Zechariah 12:4

4 On that day,' {declares} Yahweh, 'I will strike every horse with confusion, and the one riding it with madness; but over the house of Judah {I will keep my eyes open}, and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

Zechariah 12:4 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 12:4

In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with
astonishment, and his rider with madness
The meaning is, the enemies of God's people shall be astonished at the failure of their attempts, and be filled with fury and madness because they cannot accomplish their designs; and shall be at their wits' end, not knowing what course to take: perhaps reference is had to the Turkish armies, that shall be brought against Jerusalem to recover it into their possession, which generally consist of a large cavalry; see ( Revelation 9:16 Revelation 9:17 ) :

and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah;
which phrase is sometimes used, as expressive of the wrath of God against his enemies, ( Amos 9:4 Amos 9:8 ) and, if the house of Judah signifies the same as Judah, joined with the nations of the earth in the siege, ( Zechariah 12:2 ) , it must be so understood here; but rather it seems to be different, and to intend those who will inhabit other parts of Judea, and who will be truly the people of God, Jews not only literally, but spiritually; and so is to be interpreted in a good sense, of the divine love to them, care of them, and protection over them; see ( Job 14:13 ) and so the Targum paraphrases it,

``and upon those of the house of Judah, I will reveal my power to do them good:''

and will smite every horse of the people with blindness:
that is, every rider of them, either with blindness of mind or body, or both. It may be, as the former smiting, mentioned in the beginning of the verse, respects the mind, this may regard the body; so that they shall not see their way, and their hands shall not perform their enterprise.

Zechariah 12:4 In-Context

2 'Look, I [am] going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding nations; it will also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.
3 {And then} on that day I will make Jerusalem a stone weight for all the peoples. All those lifting it up will grievously hurt themselves, and all the nations of the earth will assemble against it.
4 On that day,' {declares} Yahweh, 'I will strike every horse with confusion, and the one riding it with madness; but over the house of Judah {I will keep my eyes open}, and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
5 And the clans of Judah will say {to themselves}, "The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a strength to us, through Yahweh of hosts, their God."
6 " 'On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a pan of fire among [sticks of] wood, and like a torch of fire among stalks of grain, and they will devour to [the] right and to [the] left all the surrounding peoples, and Jerusalem will be inhabited again [in] its place, in Jerusalem.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "declaration of"
  • [b]. Literally "I will open my eyes," that is, "I will be responsive" or "I will pay attention"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.