New Living Translation
Zechariah 12:2
2I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and 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 message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: “This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. 3On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves. 4“On that day,” says the Lord, “I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies.
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 a cup in his hand that is full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours out the wine in judgment, and all the wicked must drink it, draining it to the dregs.
- Isaiah 51:17Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem! You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury. You have drunk the cup of terror, tipping out its last drops.
- Jeremiah 25:15This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
- Jeremiah 49:12And this is what the Lord says: “If the innocent must suffer, how much more must you! You will not go unpunished! You must drink this cup of judgment!
- Jeremiah 51:7Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s hands, a cup that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank Babylon’s wine, and it drove them all mad.
- Habakkuk 2:16But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced. Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame.
- Revelation 14:10must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.
- Revelation 16:19The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath.
- Revelation 18:6Do to her as she has done to others. Double her penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed a cup of terror for others, so brew twice as much for her.
- Jeremiah 51:57I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her captains, officers, and warriors. They will fall asleep and never wake up again!” says the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
- Jeremiah 8:14“Then the people will say, ‘Why should we wait here to die? Come, let’s go to the fortified towns and die there. For the Lord our God has decreed our destruction and has given us a cup of poison to drink because we sinned against the Lord.
- Zechariah 14:14Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the neighboring nations will be captured—great quantities of gold and silver and fine clothing.
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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