Zechariah 12:3

Bible in Basic English (1941)

And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of great weight for all the peoples; all those who take it up will be badly wounded; and all the nations of the earth will come together against it.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְהָיָ֣ה בַיּוֹם־הַ֠הוּא אָשִׂ֨ים אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִַ֜ם אֶ֤בֶן מַֽעֲמָסָה֙ לְכָל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים כָּל־עֹמְסֶ֖יהָ שָׂר֣וֹט יִשָּׂרֵ֑טוּ וְנֶאֶסְפ֣וּ עָלֶ֔יהָ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֥י הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Transliteration

Wə-hāyāh in-hayyôm-that ʾāśîm ʾet-Yərûšālaim ʾeḇen maʿămāsāh to-all-hāʿammîm all-ʿōməsêhā śārôṭ yiśśārēṭû wə-neʾespû against-her all gôyê hāʾāreṣ

Grammar Details

• *Wə*: conjunction - and
• *hāyāh*: perfect, 3rd person masculine singular, Qal - it will be/come to pass
• *hayyôm*: definite article + masculine singular - the day
• *ʾāśîm*: imperfect, 1st person singular, Qal - I will make/set/place
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *Yərûšālaim*: proper noun, feminine singular - Jerusalem
• *ʾeḇen*: feminine singular - stone
• *maʿămāsāh*: feminine singular - burden/heavy weight
• *hāʿammîm*: definite article + masculine plural - the peoples/nations
• *ʿōməsêhā*: masculine plural construct + 3rd person feminine singular suffix - those lifting her/her lifters
• *śārôṭ*: infinitive absolute, Qal - severely/surely lacerate
• *yiśśārēṭû*: imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural, Niphal - they will be lacerated/cut/wounded
• *neʾespû*: perfect with waw consecutive, 3rd person plural, Niphal - they will be gathered
• *gôyê*: masculine plural construct - nations of
• *hāʾāreṣ*: definite article + feminine singular - the earth/land

Word Meanings

• *hāyāh*: it will be/come to pass/happen
• *ʾeḇen* *maʿămāsāh*: burdensome stone/heavy stone/weight-bearing stone
• *ʿōməsêhā*: those who lift her/burden themselves with her
• *śārôṭ* *yiśśārēṭû*: surely be cut/definitely be wounded/certainly be lacerated
• *neʾespû*: will be gathered/assembled/collected together

