Zechariah 12:10

King James Version (KJV)

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.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

I will pour upon the house of David - This is the way in which the Jews themselves shall be brought into the Christian Church.

"They shall have the spirit of grace," God will show them that he yet bears favor to them.

They shall be excited to fervent and continual prayer for the restoration of the Divine favor.

Christ shall be preached unto them; and they shall look upon and believe in him whom they pierced, whom they crucified at Jerusalem.

4. This shall produce deep and sincere repentance; they shall mourn, and be in bitterness of soul, to think that they had crucified the Lord of life and glory, and so long continued to contradict and blaspheme, since that time.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

And I will pour - As He promised by Joel, “I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28. See vol. i. pp. 193,194), largely, abundantly, “upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,” all, highest and lowest, from first to last, the “Spirit of grace and supplication,” that is, the “Holy Spirit” which conveyeth “grace,” as “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding” Isaiah 11:2 is “the Spirit” infusing “wisdom and understanding,” and the “Spirit of counsel and might” is that same Spirit, imparting the gift “of counsel” to see what is to be done and “of might” to do it, and the Spirit “of the knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” is that same “Spirit,” infusing loving acquaintance with God, with awe at His infinite Majesty. So “the Spirit of grace and supplication,” is that same Spirit, infusing grace and bringing into a state of favor with God, and a “Spirit of supplication” is that Spirit, calling out of the inmost soul the cry for a yet larger measure of the grace already given. Paul speaks of “the love of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us” Romans 5:5; and of “insulting the Spirit of grace”, rudely repulsing the Spirit, who giveth grace. Osorius: “When God Himself says, ‹I will pour out,‘ He sets forth the greatness of His bountifulness whereby He bestoweth all things.”

And they shall look - with trustful hope and longing. Cyril: “When they had nailed the Divine Shrine to the Wood, they who had crucified Him, stood around, impiously mocking. But when He had laid down His life for us, “the centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, seeing the earthquake and those things which were done, feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God” Matthew 27:54. As it ever is with sin, compunction did not come till the sin was over: till then, it was overlaid; else the sin could not be done. At the first conversion, the three thousand “were pricked ‹in the heart.‘ “when told that He “whom they had taken and with wicked hands had crucified and slain, is Lord and Christ” Acts 2:23, Acts 2:36. This awoke the first penitence of him who became Paul. “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” This has been the center of Christian devotion ever since, the security against passion, the impulse to self-denial, the parent of zeal for souls, the incentive to love; this has struck the rock, that it gushed forth in tears of penitence: this is the strength and vigor of hatred of sin, to look to Him whom our sins pierced, “who” Paul says, “loved me and gave Himself for me.” Osorius: “We all lifted Him up upon the Cross; we transfixed with the nails His hands and feet; we pierced His Side with the spear. For if man had not sinned, the Son of God would have endured no torment.”

And they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for an only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for a first-born - We feel most sensibly the sorrows of this life, passing as they are; and of these, the loss of an only son is a proverbial sorrow. “O daughter of My people, gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thyself in ashes,” God says; “make thee the mourning of an only son, Most bitter lamentation” Jeremiah 6:26. “I will make it as the mourning of an only son” Amos 8:10. The dead man carried out, “the only son of his mother and she was a widow,” is recorded as having touched the heart of Jesus. Alb.: “And our Lord, to the letter, was the Only-Begotten of His Father and His mother.” He was “the first-begotten of every creature” Colossians 1:15, and “we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” John 1:14. This mourning for Him whom our sins pierced and nailed to the tree, is continued, week by week, by the pious, on the day of the week, when He suffered for us, or in the perpetual memorial of His Precious Death in the Holy Eucharist, and especially in Passion-Tide. God sends forth anew “the Spirit of grace and supplication,” and the faithful mourn, because of their share in His Death. The prophecy had a rich and copious fulfillment in that first conversion in the first Pentecost; a larger fulfillment awaits it in the end, when, after the destruction of antichrist, “all Israel shall” be converted and “be saved.” Romans 11:26.

