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How do Jews generally view/regard this verse?

And I 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 because they have thrust him through; 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.
Zechariah 12:10

Who is the one who "the house of David" and/or "the inhabitants of Jerusalem" thrust through? Christians understand this as a reference to Jesus, but obviously Jews do not.

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    Jews For Judaism has an article about this very verse.. – HodofHod Oct 5 '12 at 23:03
  • I think the author of that article makes some false assumptions about the passage in John. I don't think John was saying Zech 12:10 was fulfilled at that point, but that these things happened so that it might be fulfilled (in the future). – Nick Rolando Oct 5 '12 at 23:43
  • @HodofHod That article doesn't add up. In the passage, they refers to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who both thrust him through and are in mourning (at some later time). This article describes "they" as the Jewish nation, but their adversaries as the ones who "thrust him through" .. which can't be correct. – Nick Rolando Oct 8 '12 at 19:58
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Rashi says that it refers to mashiach ben Yosef.

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  • No he doesn't. I think you're looking at the wrong Divre Hamatchil. – Double AA♦ Oct 5 '12 at 23:01
  • @DoubleAA - This is actually discussed in סוכה נב. I think ba is referring to the מצודת ציון who refers to this. – Fred Oct 7 '12 at 4:05
  • I can't read Hebrew. Could you please enlighten me on what he says about this? – Nick Rolando Oct 11 '12 at 21:25
  • @Shredder chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16216/showrashi/true – b a Oct 11 '12 at 21:41
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Textually, it seems to be referring to anyone of the inhabitants of Jerusalem whom the coerced Judah-ites and other enemies might have killed during the end of days battle.

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  • The text says the inhabitants of Jerusalem (and the house of David) are the ones doing the thrusting (not the ones being thrusted). Sorry if I misunderstood. – Nick Rolando Oct 10 '12 at 20:54
  • my text reads "They will look toward me because of those whom they have stabbed" with They referring to both the inhabitants (verse 2) who were forced to fight and those others who rose against Jerusalem (verse 9). – rosends Oct 10 '12 at 23:18
  • What text are you using? Can you point me to an online reference? I got this from Mechon-Mamre.org, which I was told is agreeably the most accurate – Nick Rolando Oct 11 '12 at 21:23
  • I copied it from the English of the Stone edition tanach. – rosends Oct 12 '12 at 12:39
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Ibn Ezra, Metzudat David and Abravanel also interpreted this as referring to Mashiach ben Yosef.

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