(Continued-Chapter XVII)

The event which precipitated, according to these verses, the destruction and the dissolution of the nation was their weighing out the price of a slave to God as their estimate of Him for what He had done for them (v. 13). Since such an act did bring about the annihilation of the Jewish state in the year A.D. 70, it is of paramount importance to each Hebrew to investigate carefully and prayerfully the history of the nation during the century prior to that time to learn in what way and at what time the nation thus acted toward God. Having learned the facts concerning the cause of the national calamity, each Hebrew reader should disavow and repudiate in his heart and life any approval of such an act and, since each one is responsible to God for himself, should seek the favor of God.

B. Israel's Punishment and the Period of Her Rejection
When She is Out of Fellowship with God

Having impersonated God in the first act presented in 11:4-14, in the second act (vs. 15-17) the prophet now impersonates a cruel, heartless shepherd into whose power God delivers Israel because of her rejection of Him. This time the prophet steps forth having the instruments of a foolish shepherd who, being indifferent to the needs and the suffering of the flock, simply eats the flesh of the fat ones and deliberately destroys the sheep. In verse 17 the Lord pronounces a woe upon this worthless shepherd that destroys the flock and does not protect it and meet its needs. This prediction without doubt is fulfilled after Israel, as seen above, rejects her true Shepherd in God's giving her to be controlled and persecuted by the Roman Government and the other nations of the world that have been indifferent to the rights of the Hebrew people and have in innumerable instances persecuted them beyond description. At present she is shepherded by the foolish shepherd and will continue to suffer until she turns unto her true Shepherd Who only can bring deliverance to her. The present period, as has been seen in the investigation of the preceding chapters, is the period of Israel's rejection and will be terminated by her turning to the Lord in genuine repentance in the midst of her great distress.

C. Israel's Accepting Her True Shepherd

Chapter 12, though beginning a different oracle, takes up the theme where Chapter 11 leaves off and describes graphically the final distress and deliverance of the Hebrew people. This new oracle begins with the solemn words, "The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel." They indicate the seriousness and gravity of the situation which lies out before Israel. Serious is the mistake which Israel makes when she rejects her true Shepherd, her Messiah, considering Him no more than a slave, which error involves the nation in untold distress. Serious and grave is Israel's condition during the period when she is rejected in turn by her true Shepherd. Serious and most heart-rending is the situation into which she shall be brought, as is described by the prophet in this chapter.

At the time when this prophecy is fulfilled the international situation will be very complex. The nations of the world will be involved in the controversy over the Hebrew race--her prosperity--and hence will send their armies to besiege Jerusalem. At that time, says the prophet, the Lord "will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about." What a cup of liquor is in the hands of a drunkard, that will Jerusalem be, in a figurative sense, to those nations which become involved in Jewish affairs. A second figure used by the prophet to give the same warnings to the nations is that of one's attempting to lift a rough, heavy stone which bruises or cuts his hands when he attempts to lift it. Thus those nations that become involved in the complex Jewish situation will suffer great injury. In her great distress the Hebrew race will realize that in God only is her help; hence, she will turn unto Him as never before. In verse 8 the Lord promises protection and help to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; furthermore, He promises to strengthen each individual so that the feeble in the camp will be as strong as David, and that those of the house of David will be as God, comparatively speaking. Continuing the promise, the Lord says that "it shall come to pass in that day, that I (יְהוָה) will seek to destroy all of the nations that come against Jerusalem." This destruction of the nations fighting against Jerusalem by the Lord Himself is described fully in 14:1-8, at which time the Lord Himself descends to the Mount of Olives and fights against those nations as he fought in the day of battle.

At that time the Lord will fulfill the following promise, "And I (יְהוָה) will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." This passage, though very plain, has been a storm-center of ceaseless controversy and has been translated differently, according to theological bias, by different ones. Aben Ezra, who wrote after Rashi, says: "All the heathen shall look to me to see what I shall do to those who pierced Messiah, the son of Joseph." Abarbanel, who was familiar with the expositions of Rashi and Kimchi, comments as follows: "It is more correct to interpret the passage of Messiah, the son of Joseph, as our rabbis, of blessed memory, have treated it in the treatise Sukkah, 'For he shall be a mighty man of valor of the tribe of Joseph, and shall at first be captain of the Lord's host in that war (namely, against Gog and Magog) but in that war shall die.'" This comment suggests an ancient interpretation current in Jewish circles concerning the two Messiahs: Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David. The former, who is of the tribe of Ephraim, according to this interpretation, in the final catastrophe when Jerusalem is besieged by the armies of the world (Ezek. 38,39; Zech. 14:1-8) will lead the hosts of Israel against Gog and Magog or Gog of the land of Magog. In the midst of the struggle he will be slain. Hence Aben Ezra says that the heathen shall look unto Me (God) to see what I will do to those who have pierced Messiah, the son of Joseph. The latter, who is Messiah ben David, is a descendant of David, who will reign in power and glory over Israel when she is no longer the tail of the nations but the head. This doctrine of the two Messiahs, which can be traced back only to the third or fourth century of the Common Era, probably is the exposition of certain Jewish scholars in explaining the seemingly irreconcilable teachings of the prophets concerning the sufferings and the glories of Messiah. Had these scholars studied carefully the Scriptures which are the basis for Chapters IX-XVII of this book, they would not have invented the doctrine of two Messiahs but would have seen the two comings of the one and only Messiah: the first when He comes in humiliation and is rejected by His people; the second when He returns from heaven, to which He goes after His rejection and suffering, to reign in power and glory over the earth.

Moses Alshech, of Safed, Palestine, who flourished in the second half of the sixteenth century, commenting on the death of Messiah ben Joseph, sees the work of atonement in his death: "I will do yet a third thing, and that is, that 'they shall look unto Me,' for they shall lift up their eyes unto Me in perfect repentance, when they see Him whom they pierced, that is, Messiah, the Son of Joseph; for our Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said that He will take upon Himself all the guilt of Israel, and shall then be slain in the war to make an atonement in such manner that it shall be accounted as if Israel had pierced Him, for on account of their sin He has died; and, therefore, in order that it may be reckoned to them as a perfect atonement, they will repent and look to the blessed One, saying that there is none beside Him to forgive those that mourn on account of Him who died for their sin; this is the meaning of 'They shall look upon Me.'"

Since there are not two Messiahs but one Who is seen at His two different advents, if one will remove the expression, "the Son of Joseph," from the quotation above and insert, "the Son of David," he will have a fairly accurate interpretation of the atoning death of the real Messiah Who is "pierced" for the sins of the nation as is seen in Isa. 53, which is explained in Chapter XVIII. Of course, the position that Messiah is slain in battle is without Scriptural authority. The substitutionary death of Messiah is plainly reflected in this quotation. Likewise, the way to appropriate the atonement of Messiah's death is clearly stated: "therefore, in order that it may be reckoned to them as a perfect atonement, they will repent and look to the blessed One," etc. Since nothing is said in the context of Zech. 12 of the atoning work of Messiah, except the fact that He has been pierced, and since the teaching of this passage on Zech. 12:10 from Alshech corresponds to that of Isa. 53 in the matter of the atoning death of the Pierced One, it is evident that Alshech and "our Rabbis, of blessed memory," recognized a most vital connection between these two passages. Not knowing the Scriptural teaching of "the Outline of Messiah's Career" and being unable to harmonize the seemingly irreconcilable teaching of the sufferings and glories of Messiah, they invented the doctrine of the two Messiahs and attributed the atoning death to the imaginary Messiah ben Joseph.¹

A second Jewish translation is that found in the "Jewish Family Bible," which was printed with the sanction of (the late) Rev. Dr. Adler, the chief rabbi. ("This version (British) is claimed to be the Authorized or Anglican Version, revised by Friedländer, Principal of the Jews' College, published in 1881"). This passage is thus translated: "But I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they whom the nations are piercing shall look upon me, and shall mourn over it." To one who is familiar with the original text this quotation is not a translation but is an interpolated Targum designed for polemic purposes. It is very evident to scholars that words have been inserted into the text in order to eliminate all reference to a suffering and atoning Messiah. Therefore this rendering needs no further comment.

