Zechariah 12:12
Ver. 12. And the land shall mourn,.... That is, the inhabitants of it; not only Jerusalem, but the land of Judea, and the people in it everywhere: in the Talmud {o} it is said, this is the mourning of the Messiah, that is, on his account:
every family apart; though the mourning will be general and public, yet it will be not in a body of the whole people together, but separate and distinct: the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the men by themselves, and the women by themselves, which is according to the custom of the Jews in public worship; those that belong to the family of David shall mourn because of the Jews' long rejection of the King Messiah, Jesus the son of David, the Saviour, whom God raised up of his seed:the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; not of Nathan the son of David, the brother of Solomon, as some think; for, as Aben Ezra observes, he and his family are comprehended in the family of David; but of Nathan the prophet, who will mourn because the Jews have so much slighted Jesus the great Prophet, the Lord raised up in Israel, his doctrines and ordinances.{o} T. Hieros. Succah, fol. 55. 2. Zechariah 12:13Ver. 13. The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart,.... Because of the contempt of the priestly office of Christ, which theirs prefigured, and was abolished by him; because of their trampling upon his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice:the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; not of Shimea the son of David, 1Ch 3:5 as Jarchi thinks, for his family is comprehended in the family of David; nor of Shimei the son of Merari, and grandson of Levi, 1Ch 6:16, for the same reason: some think that, by way of prophecy, the family of Semei, mentioned among the progenitors of Christ, Lu 3:26, is intended; and others have thought of Shammai, a famous Misnic doctor in the times of Christ, whose disciples were called the house or family of Shammai, of which frequent mention is made in the Misna and Talmud: but the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read "the family of Simeon"; mentioned together with Levi, as brethren in iniquity, and now mourn for the common concern they had in the crucifixion of Christ, and their refusal of him. Zechariah 12:14Ver. 14. All the families that remain,.... That will be in being in those times;every family apart, and their wives apart; for the whole nation shall be born at once, and converted, and all Israel shall be saved, Isa 66:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.