^12:10“I will pour out on the kingship¹⁴ of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me,¹⁵ the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.¹⁶^12:11On that day the lamentation in Jerusalem will be as great as the lamentation at Hadad-Rimmon¹⁷ in the plain of Megiddo.¹⁸^12:12The land will mourn, clan by clan—the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan¹⁹ by itself and their wives by themselves; ^12:13the clan of the descendants of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; and the clan of the Shimeites²⁰ by itself and their wives by themselves—^12:14all the clans that remain, each separately with their wives.”

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Footnotes

14 Or “dynasty”; Heb “house.”
15 Because of the difficulty of the concept of the mortal piercing of God, the subject of this clause, and the shift of pronoun from “me” to “him” in the next, many read אַלֵי אֵת אֲשֶׁר (’ale ’et ’asher, “to the one whom,” a reading followed by , ) rather than the ’s אֵלַי אֵת אֲשֶׁר (’ela ’et ’asher, “to me whom”). The reasons for such alternatives, however, are clear—they are motivated by scribes who found such statements theologically objectionable—and they should be rejected in favor of the more difficult reading (lectio difficilior) of the . Or “on me.”
16 The Hebrew term בְּכוֹר (békhor, “firstborn”), translated usually in the by πρωτότοκος (prōtotokos), has unmistakable messianic overtones as the use of the Greek term in the NT to describe Jesus makes clear (cf. Col 1:15, 18). Thus, the idea of God being pierced sets the stage for the fatal wounding of Jesus, the Messiah and the Son of God (cf. John 19:37; Rev 1:7). Note that some English translations supply “son” from the context (e.g., , , ).
17 “Hadad-Rimmon” is a compound of the names of two Canaanite deities, the gods of storm and thunder respectively. The grammar (a subjective genitive) allows, and the problem of comparing Israel’s grief at God’s “wounding” with pagan mourning seems to demand, that this be viewed as a place name, perhaps where Judah lamented the death of good king Josiah (cf. 2 Chr 35:25). However, some translations render this as “for” (, , , ), suggesting a person, while others translate as “of” (, , , , ) which is ambiguous.
18 For location see ; ; ; ; .
19 By the time of Zechariah the line of descent from David had already been transferred from the Solomon branch to the Nathan branch (the clan of the family of Nathan). Nathan was a son of David (2 Sam 5:14) through whom Jesus eventually came (Luke 3:23–31). Matthew traces Jesus’ ancestry back through Solomon (Matt 1:6–16) but apparently this is to tie Joseph into the Davidic (and thus messianic) line. The “official” descent of Jesus may be viewed as passing through Solomon whereas the “physical” descent came through Nathan.
20 The Shimeites were Levites (Exod 6:16–17; Num 3:17–18) who presumably were prominent in the postexilic era. Just as David and Nathan represented the political leadership of the community, so Levi and Shimei represented the religious leadership. All will lament the piercing of the Messiah.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, every family by itself: the family of David’s house by itself and their women by themselves; the family of Nathan’s house by itself and their women by themselves; the family of Levi’s house by itself and their women by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself and their women by themselves; all the remaining families, every family by itself, and their women by themselves.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

“All Israel will mourn, each clan by itself, and with the husbands separate from their wives. The clan of David will mourn alone, as will the clan of Nathan, the clan of Levi, and the clan of Shimei. Each of the surviving clans from Judah will mourn separately, and with the husbands separate from their wives.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“ ‘I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as one grieves bitterly over a firstborn. On that day the wailing will be great in Jerusalem, like the wailing for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn, each clan by itself; the clan of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the clan of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the clan of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the clan of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; and all those clans remaining, each clan by itself, and their wives by themselves.’ ”

KJV 1900King James Version

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

The spirit of grace and of supplications:

And they shall look upon 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 firstborn.

In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem,

As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

And the land shall mourn, every family apart;

The family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart;

The family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart;

The family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

All the families that remain,

Every family apart, and their wives apart.

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