A third Jewish translation is that found in the "Appendix of the Revised Version," issued by the Jewish Community in England in 1896. The translation is as follows: "And they (i.e., the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem) shall look up to me because of him whom they (i.e., the nations which come against Jerusalem) have pierced." This translation was suggested by Rashi, adopted by Kimchi, and later elaborated by Rabbi Isaak, of Troki, who thus comments: "If it should happen that any of the Israelites should be pierced, namely, in that war, even though it should be one of the most inconsiderable, they shall wonder greatly how this could happen, and will think that this is the beginning of a fall and defeat before their enemies, as Joshua did. When the men of Ai smote thirty-six of Israel he said: 'Alas! O Lord God, why didst Thou cause this people to pass the Jordan?' And again: 'What shall I say when Israel turn their backs before their enemies?' (Josh. 7). So will it be at that time if they should see any of them pierced, they will be astonished, and look on Me on account of Him whom they pierced." This translation is contrary to the grammar and to the natural sense of the context. The words אֵת אֲשֶׁר cannot possibly mean "because of Him whom but simply "whom" which is preceded by אֵת, the definite sign of the object. This translation, like that in the translation of the Jew. Pub. Soc., makes "the house of David" and "the inhabitants of Jerusalem" the subject of the verb "shall look," but the "nations" of verse 9, which come against Jerusalem, the subject of the verb "pierced." It is a well-established and universally known rule of every language that the noun which immediately precedes a verb is, unless the context indicates otherwise, the subject of said verb. Since these two verbs come together so very closely in this short sentence and are connected by "and," and since nothing indicates otherwise, to suppose that the prophet had a different subject for each of these verbs is illogical. Therefore, this translation is unjustifiable.

The fourth translation is that given by Isaac Leeser: "But I will pour out over the house of David, and over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they will look up toward me (for every one) whom they have thrust through, and they will lament for him, as one lamenteth for an only son, and weep bitterly for him, as one weepeth bitterly for the first-born." The translator has inserted the phrase, "for every one" into the text. He has, however, placed it in parentheses by which fact evidently he intended to let it be known that it is not in the original. Instead of making the text plainer by his explanatory phrase, he has obscured its meaning. Doubtless, he would say that "the house of David" and "the inhabitants of Jerusalem" are the subject of the verb, "will look." What is the subject of "have thrust through?" He probably would say, "the nations." Who are those who "will lament?" The following context shows that they are the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The interpolated phrase has thrown the sentence into hopeless confusion. Since this phrase is not in the original, and since it beclouds the issue, this translation cannot be accepted.

One wonders why there is such a diversity of opinion among the different translators. The following facts may throw light upon the subject. Rashi (1040-1105) in his commentary on the Bible on this passage, according to David Baron, says: "'They shall look back to mourn because the Gentiles had pierced some amongst them and killed some of them.' But in his commentary on the Talmud he says: 'The words, "the land shall mourn," are found in the prophecy of Zechariah, and he prophesies of the future that they shall mourn on account of Messiah, the son of Joseph, who shall be slain in the war of Gog and Magog' (Sukkah, fol. 52, Col. 1)." Continuing his comments on Rashi's methods of exegesis, Baron states: "for instance, Isa. 53, which, in his commentary on the Bible, he expounds of the Jewish people; but in his commentary on the Talmud he explains of Messiah." One could explain the contradictory interpretations of the same passage upon the basis that he wrote these commentaries at different times and that he changed his views between his writing the first work and the second, if it were not for his statement in his commentary on Psa. 21, where he says: "Our rabbis have expounded it of the King Messiah, but it is better to expound it further of David himself, in order to answer heretics" (Baron). Hence it is certain that Rashi was moved by theological bias. It is altogether possible that the same factor has entered into the translations presented above. Such predisposition, however, did not enter into the rendering of the translation of Jew. Pub. Soc., which is true to the original; but this theological bias does find expression in the footnote.

