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Selected Verse: Zechariah 12:11 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Zec 12:11	Strong Concordance	In that day [03117] shall there be a great [01431] mourning [04553] in Jerusalem [03389], as the mourning [04553] of Hadadrimmon [01910] in the valley [01237] of Megiddon [04023].
	King James	In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

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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]
As in Zac 12:10 the bitterness of their mourning is illustrated by a private case of mourning, so in this verse by a public one, the greatest recorded in Jewish history, that for the violent death in battle with Pharaoh-necho of the good King Josiah, whose reign had been the only gleam of brightness for the period from Hezekiah to the downfall of the state; lamentations were written by Jeremiah for the occasion (Kg2 23:29-30; Ch2 35:22-27). Hadad-rimmon--a place or city in the great plain of Esdraelon, the battlefield of many a conflict, near Megiddo; called so from the Syrian idol Rimmon. Hadad also was the name of the sun, a chief god of the Syrians [MACROBIUS, Saturnalia, 1.23]. A universal and an individual mourning at once.

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

As in Zac 12:10 the bitterness of their mourning is illustrated by a private case of mourning, so in this verse by a public one, the greatest recorded in Jewish history, that for the violent death in battle with Pharaoh-necho of the good King Josiah, whose reign had been the only gleam of brightness for the period from Hezekiah to the downfall of the state; lamentations were written by Jeremiah for the occasion (Kg2 23:29-30; Ch2 35:22-27).

