A Civil War, a Pierced People, and a Redeemed Judah: Rereading Zechariah 12:10

A Civil War, a Pierced People, and a Redeemed Judah: Rereading Zechariah 12:10


The drama of Zechariah 12 is often read as a simple story of foreign nations attacking Jerusalem. But a closer reading suggests something more tragic and more personal: a civil war within Israel itself. When we follow the internal clues of the chapter—especially verses 2, 4, and 10—we see a conflict between Judah and Jerusalem, leadership and citizens, apostasy and repentance.



The Siege: Judah Against Jerusalem


Zechariah 12:2 (Douay-Rheims)

“Behold I will make Jerusalem a lintel of surfeiting to all the people round about: and Juda also shall be in the siege against Jerusalem.”




The Douay-Rheims preserves something many readers overlook: Judah is in the siege against Jerusalem. This is not merely foreign aggression. This is brother against brother. Tribe against city. Covenant family divided.


Jerusalem becomes a “lintel of surfeiting”—a threshold that causes staggering and collapse. The nations are involved, yes—but Judah is implicated. The text does not let them stand as innocent bystanders.


God Strikes the Nations—But Not All of Judah


In verse 4, God declares He will strike the horses with blindness and their riders with madness. The nations are judged. Yet the text also hints that Judah is not entirely destroyed. Some are spared.


This suggests differentiation within Judah: not every Judean is apostate, yet the tribe as a whole participates in the siege. There is both judgment and mercy.


Judah’s Apostasy: “Their God,” Not “Our God”


The leaders of Judah say in 12:5 that the inhabitants of Jerusalem are their strength “in the Lord of hosts their God.” That subtle wording matters. Not our God. Their God.


This is the language of distance.


Judah, in this reading, has drifted into apostasy. They have aligned themselves with surrounding powers. They treat Jerusalem almost as a political or cultic center detached from shared covenant identity. In effect, they have become paganized—speaking of the Lord as if He belongs to someone else.


Yet this is not the end of their story.


The House of David and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem


Zechariah distinguishes two key groups:


The House of David — the leadership.


The Inhabitants of Jerusalem — the citizens.



Verse 8 promises transformation:


The weakest citizen will be “as David.”


The House of David will be “as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.”



This is not deification but elevation of status and calling. The citizens receive Davidic courage. The leadership is restored to angelic representation—reflecting divine authority properly.


The civil war does not end in annihilation but in renewed order and purified leadership.


The Pierced (Struck) One: Judah’s Loss


Now we arrive at the heart of the chapter:


"But I will fill the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem with a spirit of pity and compassion; and they shall lament to Me about those who are slain, wailing over them as over a favorite son and showing bitter grief as over a first-born." Sefaria



"And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplications. And they shall look to me because of those who have been thrust through [with swords], and they shall mourn over it as one mourns over an only son and shall be in bitterness, therefore, as one is embittered over a firstborn son." Chabad



See also CEV, GNT, NAB, NRSV, JPS Tanakh 1917, Brenton for alternate translations.





In this reading, the pierced (strucked one) one is Judah itself—the apostate tribe that suffered devastating losses in the siege. Jerusalem’s leadership and citizens mourn over what happened to their brothers.


The mourning is national, clan by clan. It is not triumphal. It is grief over internal destruction.


Judah attacked Jerusalem.

God struck the nations.

Judah suffered deeply.

And now Jerusalem weeps over Judah.


This is covenant tragedy.


Judah Redeemed


The most powerful element of this chapter is that Judah is not cast off forever. The apostate tribe becomes the object of mourning and eventual restoration. What began as betrayal ends in reconciliation.


Everyone’s relationship to God deepens:


The citizens rise to Davidic stature.


The leadership rises to angelic responsibility.


The apostate tribe is redeemed through suffering.



This theme is reinforced later:


Zechariah 14:14 (Douay-Rheims)

“And Juda also shall fight against Jerusalem: and the riches of all nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and garments in great abundance.”




Again, Judah is shown fighting against Jerusalem. The civil dimension remains consistent. But chapter 14 also portrays divine intervention and ultimate restoration.





A Story of Internal Collapse and Covenant Healing


Zechariah 12 is not merely about external enemies. It is about:


Apostasy within the covenant community.


Leadership and citizens responding to betrayal.


Divine judgment that distinguishes rather than obliterates.


Mourning that leads to renewal.




Conclusion 


The pierced one is not a distant theological abstraction here. It is the cost of civil war. It is Judah—wounded by its own choices, struck in the turmoil, yet ultimately mourned and redeemed. 


The chapter closes not with annihilation but with transformed relationship. The weakest become like David. The leaders reflect heavenly authority. The divided nation grieves together. The closest event that matches is the Maccabean Revolt. There was internal Judean civil conflict, Jerusalem attacked by Judean factions, Apostasy/Hellenization, Foreign nations involved, and Divine deliverance narrative.

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