Referenced Verses

• Matt 21:44 : 44 Any man falling on this stone will be broken, but he on whom it comes down will be crushed to dust.
• Zech 14:2-4 : 2 For I will get all the nations together to make war against Jerusalem; and the town will be overcome, and the goods taken from the houses, and the women taken by force: and half the town will go away as prisoners, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the town. 3 Then the Lord will go out and make war against those nations, as he did in the day of the fight. 4 And in that day his feet will be on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be parted in the middle to the east and to the west, forming a very great valley; and half the mountain will be moved to the north and half of it to the south.
• Dan 2:34-35 : 34 While you were looking at it, a stone was cut out, but not by hands, and it gave the image a blow on its feet, which were of iron and earth, and they were broken in bits. 35 Then the iron and the earth, the brass and the silver and the gold, were smashed together, and became like the dust on the floors where grain is crushed in summer; and the wind took them away so that no sign of them was to be seen: and the stone which gave the image a blow became a great mountain, covering all the earth.
• Dan 2:44-45 : 44 And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it will keep its place for ever. 45 Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that by it the iron and the brass and the earth and the silver and the gold were broken to bits, a great God has given the king knowledge of what is to take place in the future: the dream is fixed, and its sense is certain.
• Zech 14:6 : 6 And in that day there will be no heat or cold or ice;
• Luke 20:18 : 18 Everyone falling on that stone will be broken, but the man on whom the stone comes down will be crushed to dust.
• Zech 13:1 : 1 In that day there will be a fountain open to the family of David and to the people of Jerusalem, for sin and for that which is unclean.
• Isa 60:12 : 12 For the nation or kingdom which will not be your servant will come to destruction; such nations will be completely waste.
• Isa 66:14-16 : 14 And you will see it and your heart will be glad, and your bones will get new strength, like young grass: and the hand of the Lord will be seen at work for his servants, and his wrath against his haters. 15 For the Lord is coming with fire, and his war-carriages will be like the storm-wind; to give punishment in the heat of his wrath, and his passion is like flames of fire. 16 For with fire and sword will the Lord come, judging all the earth, and his sword will be on all flesh: and great numbers will be put to death by him.
• Ezek 38:1-9 : 1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, let your face be turned against Gog, of the land of Magog, the ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and be a prophet against him, 3 And say, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am against you, O Gog, ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: 4 And turning you round, I will put hooks in your mouth and make you come out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them in full war-dress, a great force with breastplate and body-cover, all of them armed with swords: 5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them; all of them with body-cover and metal head-dress: 6 Gomer and all her forces; the people of Togarmah in the inmost parts of the north, with all his forces: a great number of peoples with you. 7 Be ready, make yourself ready, you and all the forces who are with you, and be ready for my orders. 8 After a long time you will get your orders: in the last years you will come into the land which has been given back from the sword, which has been got together out of a great number of peoples, on the mountains of Israel which have ever been a waste: but it has been taken out from the peoples and they will be living, all of them, without fear of danger. 9 And you will go up, you will come like a storm, you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your forces, and a great number of peoples with you. 10 This is what the Lord has said: In that day it will come about that things will come into your mind, and you will have thoughts of an evil design: 11 And you will say, I will go up to the land of small unwalled towns; I will go to those who are quiet, living, all of them, without fear of danger, without walls or locks or doors: 12 To take their property by force and go off with their goods; turning your hand against the waste places which now are peopled, and against the people who have been got together out of the nations, who have got cattle and goods for themselves, who are living in the middle of the earth. 13 Sheba, and Dedan and her traders, Tarshish with all her traders, will say to you, Have you come to take our goods? have you got your armies together to take away our property by force? to take away silver and gold, cattle and goods, to go off with great wealth? 14 For this cause, son of man, be a prophet and say to Gog, These are the words of the Lord: In that day, when my people Israel are living without fear of danger, will you not be moved against them? 15 And you will come from your place in the inmost parts of the north, you and a great number of peoples with you, all of them on horseback, a great force and a strong army: 16 And you will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land; and it will come about, in the last days, that I will make you come against my land, so that the nations may have knowledge of me when I make myself holy in you, O Gog, before their eyes. 17 This is what the Lord has said: You are he of whom I gave them word in earlier times by my servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those days went on saying, year after year, that I would make you come up against them. 18 And it will come about in that day, when Gog comes up against the land of Israel, says the Lord, that my wrath will come up, and my passion and my bitter feeling. 19 For in the fire of my wrath I have said, Truly, in that day there will be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20 So that the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and the beasts of the field and everything moving on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth, will be shaking before me, and the mountains will be overturned and the high places will come down, and every wall will come falling down to the earth. 21 And I will send to all my mountains for a sword against him, says the Lord: every man's sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will take up my cause against him with disease and with blood; and I will send down on him and on his forces and on the peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower and great ice-drops, fire, and burning. 23 And I will make my name great and make myself holy, and I will make myself clear to a number of nations; and they will be certain that I am the Lord.
