Zechariah 12:10
They Shall Look on Him Whom They Pierced
NT follows the HebrewQuoted by the apostles in John 19:37, in the Hebrew wording
The Greek lost the spear. John went back to the Hebrew for it, and changed one small word.
Side by Side
The Greek
Septuagint
… and they shall look upon me, because they have mocked me, and they shall make lamentation for him, as for a beloved friend.
The Hebrew
Masoretic
… and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son.
Quoted in John 19:37
John follows the Hebrew
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
Your KJV reads: “pierced” in Zechariah with the Hebrew, and John agrees, though John writes “him” where Zechariah has “me.”
See what changed and why ↓What Your Bible Says
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
John 19:37 KJV
Yahushua is dead on the tree. A soldier drives a spear into His side, and blood and water come out. John, who saw it, names two scriptures fulfilled: “A bone of him shall not be broken” (John 19:36), and this line from Zechariah.
What the Greek Says
And they shall look upon me, because they have mocked me, and they shall make lamentation for him.
Zechariah 12:10, Septuagint
The Greek word behind “mocked” means to dance over someone in triumph, to treat with insult. There is no spear in the Greek. If John had quoted it, the verse would say nothing about a wound.
What Changed
The Hebrew word is daqaru, they pierced. The Greek translators read raqadu, they danced. The two words use the same three letters with two of them traded, and in Hebrew writing the d and the r look almost alike. Here the Greek went wrong. John quoted the Hebrew.
Which One Is Right?
The Hebrew reads pierced.
John 19:37 reads pierced.
Revelation 1:7 reads pierced.
The Greek Bible reads mocked. On this verse the Hebrew and the apostle stand together against the Greek.
Me or Him?
Trinitarian teachers lean on the Hebrew “me”: Yahuah speaks, so Yahuah was pierced, so Yahushua must be Yahuah. But John quoted this exact verse, and John wrote “him.” The verse itself turns the same way: they look to me, and “they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son.” The one mourned is the Son. The apostle who stood at the cross read it that way. His reading settles it.
Purpose of the Change
No motive is evident; the Greek likely misread two similar letters. The effect of that reading is that the spear disappears from the prophecy, which is why John went to the Hebrew to show it fulfilled.
The Bottom Line
The Hebrew says pierced, and John quoted it. He also read the pierced one as “him,” the Son.
John wrote it again at the opening of Revelation: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7).
Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it
The Two Words
“They pierced” is written דקרו. “They danced” is written רקדו. Same letters, with the first and third swapped. The letters ד and ר differ only by a small corner. A Greek translator working from a worn copy could easily read one as the other.
Not Worshiping the Greek
This section does not worship the Greek. It does not claim the Greek is perfect. The Hebrew is the source. The Greek is an early witness. Where the Greek kept the older reading, the apostles quoted it. Where it slipped, as here, they quoted the Hebrew. They followed what was true.
The Spirit Poured Out
The verse opens with Yahuah pouring out “the spirit of grace and of supplications.” That spirit is Yahuah’s own breath and mind given to His people, not a third person. It turns hard hearts to mourning.
An Honest Note
Some later Hebrew copies read “him” instead of “me” in this verse. The standard Masoretic text reads “me,” and this page does not rest on the variant. The Hebrew phrase can also be read “they shall look to me concerning him whom they pierced.” Either way, John’s quotation and the words “mourn for him” point to the Son as the one pierced, with the Father grieving over what was done to Him.