God’s Word Translation
Zechariah 12:2
2“I’m going to make Jerusalem like a cup ⌞of wine⌟ that makes all the surrounding people stagger. They will attack Judah along with Jerusalem.
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 prophetic revelation, the Lord’s word about Israel. The Lord—who spread out the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit in a person—says, “I’m going to make Jerusalem like a cup ⌞of wine⌟ that makes all the surrounding people stagger. They will attack Judah along with Jerusalem. 3On that day I will make Jerusalem a stone too heavy for all the nations to lift. All who try to lift it will be severely injured. All the nations in the world will gather ⌞to fight⌟ against Jerusalem.” 4The Lord declares, “On that day I will strike every horse with panic and every rider with madness. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will strike all the horses of the nations blind.
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 75:8A cup is in the Lord’s hand. (Its foaming wine is thoroughly mixed with spices.) He will empty it, ⌞and⌟ all the wicked people on earth will have to drink every last drop.
- Isaiah 51:17Wake up! Wake up! Stand up, Jerusalem! You drank from the cup in the Lord’s hand. That cup was filled with his anger. You drank from the bowl, the cup that makes people stagger, and you drained it!
- Jeremiah 25:15This is what the Lord God of Israel said to me: Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my fury, and make all the nations to whom I’m sending you drink from it.
- Jeremiah 49:12This is what the Lord says: If those who don’t deserve to drink from the cup still drink from it, why should you go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished. You must drink from it.
- Jeremiah 51:7Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand. It made the whole world drunk. The nations drank its wine. That is why the nations have gone insane.
- Habakkuk 2:16You are filled with disgrace rather than glory. Drink! Yes you! And expose yourself as godless. The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
- Revelation 14:10will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured unmixed into the cup of God’s anger. Then he will be tortured by fiery sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb.
- Revelation 16:19The important city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered to give Babylon the Great the cup of wine from his fierce anger.
- Revelation 18:6Do to her what she has done. Give her twice as much as she gave. Serve her a drink in her own cup twice as large as the drink she served others.
- Jeremiah 51:57I will make their officials and wise men drunk, along with their governors, officers, and soldiers. They will fall into a deep sleep and never wake up,” declares the king, whose name is the Lord of Armies.
- Jeremiah 8:14Why are we just sitting here? Let’s get up! Let’s go into the fortified cities and die there. The Lord our God has condemned us to die. He has given us poison to drink because we have sinned against the Lord.
- Zechariah 14:14Judah will also fight in Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected, a very large amount of gold, silver, and 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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