• Rev 16:14 : 14 For they are evil spirits, working signs; who go out even to the kings of all the earth, to get them together to the war of the great day of God, the Ruler of all.
• Rev 17:12-14 : 12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which still have been given no kingdom; but they are given authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true.
• Rev 19:19-21 : 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, come together to make war against him who was seated on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire. 21 And the rest were put to death with the sword of him who was on the horse, even the sword which came out of his mouth: and all the birds were made full with their flesh.
• Rev 20:8-9 : 8 And will go out to put in error the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to get them together to the war, the number of whom is like the sands of the sea. 9 And they went up over the face of the earth, and made a circle about the tents of the saints, and the well loved town: and fire came down out of heaven for their destruction.
• Zech 14:8-9 : 8 And on that day living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them flowing to the sea on the east and half to the sea on the west: in summer and in winter it will be so. 9 And the Lord will be King over all the earth: in that day there will be one Lord and his name one.
• Zech 14:13 : 13 And it will be on that day that a great fear will be sent among them from the Lord; and everyone will take his neighbour's hand, and every man's hand will be lifted against his neighbour's.
• Joel 3:8-9 : 8 And they have put the fate of my people to the decision of chance: giving a boy for the price of a loose woman and a girl for a drink of wine. 9 And further, what are you to me, O Tyre and Zidon and all the circle of Philistia? will you give me back any payment? and if you do, quickly and suddenly I will send it back on your head, 10 For you have taken my silver and my gold, putting in the houses of your gods my beautiful and pleasing things. 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem you have given for a price to the sons of the Greeks, to send them far away from their land: 12 See, I will have them moved from the place where you have sent them, and will let what you have done come back on your head; 13 I will give your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah for a price, and they will give them for a price to the men of Sheba, a nation far off: for the Lord has said it. 14 Give this out among the nations; make ready for war: get the strong men awake; let all the men of war come near, let them come up. 15 Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong. 16 Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord.
• Obad 1:18 : 18 And the children of Jacob will be a fire and those of Joseph a flame, and the children of Esau dry stems of grass, burned up by them till all is gone: and there will be no people living in Esau; for the Lord has said it.
• Mic 4:11-13 : 11 And now a number of nations have come together against you, and they say, Let her be made unclean and let our eyes see the fate of Zion. 12 But they have no knowledge of the thoughts of the Lord, their minds are not able to see his purpose: for he has got them together like stems of grain to the crushing-floor. 13 Up! and let the grain be crushed, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron and your feet brass, and a number of peoples will be broken by you, and you will give up their increase to the Lord and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
• Mic 5:8 : 8 Your hand is lifted up against those who are against you, and all your haters will be cut off.
• Mic 7:15-17 : 15 As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, let us see things of wonder. 16 The nations will see and be shamed because of all their strength; they will put their hands on their mouths, their ears will be stopped. 17 They will take dust as their food like a snake, like the things which go flat on the earth; they will come shaking with fear out of their secret places: they will come with fear to the Lord our God, full of fear because of you.
• Hab 2:17 : 17 For the violent acts against Lebanon will come on you, and the destruction of the cattle will be a cause of fear to you, because of men's blood and the violent acts against the land and the town and all who are living in it.
• Zeph 3:19 : 19 See, at that time I will put an end to all who have been troubling you: I will give salvation to her whose steps are uncertain, and get together her who has been sent in flight; and I will make them a cause of praise and an honoured name in all the earth, when I let their fate be changed.
• Hag 2:22 : 22 Overturning the power of kingdoms; and I will send destruction on the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; by me war-carriages will be overturned with those who are in them; and the horses and the horsemen will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.
• Zech 2:8-9 : 8 Said to him, Go quickly and say to this young man, Jerusalem will be an unwalled town, because of the great number of men and cattle in her. 9 For I, says the Lord, will be a wall of fire round about her, and I will be the glory inside her.
• Zech 10:3-5 : 3 My wrath is burning against the keepers of the flock, and I will send punishment on the he-goats: for the Lord of armies takes care of his flock, the people of Judah, and will make them like the horse of his pride in the fight. 4 From him will come the keystone, from him the nail, from him the bow of war, from him will come every ruler; 5 Together they will be like men of war, crushing down their haters into the earth of the streets in the fight; they will make war because the Lord is with them: and the horsemen will be shamed.
• Zech 12:4 : 4 In that day, says the Lord, I will put fear into every horse and make every horseman go off his head: and my eyes will be open on the people of Judah, and I will make every horse of the peoples blind.
• Zech 12:6 : 6 In that day I will make the families of Judah like a pot with fire in it among trees, and like a flaming stick among cut grain; they will send destruction on all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem will be living again in the place which is hers, that is, in Jerusalem.
• Zech 12:8-9 : 8 In that day the Lord will be a cover over the people of Jerusalem; and he who is feeble among them in that day will be as strong as David, and the family of David will be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. 9 And it will come about on that day that I will take in hand the destruction of all the nations who come against Jerusalem.
• Zech 12:11 : 11 In that day there will be a great weeping in Jerusalem, like the weeping of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon.