The Textual Form and

the Meaning of the Quotation

from Zechariah 12:10 in John 19:37

MAARTEN J. J. MENKEN
Katholieke Theologische Universiteit
3584 CS Utrecht
The Netherlands

I. Introduction

THE FOURTH EVANGELIST relates that Jesus' side was pierced, immediately
after his death, by a Roman soldier (John 19:34). He connects this incident
with the word of the prophet Zechariah: "They shall look on him whom they
have pierced" (Zech 12:10; John 19:37). This quotation confronts the exegete
with two problems:
(1) The textual form of the quotation is peculiar. It deviates strongly
from the LXX; it has affinities with the Hebrew text and with the later Greek
translations of Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, but without agreeing
exactly with any one of them. The quotations from the same passage in
Zechariah, or allusions to it, found elsewhere in early Christian literature,
closely agree in textual form with John 19:37b. How is the textual form of
the quotation in John to be explained?
(2) The meaning of the quotation in its Johannine context is far from
certain. We can observe that the "piercing" from the prophecy has been
fulfilled, in agreement with the formula which introduces the quotation in
John 19:36, but what about the "looking"? In John, who are those who "shall
look on him"? Are they the same as those who pierced him? When and how
does this looking on him occur, and how exactly is Jesus its object?

494
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 495

These problems have already been discussed by biblical scholars, of

course, but the results are quite divergent.1 I hope to throw some new light
on the textual form of the quotation by taking into account the various textual
forms of Zech 12:10aß which are known, and by tracing their development.
The meaning of the quotation is usually established on the basis of its
immediate and broader Johannine context; I intend to demonstrate here that
this approach should be carried out consistently and that it should be comple-
mented by considerations of a traditio-historical kind.2

II. Textual Form

In assessing the form of the quotation in John 19:37, we should first
observe that there is remarkable textual constancy in the quotations from
Zech 12:10aß or allusions to it in early Christian literature. The explicit
quotation in John 19:37 reads: οψονται εις δν έξεκέντησαν, "they shall look
on him whom they have pierced." In Rev 1:7, after an allusion to Dan 7:13
("Behold, he is coming with the clouds"), we meet a clear allusion to
Zech 12:10aß: και οψεται3 αυτόν πας οφθαλμός και οΐτινες αυτόν έξεκέντη­
σαν, "and every eye will see him, also those who pierced him"; the sequel,
"and all tribes of the earth will lament on account of him," alludes to
Zech 12:10b-14. The future οψεται or οψονται and the aorist έξεκέντησαν
are found in both John 19:37 and Rev 1:7. An allusion is also found in
Matt 24:30: "And then all tribes of the earth will lament and they will see
(οψονται) the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven"; again, we
observe that Zech 12:10-14, where the looking on the pierced one is followed
by the lament of all tribes, and Dan 7:13 are combined. The parallel text in
Mark 13:26 (cf. Luke 21:27) has merely: "And then they will see the Son of
Man coming in clouds." The starting point for Matthew's insertion of the

1
See the survey in A Τ Hanson, The Prophetic Gospel A Study of John and the Old
Testament (Edinburgh Clark, 1991) 223-24
2
See my earlier studies on OT quotations in John, "The Quotation from Isa 40,3 in John
1,23," Bib 66 (1985) 190-205, "The Provenance and Meaning of the Old Testament Quotation
m John 6 31," NovT 30 (1988) 39-56, "The Old Testament Quotation m John 6,45 Source and
Redaction," ETL 64 (1988) 164-72, "Die Form des Zitates aus Jes 6,10 m Joh 12,40 Em Beitrag
zum Schriftgebrauch des vierten Evangelisten," BZ ns 32 (1988) 189-209, "Die Redaktion des
Zitates aus Sach 9,9 in Joh 12,15," ZNWW (1989) 193-209, "The Translation of Psalm 41 10
m John 13 18," JSNT 40 (1990) 61-79, "The Old Testament Quotation m John 19,36 Sources,
Redaction, Background," The Four Gospels, 1992 (Festschrift F Neirynck, BETL 100, ed F van
Segbroeck et al, Leuven Leuven University/ Peeters, 1992) 2101-18
3
The variant reading οψονται would make the allusion still clearer, but exactly for that
reason it can be suspected as secondary On the other hand, it is clumsy Greek (a plural predicate
followed by a singular subject), and that might be an argument for its originality
 496 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55, 1993

lament of all tribes can only have been Mark's οψονται; this verb form
reminded the First Evangelist of Zech 12:10, which, in the version known to
him, apparently contained οψονται. 4
Quotations from Zech 12:10(-14) or allusions to it are also found in early
Christian literature outside the NT, always in an eschatological interpretation
of this OT passage,5 just as in Rev 1:7 and in Matt 24:30. In Barn. 7:9, it is
said that those who crucified Jesus οψονται αυτόν τότε τη ήμερα, "will see
him then on that day," and that they will ask themselves: "Is he not the one
we once crucified after having mocked and pierced (κατακεντήσαντες) and
spat upon him?" The allusion to Zech 12:10 is clear. Again, οψονται is used;
this time the piercing is indicated not with έκκεντεΐν but with the cognate
verb κατακεντεΐν (cf. Jer 28[51]:4 LXX).
In the writings of Justin Martyr, Zech 12:10 is used several times. Justin
Apol. 1.52.10-12 is a mixture of prophetic texts which Justin ascribes to
Zechariah (from whom indeed most of them derive); according to Justin, they
contain the reaction of the Jews to Christ's coming in glory. Part of the series
is Zech 12:10,12 from which Justin mentions the lament of the tribes and then,
in literal agreement with the Fourth Evangelist, quotes the words which are
also quoted in John 19:37: και τότε οψονται εις δν έξεκέντησαν, "and then
they shall look on him whom they have pierced" {Apol 1.52.12). In Dial. 14.8,
where Justin deals with Christ's second parousia, he first refers to Dan 7:13,
and then to Zech 12:10: καί οψεται ό λαός υμών και γνωριεΐ εις δν
έξεκέντησαν, "and your people shall see and shall know him whom they have
pierced." 6 This reference agrees in textual form with the quotations in
John 19:37 and in Justin Apol. 1.52.12, except for the singular οψεται caused
by the subject ó λαός υμών; in spite of the insertion of και γνωριεΐ, Justin
retains the preposition εις of his Zecharian text, which results in the odd
construction γνωρίζειν εις. Something similar happens in Dial. 32.2, where
Justin distinguishes between the two parousiai of Christ: a first one when "he
was pierced" (έξεκεντήθη) by Trypho's fellow Jews, and a second one οτε
έπιγνώσεσθε εις δν έξεκεντήσατε, "when you will recognize him whom you
have pierced," and when the tribes will lament. The allusion is evident,

4
So also Β Lindars, New Testament Apologetic The Doctrinal Significance of the Old
Testament Quotations (London SCM, 1961) 124 Ν Pernn ("Mark xiv62 The End Product
of a Christian Pesher Tradition1?" NTS 12 [1965-66] 150-55) discerns an allusion to Zech 12 10
m οψεσθε in Mark 14 62 and οψονται in Mark 13 26, however, the use of this verb, which is
easily explained m another way (see below), seems, when taken alone, to be too narrow a basis
for supposing influence of Zech 12 10 Matthew's reading of Mark 13 26 does not necessarily
coincide with Mark's intentions
5
I use the terms "eschatology" and "eschatological" in the sense of future eschatology,
unless I expressly indicate otherwise
6
Justin erroneously ascribes to Hosea the words from Zechariah
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 497

because Justin retains the preposition είς, although he changes the preceding
verb into έπιγνώσεσθε, creating again peculiar Greek.7 Further confirmation
of the presence of the verbs όραν (in the future) and έκκεντεϊν (in the aorist)
in Justin's text of Zech 12:10 is found in Dial 64.7, where he speaks of the
returning Christ δν όραν μέλλουσι και κόπτεσθαι οι έκκεντήσαντες αυτόν,
"whom those who have pierced him will see and lament," and in Dial 118.1,
about the day of judgment, "on which all those from your tribes who have
pierced (έκκεντήσαντες) this Christ will lament."8
From this survey of relevant passages it becomes clear that the part of
Zech 12:10 quoted in John 19:37 is cited in Justin Apol 1.52.12 in exactly the
same textual form, and—taking into account the relative degree of freedom
an author has in casually referring or alluding to an OT passage—that the
numerous other uses of this text in early Christian literature are based on the
same textual form. The standard early Christian version of Zech 12:10aß was:
οψονται εις öv έξεκέντησαν;9 as will appear below, this version differs from
the other known versions of the same passage.
How is this constancy of textual form to be explained? There is, in my
view, no convincing reason to suppose that any of the authors of the writings
mentioned above influenced any of the others in the use of Zech 12:10. That
John depends on Matthew is not very probable, and the Book of Revelation
is independent of both gospels. The Epistle of Barnabas does not clearly show
dependence upon Matthew, John, or the Apocalypse. Justin Martyr knows
the Apocalypse {Dial 81.4), probably Matthew and John as well, and maybe
also Barnabas, but his use of Zech 12:10 shows no clear traces of literary
dependence on one of the earlier quotations or allusions. Unlike John, he
connects looking on the pierced one with Christ's second coming. Unlike the
Apocalypse and Matthew, he always makes Jews alone those who look. The
literary context of his uses of Zech 12:10 is quite different from what we find
in the NT writings. There is at most in Justin's writings, the Epistle of
Barnabas, Matthew, and Revelation a common eschatological outlook in
which Zech 12:10-14 is applied to the "second parousia" of Christ (to borrow

7
According to A. Rahlfs ("Über Theodotion-Lesarten im Neuen Testament und Aquila-
Lesarten bei Justin," ZNW 20 [1921] 182-99, esp. p. 185) and W Bauer (Das Johannesevan-
gelium [HNT 6; 3d ed.; Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1933] 227), εις in Dial. 14.8; 32.2 belongs
with έξεκέντησαν ("they will know/recognize the one in whom they stabbed"), but both schol­
ars also remark that έκκεντεϊν, "to pierce," should be connected with an accusative. To my
mind, είς belongs with γνωριεΐ and έπιγνώσεσθε, as these verb forms serve as a supplement to
δψεσθαι or a substitute for it. On both suppositions Justin writes incorrect Greek.
8
See Dial. 121.2 for another quotation from Zech 12:10-14, which does not contain
12:10a.
9
The early Christian textual form of the sequel is less constant; κόψονται, "they will
lament," and the substantive φυλή, "tribe," always figure in it.
 498 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55, 1993

Justin's terminology), and in which the combination with Dan 7:13 is more
or less usual. Even if Justin, in his use of Zech 12:10, depends on the NT texts,
we still have the evidence of John, the Book of Revelation, and Matthew—all
three independent of each other. So it seems best to suppose that Zech 12:10-14,
and especially 12:10aß, was in use in early Christian circles as a testimo-
nium,10 primarily concerning Christ'sfinalcoming, and that the textual form
of the quotation in John 19:37 is, in fact, the form in which the text was current
in early Christianity.11
The question is then how this textual form relates to the other known
textual forms of the same passage. The MT has: Tipvwx nx ,l?x ισαπι, which
can be translated as: "And they shall look on me, whom they have pierced."
This Hebrew clause contains several grammatical obscurities:
(1) The word vocalized in the MT as ^x, "on me," can also be vocalized
as ^x, a poetic form of the preposition Vx which occurs in Job 3:22; 5:26; 15:22;
29:19. This vocalization would lead to the translation: "They shall look on
whom they have pierced."
(2) The particle nx can be considered as the nota accusativi or as the
preposition "with." The latter interpretation, of course, is incompatible with
the alternative vocalization discussed under (1).
(3) When nx is read as the nota accusativi, there are still two possibilities:
it can have that function either within the main clause or within the subor­
dinate relative clause. With the first possibility, the main clause has a double
object: one introduced by a preposition, and one introduced by the nota
accusativi. The second possibility results in an instance where "by a kind of
anticipation, iwx is preceded by nx of the accusative or by the preposition

10
My use of the term testimonium does not imply the hypothesis of a written collection
of testimonies The entire complex which is Zechariah 9-14 was in high esteem in early Chris­
tianity see C H Dodd, According to the Scriptures The Sub-Structure of New Testament
Theology (London Nisbet, 1952) 64-67, Lindars, NT Apologetic, 110-34
11
Roughly the same conclusion can be found m Dodd, According to the Scriptures, 65,
Lindars, NT Apologetic, 122-27 (he rightly remarks about Justin's use of the passage "If Justin
derived his text from the NT, then it is an amalgam of all three passages, Matt 24 30, John 19 37,
and Rev 1 7 The idea of acquaintance with a living tradition from the common original is surely
more plausible," ρ 127 η 2), E D Freed, Old Testament Quotations in the Gospel of John
(NovTSup 11, Leiden Brill, 1965) 115, 125 (as a possibility), R Schnackenburg, "Das Schnft-
zitat in Joh 19,37," Wort, Lied und Gottesspruch 2 Beitrage zu Psalmen und Propheten (Fest­
schrift J Ziegler, FB 2, ed J Schreiner, Wurzburg Echter, 1972) 239-47, esp pp 241-44
(reprinted in Schnackenburg, Das Johannesevangelium, 4 [HTKNT 4/4, Freiburg Herder,
1984] 164-73), D J Moo, The Old Testament in the Gospel Passion Narratives (Sheffield
Almond, 1983) 211-12, G de Ru, "Zij zullen zien op Hern, dien zij doorstoken hebben (Joh
19,37)," Kerk en Theologie 36 (1985) 196-212, esp ρ 198 (as a possibility), M Wilcox, "Text
Form," It is Written Scripture Citing Scripture (Festschrift Β Lindars, ed D A Carson and
H G M Williamson, Cambridge Cambridge University, 1988) 193-204, esp pp 201-2
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 499