The original text is as follows:

וְשָׁפַכְתִּי עַל־בֵּית דָּוִיד וְעַל יוֹשֵׁב יְרוּשָׁלִַם רוּחַ חֵן וְתַחֲנוּנִים וְהִבִּיטוּ אֵלַי אֵת אֲשֶׁר־דָּקָרוּ וְסָפְדוּ עָלָיו

"And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look unto me whom they pierced" (Author's Tr.).

"I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications." The expression "I will pour" is the same promise of the coming of God's Spirit as is mentioned by Joel 2:28 ff; Ezek, 39:29; Isa. 44:3, etc.

"The Spirit of grace and supplications" is none other than the Holy Spirit of Whom Isaiah speaks in 11:2. Here He is called "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." He is thus spoken of because it is He who imparts the graces enumerated to those who trust in Him. In the present passage He is called the spirit of grace and supplications because He will melt the heart and dispose the soul of the penitent remnant toward God. He will likewise cause it to pray as it has never before. The words "grace" and "supplications" are related as cause and effect.

"They shall look." While the original word means simply looking with the physical eye, it also carries the idea of "trustful hope and longing." It likewise means "to regard," "to consider," and "to contemplate." It is used thus in Num. 21:9: "And Moses made a serpent of brass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld it (or 'looked unto'), the serpent of brass, he lived." The same word is likewise used in Num. 12:8 in referring to Moses' looking upon God. Thus the penitent remnant of Israel at the second advent, being thoroughly convicted of sin, will look with hopeful trust unto Him whom the nation pierced at His first coming.

The words וְהִבִּיטוּ אֵלַי (they shall look unto me) of the Masoretic text have been the occasion of much dispute both by Jews and rationalistic critics. This reading is supported by the ancient versions and extant manuscripts with very few exceptions. It is also accepted as correct by the four Jewish versions quoted above. Some few manuscripts have "unto him" as their marginal reading (קרי). This marginal reading has in several instances been incorporated into the text through mistake. Since, however, the ancient versions and the majority of the manuscripts are against it, it cannot be correct.

The ancient scholars evidently knowing that "Me" refers to God (the speaker), seeing that He is pierced and being unable to understand how such can be the case, placed "unto him" in the margin as an explanation of the difficulty. The speaker, as is stated in verse 1, is "the Lord who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." As is seen in Isa. 48:12-16, He is the first one of the two Divine Persons mentioned there whom אֲדֹנַי יֳהוָה sent. In other words, He is the second one of the Divine Personalities.

"They shall look unto me whom they have pierced." The word translated "pierced" occurs in Num. 25:7,8 and also in Zech. 13:3 and means to pierce or thrust through with a spear or lance as is clear from the context. This piercing of the Lord is evidently the piercing of "the servant of the Lord" of Isa. 53 and "the silent sufferer" of Psa. 22. The facts presented in Chapters XIV and XVIII show that the Pierced One of these Scriptures is none other than Messiah. The Pierced One of this passage, as has been interpreted by the earliest Jewish scholars, is also Messiah, God manifest in the flesh. The seeming difficulty connected with the piercing of God becomes very clear in the light of Isa. 9:5,6 which, as has been seen, foretells God's taking human form, while Isa. 7:14 states that it is by virgin birth. Therefore after God assumes human form, the inhabitants of Jerusalem pierce Him. No one is to think that this passage means that all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem actually do the piercing. A thing is said to be done by the man who gives the order as well as by the one who actually carries out his instructions. Furthermore, since throughout the Tenach the solidarity of the Jewish race is assumed, and oneness of spirit animates the nation throughout its history, the besieged and distressed remnant of the nation in the final conflict is said to have pierced Him.

