Zechariah 12:5

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹An oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him: ²"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem. ³On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured. ⁴On that day," declares the LORD, "I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike all the horses of the nations with blindness. ⁵Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts: 'The people of Jerusalem are my strength, for the LORD of Hosts is their God.'⁶On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the residents of Jerusalem remain secure in Jerusalem. ⁷The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and of the residents of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah. ⁸On that day the LORD will defend the residents of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the governors: Zechariah 12:6, Judges 5:9, Isaiah 1:10, Isaiah 1:23, Isaiah 1:26, Isaiah 29:10, Isaiah 32:1, Isaiah 60:17, Jeremiah 30:21, Jeremiah 33:26, Ezekiel 45:8, Ezekiel 45:9

The inhabitants: etc. or, There is strength to me, and to the inhabitants, etc. Zechariah 10:6, Zechariah 10:12, Psalms 18:32, Psalms 18:39, Psalms 20:6, Psalms 20:7, Psalms 46:1, Psalms 68:34, Psalms 68:35, Psalms 118:10-14, Psalms 144:1, Isaiah 28:6, Isaiah 41:10-16, Joel 3:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 2 Corinthians 12:10

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 29:11 - thoughts Zechariah 14:14 - Judah also shall

Cross-References

Genesis 10:19
and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

Genesis 11:31
And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.

Genesis 12:5
And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

Genesis 12:8
From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

Genesis 12:9
And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

Genesis 14:14
And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

Genesis 14:21
The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself."

Acts 7:4
So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place, into this land where you are now living.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the princes of Judah - He pictures the onemindedness of the Church. No one shall assume anything to himself; each shall exalt the strength which the other was to him; but all, “in the Lord. The princes of Judah” shall say “in their heart,” not outwardly or politically, but in inward conviction, “strength to me” (all speak as one) “are the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the Lord of hosts their God.” The highest in human estimation acknowledge that their strength is in those who are of no account in this world; as, in fact the hearts of the poor are evermore the strength of the Church; but that, “in the Lord of hosts;” in Him, in whose hands are the powers of heaven and earth, over against the petty turmoil on earth. God had chosen Jerusalem Zechariah 1:17; Zechariah 2:12; Zechariah 3:2; therefore she was invincible. “That most glorious prince of Judah, Paul, said, ‘I can do all things in Christ who instrengtheneth me. ‘“

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 12:5. The governors of Judah — This supposes a union between the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.