Zechariah
Chapter 12
That Day
An oracle. This is the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Word of the Lord, who spread out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed humans with an inner spirit:
“See, I am making of Jerusalem a cup, that will send the nations reeling; it will happen when Jerusalem is besieged.
On that day, I shall make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations around her. All the nations will be united against her, and all who try to lift the rock will be badly injured.”
The Lord says: “On that day, I will make every horse wild with fear, every rider, insane. All the horses of the nations will be blind. But I will watch over Judah;
and the leaders of Judah’s clans will say to themselves: ‘The strength of the inhabitants of Jerusalem comes from the Lord their God.’”
On that day, I will make the leaders of the Judah clans like a fire in a woods and a flaming torch among the sheaves. They will consume, from right and left, all the surrounding nations, while Jerusalem remains secure in its place.
The Lord will first save the towns and villages of Judah so that David’s people and the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not feel more important than the rest of Judah.
On that day, the Lord will strengthen the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the weak among them will be like David, and David’s people who lead them will be like God, like an angel of the Lord.
That day, I will oversee the destruction of all nations that oppose Jerusalem.
I will pour out on the family of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of love and supplication. They will look upon the one who was pierced and mourn for him, as for an only child, weeping bitterly, as for a firstborn.
The mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Each family will mourn individually: the family of David by itself, and their wives separately; the family of Nathan by itself, and their wives separately;
the family of Levi by itself, and their wives separately; the family of Shimei by itself and their wives separately;
and the same applies to the other families, each family mourning separately from the others, with their wives.
Commentaries
That Day.
This final section is filled with promises of salvation and glory for Jerusalem. The tone of these chapters is eminently apocalyptic and eschatological, as can be deduced from the repeated formula “then on that day…,” “it will happen on that day…”.
TItle.
This passage is part of a literary unit that extends from 12:1 to 13:6, introduced by a divine oracle and framed by references to the figure of the shepherd (11:4-17; 13:7-9). The text opens with an evocation of God’s creative act and is organized around the expression “on that day,” which marks a decisive moment in the history of Jerusalem and Judah. This section develops three fundamental themes: the war of the nations against Jerusalem (12:2-9), the lament for the pierced one (12:10-14), and the purification of the people (13:1-6).
In this context, the prophet seems to allude to the rejection of the prophetic message and, consequently, to the rejection of God, especially by the authorities. The heart of the story is found in verse 10, where an unexpected turn occurs: the house of David contemplates and weeps over the pierced one, who is surprisingly identified with God himself (cf. Jn 19:37). This act of contemplation brings about a profound conversion, made possible by the divine gift of a spirit of grace and supplication. This repentant gaze generates an inner transformation, comparable to the healing described in Numbers 21:9.