"They shall mourn for him." In the preceding clauses it is said that the inhabitants of Jerusalem look unto me (God) but in this clause it is said "they shall mourn for 'Him.'" There is a sudden and abrupt change from the first person to that of the third which has occasioned much controversy among scholars. The flow of thought demands, however, that the "Him" have "Me" as its antecedent. Why such a change? Throughout the Psalms the writers frequently change very abruptly, in a dramatic way, from the second to the third person and vice versa. One has no difficulty, however, in understanding the import of such passages. Why should one experience any trouble here? "But just as the words, 'They shall look unto me,' set forth the essential oneness of the Pierced One with the Lord, so does the sudden transition in the same verse from the first person to the third, and the words, 'they shall mourn for him,' teach us that, as to His person, He is yet distinct from God." Thus appears in this glorious passage the teaching of the Tri-Unity of the God of Israel: the Lord God, the Holy Spirit, and the Pierced Messiah--a Divine Person in human form. At the time Israel accepts Him Whom she pierced, the following prophecy will be fulfilled: "in that day shall the Lord be one, and his name one," which statement is but an abbreviated method of saying God will be recognized as "the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people" (Jer. 31:1). He will also be the God of all families of the earth and be worshipped by all.

"And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son." The suffering remnant shall see the mistake of centuries, both its own and that of their fathers, and in genuine contrition and repentance will mourn over him. It will be such intense mourning as that which only fond parents can experience over a first born son. Since the Messiah is God manifest in the flesh and is called by the Lord "My Son," He is God's Son in a special and unique sense. He has a human mother, as is declared by the prophets, but no human father. Therefore in a very real sense He is God's "first-born." The mourning, on the part of the remnant, over Him will be, therefore, like the mourning for an only son, as the subsequent verses declare.

With spiritual vision illuminated and with an overwhelming sense of guilt when the surviving remnant looks upon God Whom they have pierced, there will be such a universal mourning and genuine repentance as has never been throughout the annals of history. The entire nation will see its mistake and whole-heartedly will accept the pierced Messiah as its real Shepherd. By so doing they will be enabled to see the Fountain for sin and for uncleanness which was opened for them when Messiah came at first and was pierced for their transgressions (13:1; Isa. 53).

D. The Smiting of the Shepherd of Israel.

In chapter 13 the prophet, looking beyond the time when Israel shall accept her long-rejected Messiah, predicts that spiritism and false prophecy will vanish from the world. Sentiment will be so very strong against such that even those who before their acceptance of Messiah engaged in such will utterly repudiate any connection with the same. In speaking of the severity of the punishment which shall be meted out to any who might dare to dabble in the occult, the prophet foretells an instance of a young man who has prior to his conversion engaged in such spiritistic practices and who will make the claim that the wounds between his arms are not those which he inflicted upon himself while engaging in such spiritistic exercises but those which he received in the house of his friends.

From the narration concerning this young man the inspired prophet goes immediately to the smiting of him whom God termed "my fellow": "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the little ones." As already stated, the Lord God of Israel is her Shepherd (Psa. 80:1). Again, in Ezek. 34:11-16, God having spoken against the unfaithful shepherds who had not fed the flock promised, saying "Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out ... And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel ... I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice." In explaining how He will perform the office of a shepherd to Israel, the Lord declared in verse 23, "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." Since the Lord declares emphatically that He will be the shepherd of His people, and that His servant David shall be shepherd over them, it is evident that David, His servant, Who is recognized by the Jewish commentators as the Messiah, is God Himself in human form, shepherding His people Israel. Ezekiel's promise is confirmed by Zech. 13:7, which is now under consideration.

