What does it mean “They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him…” (Zechariah 12:10)?

They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (ESV Zechariah 12:10)

Most questions here centre on the sudden switch of pronouns in the Hebrew text, which one moment speaks of looking on “me”, God, and then mourning for “him”, someone else.

¹⁰ And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (KJV)

It should be noted that a few manuscripts and translation depart from that reading and offer “him” or “the one” instead of “me”.

10 And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one[a] whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (NRSV)

Nevertheless the 8th Century St Petersburg Hebrew codex and other early evidence for the Massoretic text stand with “me”, and by the principle that the more difficult reading is the more likely one, there does appear to be a subject switch from “me” to “he”.

It looks like the writer (speaking for God) is emoting of how in the past Israel had attacked God yet now, amazingly, they are looking to Him for help. So it’s an expression of love from Father to children and children to father. It’s poetic language that doesn’t need elaboration or apology.

Zechariah 12:10 as a prophecy of the crucifixion – John 19:37

The New Testament interpretation of Zechariah 12:10 is that there is an application to Jesus:

³⁶ These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” (John 19:36-37)

That in itself makes it natural to read back into the Old Testament and wonder if like the Immanuel prophecy there is some prior fulfilment in Zechariah’s own time.

Additional notes

The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT) breaks the sentence up to overcome the difficulty:

And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitant of Jerusalem a spirit of favor and pleading for favor. They will look to me.

The one whom they stabbed, they will mourn over him as those who mourn for an only son, and they will grieve bitterly for him as those who grieve bitterly for a firstborn son.”“ (NICOT Zechariah 12:10–14) 

“There has been some concern expressed over the reference to “me” where one might expect the first person voice to refer to another person, as in the phrases which follow (“they will mourn over him”). Petersen, Zechariah 9–14 and Malachi, 108, simply emends to “to him,” while Mitchell Dahood, “A Note on the Third Person Suffix -y in Hebrew,” UF 4 (1972) 163–64, argues that no emendation is needed, suggesting that ʿly is a variant of ʿlyw. But it is questionable whether such an approach is necessary. The MT takes the phrase ʾēṯ ʾašer-dāqārû (“the one whom they stabbed”) as part of the previous phrase “they will look to me,” functioning basically as a second object, explaining the “me.” This is odd because it would mean that the first object of the verb “look” (nāḇaṭ Hiphil) is introduced by the prep. ʾel (see Exod. 3:6) and the second with the direct object marker ʾēṯ (see Num. 12:8). GKC §138.e (note) calls the phrase ʾēlay ʾēṯ ʾašer unintelligible and suggests reading instead ʾel-ʾašer. The versions support the 1cs suffix on ʾel (e.g., OG: pros me; cf. Theodotion, Vulg., Peshiṭta; although see 3p in John 19:37 and Rev. 1:7), while showing some struggle with the phrase which follows. It may be, however, that the phrase ʾēṯ ʾašer-dāqārû provides the identity of the figure referred to in the pronominal suffix on the repeated ʿālāyw in the clauses which follow. The fronting of the object brings emphasis onto the figure pierced. This would then leave the phrase wehibbîṭû ʾēlay on its own and make it an expression of faith, as can be the case with nāḇaṭ ʾel Hiphil (e.g., Isa. 51:1–2; Ps. 34:6) (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament)