“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (Zech 12:10).

According to the Talmud and Medieval Jewish interpretation, the “pierced one” is the Messiah son of Joseph, a great leader who will be the only one killed in this final battle (Zech 12:1-9). But nowhere in this chapter or in book of Zechariah are there verses about a future military leader from the house of Joseph. This interpretation is an obvious attempt to avoid the New Testament’s identification of the pierced one as Jesus son of David.

But are there any clues from the larger context suggesting that this pierced one is in fact the Messiah son of David?

Yes. In Zechariah 9:9, the coming king from the tribe of Judah is described as “endowed with salvation,” and “humble” (according to the NASB). The specific form of the word “endowed with salvation,” however, is used only two other times in the Hebrew Bible and means “saved,” or “delivered” (Deut. 33:29; Is. 45:17). This word takes for granted suffering on the part of the one who has been saved. Add to this the fact that the word “humble” in the original Hebrew frequently means “afflicted” (see Isa 53:4, 7), particularly in contexts when it appears with the verb “save” (Psa 34:6; 69:29; 72:4). Zechariah 9:9, which is universally understood by Jewish interpreters as the Messiah son of David, paves the path directly to Zechariah 12:10, and only one Messiah who is both exalted and afflicted. Who is the pierced one in Zechariah 12:10? Jesus is the one and only qualified candidate!

“And again another Scripture says, ‘THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED'” (John 19:37).