which logically should follow it,"12 as in Num 22:6; Gen 31:32; Isa 65:12. In
the latter case we should translate: "on me whom they have pierced."
These grammatical obscurities imply exegetical problems. The person
speaking in Zech 12:1-10 is the Lord, and he is the referent of the suffix of
^x in its masoretic vocalization. Zech 12:10b-14 is about the mourning of
Jerusalem and of the land for the pierced one. When one follows the masoretic
vocalization and considers nx as the nota accusativi, one is almost forced to
identify God and the pierced one, which creates the problem of a very strong
anthropomorphism: how can God be pierced? Reading Zech 12:10aß from the
perspective of the preceding verses suggests that "the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem . . . shall look on me" means that they will look on
the Lord, whereas the connection with what follows obliges the reader to
consider the pierced one as a human being, distinct from God.
The MT of Zech 12:10aß is obviously a very difficult text. It is possible
that it arose out of a contamination of two textual forms, with two different
constructions of the hiphil of oaa: "»Vx warn, "and they shall look on me," as
a conclusion to what precedes, and npvitf κ nx itram, "and they shall look at
whom they have pierced," as the beginning of what follows.13 It is not
surprising that various exegetical solutions have been proposed for making
sense of the MT 1 4 In what follows, I shall show that the ancient translations
of the Hebrew text can be explained on the basis of the lectio difficilior which
we now find in the MT and which was apparently the reading of the Hebrew
of Zech 12:10aß when the LXX translation was made; there is no need to
suppose that other Hebrew readings were translated.15
The LXX reads: καί έπιβλέψονται προς με άνθ' ών κατωρχήσαντο,
"and they shall look on me because they have danced"—a translation which
avoids the problem of the anthropomorphism. The translator read νιρτ, "they
have pierced," as Mp\ "they have danced" (with the connotation of dancing
insultingly), probably not because his Hebrew text contained this word, but
because he himself transposed the letters ι and "i, which are quite similar. Both
letter transposition and the interchange of similar consonants were accepted

12
P. Joiion and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Subsidia Biblica 14; Rome:
Biblical Institute, 1991) §158m, where more examples are given. One would expect: "»nx Mpi -itfx
(or inx, when 'Vx is vocalized differently).
13
So M. Saeb0, Sacharja 9-14: Untersuchungen von Text und Form (WMANT 34;
Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1969) 100.
14
For the various possibilities see P. Lamarche, Zacharie IX-XIV: Structure littéraire et
messianisme (EBib; Paris: Gabalda, 1961) 80-84; Saeb0, Sacharja 9-14, 97-102.
15
A similar evaluation of the reading of the MT is given by M. Delcor, "Un problème de
critique textuelle et d'exégèse: Zach., xii, 10: Et aspicient ad me quem confixerunt," RB5% (1951)
189-99, esp. pp. 192-96; Lamarche, Zacharie IX-XIV, 82; Saebo, Sacharja 9-14, 99-101, and
others.
 500 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55, 1993

exegetical devices in early Judaism, 16 and, apart from the LXX, there is no
evidence for the reading npi. The best explanation for the LXX's άνθ' œv,"be-
cause," is, as far as I see, that the translator considered his Hebrew npr-wx nx
as an accusativus limitationis:17 "they shall look on me concerning the fact
that they danced," which is tantamount to "because they danced."18 So there
is no need to suppose that the LXX translator translated a Hebrew text which
differed from the MT.19
In the later Greek translations, the problem of the Hebrew text is solved
in a less radical way. Aquila translated Tipi-irca nx with σύν φ έξεκέντησαν,
"with the one whom they have pierced." He considered nx as a preposition (he
used σύν with the dative, not with the accusative),20 and in that way, so far
as we can judge from this fragment, solved the problem of the apparent
identity of God and the pierced one. Of Symmachus' translation, only the
words έμπροσθεν έπεξεκέντησαν have been preserved. The latter word

16
For letter transposition, see, e g , Ps 48[49] 12 LXX, where oanp, "their inside," has been
read by the translator as Dnap, "their grave" = oi τάφοι αυτών, a transposition also found in b
Moced Qat 9b (see L Pnjs, Judische Tradition in der Septuaginta [Leiden Brill, 1948, re­
printed, Hildesheim Olms, 1987] 35-45), or Gen 30 30 LXX, where waV, "for my house," was
read as rra ,J?, "for me a house" = έμαυτω οίκον, see also Schnackenburg, "Schriftzitat," 241 For
the interchange of ι and n, see, e g , Hos 10 7 LXX, where the stem ποτ, "to be silent," has been
read as non, "to throw" = άπέρριψεν, or Jonah 1 9 LXX, where the translator read nay, "a
Hebrew," as « nay, "a servant of the Lord" = δούλος κυρίου For numerous further examples see
J F Schleusner, Novus thesaurus philologico-cnticus (London Duncan, 1829), and J Lust,
E Eymkel, and Κ Hauspie, with the collaboration of G Chamberlain, A Greek-English Lexi­
con of the Septuagint Part 1, Α-I (Stuttgart Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1992)
17
See Jouon and Muraoka, Grammar, §126g A S van der Woude {Tacharía [De Predi-
king van het Oude Testament, Nijkerk Callenbach, 1984] 235-36) solves the problem of the MT
by supposing this construction, which results in the translation "They shall look on me [God]
on account of the one whom they have pierced "
18
In the LXX, άνθ' ων is used as a translation for a range of causal conjunctions, such
as jy\ -up« jy% wirnnn, itfx-Vy, and simple itfx
19
The variants of the LXX text in which the words είς δν έξεκέντησαν are substituted
for άνθ' ών κατωρχήσαντο (so the Lucíame recension) or are added to this phrase, are either
corrections made on the basis of Theodotion's version (see below) or adaptations to the early
Christian version found in John 19 37 See A Deissmann, Veröffentlichungen aus der Heidel-
berger Papyrus-Sammlung, 1 (Heidelberg Winter, 1905) 66-71, and the apparatus in J Ziegler's
edition in the Gottingen LXX According to Deissmann, the reading vrpn, presupposed as the
reading behind the LXX, is the original Hebrew text which was changed in the pre-Christian
period into npn "im messianischen Interesse" (ρ 69, with a reference, ρ 66 n 4, to A Merx,
Die vier kanonischen Evangelien nach ihrem ältesten bekannten Texte, 2/1 [Berlin Reimer,
1902] 348-52), both Hebrew texts were then translated into Greek Unfortunately, Deissmann
and Merx do not make clear what kind of messianism this may have been, in fact, the supposed
secondary reading created problems instead of solving them A flaw of Deissmann's view is that
he considers the variant readings only of the verbs in Zech 12 10aß, not those of the words
between the verbs
20
Overlooked, it seems, by Saebo, Sacharja 9-14, 99
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 501

