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Selected Verse: Zechariah 13:6 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Zec 13:6	King James	And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
wounds in thine hand--The interrogator still suspects him: "If so, if you have never pretended to be a prophet, whence come those wounds?" The Hebrew is literally, "between thine hands." The hands were naturally held up to ward off the blows, and so were "thrust through" (Zac 13:3) "between" the bones of the hand. Stoning was the usual punishment; "thrusting through" was also a fit retribution on one who tried to "thrust Israel away" from the Lord (Deu 13:10); and perfects the type of Messiah, condemned as a false prophet, and pierced with "wounds between His hands." Thus the transition to the direct prophecy of Him (Zac 13:7) is natural, which it would not be if He were not indirectly and in type alluded to. wounded in . . . house of my friends--an implied admission that he had pretended to prophecy, and that his friends had wounded him for it in zeal for God (Zac 13:3). The Holy Spirit in Zechariah alludes indirectly to Messiah, the Antitype, wounded by those whom He came to befriend, who ought to have been His "friends," who were His kinsmen (compare Zac 13:3, as to the false prophet's friends, with Mar 3:21, "His friends," Margin, "kinsmen"; Joh 7:5; "His own," Joh 1:11; the Jews, "of whom as concerning the flesh He came," Rom 9:5), but who wounded Him by the agency of the Romans (Zac 12:10).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

wounds in thine hand--The interrogator still suspects him: "If so, if you have never pretended to be a prophet, whence come those wounds?" The Hebrew is literally, "between thine hands." The hands were naturally held up to ward off the blows, and so were "thrust through" (Zac 13:3) "between" the bones of the hand. Stoning was the usual punishment; "thrusting through" was also a fit retribution on one who tried to "thrust Israel away" from the Lord (Deu 13:10); and perfects the type of Messiah, condemned as a false prophet, and pierced with "wounds between His hands." Thus the transition to the direct prophecy of Him (Zac 13:7) is natural, which it would not be if He were not indirectly and in type alluded to.

wounded in . . . house of my friends--an implied admission that he had pretended to prophecy, and that his friends had wounded him for it in zeal for God (Zac 13:3). The Holy Spirit in Zechariah alludes indirectly to Messiah, the Antitype, wounded by those whom He came to befriend, who ought to have been His "friends," who were His kinsmen (compare Zac 13:3, as to the false prophet's friends, with Mar 3:21, "His friends," Margin, "kinsmen"; Joh 7:5; "His own," Joh 1:11; the Jews, "of whom as concerning the flesh He came," Rom 9:5), but who wounded Him by the agency of the Romans (Zac 12:10).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
And one shall say unto him, What are those wounds in thy hands? - The words are simple; the meaning different , according as they are united with what immediately precedes, or the main subject, Him whom they pierced, for whom they were to mourn, and, on their mourning, to be cleansed, and of whom it is said in the next verse, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd." Jerome and others explain it of the punishment inflicted by parents. "These wounds and bruises I received, condemned by the judgment of my parents, and of those who did not hate but loved me. And so will truth prevail dissipating falsehood, that he too, who was punished for his own fault, will own that he suffered rightly." But wounds of chastisement are not inflicted on the hands, and the punishment of false prophecy was not such wounds, but death. Wounds in the hands were no punishment, which parents would inflict. They were the special punishment of the cross , after sustaining which, One only lived. The most literal interpretation, then, of the wounds in the hands harmonizes with the piercing before, and the smiting of the Good Shepherd which follows, of whom David too prophesied, "They pierced My Hands and My Feet" Psa 22:16. "What are those wounds on Thy hands? How long, think you, and how and by whom will this be said to Him? For ever and ever, unceasingly, and with unspeakable admiration it will be said, both by God the Father, "to whom He was obedient unto death, the death of the Cross" Phi 2:8 : it will be said also both by the holy "angels" who "desire to look into" Him Pe1 1:12, and by people whom He has redeemed. O great miracle, wonderful spectacle, especially in the Lord of all, to bear wounds in the midst of His Hands! And He shall say; "With these I was wounded in the house of those who loved Me." O great sacrilege, sacrilegious homicide, that such wounds were inflicted in the house of those who loved. He will not say, 'with these I was wounded by those who loved Me,' but 'in the house of those who loved Me.' For they who inflicted them, loved Him not. But they were the house of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and David, and the rest like them, who loved Me, and expected Me, who was promised to them. Yet so to speak is not to answer the question, 'what are these wounds?' For it is one thing to ask, what are these wounds, another to say, where they were inflicted. Having said, that they were inflicted in the house of those who loved Me. He says, what they are, 'the Cup which My Father hath given Me to drink.' For what He subjoins, is the Voice of the Father giving the Cup. 'Sword, awake, etc.' is as though he said, Ask ye, What are these wounds? I say, 'the tokens of obedience, the signs of the Father's will and command. The Lord of hosts, God the Father 'hath not spared' Me, 'His own Son, but hath given' Me 'for' you 'all.' And He said, 'Awake, o sword, against Jify Shepherd, and against the Man cohering to Me,' which is as much as, 'O Death, have thou power over My Son, My good Shepherd, the Man who cohereth to Me, that is, who is joined in unity of Person with the Word who is consubstantial with Me!' And then, as though the sword asked, how or how far shall I arise against this Thy Shepherd, he subjoins, 'Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.' Hence, the Shepherd Himself, when about to be smitten, spake, 'All ye shall be offended because of Me this night. For it is written, I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered' Mat 26:31. So then to those who say, 'what are those wounds in the midst of Thy hands?' is appositely subjoined the Voice of the Father, saying, 'Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd etc.' in the meaning, 'They are monuments of the Father's love, the tokens of My Obedience, because He 'spared not His own Son,' and I 'became obedient' to Him for you all, 'even unto death, and that, the death of the Cross. '"

