New English Translation
Zechariah 12:2
2“I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged.
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
1The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord – he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person – says, “I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 3Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 4In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses of the nations with blindness.
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 75:8For the Lord holds in his hand a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices, and pours it out. Surely all the wicked of the earth will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.”
- Isaiah 51:17Wake up! Wake up! Get up, O Jerusalem! You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you, which was full of his anger! You drained dry the goblet full of intoxicating wine.
- Jeremiah 25:15So the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision. “Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath. Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it.
- Jeremiah 49:12For the Lord says, “If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath must drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must certainly drink from the cup of my wrath.
- Jeremiah 51:7Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad.
- Habakkuk 2:16But you will become drunk with shame, not majesty. Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand is coming to you, and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!
- Revelation 14:10that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.
- Revelation 16:19The great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath.
- Revelation 18:6Repay her the same way she repaid others; pay her back double corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her.
- Jeremiah 51:57“I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her governors, leaders, and warriors. They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,” says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all.
- Jeremiah 8:14The people say, “Why are we just sitting here? Let us gather together inside the fortified cities. Let us at least die there fighting, since the Lord our God has condemned us to die. He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment because we have sinned against him.
- Zechariah 14:14Moreover, Judah will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up – gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.
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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