agrees with Aquila, Theodotion (see below), and the early Christian trans-
lation (see above), except for the double preposition. The former word could
correspond to the targum's paraphrase, in which "»Vx is rendered •'öip ρ ,
21
"before me," but it is difficult to make definite sense of it. Theodotion's
translation is known in two slightly different forms: (a) και έπιβλέψονται
προς με δν έξεκέντησαν, "and they shall look on me whom they have pierced"
(so MS 86); (b) και έπιβλέψονται προς με εις öv έξεκέντησαν, "and they shall
look on me, to whom they have pierced" (so the Syro-Hexapla). Whichever
22
of these two may be Theodotion's original translation, both forms presup­
pose a text and vocalization like those of the MT. Theodotion read nx as the
nota accusativi, in form (a) in the relative clause, in form (b) in the main
clause. In the latter case, a second preposition (εις) becomes necessary to
23
introduce the second object. In both forms the problem of the anthropo­
morphism remains.
Form (b) of Theodotion's translation agrees with the Peshitta (wnhwrwn
Iwty bmn ddqrw), and form (a) with the Vg (et aspicient ad me quern con-
fixerunt). The paraphrase in the targum is peculiar: iVüVüin Vy Ήΐρ» ρ p»n,
"and they shall pray before me for those who were exiled."24 "Looking" is
interpreted as "praying," and "piercing" as "exiling."25 The paraphrase pre­
supposes a Hebrew text and a vocalization like those of the MT, and nx seems
to have been read as the nota accusativi in the main clause. However, in the
case of this targumic paraphrase, in which the problem of the anthropo­
morphism has been settled drastically, we can hardly speak of a translation.
We now turn to the early Christian version of Zech 12:10aß as it is found
in John 19:37. It starts with οψονται, while all other known Greek versions
have έπιβλέψονται. The latter translation is certainly more to the point: όραν,
"to see," is a somewhat weak translation of the hiphil of una, "to look." It is
not, however, an impossible translation; one finds it for the hiphil of una in
Symmachus' translation of 1 Sam 2:32, and one finds the aorist ιδεϊν in the
same function in the LXX of Num 12:8; Job 6:19; Isa 38:11. The construction
of όραν with εις in our passage (caused here by the Hebrew original) is
somewhat unusual but not impossible; it is found in Greek literature since
Homer (see, e.g., Homer Od. 20.373; Sophocles El. 925).26 The choice of

21
Ssebo, Sacharja 9-14, 101 n. 1.
22
Rahlfs ("Theodotion-Lesarten," 184) prefers reading (a).
23
The preposition εις does not belong with έξεκέντησαν; see n. 7 above.
24
This seems the most obvious translation; see further Str-B 2. 583-84.
25
See T. Jansma, Inquiry into the Hebrew Text and the Ancient Versions of Zechariah
IX-XIV(OTS 7; Leiden: Brill, 1949) 117. Jansma points out that also in the Targum of Isa 8:22
the hiphil of oaa is rendered by x»a, and he labels the rendering VTUVUKT V» a "solecism."
26
See LS J, s.v. όράω i.l; Bauer, Johannesevangelium, 227.
 502 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55. 1993

οψονται might be explained as the result of a wish to create a wordplay with

κόψονται at the beginning of Zech 12:10b,27 but another motive for the choice
seems more important. We have already observed that the predominant
interpretation of our passage in early Christianity is an eschatological one:
at the parousia people will look on the pierced Christ. Now in early Christian
literature the verb όραν (with the aorist ιδεΐν) is often used of witnessing
Christ's parousia, or God, or the kingdom, at the eschaton. 28 This verb, not
επιβλέπειν which is found in the other Greek versions of Zech 12:10, sug­
gested itself for the translation of Zech 12:10 as applied to the parousia of
Christ because it was already in use in connection with the parousia.
Another peculiarity of the early Christian version of Zech 12:10aß is the
absence of the 1st pers. sg. found in 'Vx. It can be explained simply by a
different vocalization of the Hebrew: the word "»Vx has been read, in the
manner of a pesher, as "»Vx, the poetic form of the preposition Vx, and then
translated as εις. When this was done, nx had to be interpreted, of course,
as an anticipating nota accusativi having its function within the relative
clause. It is not strange that the 1st pers. sg. is eliminated in the early Christian
version. As we observed above, Zech 12:10aß in early Christian literature is
often read in connection with what follows in vv 10b-14, the lament of the
tribes for the pierced one,29 and this person is there referred to in the 3d pers.
and is not considered as identical with God. In early Christianity, the text is
applied not to God but to the crucified Christ who will come at the eschaton.
It is not necessary at this point to hypothesize an otherwise unknown version
of the Hebrew consonantal text which would be the basis of the early Chris-
tian version of Zech 12:10aß;30 a different vocalization of the known conso-
nantal text is a sufficient explanation. Nor is it necessary to suppose that the

27
So Perrm, "Mark xiv62," 153, Schnackenburg, "Schnftzitat," 243 Freed (OT Quo-
tations, 115) thinks that "[John's] οψονται may be a misreading of the LXX's κόψονται" that
is frequently included in quotations in early Christian writers However, in several of the early
Christian uses of Zech 12 10 both οψονται and κόψονται are found, so that a wordplay seems
more probable
28
See Mark 9 1 parr, 13 26 parr, 14 62 par, Matt 5 8, Luke 3 6 (= Isa 40 5), 13 28, 17 22,
Heb 9 28, 12 14, 1 John 3 2, Rev 22 4, also examples in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers,
e g , Did 16 8, 2 Clem 17 5, Herrn 92 3 (Sim 9 15) This way of speaking may have been
inspired by OT texts such as Isa 33 17, 35 2, 40 5, 52 8,10 See W Michaelis, "όράω, κτλ ,"
TWNT5 315-81, esp ρρ 361-62, 368, J Kremer, "όράω, κτλ ," EWNT 2 1287-93, esp col
1290 Perrin's explanation of this vocabulary via a pesher tradition concerning Zech 12 10-14
and Dan 7 13 ("Mark xiv62," 153) is too narrow, see also Schnackenburg, "Schnftzitat," 244
29
This passage sometimes even precedes ν 10aß, see Matt 24 30, Justin, Apol 1 52 11-12
Heb 10 29 possibly contains an allusion to Zech 12 lOaa
30
So C C Torrey, Documents of the Primitive Church (New York Harper, 1941) note
on ρ 128, he proposes "itfx vVx
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 503