Hadad-rimmon--a place or city in the great plain of Esdraelon, the battlefield of many a conflict, near Megiddo; called so from the Syrian idol Rimmon. Hadad also was the name of the sun, a chief god of the Syrians [MACROBIUS, Saturnalia, 1.23]. A universal and an individual mourning at once.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon - This was the greatest sorrow, which had fallen on Judah. Josiah was the last hope of its declining kingdom. His sons probably showed already their unlikeness to their father, whereby they precipitated their country's fall. in Josiah's death the last gleam of the sunset of Judah faded into night. Of him it is recorded, that "his pious acts, according to what was written in the law of the Lord," were written in his country's history Ch2 35:26, Ch2 35:7; for him the prophet "Jeremiah wrote a dirge" Ch2 35:25; "all" the minstrels of his country "spake of him in their dirges" Ch2 35:25. The dirges were "made an ordinance" which survived the captivity; "to this day" Ch2 35:25, it is said at the close of the Chronicles. Among the gathering sorrows of Israel, this lament over Josiah was written in the national collection of "dirges" Ch2 35:25. "Hadadrimmon," as being compounded of the name of two Syrian idols, is, in its name, a witness how Syrian idolatry penetrated into the kingdom, when it was detached from the worship of God. It was (Jerome) "a city near Jezreel, now called Maximinianopolis in the plain of Megiddon, in which the righteous king Josiah was wounded by Pharaoh Necho." This "was 17 miles from Caesarea, 10 from Esdraelon." Its name still survives in a small village, south of Megiddon , and so, on the way back to Jerusalem.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
In Zac 12:11-14 the magnitude and universality of the mourning are still further depicted. Zac 12:11. "In that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo. Zac 12:12. And the land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart. Zac 12:13. The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeite apart, and their wives apart. Zac 12:14. All the rest of the families, every family apart, and their wives apart." In Zac 12:11, the depth and bitterness of the pain on account of the slain Messiah are depicted by comparing it to the mourning of Hadad-rimmon. Jerome says with regard to this: "Adad-remmon is a city near Jerusalem, which was formerly called by this name, but is now called Maximianopolis, in the field of Mageddon, where the good king Josiah was wounded by Pharaoh Necho." This statement of Jerome is confirmed by the fact that the ancient Canaanitish or Hebrew name of the city has been preserved in Rmuni, a small village three-quarters of an hour to the south of Lejun (Legio = Megiddo: see at Jos 12:21; and V. de Velde, Reise, i. p. 267). The mourning of Hadad-rimmon is therefore the mourning for the calamity which befel Israel at Hadad-rimmon in the death of the good king Josiah, who was mortally wounded in the valley Megiddo, according to Ch2 35:22., so that he very soon gave up the ghost. The death of this most pious of all the kings of Judah was bewailed by the people, especially the righteous members of the nation, so bitterly, that not only did the prophet Jeremiah compose an elegy on his death, but other singers, both male and female, bewailed him in dirges, which were placed in a collection of elegiac songs, and preserved in Israel till long after the captivity (Ch2 35:25). Zechariah compares the lamentation for the putting of the Messiah to death to this great national mourning. All the other explanations that have been given of these words are so arbitrary, as hardly to be worthy of notice. This applies, for example, to the idea mentioned by the Chald., that the reference is to the death of the wicked Ahab, and also to Hitzig's hypothesis, that Hadad-rimmon was the one name of the god Adonis. For, apart from the fact that it is only from this passage that Movers has inferred that there ever was an idol of that name, a prophet of Jehovah could not possibly have compared the great lamentation of the Israelites over the death of the Messiah to the lamentation over the death of Ahab the ungodly king of Israel, or to the mourning for a Syrian idol. But the mourning will not be confined to Jerusalem; the land (hâ'ârets), i.e., the whole nation, will also mourn. This universality of the lamentation is individualized in Zac 12:12-14, and so depicted as to show that all the families and households of the nation mourn, and not the men only, but also the women. To this end the prophet mentions four distinct leading and secondary families, and then adds in conclusion, "all the rest of the families, with their wives." Of the several families named, two can be determined with certainty, - namely, the family of the house of David, i.e., the posterity of king David, and the family of the house of Levi, i.e., the posterity of the patriarch Levi. But about the other two families there is a difference of opinion. The rabbinical writers suppose that Nathan is the well known prophet of that name, and the family of Shimei the tribe of Simeon, which is said, according to the rabbinical fiction, to have furnished teachers to the nation. (Note: Jerome gives the Jewish view thus: "In David the regal tribe is included, i.e., Judah. In Nathan the prophetic order is described. Levi refers to the priests, from whom the priesthood sprang. In Simeon the teachers are included, as the companies of masters sprang from that tribe. He says nothing about the other tribes, as they had no special privilege of dignity.") But the latter opinion is overthrown, apart from any other reason, by the fact that the patronymic of Simeon is not written שׁמעי, but שׁמעני, in Jos 21:4; Ch1 27:16. Still less can the Benjamite Shimei, who cursed David (Sa2 16:5.), be intended. משׁפּחת השּׁמעי is the name given in Num 3:21 to the family of the son of Gershon and the grandson of Levi (Num 3:17.). This is the family intended here, and in harmony with this Nathan is not the prophet of that name, but the son of David, from whom Zerubbabel was descended (Luk 3:27, Luk 3:31). Luther adopted this explanation: "Four families," he says, "are enumerated, two from the royal line, under the names of David and Nathan, and two from the priestly line, as Levi and Shimei; after which he embraces all together." Of two tribes he mentions one leading family and one subordinate branch, to show that not only are all the families of Israel in general seized with the same grief, but all the separate branches of those families. Thus the word mishpâchâh is used here, as in many other cases, in the wider and more restricted meaning of the leading and the subordinate families.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