There is yet a more awful fulfillment; when “He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him” Revelation 1:7. But meanwhile it is fulfilled in every solid conversion of Jew pagan or careless Christian, as well as in the devotion of the pious. Zechariah has concentrated in few words the tenderest devotion of the Gospel, “They shall look on Me whom they pierced.” Lap.: “Zechariah teaches that among the various feelings which we can elicit from the meditation on the Passion of Christ, as admiration, love, gratitude, compunction, fear, penitence, imitation, patience, joy, hope, the feeling of compassion stands eminent, and that it is this, which we especially owe to Christ suffering for us. For who would not in his inmost self grieve with Christ, innocent and holy, yea the Only Begotten Son of God, when he sees Him nailed to the Cross and enduring so lovingly for him sufferings so manifold and so great? Who would not groan out commiseration, and melt into tears? Truly says Bonaventure in his ‹goad of divine love:‘ ‹What can be more fruitful, what sweeter than, with the whole heart, to suffer with that most bitter suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ? ‹“

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

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. In Christ's first coming he bruised the serpent's head, and broke all the powers of darkness that fought against God's kingdom among men. In his second coming he will complete their destruction, when he shall put down all opposing rule, principality, and power; and death itself shall be swallowed up in that victory. The Holy Spirit is gracious and merciful, and is the Author of all grace or holiness. He, also, is the Spirit of supplications, and shows men their ignorance, want, guilt, misery, and danger. At the time here foretold, the Jews will know who the crucified Jesus was; then they shall look by faith to him, and mourn with the deepest sorrow, not only in public, but in private, even each one separately. There is a holy mourning, the effect of the pouring out of the Spirit; a mourning for sin, which quickens faith in Christ, and qualifies for joy in God. This mourning is a fruit of the Spirit of grace, a proof of a work of grace in the soul, and of the Spirit of supplications. It is fulfilled in all who sorrow for sin after a godly sort; they look to Christ crucified, and mourn for him. Looking by faith upon the cross of Christ will cause us to mourn for sin after a godly sort.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

10. Grace. Heb. chen, a word with two basic shades of meaning: (1) “qualities that make one agreeable,” “charm” (Prov. 11:16; 22:1); (2) “favour,” found frequently in the expression “to find favor,” also translated “to find grace” (Gen. 18:3; 19:19; 32:5; etc.). Chen comes from the root chanan, which means “to be gracious.”

Supplications. Heb. tachanunim, from the root chanan. The word translated “grace” (see above under “Grace”) is also from this root. Tachanunim means, “petitions for favor.”

The prediction concerning the pouring out of “the spirit of grace and of supplications” has been variously understood. The expression “spirit of grace” may be interpreted as signifying a spirit seeking for favor. If such is its meaning, the second expression “[spirit] of supplications” is essentially in apposition to the first, and the phrases may be expressed as follows, “a spirit seeking for favor,” that is, “a spirit petitioning favor.” Understood in this way the prophet is here envisioning a far-reaching spiritual revival, brought about by a new glimpse of the sinfulness of sin, and characterized by an earnest search for the righteousness of Christ. Looking upon the “pierced” Messiah, seeing in Him the fulfillment of all the OT types, perceiving as never before the marvelous love of God in the gift of His Son, men would deeply mourn over their past defects of character.

The mourning “as one mourneth for his only son” may also be in grief over the death of the Messiah, a grief such as a nation prepared to receive Messiah would have experienced. Zechariah is here presenting Israel’s future as it might have been. It was God’s design that the whole earth should be prepared for the first advent of Christ (see PK 704). How different would have been the history of the Jewish nation and of Jerusalem if the people had accepted the gift of God’s beloved Son (see DA 576, 577)! Had He come to a nation thus prepared to receive Him, and had He suddenly been “pierced,” how deep their grief would have been! The poignancy of their grief would have been heightened by the realization that their own sins had caused His death.