variant with rVx, "on him," which arose in the course of the transmission of
31
the MT, is the basis of the quotation in John 19:37; this reading, found in
32
various MSS of the MT, is not presupposed by any other ancient version, and
it is probably a late effort to provide a smoother text. As for the theory that
33
the Fourth Evangelist did not want to give an exact quotation, it can only
be an ultima ratio when no better explanation can be found.
The relative clause npvntf χ is rendered in the early Christian version with
δν έξεκέντησαν, exactly as in Theodotion's translation. Aquila has the same
verb, Symmachus a cognate one. Έκκεντεϊν is a natural equivalent of npn,
used by the LXX to translate this Hebrew verb in Judg 9:54; 1 Chr 10:4;
Jer 44[37]:10; Lam 4:9; and by Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus in
Isa 13:15; Zech 13:3 (confìgent, according to Jerome). Other compounds of
κεντειν are also used to translate the same Hebrew verb: άποκεντεϊν in
34
Num 25:8 and 1 Sam 31:4 (bis) LXX, κατακεντειν in Jer 28[51]:4 LXX. So
the choice of έκκεντεϊν in the early Christian version was quite an obvious
one, and there is no need to postulate dependence here upon a proto-
Theodotionic version; we already observed, moreover, that in the rest of the
quotation the early Christian version and that of Theodotion widely diverge.35
It is of course possible to broaden the postulate of dependence upon a
proto-Theodotionic version to arrive at the hypothesis of an early Christian
text of Zech 12:10aß dependent on a revised version of the LXX.36 But why

31
So C. F. Burney, The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1922)
123 (he also considers a reading ntfR-Vx as possibly presupposed in John 19:37); M.-J. Lagrange,
Evangile selon saint Jean (EBib; 6th ed.; Paris: Gabalda, 1936) 502; J. Heer, Der Durchbohrte:
Johanneische Begründung der Herz-Jesu-Verehrung (Rome: Herder, 1966) 126 (both Lagrange
and Heer consider the reading T»VX as the original Hebrew).
32
See Jansma, Inquiry, 118.
33
So Delcor, "Problème," 192; Lamarche, Zacharie IX-XIV, 82; Ε-M. Braun, Jean le
Théologien 2: Les grandes traditions d'Israël et l'accord des Ecritures selon le quatrième évangile
(EBib; Paris: Gabalda, 1964) 9; J. O'Rourke, "John's Fulfilment Texts," ScEccl 19 (1967) 433-43,
esp. p. 440 (he calls this "pesher technique"); Saebo, Sacharja 9-14, 101; J. Seynaeve, "Les
citations scripturaires en Jn. 19,36-37: Une preuve en faveur de la typologie de l'agneau pascal?"
Revue africaine de théologie 1 (1977) 67-76, esp. pp. 71-72; R. J. Humann, "The Function and
Form of the Explicit Old Testament Quotations in the Gospel of John," Lutheran Theological
Review 1 (1988-89) 31-54, esp. pp. 41-42.
34
Only in Isa 13:15 and Zech 13:3 does the LXX not have (compounds of) κεντειν for
Heb. "îpn. Cf. also κέντημα, "thrust," for Heb. m¡no in Prov 12:18 in the versions of Symmachus
and Theodotion.
35
Dependence of John on an Ur-Theodotion was recently defended by Moo, Old Testa-
ment, 210-11 (he also gives a survey of the discussion, p. 211 n. 1); it is rightly rejected by Freed,
OT Quotations, 114; O'Rourke, "John's Fulfilment Texts," 440 n. 29; Schnackenburg, "Schnft-
zitat," 241.
36
So, for John 19:37, R. Bultmann, Das Evangelium des Johannes (MeyerK; Göttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1941) 524 n. 9; R. E. Brown, The Gospel according to John (xiii-xxi)
 504 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55, 1993

should έπιβλέψονται have been replaced by οψονται in a revised LXX? And

why should the 1st pers. sg. have been omitted in such a revision, intended
to make the LXX agree better with the Hebrew? On the other hand, these
features of the early Christian version are called for when the text is read as
a testimonium concerning the parousia of the crucified Christ, especially as
" I " refers to God and ν 10aß is read in connection with what follows.
Our conclusion has to be that the early Christian textual form of
Zech 12:10aß is an independent Greek translation of the Hebrew. The use of
Zech 12:10aß (and following verses) as a testimonium probably started rather
early: the passage is used in the mutually independent writings Matthew,
John, and Revelation, and its christological potential, which could be inter-
esting at a later phase of theological reflection (with the identification of
Christ and God, and the application of the qualifications "only one" and
"firstborn" of ν 10b to Christ), is not yet exploited.
This last observation also makes it improbable that the Fourth Evan­
gelist himself translated the text from the Hebrew.37 Had he done so, he would
not have had reason to leave out the 1st pers. sg. (cf. the quotations in
John 2:17; 12:38,40; 13:18; 15:25; 19:24). The evangelist apparently knew and
used Zech 12:10aß in the form of the fixed early Christian testimonium.^

III. Meaning
The issue to be discussed in this section is the meaning of the quotation
in its Johannine context.39 A first question to be answered here is whether
those who look and those who pierce are necessarily the same. In the original
text of Zechariah, they seem to be identical. It was quite possible in Jewish
and early Christian exegesis, however, that the obvious but not explicitly
indicated subject of a verb form was replaced by another subject in the

