Zechariah 12:6

6 1"On that day I will make the clans of Judah 2like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And 3they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while 4Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

Zechariah 12:6 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 12:6

In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a
hearth of fire among the wood
As a large hearth of fire, with wood all about it, devours and consumes it; so shall the governors of Judah be to the nations that shall come up against Jerusalem. The Targum renders it,

``as a garment of fire among wood:''

and like a torch of fire in a sheaf;
of wheat, which presently destroys it; see ( Obadiah 1:18 ) :

and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand
and on the left;
on the south and on the north, as the Targum interprets it. The phrase denotes the utter destruction of the people on all sides:

and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, [even] in
Jerusalem;
upon that very spot of ground which was formerly called Jerusalem shall the city be built again, and inhabited; and shall continue, notwithstanding the attempts of all the nations of the earth to destroy it; see ( Jeremiah 30:18 ) .

Zechariah 12:6 In-Context

4 On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.'
6 "On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.
7 "And the LORD will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.
8 On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them.

Cross References 4

  • 1. [See ver. 3 above]
  • 2. [Jeremiah 5:14; Obadiah 18]
  • 3. Zechariah 9:15
  • 4. Zechariah 2:4; Zechariah 14:10, 11
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.