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

And one shall say unto him, What are those wounds in thy hands? - The words are simple; the meaning different , according as they are united with what immediately precedes, or the main subject, Him whom they pierced, for whom they were to mourn, and, on their mourning, to be cleansed, and of whom it is said in the next verse, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd." Jerome and others explain it of the punishment inflicted by parents. "These wounds and bruises I received, condemned by the judgment of my parents, and of those who did not hate but loved me. And so will truth prevail dissipating falsehood, that he too, who was punished for his own fault, will own that he suffered rightly."

But wounds of chastisement are not inflicted on the hands, and the punishment of false prophecy was not such wounds, but death. Wounds in the hands were no punishment, which parents would inflict. They were the special punishment of the cross , after sustaining which, One only lived. The most literal interpretation, then, of the wounds in the hands harmonizes with the piercing before, and the smiting of the Good Shepherd which follows, of whom David too prophesied, "They pierced My Hands and My Feet" Psa 22:16. "What are those wounds on Thy hands? How long, think you, and how and by whom will this be said to Him? For ever and ever, unceasingly, and with unspeakable admiration it will be said, both by God the Father, "to whom He was obedient unto death, the death of the Cross" Phi 2:8 : it will be said also both by the holy "angels" who "desire to look into" Him Pe1 1:12, and by people whom He has redeemed. O great miracle, wonderful spectacle, especially in the Lord of all, to bear wounds in the midst of His Hands! And He shall say; "With these I was wounded in the house of those who loved Me." O great sacrilege, sacrilegious homicide, that such wounds were inflicted in the house of those who loved. He will not say, 'with these I was wounded by those who loved Me,' but 'in the house of those who loved Me.' For they who inflicted them, loved Him not.

But they were the house of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and David, and the rest like them, who loved Me, and expected Me, who was promised to them. Yet so to speak is not to answer the question, 'what are these wounds?' For it is one thing to ask, what are these wounds, another to say, where they were inflicted. Having said, that they were inflicted in the house of those who loved Me. He says, what they are, 'the Cup which My Father hath given Me to drink.' For what He subjoins, is the Voice of the Father giving the Cup. 'Sword, awake, etc.' is as though he said, Ask ye, What are these wounds? I say, 'the tokens of obedience, the signs of the Father's will and command. The Lord of hosts, God the Father 'hath not spared' Me, 'His own Son, but hath given' Me 'for' you 'all.' And He said, 'Awake, o sword, against Jify Shepherd, and against the Man cohering to Me,' which is as much as, 'O Death, have thou power over My Son, My good Shepherd, the Man who cohereth to Me, that is, who is joined in unity of Person with the Word who is consubstantial with Me!' And then, as though the sword asked, how or how far shall I arise against this Thy Shepherd, he subjoins, 'Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.' Hence, the Shepherd Himself, when about to be smitten, spake, 'All ye shall be offended because of Me this night. For it is written, I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered' Mat 26:31. So then to those who say, 'what are those wounds in the midst of Thy hands?' is appositely subjoined the Voice of the Father, saying, 'Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd etc.' in the meaning, 'They are monuments of the Father's love, the tokens of My Obedience, because He 'spared not His own Son,' and I 'became obedient' to Him for you all, 'even unto death, and that, the death of the Cross. '"

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
With which I was wounded - To recover me from ruining myself and others by imposture, see Zac 13:3.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

With which I was wounded - To recover me from ruining myself and others by imposture, see Zac 13:3.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
What are these wounds in thine hands? - Marks which he had received in honor of his idols. But he shall excuse himself by stating that he had received these marks in his own family; when, most probably, they had been dedicated to some of those idols. See the note on Isa 44:5. I do not think that these words are spoken at all concerning Jesus Christ. I have heard them quoted in this way; but I cannot hear such an application of them without horror. In quoting from the Old Testament in reference to the New, we cannot be too cautious. We may wound the truth instead of honoring it.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

What are these wounds in thine hands? - Marks which he had received in honor of his idols. But he shall excuse himself by stating that he had received these marks in his own family; when, most probably, they had been dedicated to some of those idols. See the note on Isa 44:5. I do not think that these words are spoken at all concerning Jesus Christ. I have heard them quoted in this way; but I cannot hear such an application of them without horror. In quoting from the Old Testament in reference to the New, we cannot be too cautious. We may wound the truth instead of honoring it.

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