EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Zechariah 12:2
2‘I will frighten the enemies that live round Jerusalem. I will frighten them so much that they will run. They will run as fast as they can from Jerusalem and from Judah.
Zechariah 12:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
- New International Version (NIV)“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.
Context of Zechariah 12:2
1This is the Lord's message about Israel. The Lord made the skies and the whole wide earth. He makes men and women. ‘I will frighten the enemies that live round Jerusalem. I will frighten them so much that they will run. They will run as fast as they can from Jerusalem and from Judah. 3There will be a time when all the countries of the earth will be ready to attack Jerusalem. Then I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock that nobody can move. All those who try to lift it will hurt themselves very badly. 4On that day,’ says the Lord, ‘I will make every horse very afraid. I will make all the men that ride them crazy. I want to help Judah's people. And so, I will not let the horses of the enemy see any longer.
Read all of Zechariah 12Zechariah 12:2 word by word
הִנֵּ֣ה אָ֠נֹכִי שָׂ֣ם אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִַ֧ם סַף־רַ֛עַל לְכָל־הָעַמִּ֖ים סָבִ֑יב וְגַ֧ם עַל־יְהוּדָ֛ה יִֽהְיֶ֥ה בַמָּצ֖וֹר עַל־יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Behold, I will makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
- a cupסַףsaph · basinH5592
- of tremblingרַ֫עַלra‛al · reelingH7478
- unto all the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- round aboutסָבִיבsâbîyb sebîybâh · aroundH5439
- when they shall be in the siegeמָצוֹרmâtsôr mâtsûr · siegeH4692
- both against Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
Cross-references for Zechariah 12:2
- Psalms 75:8The Lord holds a cup of punishment in his hand. It is full of wine, with spices in it. The Lord pours out his anger from this cup. All the wicked people in the world will have to drink it. They will drink all of it, so that none remains.
- Isaiah 51:17Wake up, people in Jerusalem! Get ready! The Lord has been angry with you, and he has punished you. You had to receive all of his anger, like you were drinking strong wine from a cup. Now that you have drunk it all, you cannot stand up straight!
- Jeremiah 25:15The Lord, Israel's God, said to me, ‘Take this cup from me. It is full of wine that shows my great anger. Take it to the nations where I send you. Make them drink this wine of punishment.
- Jeremiah 49:12The Lord says, ‘I had to punish even those people who did not deserve my great punishment. So you will certainly not escape my punishment! You will have to drink my anger from the cup that I give to you.
- Jeremiah 51:7Babylon has been like a gold cup of wine in the Lord's hand. The nations of the world had to drink that wine. It made everyone become drunk, and so they all became crazy.
- Habakkuk 2:16But it is you who will become ashamed, not great. You will become drunk so that people see you with no clothes on! The Lord has a cup of wine in his right hand. He is ready to give it to you as a punishment. You will no longer be great, but you will be ashamed.
- Revelation 14:10God will be very angry with all those people. They will be like people who must drink God's strong wine. When they drink wine from the cup of God's anger, they will have terrible pain. Fire and sulphur will burn them. God's angels and the Lamb will watch while God punishes them.
- Revelation 16:19As a result, the great city of Babylon broke into three parts. When the ground shook, it also destroyed the big cities of other nations in the world. God did not forget the evil things that the people of the great city of Babylon had done. So they had to drink wine from the cup of God's great anger.
- Revelation 18:6Yes, punish the people of that city. Do to them the same things that they have done to others. Punish them with twice the bad things that they themselves have done. She caused people to drink pain from her cup. Now make her drink twice as much pain for herself!
- Jeremiah 51:57I will make Babylon's officers and its wise men drunk, as well as its rulers, its leaders and its soldiers. They will sleep for ever and they will never wake up again.’ That is what the King says. His name is the Lord Almighty.
- Jeremiah 8:14The people say: ‘We should not sit here and do nothing. We must all go together into our strong cities. If we have to die, we will die there! The Lord our God has said that we must die. We have done bad things against him. He has decided to punish us with death. He has given us water to drink that has poison in it.
- Zechariah 14:14Judah also will go to Jerusalem and they will fight. They will take every good thing from all the countries. There will be a lot of expensive metals and many rich clothes.
Commentaries on Zechariah 12:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Jerusalem a cup of trembling - The Babylonians, who captivated and ruined the Jews, shall in their turn be ruined. I incline to think that what is spoken in this chapter about the Jews and Jerusalem, belongs to the "glory of the latter times." Shall be in the siege - This may refer to some war against the Church of Christ, such as that mentioned Revelation 20:9.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling - For encouragement, He promises the victory, and at first mentions the attack incidentally. Jerusalem is as a cup or basin, which its enemies take into their hands; a stone, which they put forth their strength to lift; but they themselves reel with the draught of God‘s judgments which they would give to others, they are torn by the stone which they would lift to fling. The image of the “cup” is mostly of God‘s…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2cup of drunkeness: The cup of alcoholic drink is a metaphor for God’s judgment (Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15; Habakkuk 2:16; Matthew 26:39, 42; Revelation 14:10; 16:1). Jerusalem would play a key role in God’s judgment on nearby nations.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. cup of trembling--a cup causing those who drink it to reel (from a Hebrew root "to reel"). Jerusalem, who drank the "cup of trembling" herself, shall be so to her foes (Is 51:17, 22; Jr 13:13). Calvin with the Septuagint translates, "threshold of destruction," on which they shall stumble and be crushed when they attempt to cross it. English Version is better. both against Judah--The Hebrew order of words is literally, "And also against Judah shall he…Read the comment
Topics related to Zechariah 12:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Zechariah 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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