In Zac 12:11-14 the magnitude and universality of the mourning are still further depicted. Zac 12:11. "In that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo. Zac 12:12. And the land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart. Zac 12:13. The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeite apart, and their wives apart. Zac 12:14. All the rest of the families, every family apart, and their wives apart." In Zac 12:11, the depth and bitterness of the pain on account of the slain Messiah are depicted by comparing it to the mourning of Hadad-rimmon. Jerome says with regard to this: "Adad-remmon is a city near Jerusalem, which was formerly called by this name, but is now called Maximianopolis, in the field of Mageddon, where the good king Josiah was wounded by Pharaoh Necho." This statement of Jerome is confirmed by the fact that the ancient Canaanitish or Hebrew name of the city has been preserved in Rmuni, a small village three-quarters of an hour to the south of Lejun (Legio = Megiddo: see at Jos 12:21; and V. de Velde, Reise, i. p. 267). The mourning of Hadad-rimmon is therefore the mourning for the calamity which befel Israel at Hadad-rimmon in the death of the good king Josiah, who was mortally wounded in the valley Megiddo, according to Ch2 35:22., so that he very soon gave up the ghost. The death of this most pious of all the kings of Judah was bewailed by the people, especially the righteous members of the nation, so bitterly, that not only did the prophet Jeremiah compose an elegy on his death, but other singers, both male and female, bewailed him in dirges, which were placed in a collection of elegiac songs, and preserved in Israel till long after the captivity (Ch2 35:25). Zechariah compares the lamentation for the putting of the Messiah to death to this great national mourning. All the other explanations that have been given of these words are so arbitrary, as hardly to be worthy of notice. This applies, for example, to the idea mentioned by the Chald., that the reference is to the death of the wicked Ahab, and also to Hitzig's hypothesis, that Hadad-rimmon was the one name of the god Adonis. For, apart from the fact that it is only from this passage that Movers has inferred that there ever was an idol of that name, a prophet of Jehovah could not possibly have compared the great lamentation of the Israelites over the death of the Messiah to the lamentation over the death of Ahab the ungodly king of Israel, or to the mourning for a Syrian idol. But the mourning will not be confined to Jerusalem; the land (hâ'ârets), i.e., the whole nation, will also mourn. This universality of the lamentation is individualized in Zac 12:12-14, and so depicted as to show that all the families and households of the nation mourn, and not the men only, but also the women. To this end the prophet mentions four distinct leading and secondary families, and then adds in conclusion, "all the rest of the families, with their wives." Of the several families named, two can be determined with certainty, - namely, the family of the house of David, i.e., the posterity of king David, and the family of the house of Levi, i.e., the posterity of the patriarch Levi. But about the other two families there is a difference of opinion. The rabbinical writers suppose that Nathan is the well known prophet of that name, and the family of Shimei the tribe of Simeon, which is said, according to the rabbinical fiction, to have furnished teachers to the nation.

(Note: Jerome gives the Jewish view thus: "In David the regal tribe is included, i.e., Judah. In Nathan the prophetic order is described. Levi refers to the priests, from whom the priesthood sprang. In Simeon the teachers are included, as the companies of masters sprang from that tribe. He says nothing about the other tribes, as they had no special privilege of dignity.")

But the latter opinion is overthrown, apart from any other reason, by the fact that the patronymic of Simeon is not written שׁמעי, but שׁמעני, in Jos 21:4; Ch1 27:16. Still less can the Benjamite Shimei, who cursed David (Sa2 16:5.), be intended. משׁפּחת השּׁמעי is the name given in Num 3:21 to the family of the son of Gershon and the grandson of Levi (Num 3:17.). This is the family intended here, and in harmony with this Nathan is not the prophet of that name, but the son of David, from whom Zerubbabel was descended (Luk 3:27, Luk 3:31). Luther adopted this explanation: "Four families," he says, "are enumerated, two from the royal line, under the names of David and Nathan, and two from the priestly line, as Levi and Shimei; after which he embraces all together." Of two tribes he mentions one leading family and one subordinate branch, to show that not only are all the families of Israel in general seized with the same grief, but all the separate branches of those families. Thus the word mishpâchâh is used here, as in many other cases, in the wider and more restricted meaning of the leading and the subordinate families.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
In that day - When the Jews shall mourn for their sins, and for that great sin, crucifying the Lord of glory. A great mourning - A mourning exprest by the greatest the Jews ever were acquainted with, and which for its greatness grew into a proverb. The mourning for Josiah slain at Hadadrimmon, a town in the valley of Megiddo.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
A great mourning - A universal repentance. As the mourning of Hadadrimmon - They shall mourn as deeply for the crucified Christ as their forefathers did for the death of Josiah, who was slain at Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. See Ch2 35:24, Ch2 35:25.

