All the families that remain ,.... That will be in being in those times; every family apart, and their wives apart ; for the whole nation shall be born at once, and converted, and all Israel shall be saved, Isaiah 66:8 . read more
Verse 14 He says in the last place, that this lamentation would be common to all the remaining families. Though few had returned, except those from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and from the tribe of Levi, yet Zechariah, as I think, means here by the remaining families, the elect who had been miraculously delivered from the common ruin; for blindness had so prevailed, that the rejection of the whole people on the part of God was evident. Under this designation then I consider the remnants of... read more
Wonderful sorrow. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations," etc. There is much that is striking in the apparent connection of this passage with that before. Just when God shall be seen by his people to be "seeking" and bringing about (see Zechariah 12:9 ) the overthrow and destruction of their many enemies, they, on the other hand, will be seen to be overwhelmed with sorrow of heart. Their souls, as it were, will be plunged into darkness at the... read more
§ 2. There shall ensue an outpouring of God's Spirit upon Israel, which shall produce a great national repentance. read more
Penitential sorrow. "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn," etc. To whatever particular event this passage refers, the subject is obvious and most important, viz. that of penitential sorrow. And five things... read more
The great mourning. The scene depicted has reference first of all to the Jews. Already partially fulfilled. But the principles involved are of universal application. Take it to illustrate true repentance. I. GOD FOR ITS CAUSE . Not man, but God. The Father of our spirits acting on our spirit. "The spirit of grace." II. SINNERS OF MANKIND FOR ITS SUBJECTS . Not angels. We read of their fail, but never of their rising again. For them there seems no place for... read more
The families that remain. All the families that have not been mentioned already. read more
This sorrow should be universal but also individual, the whole land, and that, family by family; the royal family in the direct line of its kings, and in a branch from Nathan, a son of David and whole brother of Solomon 1 Chronicles 3:5, which was continued on in private life yet was still to be an ancestral line of Jesus Luke 3:31 : in like way the main priestly family from Levi, and a subordinate line from a grandson of Levi, “the family of Shimei” Numbers 3:23; and all the remaining... read more
Zechariah 12:11-14. In that day When the Jews shall mourn for their sins, and for that great sin, the crucifying the Lord of glory; there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem A mourning expressed by the greatest the Jews ever experienced, the mourning for Josiah slain in Hadadrimmon, a town in the valley of Megiddon. There the lamentations for that good prince began, and were continued for many days from thence to Jerusalem, whither his body was carried to be interred in the sepulchre... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Zechariah 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. I. A glorious... read more