When They Look on Him Whom They have Pierced

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication (grace), so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.  11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.  12 The land shall mourn, each family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves;  13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shime-ites by itself, and their wives by themselves;  14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.  Zech. 12:10-14

Grace and Finding Favor

The subject abruptly changes from the previous verses, from the victorious battle against the Greeks c. 167 B.C. to one of deep mourning around 30 A.D. We see the joy of victory turning to the deep sorrow of the mourning over sin and causing the death of the redeemer, our Messiah.

And again another scripture says,  “They shall look on him whom they have pierced.”  John 19:37.

The apostle John said that the prophecy is fulfilled; there is no need to look to the future.

FYI: The second rule of hermeneutics is that the Scriptures do not contradict themselves. If there is a contradiction, then something is wrong with the interpretation, and not the Text.

Those who were willing to look at the Scriptures would understand what a terrible deed had been committed. Salvation comes only to those who realize that all of us individually are responsible for the cross. Many teach that this is about Jewish salvation and Jewish salvation alone. Further, that Jews are saved differently than others. That their sin is corporate, and so is their punishment and salvation. Our sins and our sins alone were enough to require the suffering. We might not be strong enough to drive those nails in ourselves, but we would have cried, “crucify Him,” right along with everyone else. We are all that wicked. Look at what we have done. Salvation is the same for all. We all have to look upon Him who we have pierced. We are all responsible.

“you are either the thief on the right, or the thief on the left”.  Choose.

The Weeping

The image is one of losing an only child in death; bitterly weeping. The reference to the mourning on the plain of Meggiddo was for the death of King Josiah. Josiah was one of the few good kings of Judah. [2 Kings 22] Josiah was loved by the people. He cleared out all the pagan altars and idols [2 Kings 23:4-14]. He was a righteous king, and he cleansed the land.

In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him; and Pharaoh Neco slew him at Megiddo, when he saw him.  And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.  2 Kings 23:29-30

So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.  Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. 2Chr. 35:24-25 

This weeping will be greater than the weeping over the Godly king, Josiah.  Josiah, one of the few good kings, had cleansed the land of idolatry, turning the hearts of the people back to their God. The One who is greater, the Messiah, shall cause a greater weeping because of the greater cleansing. He is the One who has opened a fountain of permanent cleansing as our prophet, priest, and king.

Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo?

There is no mention of a place called Hadad in the historical accounts.  Rimmon is an ancient king of Edom. [Gen 36:39; 1 Chron 1:50] There is likely a hidden meaning. Zechariah has done this before; he has played with the meaning of the names (see chapter 6). It is very likely a kind of anagram. So let’s just look at those names. The Hebrew language lends itself to lots of word play, and the Scriptures are actually full of them.[See Also: Paronomasia]

There is also no “plain” of Megiddo. In ancient times, Megiddo was never referred to as a mountain or Har-Megedon. Megiddo is a tel or hill that sits on the north side of the valley of Jezreel, just across from the town of Jezreel. All of this is here to tell us that we have moved into symbology of some kind to make a point that must be cyphered out.

The valley of Jezreel can be found in several places in the Scripture. It stands as a place of “choosing.” Megiddo means the place of cutting, or division. We might suggest it is a place of choosing righteousness or unrighteousness. At an important crossroads, it was a natural place for enemies to meet. Again, we are given the imagery of a place of choosing, a place of choice between good and evil.

FYI: Rimmon is the name of a city south of Jerusalem settled by the tribe of Judah. It was first established when the Israelites came into Canaan [Joshua 15:32]. The 600 Benjaminites hid at the Rock of Rimmon [Judg. 20:47] in retreat from the conflict over the rape of the Levite concubines.

Megiddo is also mentioned as the place of battle, which is commonly known as Har-Megedon (Rev 16:16). [See Also: The Battle of Armageddon?]

FYI: “On that day” is a phrase that essentially means when this happens at a particular time or events that are related to each other.

Hadad and Rimmon

Hadad means loud noise, thunderer.

Rimmon means pomegranate.

. . . a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe. Ex. 28:34

The mention of pomegranates brings to mind the office of Priest that the Messiah fulfills. The High Priest wore ornaments of pomegranates and bells around the hem of their tunics. We call this type of bell a camel bell; they don’t have clappers. The golden pomegranates that are hung between the bells function as the clappers for the bells.

FYI: The tradition is that if something went wrong when the High Priest was in the Holy or Holies, they would know, because they would no longer hear the bells.

In the passage, the people are now weeping for their Messiah. So we have moved from the dispensation of Moses to the dispensation of the Kingdom Age. In this Kingdom age, we are all to be our own prophet, priest, and king.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1Pet. 2:9 

Symbolically, we now all wear the garments of the priests.

The Names

First, there is David, the king. Then there are two prominent Nathans in the Scriptures, the prophet, or the son of David by Bathsheba, who was the progenitor of Messiah, on Mary’s side. The Shime-ites were the sons of Gershon, who was a son of Levi. They were responsible for moving the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, the screen, and the door [Num. 3:21-26].

FYI: The family of Levi, whom the LORD said belonged to Him [Num. 3:12].

Interpretation Proposal

This is an interesting group of people who are named. Taking the names listed here and determining if a metaphor is apparent may give us a meaning to the One who is the object of the mourning. It points to the One who is prophet, priest, and king, the one whom they pierced.

David’s name means- beloved.

. . . and lo, a voice from heaven, saying,  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matt. 3:17

Nathan’s name means given or gift

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying,  “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  Luke 22:19

Shimi’s name means- my name, or reputation

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 

Levi’s name means- joined

. . . in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; Eph. 2:21

Roughly, the metaphor would be: The beloved is given a name of reputation to join. Or, we must be joined to the beloved name of the given. That is very profound. The One with whom we must be joined too. In order to become the holy temple.[1Cor. 6:19] See Also: The Promise of the Third Temple]

. . . and all the families that are left

It seems only small groups of people actually embrace the Messiah. Many times, “by themselves” is mentioned; each family recognizes the Messiah, not the nation as a whole.

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God gave to your fathers, saying to Abraham,  ‘And in your posterity shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ Acts 3:25

The house of David would be the descendants of David. Other than Mary, Joseph, and their children, history knows of no other of the House of David or Ben David’s. By the time of the crucifixion, Joseph is dead, and Messiah’s siblings think that He might be crazy. [Mark 3:21] With the burning of the temple in 70 AD, all the genealogical records have been lost.  There is no way for Jews, i.e., those of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon, to prove their lineage. Only some Levites and Cohens, i. e. priests, know who they are.