(AB 29A, Garden City, NY Doubleday, 1970)938 B G Schuchard {Scripture within Scripture
The Interrelationship of Form and Function in the Explicit Old Testament Citations in the
Gospel of John [SBLDS 133, Atlanta Scholars, 1992] 141-49) leaves open the possibilities of
an Ur-Theodotion or a corrected LXX
37
As is supposed by Burney, Lagrange, Torrey and Heer (see nn 30 and 31) and by
Humann, "Function," 40-42, it is also considered as a possibility by Freed, OT Quotations, 114,
De Ru, "Zij zullen zien," 198, Schnackenburg, "Schnftzitat," 241
38
See the literature mentioned above in η 11, also Rahlfs, "Theodotion-Lesarten," 190
39
It is quite possible that the quotation from Zech 12 10, together with the preceding
narrative (John 19 31-34) and the OT quotation in ν 36, comes from pre-Johannine tradition, the
question to be discussed here, however, is what meaning it has m the final redaction of the
evangelist, who gave the quotation its present position and function See Menken, "John 19,36,"
section III
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 505

explanation of the biblical text. We have an example in John 6:31, where

Moses, not God, is supposed to be the subject of Ps 78[77]:24b and thus the
giver of the manna (see the correction in 6:32); there are other examples of
this exegetical device.40 Still more important is the fact that in Jewish and
early Christian exegesis of Zech 12:10 outside John 19:37 it is often presup-
posed that the subjects of the two verb forms in Zech 12:10aß are not iden-
tical. In Rev 1:7 and Matt 24:30, "every eye" and "all the tribes of the earth"
are those who see and mourn; that implies that the subject of "looking"
encompasses many more people than the subject of "piercing." In b. Sukk.
52a, we find a discussion of the object of the mourning in Zech 12:10. One
possibility put forward there is that the lament concerns the Messiah ben
Joseph, and this interpretation is supported by a quotation from Zech 12:10aß-
ba. Here, the subject who looks and mourns is evidently Israel, but the
subject who pierces is different: the killing of the Messiah ben Joseph is
ascribed in Jewish tradition to Israel's enemies.41 In the paraphrase in the
targum quoted above a distinction also seems to exist between the subjects
of the two verbs.
So it is not necessary for the subjects of the two verbs in John 19:37b to
be identical.42 While it is evident that the Roman soldiers and "the Jews" who
indirectly instigate their act are the subject of έξεκέντησαν, the subject of
οψονται is not immediately clear. If the evangelist is merely interested in the
fulfilment of the words from Zech 12:10 in the preceding narrative, the Roman
soldiers with "the Jews," and the eyewitness mentioned in 19:35, are the only
possible candidates. So far as the former are concerned the problem is that
a look—repentant or not—towards Jesus on the part of the soldiers or "the
Jews" after the piercing43 is not mentioned in John's text.44 The eyewitness

40
See Menken, "John 6:31"; other examples there, pp. 55-56.
41
See Str-B 2. 297-99; W. Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums im späthellenistischen
Zeitalter (HNT 21; 3d ed. [H. Gressmann]; Tübingen: Mohr, 1926) 230. According to R. J.
Wyatt ("Jewish Exegesis and the Gospel of John" [diss., University of Wales, 1983] 208, referred
to by Wilcox, "Text Form," 202), the same haggadic exposition as in b. Sukk. 52a appears in
more detailed form in a fragment of Targum Yerusalmi found as a marginal gloss in Codex
Reuchlinianus; there, the Messiah ben Joseph is killed by Gog.
42
The recourse to an impersonal character of the two 3d pers. pi. verb forms, in order to
make it possible that their subjects are not the same (so, e.g., W. Thüsing, Die Erhöhung und
Verherrlichung Jesu im Johannesevangelium [NTAbh 21/1-2; 3d ed.; Münster: Aschendorff,
1979] 20 n. 35), is unnecessary.
43
The difference in tense between the future οψονται and the aorist indicative έξεκέν­
τησαν requires that the piercing of Jesus' side precedes the looking on him.
44
This is too easily overlooked by A. Vergote ("L'exaltation du Christ en croix selon le
quatrième évangile," ETL 28 [1952] 5-23, esp. pp. 19-20), H. van den Bussche (Het Boek der
Passie: Verklaring van Johannes 18-21 [Het vierde evangelie 4; Tielt/The Hague: Lannoo, 1960]
 506 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55, 1993

of ν 35 is indeed a possible candidate as the subject of οψονται (see below).

Some scholars suppose that John's only point here is that the piercing an­
45
nounced by Zechariah has been fulfilled. That, however, is not probable,
because the main clause of the quotation, having no referent, would then be
floating in the air, and because in the comparable instance of the quotation
from Ps 35:19 or 69:5 in John 15:25 the evangelist is not afraid of a drastic
curtailing and change of his biblical text. There he quotes only "Who hate
me without cause," a participle made substantive in both the Hebrew text and
the LXX, and he makes it into an independent clause: "They hated me
without cause."
The question is whether the evangelist indeed intends the quotation in
19:37 to be a simple fulfillment quotation; in such a quotation the words of
Scripture, whether put in the past (John 12:38; 13:18; 15:25; 19:24) or in the
future (19:36), have become reality in what is told or said immediately before,
and so they constitute proof that Jesus is God's eschatological envoy. On the
one hand, the formula which introduces the quotation in 19:36 ("For these
things happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled") seems to apply also
to the quotation in ν 37 because of the indefinite plural ταύτα, "these things,"
and the immediate succession of the two quotations. But on the other hand,
the quotation in ν 37 is not connected to the preceding one by a simple καί,
"and," and the verb πληρούν, "to fulfill," is missing from the formula directly
introducing it ("And again another Scripture says"). So ν 37a leaves open the
possibility that the evangelist does not want only to stress that Zechariah's
prophecy was realized in the piercing of Jesus' side.46
We have to ask, then, whether other passages from John can be helpful
in determining the subject, the precise object, the character, and the point in
time of the "looking" in 19:37.47 Many commentators have rightly connected
our quotation with John 3:14-15, a passage which deals with the "effect" of
the crucified Jesus on the believer.48 The one who believes in the Son of Man,

167), and Brown {John xiii-xxi, 954), who think that "the Jews" here see Christ's victory on the
cross.
45
So several commentators, among them Bultmann, Johannes, 525 n. 1; C. K. Barrett,
The Gospel according to St John (2d ed.; London: SPCK, 1978) 559.
46
The case of the quotation in John 12:39-40 is somewhat comparable: after adducing Isa
53:1 as fulfilled in the unbelief of "the Jews" in 12:38, the evangelist adduces Isa 6:10 not to stress
its fulfillment but to offer an explanation for their unbelief.
47
See the survey of interpretations in C. Traets, Voir Jésus et le Père en lui, selon l'évangile
de saint Jean (AnGreg 159; Rome: Università Gregoriana, 1967) 163 n. 42.
48
Thüsing, Erhöhung, 12-31; van den Bussche, Boek der Passie, 167-68; F.-M. Braun,
Jean le Théologien 3/1: Sa théologie: Le mystère de Jésus-Christ (EBib; Paris: Gabalda, 1966)
178-80; Heer, Durchbohrte, 133-39; Traets, Voir Jésus, 161-65; Brown, John xiii-xxi, 955;
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 507