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²² Nevertheless Josiah [02977] would not turn [05437] his face [06440] from him, but disguised [02664] himself, that he might fight [03898] with him, and hearkened [08085] not unto the words [01697] of Necho [05224] from the mouth [06310] of God [0430], and came [0935] to fight [03898] in the valley [01237] of Megiddo [04023].
²³ And the archers [03384] shot [03384] at king [04428] Josiah [02977]; and the king [04428] said [0559] to his servants [05650], Have me away [05674]; for I am sore [03966] wounded [02470].
²⁴ His servants [05650] therefore took [05674] him out of that chariot [04818], and put [07392] him in the second [04932] chariot [07393] that he had; and they brought [03212] him to Jerusalem [03389], and he died [04191], and was buried [06912] in one of the sepulchres [06913] of his fathers [01]. And all Judah [03063] and Jerusalem [03389] mourned [056] for Josiah [02977].
²⁵ And Jeremiah [03414] lamented [06969] for Josiah [02977]: and all the singing men [07891] and the singing women [07891] spake [0559] of Josiah [02977] in their lamentations [07015] to this day [03117], and made [05414] them an ordinance [02706] in Israel [03478]: and, behold, they are written [03789] in the lamentations [07015].
²⁶ Now the rest [03499] of the acts [01697] of Josiah [02977], and his goodness [02617], according to that which was written [03789] in the law [08451] of the LORD [03068],
²⁷ And his deeds [01697], first [07223] and last [0314], behold, they are written [03789] in the book [05612] of the kings [04428] of Israel [03478] and Judah [03063].

²⁹ In his days [03117] Pharaohnechoh [06549] king [04428] of Egypt [04714] went up [05927] against the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] to the river [05104] Euphrates [06578]: and king [04428] Josiah [02977] went [03212] against [07125] him; and he slew [04191] him at Megiddo [04023], when he had seen [07200] him.
³⁰ And his servants [05650] carried him in a chariot [07392] dead [04191] from Megiddo [04023], and brought [0935] him to Jerusalem [03389], and buried [06912] him in his own sepulchre [06900]. And the people [05971] of the land [0776] took [03947] Jehoahaz [03059] the son [01121] of Josiah [02977], and anointed [04886] him, and made him king [04427] in his father's [01] stead.

¹⁰ And I will pour [08210] upon the house [01004] of David [01732], and upon the inhabitants [03427] of Jerusalem [03389], the spirit [07307] of grace [02580] and of supplications [08469]: and they shall look [05027] upon me whom they have pierced [01856], and they shall mourn [04553] for him, as one mourneth [05594] for his only [03173] son, and shall be in bitterness [04843] for him, as one that is in bitterness [04843] for his firstborn [01060].

²⁵ And Jeremiah [03414] lamented [06969] for Josiah [02977]: and all the singing men [07891] and the singing women [07891] spake [0559] of Josiah [02977] in their lamentations [07015] to this day [03117], and made [05414] them an ordinance [02706] in Israel [03478]: and, behold, they are written [03789] in the lamentations [07015].

⁷ And Josiah [02977] gave [07311] to the people [01121] [05971], of the flock [06629], lambs [03532] and kids [01121] [05795], all for the passover offerings [06453], for all that were present [04672], to the number [04557] of thirty [07970] thousand [0505], and three [07969] thousand [0505] bullocks [01241]: these were of the king's [04428] substance [07399].

²⁶ Now the rest [03499] of the acts [01697] of Josiah [02977], and his goodness [02617], according to that which was written [03789] in the law [08451] of the LORD [03068],

³¹ Which was the son of Melea [3190], which was the son of Menan [3104], which was the son of Mattatha [3160], which was the son of Nathan [3481], which was the son of David [1138],

²⁷ Which was the son of Joanna [2490], which was the son of Rhesa [4488], which was the son of Zorobabel [2216], which was the son of Salathiel [4528], which was the son of Neri [3518],

¹⁷ And these were the sons [01121] of Levi [03878] by their names [08034]; Gershon [01648], and Kohath [06955], and Merari [04847].

