Zechariah 12:2 - Exposition

A cup of trembling; a bowl of reeling— a bowl whose contents cause staggering and reeling, ὡς πρόθυρα σαλευόμενα , "as tottering porticoes"; superliminare crapulae (Vulgate). This Jerome explains to mean that any one who crosses the threshold of Jerusalem in hostile guise shall totter and fall. Jerusalem is the capital and type of the Messianic theocracy; the hostile powers of the world crowd round her, like thirsting men round a bowl of wine; but they find the drought is fatal to them; they stagger back discomfited and destroyed. The figure of the cup and drunkenness is often employed to denote the judgment of God upon transgressors, which makes them incapable of defence or escape (comp. Isaiah 51:17 ; Jeremiah 25:15 , etc.; Jeremiah 51:39 , Jeremiah 51:57 ; Habakkuk 2:16 ). The people; the peoples (so Zechariah 12:3 , Zechariah 12:4 , Zechariah 12:6 ). The heathen nations who war against God's people. When they shall be in the siege, etc. This gives a good sense, but the Hebrew will not allow it. Septuagint, ἐν τῇ ἰουδαίᾳ ἔσται περιοχὴ ἐπὶ ἱερουσαλήμ , "In Judaea there shall be a blockade against Jerusalem;" Vulgate, Sed et Juda erit in obsidione contra Jerusalem, which may mean that Judah shall be among those that besiege Jerusalem, or when Jerusalem is beset Judah shall suffer the same calamity. Pusey and Revised Version render, "And upon Judah also shall it [ i.e. 'the burden'] be in the siege against Jerusalem." Cheyne, "And also on [or, 'over '] Judah it [ i.e. the protection and deliverance implied in the first clause of the verse] shall be, in the siege," etc. Any interpretation of the passage which makes Judah join with the enemy in attacking Jerusalem is precluded by the very intimate union between Judah and Jerusalem denoted in Zechariah 12:4-7 , and by the hostility of the nations against Judah. Cheyne's explanation is hardly a natural one, however suitable. Lowe ('Hebr. Stud. Comm.') renders, "And also on Judah [shall fall this reeling] during the siege [which is to take place] against Jerusalem." It seems best to render, with Alexander, "Also against Judah shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem," i.e. not only the mother city, but all the country, shall be exposed to hostile invasion. This suits Zechariah 12:5 , where the chieftains of Judah are represented as trusting in the valour of the inhabitants of Jerusalem when they are incurring the same danger.