Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Zechariah
Chapter 12: They Shall Look Upon Me Whom They Have Pierced
Zechariah 12 opens the final burden of the book with a portrait of God the Creator, who 'stretcheth forth the heavens' and 'formeth the spirit of man,' pledging to defend Jerusalem against all the nations that come against her. She will be 'a cup of trembling' and 'a burdensome stone' to her enemies, while God makes even the feeble among His people 'as David.' But the summit of the chapter is a prophecy of the cross and repentance so profound it staggers the mind: God says, 'they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.' The LORD Himself speaks of being pierced, fulfilled when Jesus was crucified, God manifest in the flesh, and gazed upon by those He came to save. And He pours out 'the spirit of grace and of supplications,' turning the look at the pierced One into deep, personal mourning and, through it, salvation.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Zechariah chapter 12, God's defense of Jerusalem and the prophecy of the pierced One. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This chapter contains one of the most striking prophecies of the cross and of repentant faith in the Old Testament. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
He Formeth the Spirit of Man
The almighty God who defends His people.
A Cup of Trembling
Jerusalem made a burden that crushes her foes.
Whom They Have Pierced
The LORD Himself pierced, looked upon, and mourned.
Grace and Supplications
The Spirit poured out that turns the heart.
A Cup of Trembling and a Burdensome Stone (Zechariah 12:1-9)
The Creator who forms the spirit of man pledges to make Jerusalem a cup that reels her enemies and a stone too heavy to lift, defending His people so that the feeblest is like David and destroying all the nations that come against her.
He That Is Feeble Shall Be as David
"The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
Hebrew Study
"which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." Before the prophecy, God identifies Himself by three great works of creation: He stretched out the heavens, founded the earth, and forms "the spirit of man within him." This last is the most intimate, God is the Maker not only of the cosmos but of the human spirit, the inner life of every person. The One who makes these promises is the Creator of all, including you. And this establishes the authority behind everything that follows: the God who forms the spirit of man is well able to pour out His Spirit and turn men's hearts. "The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD" (Proverbs 20:27); the God who lit it can rekindle it.
"a cup of trembling" and "a burdensome stone." God pledges to make Jerusalem two things to her enemies. A "cup of trembling" (a cup of reeling) is a cup of intoxicating wrath: those who drink it stagger like drunk men, a common prophetic image for the cup of God's judgment. And "a burdensome stone" is a stone too heavy to lift; "all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces." The nations that try to lift or attack Jerusalem will be crushed by the very stone they grasp. God turns His people, seemingly small and vulnerable, into an instrument of judgment on those who oppose them, because He defends them. To come against God's people is to grasp a stone that crushes and drink a cup that reels.
Explanation
The final "burden" of Zechariah opens with a majestic self-identification of God as Creator, who "stretcheth forth the heavens... and formeth the spirit of man." The Creator now pledges to defend His people. He will make Jerusalem "a cup of trembling" that makes her attackers reel, and "a burdensome stone" that crushes all who try to lift it, "though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." He will strike the enemy's cavalry with panic, "astonishment," "madness," "blindness," while keeping His "eyes upon the house of Judah."
God so strengthens His people that "he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them." The weakest becomes a mighty warrior; the leaders become like a "torch of fire in a sheaf," devouring their foes. God saves "the tents of Judah first," so no one part boasts over another, and He resolves "to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." The whole section is a picture of God's total, protecting power over His people against a hostile world.
Gospel Focus
God introduces Himself here as the One "which... formeth the spirit of man within him," and it is a comfort worth pausing over. The God who made the heavens and the earth also personally forms your inner spirit; He is not a distant deity but the intimate Maker of your very soul. And because He forms the spirit of man, He is able to remake it, to pour out His Spirit, soften the hard heart, and turn the sinner to Himself, exactly what He promises in the next verses. Whatever is broken in your inner life, take it to the God who forms the spirit of man; He who made it can heal it.
And take heart from how God defends His people. To the world they seem feeble, but God makes "him that is feeble... as David," and turns His people into "a burdensome stone" that crushes those who assail them. The church has always looked weak and vulnerable, yet "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18), because God Himself defends her. Those who set themselves against God's people are grasping a stone that will cut them in pieces; "he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye" (Zechariah 2:8). You need not fear the hostility of the world; the Creator who forms the human spirit stands guard over His own, and the feeblest saint, in His strength, is "as David."
They Shall Mourn for Him (Zechariah 12:10-14)
God pours out the spirit of grace and supplication, so that His people look on the One they pierced and mourn for Him with the deepest of griefs, family by family, in true repentance.
The Spirit of Grace and of Supplications
"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. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart."
Hebrew Study
"they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him." This is one of the most remarkable verses in the Old Testament. The speaker throughout is the LORD ("saith the LORD," verse 1), and He says, "they shall look upon me whom they have pierced." God speaks of being pierced. Then, in the same breath, "they shall mourn for him," the pierced One is both "me" (the LORD) and "him" (the one mourned). The New Testament resolves the mystery: this is fulfilled at the cross of Jesus. John, watching the soldier pierce Jesus's side, writes, "they shall look on him whom they pierced" (John 19:37), and Revelation says, "they also which pierced him" shall see Him at His coming (Revelation 1:7). For the Apostolic reader this is precious beyond words: the LORD who says "they have pierced me" is the very One who was crucified as Jesus. God was manifest in the flesh and pierced for us, "God was in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:19); "the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). The pierced One is God with us.
