Zecharyah 12:5

5 And the Aluphei Yehudah (leaders of Yehudah) shall say in their lev, The yoshvei Yerushalayim are my strength in Hashem Tzva’os Eloheihem.

Zecharyah 12:5 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 12:5

And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart
The governors of the rest of the cities in Judea, besides Jerusalem, when they shall observe the armies of the people, their horses and their riders, smitten by the Lord, as above, shall take heart, and be of good courage: and secretly say within themselves,

The inhabitants of Jerusalem [shall be] my strength in the Lord of
hosts their God;
that is, they, in the strength of the Lord, shall overcome their enemies, and so be the means of preserving and securing the other cities of Judah from destruction: the governors do not place their strength and confidence in the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but as they are strengthened in and by the Lord their God, from whom all strength, safety, and salvation come. In this and the following verse ( Zechariah 12:6 ) , by "the governors of Judah" are not meant Judas Maccabeus, and his brethren, as some think; for though there are some things in the context that seem to agree with them, and they may be an emblem of the governors in the times referred to, for their courage, bravery, and success; yet the thread of history, and series of prophecy, will not admit such a sense.

Zecharyah 12:5 In-Context

3 And on Yom HaHu will I make Yerushalayim an even ma’amasah (a burdensome stone) for kol ha’amim: all that burden themselves with it [i.e., try to lift it] shall be cut in pieces, though kol Goyei Ha’Aretz be gathered together against her.

4 In Yom HaHu, saith Hashem, I will strike every sus with panic, and his rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the Bais Yehudah, and will strike every sus of the people with blindness.

5 And the Aluphei Yehudah (leaders of Yehudah) shall say in their lev, The yoshvei Yerushalayim are my strength in Hashem Tzva’os Eloheihem.

6 In Yom HaHu will I make the Aluphei Yehudah like a fire pot in the woods, and like a torch of eish in the omer (sheaves); and they shall devour kol haAm round about, on the right hand and on the left; and Yerushalayim shall be inhabited again in her own site, even in Yerushalayim.

7 Hashem also shall save the oholei Yehudah (tents of Yehudah) first, that the glory of the Bais Dovid and the glory of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim do not magnify themselves against Yehudah.