²¹ Of Gershon [01648] was the family [04940] of the Libnites [03846], and the family [04940] of the Shimites [08097]: these are the families [04940] of the Gershonites [01649].

⁵ And when king [04428] David [01732] came [0935] to Bahurim [0980], behold, thence came out [03318] a man [0376] of the family [04940] of the house [01004] of Saul [07586], whose name [08034] was Shimei [08096], the son [01121] of Gera [01617]: he came forth [03318], and cursed [07043] still as he came [03318].

¹⁶ Furthermore over the tribes [07626] of Israel [03478]: the ruler [05057] of the Reubenites [07206] was Eliezer [0461] the son [01121] of Zichri [02147]: of the Simeonites [08099], Shephatiah [08203] the son [01121] of Maachah [04601]:

⁴ And the lot [01486] came out [03318] for the families [04940] of the Kohathites [06956]: and the children [01121] of Aaron [0175] the priest [03548], which were of the Levites [03881], had by lot [01486] out of the tribe [04294] of Judah [03063], and out of the tribe [04294] of Simeon [08099], and out of the tribe [04294] of Benjamin [01144], thirteen [07969] [06240] cities [05892].

¹² And the land [0776] shall mourn [05594], every [04940] family [04940] apart [0905]; the family [04940] of the house [01004] of David [01732] apart, and their wives [0802] apart; the family [04940] of the house [01004] of Nathan [05416] apart, and their wives [0802] apart;
¹³ The family [04940] of the house [01004] of Levi [03878] apart, and their wives [0802] apart; the family [04940] of Shimei [08097] apart, and their wives [0802] apart;
¹⁴ All the families [04940] that remain [07604], every family [04940] apart, and their wives [0802] apart.

²¹ The king [04428] of Taanach [08590], one [0259]; the king [04428] of Megiddo [04023], one [0259];

¹¹ In that day [03117] shall there be a great [01431] mourning [04553] in Jerusalem [03389], as the mourning [04553] of Hadadrimmon [01910] in the valley [01237] of Megiddon [04023].

¹⁴ All the families [04940] that remain [07604], every family [04940] apart, and their wives [0802] apart.

¹³ The family [04940] of the house [01004] of Levi [03878] apart, and their wives [0802] apart; the family [04940] of Shimei [08097] apart, and their wives [0802] apart;

¹¹ In that day [03117] shall there be a great [01431] mourning [04553] in Jerusalem [03389], as the mourning [04553] of Hadadrimmon [01910] in the valley [01237] of Megiddon [04023].

¹¹ In that day [03117] shall there be a great [01431] mourning [04553] in Jerusalem [03389], as the mourning [04553] of Hadadrimmon [01910] in the valley [01237] of Megiddon [04023].
¹² And the land [0776] shall mourn [05594], every [04940] family [04940] apart [0905]; the family [04940] of the house [01004] of David [01732] apart, and their wives [0802] apart; the family [04940] of the house [01004] of Nathan [05416] apart, and their wives [0802] apart;
¹³ The family [04940] of the house [01004] of Levi [03878] apart, and their wives [0802] apart; the family [04940] of Shimei [08097] apart, and their wives [0802] apart;
¹⁴ All the families [04940] that remain [07604], every family [04940] apart, and their wives [0802] apart.

²⁴ His servants [05650] therefore took [05674] him out of that chariot [04818], and put [07392] him in the second [04932] chariot [07393] that he had; and they brought [03212] him to Jerusalem [03389], and he died [04191], and was buried [06912] in one of the sepulchres [06913] of his fathers [01]. And all Judah [03063] and Jerusalem [03389] mourned [056] for Josiah [02977].