"I will pour upon the house of David... the spirit of grace and of supplications." True repentance does not begin with us but with God pouring out His Spirit, "the spirit of grace and of supplications." "Grace" is the free favor that draws and softens; "supplications" is the spirit of earnest, pleading prayer that grace produces. It is God's Spirit that opens the eyes to "look upon" the pierced One and moves the heart to "mourn," a mourning "as one mourneth for his only son," the deepest, most personal grief. Repentance and faith are gifts, poured out by the Spirit. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). And when the Spirit is poured out, the sight of the crucified Christ breaks the heart in godly sorrow, "godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation" (2 Corinthians 7:10). The look at the pierced One, given by the Spirit, is the beginning of salvation.
Explanation
The chapter rises to its summit. God promises to "pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications." This outpoured Spirit produces two things: sight and sorrow. "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced", they see the crucified One, and He is the LORD Himself. And "they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son," the deepest grief a person can feel. The look at the pierced One breaks the heart.
This mourning is deep and universal, "a great mourning in Jerusalem," yet also intensely personal: "every family apart, and their wives apart", the house of David, the house of Nathan, the house of Levi, the family of Shimei, "all the families that remain," each mourning alone. True repentance is never merely a crowd emotion; it is individual, family by family, soul by soul, each one grieving privately over the pierced Saviour. When God pours out the spirit of grace, the sight of the cross moves each heart to its own personal, bitter, saving sorrow.
Gospel Focus
"They shall look upon me whom they have pierced" is the gospel, and it is stunning in its Oneness clarity: the LORD says He was pierced. This was fulfilled at Calvary, where Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, was crucified and pierced, and John points us straight to this verse, "they shall look on him whom they pierced." The One hanging on the cross was not a mere man nor a second God, but the one LORD Himself come to us in flesh, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." When we look at the crucified Jesus, we look at God pierced for our sins. There is no deeper truth in all of Scripture, and no greater love.
And see how salvation comes: God pours out "the spirit of grace and of supplications," and by that Spirit people "look upon" the pierced One and "mourn." This is the pattern of true conversion, the Spirit opens our eyes to see the crucified Christ, and the sight of Him breaks our hearts with godly sorrow that leads to life. The look and the mourning are gifts of grace; we cannot manufacture them, but we can ask for them. If your heart is hard toward the cross, pray that God would pour out on you the spirit of grace and supplications, that you too might look upon the One you pierced with your sins, and mourn, and be saved. And notice, the mourning is "every family apart," personal and individual. No one is saved in a crowd; each must look at the pierced Saviour and grieve over Him alone. Have you looked upon Him whom your sins pierced, and mourned, and found in that very look the beginning of eternal life?
Chapter 12 in Review
Zechariah 12 opens the final burden with God the Creator, "which... formeth the spirit of man within him," pledging to defend Jerusalem against all the nations. He makes her "a cup of trembling" and "a burdensome stone" that crushes her enemies, strengthens the feeble to be "as David," and resolves "to destroy all the nations that come against" her. But its summit is the prophecy of the cross and repentance: God pours out "the spirit of grace and of supplications," so that "they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son," family by family, soul by soul, in deep and personal grief.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter holds one of Scripture's clearest windows onto the cross and the nature of God. The LORD Himself says, "they have pierced me", and John shows it fulfilled when Jesus was pierced on Calvary, proving that the crucified One is the one true God manifest in the flesh, "God was in Christ." It teaches that true repentance is the gift of God's outpoured Spirit, the "spirit of grace and of supplications," which opens the eyes to see the pierced Saviour and breaks the heart in godly sorrow. And it makes that mourning personal, "every family apart," for each soul must look at the crucified Christ alone. The God who forms the human spirit pours out His Spirit to turn the heart; and the turning point is a look at Him whom our sins pierced. Look upon Him, mourn, and live.
- God the Creator "formeth the spirit of man," and so can remake and turn the human heart (12:1; Proverbs 20:27).
- God defends His people, making the feeble "as David" and their foes crushed (12:8; Matthew 16:18).
- "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced": the LORD Himself was pierced, fulfilled in Christ crucified (12:10; John 19:37).
- The pierced One is God manifest in the flesh, "God was in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:19; Acts 20:28).
- True repentance is the gift of "the spirit of grace and of supplications" poured out (12:10; John 6:44).
- Mourning over the pierced Saviour is deep and personal, "every family apart" (12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 7:10).
Questions for Reflection
- Does it move you that the LORD Himself says, "they have pierced me," fulfilled in the cross of Jesus?
- Have you asked God to pour out on you "the spirit of grace and of supplications"?
- Have you truly "looked upon" the pierced Christ and mourned over your sin that pierced Him?
- Is your repentance personal and heartfelt, or merely a crowd emotion?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Key terms: "a cup of trembling" (a cup of reeling, verse 2); "a burdensome stone" (verse 3). God the Creator who forms the human spirit: Isaiah 42:5; 44:24; Job 33:4; Psalm 33:6; Proverbs 20:27; Hebrews 12:9. The cup of God's wrath: Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17-23; Jeremiah 25:15-16; Revelation 14:10. God defending His people: Zechariah 2:5, 8; Psalm 46; Isaiah 54:17; Matthew 16:18. "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced," fulfilled at the cross: John 19:34-37; Revelation 1:7; Psalm 22:16; Isaiah 53:5; and the deity of the crucified Christ, John 1:1, 14; 20:28; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 3:16; Colossians 2:9. The outpoured Spirit and true repentance: Ezekiel 36:26-27; Joel 2:28-29; John 6:44; 16:8-11; Acts 2:37; 2 Corinthians 7:9-11; Romans 2:4. Mourning over sin: Matthew 5:4; James 4:8-10; Luke 22:61-62. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The Creator's defense of Jerusalem, a cup of trembling and burdensome stone: Zechariah 12:1-9; Isaiah 42:5; Matthew 16:18.
- The pierced One looked upon and mourned, by the outpoured spirit of grace: Zechariah 12:10-14; John 19:37; 2 Corinthians 5:19.