Again, God's addressing the sword and calling upon it to awake is but a rhetorical manner of expressing His overruling providence in putting the Messiah to death for "the transgression of my people to whom the stroke is due."

He Whom God terms "my shepherd" is "the man that is my fellow." The word גֶּבֶר shows that this shepherd is a man; but he is more than a man. He is עֲמִיתִי "my fellow," says God. This latter word occurs ten times in the Hebrew Scriptures--in this passage and nine times in the Book of Leviticus. In the nine occurrences in Leviticus it is used as a synonym for אָח "brother" which refers either to a blood relative or to one who is living nearest to another. Since a man's brother is of the same nature and essence as he himself, the man whom God thus speaks of as עֲמִיתִי "my fellow" is of the same divine nature and essence as God Himself. That this interpretation is correct is seen from the fact that Jewish commentators have also attached the same significance to it. Aben Ezra interprets it as a reference to Gentile kings who in their pride styled themselves as divine and thus called themselves "God's fellows." Again, Kimchi gives this passage the same interpretation and adds "think himself my Fellow." "Rabbi Izaak of Troki, in the Chizzuk Enunah, interprets the whole of the King of Ishmael, 'called also the King of Turkey,' who in his pride and greatness of his heart 'counts himself like God.'" It is evident from these quotations that these Jewish commentators realized the correct significance of the word but claimed that this passage referred to different heathen or Gentile kings who made false claims to deity. While they are correct in their interpretation of its significance, they are wrong in their interpretation of the passage, for God speaks of this one as "My Fellow," or, "Equal." Therefore this Shepherd, the Man, God's Fellow, is none other than one of the Divine Personalities in human form Who, according to the predictions of Isaiah (7:14; 9:5,6) (4,5) is born of The Virgin, and is Immanuel (God with us), and the Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, the Lord in human form.

"Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall he scattered." This Shepherd Who is smitten is the One for Whom the nation doles out, in the person of its leaders, the thirty pieces of silver as His hire. The sheep that are scattered are "the flock of slaughter" of chapter 11, namely, the Hebrew race. It is clear from the connection that the sheep are scattered as a result of the smiting of the Shepherd. Since the nation was scattered in A.D. 70, the Shepherd was smitten prior to that time. In every calamity, however, which God permits or sends upon the nation He always protects those who are trusting in Him; thus He does on this occasion, as He declares, "And I will turn my hand upon the little ones." This same idiom appears in Isa. 1:25, from which context it is clear that it signifies not only the Lord's protection of His people but of His causing them to pass through such experiences as will purge out of their lives those things which are wrong.

Continuing to speak of the scattering of the flock of slaughter, God declared "that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, the Lord is my God" (Zech. 13:8,9). According to this prediction, when the flock is scattered two-thirds perish and the other third passes through trials which are compared to fire and which act as a refining element. This passage, of course, received a fulfillment in the year 70 A.D. but awaits its complete fulfillment in "the time of Jacob's trouble" which, by Isaiah, is compared to refining fire (Isa. 66:15,16). In its great distress the surviving remnant learns its utter dependence upon God, turns to Him with all of its heart, and accepts its pierced Shepherd Who returns in power and glory. At that time this pierced Messiah will say, "It is my people" and they shall say, "The Lord is my God."

CONCLUSION

From the passages discussed in this chapter it is clear that the prophet spoke of the pre-existence of the Messiah; assumed the Virgin Birth; described the ministry and lowly character at His first coming; pictured graphically His rejection by the Hebrew people; foretold the dispersion and punishment of the nation; and predicted His return and reign in glory.



Footnotes:

¹ Though the doctrine of a Messiah ben Joseph may be traced back to the fourth century, the Servant of Isa. 53 was interpreted as Messiah ben David to the time of Rashi. Gradually in certain circles the atoning work of Messiah was attributed to the fictitious Messiah ben Joseph.

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