lifted up as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, has eternal
life; the lifting up takes place in Jesus' crucifixion (12:33). The parallelism
between 3:14-15, with its allusion to Num 21:8-9, and our quotation becomes
still clearer when one realizes that the "seeing" of the serpent from Numbers
is paralleled in John 3:15 by "believing."49 The sequel to 3:14-15 shows that
people can look towards the crucified one not only with belief but also with
unbelief, although God's primary intention in sending the Son is that people
believe, and so have life instead of being condemned (3:16-18). The two other
Johannine passages concerned with the lifting up of Jesus move along the
same lines. In 8:28, the aspect of judgment on unbelief seems stressed: when
"the Jews" have lifted up the Son of Man, they will know that he is "I am."50
In 12:32, the aspect of life for the believer is brought forward: when Jesus is
lifted up from the earth, he will draw all to himself.
The quotation in 19:37, seen in connection with 3:14-15 and the related
passages, means that all will look on the pierced Jesus, and that they should
look with faith, toward their salvation,51 although there will also be people
who look with unbelief. This explanation concurs with the way the Fourth
Evangelist speaks of "seeing Jesus."52 Apart from those instances where he
uses verbs of seeing for the merely physical perception of Jesus (such as 11:32),
he often employs them to indicate seeing Jesus with faith (6:40; 9:37; 12:21,45;
14:9) or with unbelief (6:36; 15:24). In John, these verba videndi are used
especially for the perception of the risen Jesus, which will be discussed below.
The "looking on the pierced one" of which the quotation in 19:37 speaks,
should not be taken in a too narrowly literal sense. In fact, only a very limited
number of people saw Jesus hanging on the cross. The evangelist, of course,
thinks also of the Christian community's proclamation of the crucified Jesus,
who can be "seen" in the proclaimed gospel, just as Paul can write to the
Galatians that "Jesus Christ was publicly displayed as crucified before [their]

Schnackenburg, "Schriftzitat," 245; J. T. Forestell, The Word of the Cross: Salvation as Reve-
lation in the Fourth Gospel(AnBib 57; Rome: Biblical Institute, 1974) 89, 197; S. Pancaro, The
Law in the Fourth Gospel: The Torah and the Gospel, Moses and Jesus, Judaism and Chris-
tianity according to John (NovTSup 42; Leiden: Brill, 1975) 352; Seynaeve, "Citations," 73-75;
Moo, Old Testament, 214 (as a possibility); De Ru, "Zij zullen zien," 202-3; I. de la Potterie,
" 'Volgeranno lo sguardo a colui che hanno trafitto*: Sangue di Cristo e oblatività," La Civiltà
Cattolica 137 (1986) 105-18, esp. pp. 107-8.
49
See Thüsing, Erhöhung, 7; Pancaro, Law, 333-34.
50
It is not quite clear whether Jesus' saying in 8:28 is about condemnation or about
salvation. The context suggests the former. For the other interpretation see esp. Thüsing, Er-
höhung, 15-19.
51
In its original context in Zechariah, Zech 12:10 is a promise of salvation.
52
See Traets, Voir Jésus, passim.
 508 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55, 1993

eyes" (Gal 3:1). The positive reaction, the "looking on whom they have
pierced" at which the evangelist aims, is a faith which sees in the crucified
Jesus not the human failure but the exalted, glorified Son of Man (3:14-15;
12:23,32,34; 13.31-32), and which maybe also sees in the blood and water
53
flowing out of his pierced side the gift of life (19:34, parallel with 7:38-39).
It should be stressed that, for John, to look on the pierced Jesus with
belief coincides with seeing the risen Lord. Jesus announces in his farewell
discourses to his disciples that they will see him again after a short time (14:19;
16:16-19). The privilege of seeing Jesus after his death is denied to "the
world," however. "The world" can see only Jesus' dead body, but those who
believe in Jesus see him, because he is alive and they will also live (14:19, cf.
14:20-24). A true look on the pierced Jesus, as the source of life for his
followers, is possible only after his death, for those who see the risen Lord.
It is not astonishing, therefore, that we can observe that the quotation
of 19:37 comes true in the appearance stories of John 20. Mary Magdalene
tells the disciples: "I have seen the Lord" (20:18). When Jesus appears to the
disciples, he shows them his pierced side, and they rejoice when they see him
(20:20). Later, they say to Thomas: "We have seen the Lord" (20:25). When
Jesus appears to the disciples, including Thomas, he invites Thomas to place
his hand in his pierced side, and he reacts to Thomas' confession with the
words: "You have believed because you have seen me; 54 happy are those who
have not seen, and believe" (20:27-29). The macarism concerns the later
generations, who did not "physically" see the risen Lord as the disciples saw
him but who can only believe on the basis of their testimony. As believers who
"see" the risen Lord in the preaching of the church, they can be said to belong
also to those who "shall look on him whom they have pierced." The promise
of 14:19 concerns them as well. Several of the texts just referred to have clear
literary links with the quotation in 19:37: οψεσθε (16:16,17,19), έώρακα
(20:18), ιδόντες (20:20,29), έωράκαμεν (20:25), έώρακας (20:29), always with
Jesus as object, can be put beside οψονται in the quotation, and Jesus'pierced
side, of which the quotation speaks, is expressly mentioned as seen by the
disciples in 20:20,25,27. In John, the believing look on the pierced Jesus

53
Although it is not easy to determine the exact tenor of 19 34b, the interpretation which
sees in the blood and water a symbol of the salvation which is realized m Jesus' death is one
which should be taken seriously because of the parallelism with 7 38-39 (read with a full stop
after έμέ in ν 38) One of the possible scriptural sources for ν 38 is Zech 13 1, from the same
context as our quotation (cf Zech 14 8)
54
Reading these words as a question ("Have you believed because you have seen me?")
makes them a reproach, which they cannot possibly be in their context
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 509

consists in seeing the risen Lord, either directly or in the proclamation of the
church, or, to put it more exactly, in seeing in the crucified Jesus the risen
Lord, and vice versa. It is not without reason that in John 20 the risen Lord
55
who appears bears the marks of his crucifixion.
The interpretation of the quotation from Zech 12:10 in its Johannine
context proposed here can be confirmed by traditio-historical considera­
tions. We observed above that the current early Christian interpretation
of Zech 12:10 is an eschatological one: the prophecy is applied to Christ's
parousia. This interpretation, known to Matthew and to the author of the
Apocalypse, certainly antedates the redaction of the Fourth Gospel, and
we may suppose that it was known to the author of the Fourth Gospel, who
quotes Zech 12:10 in the common early Christian form of the text. 56 Now
we can easily observe in John a tendency to interpret traditions concerning
future eschatology within the framework of a realized eschatology (see,
e.g., 4:21-26; 5:19-27; 6:30-35), without entirely excluding future escha­
tology (see esp. 5:28-29). Such an interpretation occurs in the farewell
discourses, where traditions which originally concerned Christ's parousia
are now applied to his resurrection. The "messianic woes," vividly de­
scribed in Mark 13 parr, and in many other apocalyptic writings, are
interpreted in John as the temporary grief of the disciples because of Jesus'
absence between his death and his resurrection (16:20-22).57 With regard
to Jesus' "coming" in 14:18, C. K. Barrett remarks that it is "by no means
impossible that John consciously and deliberately used language appli­
cable to both the resurrection and the parousia, thereby emphasizing the
eschatological character of the resurrection."58 That the disciples will see
Jesus again after his return (16:16-19), is, then, an interpretation of the
eschatological seeing of the Son of Man described, e.g., in Mark 13:26
parr.; 14:62 par. (see n. 28 above).59 John's use of Zech 12:10, traditionally
applied to the parousia, moves along the same line, the future looking on

