metropolis, prove a cup of trembling to the invaders. Maurer with Jerome translates, "Also upon Judah shall be (the cup of trembling); that is, some Jews forced by the foe shall join in the assault on Jerusalem, and shall share the overthrow with the besiegers. But Zec 12:6, 7 show that Judah escapes and proves the scourge of the foe.

"\nBehold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about,.... The Targum renders it,\n\n"a vessel full of inebriating liquor;''\n\nwhich intoxicates and makes giddy, and causes to tremble, stagger, and fall like a drunken man. The phrase denotes the punishment inflicted by the Lord upon the enemies of his church and people; see\n Isa 51:22:\n\nwhen they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem; not by Antiochus Epiphanes; nor by Titus Vespasian; nor by Gog and Magog, as Kimchi; but by the antichristian powers, especially the Mahometan nations, the Turks, which shall come against Jerusalem, when the Jews are returned thither, and resettled in their own land; see Eze 38:5. The words should be rendered, "and upon Judah shall it be" {y}, i.e. the cup of trembling, "in the siege against Jerusalem"; according to the Targum, and the Jewish commentators, the nations of the earth shall bring the men of Judah by force to join with them in the siege of Jerusalem; as, in the times of Antiochus, many of the Jews were drawn in to fight against their brethren; but the meaning is, that not only the wrath of God will come upon the Mahometan nations that shall besiege Jerusalem; but also on those who bear the Christian name, who are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly; and shall join with the Turks in distressing the people of the Jews upon their return to their own land: to besiege Judah, or a country, is not proper and pertinent: Jerusalem, when again in the hands of the Jews, according to this prophecy, only is to be besieged, as it will, by the Turks; and it should be observed, that it never was besieged by Antiochus, and therefore the prophecy can not be applied to his times, as it is by many.\n\n{y} \u05d5\u05d2\u05dd \u05e2\u05dc \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3\u05d4 \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 "et etiam super Jehudah erit", Pagninus, Montanus, Burkius.\n\n\n "

"\nAnd in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people,.... The Targum renders it "a stone of offence"; at which they shall stumble and fall; but it seems to design the immovableness of the state and condition of Jerusalem, that those who attempt to remove her out of her place, or to make any alteration in her happy circumstances, will not be able to do it, Ps 125:1.