However, the words are to meet yet another fulfillment. There seems to be an allusion to Zech. 12:10 in Matt. 24:30, “and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” and in Rev. 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” The word translated “wail” in Rev. 1:7 is the same as the one translated “mourn” in Matt. 24:30, and represents the reading of the LXX in Zech. 12:10. The mourning here described pictures the experience of those who rejected Christ at His first advent. When they shall see Him in all His glory at the second advent, they will realize the full import of their deed (see DA 580). Doubtless “the most violent opposes of His truth and His people” (GC 637) in other ages are also to be included in the prediction here made. See also EW 179.

Pierced. Heb. daqar. The word is frequently used of thrusting through with a weapon (Num. 25:8; Judges 9:54; 1 Sam. 31:4; 1 Chron. 10:4). John notes that this scripture was fulfilled when one of the Roman soldiers pierced the side of Jesus (John 19:37).

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Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 580

This chapter is based on Mark 11:11-14, 20, 21; Matthew 21:17-19.

The triumphal ride of Christ into Jerusalem was the dim foreshadowing of His coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory, amid the triumph of angels and the rejoicing of the saints. Then will be fulfilled the words of Christ to the priests and Pharisees: “Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Matthew 23:39. In prophetic vision Zechariah was shown that day of final triumph; and he beheld also the doom of those who at the first advent had rejected Christ: “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 first-born.” Zechariah 12:10. This scene Christ foresaw when He beheld the city and wept over it. In the temporal ruin of Jerusalem He saw the final destruction of that people who were guilty of the blood of the Son of God. DA 580.1

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Ellen G. White
The Great Controversy, 401

Said Miller in describing that work: “There is no great expression of joy: that is, as it were, suppressed for a future occasion, when all heaven and earth will rejoice together with joy unspeakable and full of glory. There is no shouting: that, too, is reserved for the shout from heaven. The singers are silent: they are waiting to join the angelic hosts, the choir from heaven.... There is no clashing of sentiments: all are of one heart and of one mind.”—Bliss, pages 270, 271. GC 401.1

Another who participated in the movement testified: “It produced everywhere the most deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul before the God of high heaven. It caused a weaning of affections from the things of this world, a healing of controversies and animosities, a confession of wrongs, a breaking down before God, and penitent, brokenhearted supplications to Him for pardon and acceptance. It caused self-abasement and prostration of soul, such as we never before witnessed. As God by Joel commanded, when the great day of God should be at hand, it produced a rending of hearts and not of garments, and a turning unto the Lord with fasting, and weeping, and mourning. As God said by Zechariah, a spirit of grace and supplication was poured out upon His children; they looked to Him whom they had pierced, there was a great mourning in the land, ... and those who were looking for the Lord afflicted their souls before Him.”—Bliss, in Advent Shield and Review, vol. I, p. 271 (January, 1845). GC 401.2

Of all the great religious movements since the days of the apostles, none have been more free from human imperfection and the wiles of Satan than was that of the autumn of 1844. Even now, after the lapse of many years, all who shared in that movement and who have stood firm upon the platform of truth still feel the holy influence of that blessed work and bear witness that it was of God. GC 401.3

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Ellen G. White
Lift Him Up, 233.4

There is a work before us to subdue the pride and vanity that seek a place in our hearts, and through penitence and faith to bring ourselves into familiar and holy converse with Christ.... We must deny self, and fight continually against pride. We must hide self in Jesus, and let Him appear in our character and conversation. While we look constantly to Him whom our sins have pierced and our sorrows have burdened, we shall acquire strength to be like Him. Our lives, our deportment, will testify how highly we prize our Redeemer, and the salvation He has wrought out for us at such a cost to Himself. And our peace will be as a river while we bind ourselves in willing, happy captivity to Jesus (The Signs of the Times, March 17, 1887). LHU 233.4

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Ellen G. White
Maranatha, 292.4

“And before him shall be gathered all nations.” The very One who died for man is to judge him in the last day: for the Father “hath committed all judgment unto the Son: ... and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.” What a day that will be, when those who rejected Christ will look upon Him whom their sins have pierced. Mar 292.4

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Cross References

I will pour