55
Cf Heer, Durchbohrte, 147-52
56
According to Lindars {NT Apologetic, 124-27) and C H Dodd {Historical Tradition
in the Fourth Gospel [Cambridge Cambridge University, 1963] 132 η 3), the application of
Zech 12 10 to Jesus' crucifixion is primary, and to his parousia secondary However, the escha­
tological interpretation, which also determines the form of the text (see above), is older than
John's final redaction, and John more often interprets eschatological traditions in a realized
sense (see below)
57
See, e g , Barrett, St John, 493
58
Ibid , 464
59
See Kremer, "όράω, κτλ ," 1290, on John 16 16-19 "Die apokalyptische Redeweise
wird m der Abschiedsrede in Form der prasentischen Eschatologie wiedergegeben "
 510 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 55, 1993

the pierced one is interpreted in John as taking place when people look in faith
on the crucified Jesus as the risen Lord.60
This seeing of Jesus will, according to John, be consummated in the
eschatological future (17:24, cf. 12:26; 14:3), and it may be that in that sense
the traditional eschatological interpretation of Zech 12:10 plays a certain part
in the quotation in John 19:37. That does not mean, however, that one should
interpret the quotation as one saying essentially the same thing as Rev 1:7.61
The main difference is that the evangelist, in using the quotation, is primarily
interested in realized eschatology. Moreover, he considers the future escha-
tological seeing of Christ as something destined only for believers: "the world"
will not see Jesus (see, e.g., 14:19).
If the above interpretation of the quotation in 19:37 is correct, the
fulfillment formula of 19:36a can yet be said to apply to it. In 19:35, between
the narrative of the piercing of Jesus' side and the OT quotations, the evan-
gelist inserts a remark about the testimony of the eyewitness. He is called ó
έωρακώς, "the one who has seen." He has borne a true witness, "that you too
(καί ύμεΐς)62 may believe." "Too" implies that the eyewitness himself is also
a believer. He has seen the piercing of Jesus' side, and he has believed. In that
quality, he is the first one of those "who shall look on him whom they have
pierced."63 The eyewitness is probably the beloved disciple mentioned in
19:26-27; he would fit quite well in the terms of the quotation, since he
functions in John as the ideal believer (13:21-30; 19:26-27; 20:2-10; 21). Here,
he represents all believers, and his looking on the pierced Jesus is a repre­
sentative fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy.

60
Cf Traets, Voir Jésus, 165 η 49, Forestell, Word of the Cross, 93 η 144, Moo, Old
Testament, 214
61
As it is interpreted by A Loisy, Le quatrième évangile (Pans Picard, 1903) 893, Freed,
OT Quotations, 115-16, E Haenchen, Das Johannesevangehum (ed U Busse, Tubingen Mohr
[Siebeck], 1980) 355, Moo, Old Testament, 213 (as a possibility), M Hengel, "Die Schnftaus-
legung des 4 Evangeliums auf dem Hintergrund der urchnsthchen Exegese," Jahrbuch fur
biblische Theologie 4 (1989) 249-88, esp ρ 278
62
Καί is omitted in 054, bopt, and the Greek Majority text, either by accident or by desire
to adapt the wording to that of 20 31
63
So the great majority of the commentators mentioned in η 48, esp de la Pottene,
"'Volgeranno lo sguardo'," 113-14 For Deissmann {Veröffentlichungen, 70 η 6) this is the only
Johannine application of the quotation, and it explains why the evangelist chooses οψονται m
the quotation, but see above for a more probable explanation of this choice For Traets ( Voir
Jésus, 165) and Μ -E Boismard and A Lamouille {L'évangile de Jean [Synopse des quatre
évangiles en français 3, Pans Cerf, 1977] 446, 451), the quotation also applies to the Roman
soldiers who see Jesus and pierce him, and so to all future Gentile believers However, John does
not mention the soldiers' looking upon Jesus after they have pierced him, an episode comparable
to the confession of the centurion m Mark 15 39 parr is not found m John Of course, Gentile
believers are included in the universal subject of οψονται as we have explained above
 THE QUOTATION FROM ZECHARIAH IN JOHN 19:37 511

IV. Conclusion
The peculiar form of the quotation from Zech 12:10 in John 19:37 is that
of an early Christian Greek translation of the Hebrew text. This form of the
text is also found or presupposed at other places in early Christian literature
where Zech 12:10aß is quoted or alluded to. Zech 12:10(-14) was used as a
testimonium concerning the parousia of Christ, and that use explains the
peculiarities of the early Christian form of the text in comparison with the
other known textual forms of the passage.
For his OT quotations, John usually uses the LXX (1:23; 2:17; 6:31,45;
10:34; 12:13,38; 16:22; 19:24; cf. 12:15, with the influence of several other OT
texts); in the few instances where he deviates from it (12:40; 13:18) he has good
reasons to do so.64 In 19:37, the LXX version would not have served his
purposes, as the piercing is absent from it. So he chose the text of the
testimonium with which he was familiar, and which fitted in well with his
vocabulary and theology.
The quotation in its Johannine context refers primarily to the look in
which believers will see the pierced Jesus as who he really is: the exalted Son
of Man, the risen Lord. It is a fulfillment quotation in the sense that the
eyewitness in 19:35 is the first of these believers. Secondarily, unbelievers are
in view in the sense that they also see the crucified Jesus, but not as who he
really is. John uses the quotation, which was interpreted in an eschatological
sense already before the Fourth Gospel was written, in the framework of his
realized eschatology: the eschatological look on the pierced one occurs when
believers see in the crucified Jesus the risen Lord, and in the risen Lord the
crucified Jesus.65

64
See my articles mentioned in n. 2 above.
65
I thank Mrs. K. M. Court, who was so kind as to correct the English of this article.
 ^ s
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