And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
And again another scripture saith (Zechariah 12:10 ), They shall look on him whom they pierced. This quotation is not taken, as usual, from the Septuagint-the current Greek version-which here is all wrong, but direct from the Hebrew. And there is a remarkable nicety in the choice of the words employed both by the prophet and the evangelist for "piercing." The word in Zechariah х daaqaaruw (H1856)] means to thrust through with spear, javelin, sword, or any such weapon. In that sense it is used in all the ten places, besides this, where it is found. How suitable this was to express the action of the Roman soldier is manifest; and our Evangelist uses the exactly corresponding word х exekenteesan (G1574)], while the word used by the Septuagint [katoorcheesanto] signifies simply to 'insult' or 'triumph over.' There is a quite different word, which also signifies to 'pierce,' used in Psalms 22:16, "They pierced my hands and my feet" х kaa'ªriy (H3738), in the Qeriy]. This word signifies to bore as with an awl or hammer-just as was done in fastening our Lord to the cross. How exceedingly striking are these small niceties and precisions!