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King James Version
And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Complete Jewish Bible
If someone asks him, 'Then what are these gashes between your shoulders?' he will answer, 'I got hurt at my friends' house.'
Berean Standard Bible
If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your chest?’ he will answer, ‘These are the wounds I received in the house of my friends.’
American Standard Version
And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds between thine arms? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
World English Bible Messianic
One will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
Geneva Bible (1599)
And one shall say vnto him, What are these woundes in thine hands? Then he shall answere, Thus was I wounded in the house of my friendes.
Young's Literal Translation
And one hath said unto him, `What are these wounds in thy hands?' And he hath said, `Because I was smitten at home by my lovers.'
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In the KJVVerse 23,066 of 31,102
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Commentary on Zechariah 13 verses 1–6
1 ¶ In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Behold the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, the sin of the church; for therefore was the Son of God manifested, to take away our sin, Jo1 3:5.
I. He takes away the guilt of sin by the blood of his cross (Zac 13:1): In that day, in the gospel-day, there shall be a fountain opened, that is, provision made for the cleansing of all those from the pollutions of sin who truly repent and are sorry for them. In that day, when the Spirit of grace is poured out to set them a mourning for their sins, they shall not mourn as those who have no hope, but they shall have their sins pardoned, and the comfort of their pardon in their bosoms. Their consciences shall be purified and pacified by the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, Jo1 1:7. For Christ is exalted to give both repentance and remission of sins; and where he gives the one no doubt he gives the other. This fountain opened is the pierced side of Jesus Christ, spoken of just before (Zac 12:10), for thence came there out blood and water, and both for cleansing. And those who look upon Christ pierced, and mourn for their sins that pierced him, and are therefore in bitterness for him, may look again upon Christ pierced and rejoice in him, because it pleased the Lord thus to smite this rock, that it might be to us a fountain of living waters. See here, 1. How we are polluted; we are all so; we have sinned, and sin is uncleanness; it defiles the mind and conscience, renders us odious to God and uneasy in ourselves, unfit to be employed in the service of God and admitted into communion with him, as those who were ceremonially unclean were shut out of the sanctuary. The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem are under sin, which is uncleanness. The truth is, we are all as an unclean thing, and deserve to have our portion with the unclean. 2. How we may be purged. Behold, there is fountain opened for us to wash in, and there are streams flowing to us from that fountain, so that, if we be not made clean, it is our own fault. The blood of Christ, and God's pardoning mercy in that blood, revealed in the new covenant, are, (1.) A fountain; for there is in them an inexhaustible fulness. There is mercy enough in God, and merit enough in Christ, for the forgiving of the greatest sins and sinners, upon gospel-terms. Such were some of you, but you are washed, Co1 6:11. Under the law there were a brazen laver and a brazen sea to wash in; those were but vessels, but we have a fountain to ourselves, overflowing, ever-flowing. (2.) A fountain opened; for, whoever will, may come and take the benefit of it; it is opened, not only to the house of David, but to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to the poor and mean as well as to the rich and great; or it is opened for all believers, who, as the spiritual seed of Christ, are of the house of David, and, as living members of the church, are inhabitants of Jerusalem. Through Christ all that believe are justified, are washed from their sins in his blood, that they may be made to our God kings and priests, Rev 1:5, Rev 1:6.
II. He takes away the dominion of sin by the power of his grace, even of beloved sins. This evermore accompanies the former; those that are washed in the fountain opened, as they are justified, so they are sanctified; the water came with the blood out of the pierced side of Christ. It is here promised that in that day, 1. Idolatry shall be quite abolished and the people of the Jews shall be effectually cured of their inclination to it (Zac 13:2): I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land. The worship of the idols of their fathers shall be so perfectly rooted out that in one generation or two it shall be forgotten that ever there were such idols among them; they shall either not be named at all or not with any respect; they shall no more be remembered, as was promised, Hos 2:17. This was fulfilled in the rooted aversion which the Jews had, after the captivity, to idols and idolatry, and still retain to this day; it was fulfilled also in the ready conversion of many to the faith of Christ, by which they were taken off from making an idol of the ceremonial law, as the unbelieving Jews did; and it is still in the fulfilling when souls are brought off from the world and the flesh, those two great idols, that they may cleave to God only. 2. False prophecy shall also be brought to an end: I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit, the prophets that are under the influence of the unclean spirit, to pass out of the land. The devil is an unclean spirit; sin and uncleanness are from him; he has his prophets, that serve his interests and receive their instructions from him. Take away the unclean spirit, and the prophets would not deceive as they do; take away the false prophets that produce sham commissions, and the unclean spirit could not do the mischief he does. When God designs the silencing of the false prophets he banishes the unclean spirit out of the land, that wrought in them, and was a rival with him for the throne in the heart. The church of the Jews, when they were addicted to idols, did also dote much upon false prophets, who flattered them in their sins with promises of impunity and peace; but here it is promised, as a blessed effect of the promised reformation, that they should be very much set against false prophets, and zealous to clear the land of them; they were so after the captivity, till, through the blindness of their zeal against false prophets, they had put Christ to death under that character, and, after that, there arose many false Christs and false prophets, and deceived many, Mat 24:11. It is here foretold, (1.) That false prophets, instead of being indulged and favoured, should be brought to condign punishment even by their nearest relations, which would be as great an instance as any of flagrant zeal against those deceivers (Zac 13:3): When any shall set up for a prophet, and shall speak lies in the name of the Lord, shall preach that which tends to draw people from God and to confirm them in sin, his own parents shall be the first and most forward to prosecute him for it, according to the law. Deu 13:6-11, "If thy son entice thee secretly from God, thou shalt surely kill him. Show thy indignation against him, and prevent any further temptation from him." His father and his mother shall thrust him through when he prophesies. Note, We ought to conceive, and always to retain, a very great detestation and dread of every thing that would draw us out of the way of our duty into by-paths, as those who cannot bear that which is evil, Rev 2:2. And holy zeal for God and godliness will make us hate sin, and dread temptation, most in those whom naturally we love best, and who are nearest to us; there our danger is greatest, as Adam's from Eve, Job's from his wife; and there it will be the most praiseworthy to show our zeal, as Levi, who, in the cause of God, did not acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own children, Deu 33:9. Thus we must hate and forsake our nearest relations when they come in competition with our duty to God, Luk 14:26. Natural affections, even the strongest, must be over-ruled by gracious affections. (2.) That false prophets should be themselves convinced of their sin and folly, and let fall their pretensions (Zac 13:4): "The prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision; they shall not repeat it, or insist upon it, but desire that it may be forgotten and no more said of it, being ready themselves to own it was a sham, because God has by his grace awakened their consciences and shown them their error, or because the event disproves their predictions, and gives them the lie, or because their prophecies do not meet with such a favourable reception as they used to meet with, but are generally despised and distasted; they perceive the people ashamed of them, which makes them begin to be ashamed of themselves. And therefore they shall no longer wear a rough garment, or garment of hair, as the true prophets used to do, in imitation of Elijah, and in token of their being mortified to the pleasures and delights of sense." The pretenders had appeared in the habit of true prophets; but, their folly being now made manifest, they shall lay it aside, no more to deceive and impose upon unthinking unwary people by it. A modest dress is a very good thing, if it be the genuine indication of a humble heart, and is to instruct; but it is a bad thing if it be the hypocritical disguise of a proud ambitious heart, and is to deceive. Let men be really as good as they seem to be, but not seem to be better than really they are. This pretender, as a true penitent, [1.] Shall undeceive those whom he had imposed upon: He shall say, "I am no prophet, as I have pretended to be, was never designed nor set apart to the office, never educated nor brought up for it, never conversant among the sons of the prophets. I am a husbandman, and was bred to that business; I was never taught of God to prophesy, but taught of man to keep cattle" Amos was originally such a one too, and yet was afterwards called to be a prophet, Amo 7:14, Amo 7:15. But this deceiver never had any such call. Note, Those who sorrow after a godly sort for their having deceived others will be forward to confess their sin, and will be so just as to rectify the mistakes which they have been the cause of. Thus those who had used curious arts, when they were converted showed their deeds, and by what fallacies they had cheated the people, Act 19:18. [2.] He shall return to his own proper employment, which is the fittest for him: I will be a husbandman (so it may be read); "I will apply myself to my calling again, and meddle no more with things that belong not to me; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth, and cattle I will again keep, and never set up for a preacher any more." Note, When we are convinced that we have gone out of the way of our duty we must evince the truth of our repentance by returning to it again, though it be the severest mortification to us. [3.] He shall acknowledge those to be his friends who by a severe discipline were instrumental to bring him to a sight of his error, Zac 13:6. When he who with the greatest assurance had asserted himself so lately to be a prophet suddenly drops his claims, and says, I am no prophet, every body will be surprised at it, and some will ask, "What are these wounds, or marks of stripes, in thy hands? how camest thou by them? Hast thou not been examined by scourging? And is not that it that has brought thee to thyself?" (Vexatio dat intellectum - Vexation sharpens the intellect.) "Hast thou not been beaten into this acknowledgment? Was it not the rod and reproof that gave thee this wisdom?" And he shall own, "Yes, it was; these are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends, who bound me, and used me hardly and severely, as a distracted man, and so brought me to my senses." By this it appears that those parents of the false prophet that thrust him through (Zac 13:3) did not do it till they had first tried to reclaim him by correction, and he would not be reclaimed; for so was the law concerning a disobedient son - his parents must first have chastened him in vain before they were allowed to bring him forth to be stoned, Deu 21:18, Deu 21:19. But here is another who was reduced by stripes, and so prevented the capital punishment; and he had the sense and honesty to own that they were his friends, his real friends, who thus wounded him, that they might reclaim him; for faithful are the wounds of a friend, Pro 27:6. Some good interpreters, observing how soon this comes after the mention of Christ's being pierced, think that these are the words of that great prophet, not of the false prophet spoken of before. Christ was wounded in his hands, when they were nailed to the cross, and, after his resurrection, he had the marks of these wounds; and here he tells how he came by them; he received them as a false prophet, for the chief priests called him a deceiver, and upon that account would have him crucified; but he received them in the house of his friends - the Jews, who should have been his friends; for he came to his own, and, though they were his bitter enemies, yet he was pleased to call them his friends, as he did Judas (Friend, wherefore hast thou come?) because they forwarded his sufferings for him; as he called Peter Satan - an adversary, because he dissuaded him from them.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–6. Public domain.
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Commentary on Zechariah
(Vers. 3 seqq.) And on that day, the prophets will be confused, each one from his own vision, when he prophesies, and they will not cover themselves with a sackcloth to deceive. Instead, they will say, 'I am not a prophet, I am a farmer, for Adam is my example from my youth.' And it will be said to him, 'What are these wounds in the middle of your hands?' And he will say, 'I have been wounded in the house of those who love me.' LXX: And on that day, the prophets will be confused, each one from his own vision, when he prophesies, and they will wear a hairy garment with which they have deceived, and they will say, 'I am not a prophet, because a man has begotten me from my youth,' and I will say to him, 'What are these wounds in the middle of your hands?' And he will say: To whom have I been struck in the house of the one who loves me? Whoever attempts to prophesy and is condemned by the judgment of his parents, and approves the falsehood of his prophecy by contrary outcomes, he will be confounded by his vision, and he will no longer be covered with a hairshirt in order to lie. For this was the attire of the prophets, that when they called the people to repentance, they would be clothed in a hairshirt. Therefore, it is commanded to Isaiah to take the sackcloth from his loins, and to walk naked (Isa. XX): for it is not at all a time of repentance, but of imminent captivity. Therefore, this false prophet will by no means receive the prophet's garb, so as not to deceive the simple under a foreign guise and covering. Rather, he will find delight in tilling the earth and prove himself dedicated to agriculture, subjecting himself to the divine sentence that was spoken to Adam: 'Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread' (Gen. III, 17-18). And when he presents himself as born for this purpose, to eat his bread in the sweat of his face, another will ask him, and say: What do these wounds mean to you, and these wounds which are in the midst of your hands? And there is meaning: Why do you adhere to the gallows? Why are your hands pierced with nails? What have you committed, that you should submit to this punishment and torture? And he will answer, and say: I received these wounds and these lashes, condemned by the judgment of my parents, and of those who did not hate me, but loved me. And in the meantime, with falsehood dispelled, truth will prevail, so that even he who is punished for his own fault admits that he has suffered rightly. The Hebrews have explained this, which is written: 'They will not cover themselves with a sackcloth to lie,' saying that they will not be filled with the demonic spirit, whom we read in Isaiah as 'hairy,' so that by this occasion they may not lie about the deceptive appearance of God's words in themselves, or deny the Lord: For they lie and deny in their external appearance, as they interpret.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Zechariah 13:6 presents a poignant prophetic dialogue where a wounded figure is questioned about the source of their injuries, revealing that the wounds were inflicted "in the house of my friends." This verse serves as a profound foreshadowing of the Messiah's suffering, specifically highlighting the betrayal and rejection He would experience from those who should have been closest to Him, culminating in His atoning sacrifice.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Zechariah 13:6 employs several powerful Literary Devices. The primary device is Interrogative Dialogue, where a direct question elicits a revealing answer, drawing the reader into the mystery and then delivering a profound truth. This creates a sense of immediacy and personal confrontation. Symbolism is heavily present: the "wounds in thine hands" are symbolic of suffering and sacrifice, particularly pointing to the crucifixion. The "house of my friends" is a potent symbol of betrayal, representing a place of expected safety and affection that instead became a site of injury. This also introduces a strong element of Irony, as the place of supposed friendship becomes the source of profound harm. Furthermore, the verse functions as clear Foreshadowing, looking forward to a future event of immense theological significance, specifically the suffering and betrayal of the Messiah.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Zechariah 13:6 stands as a stark prophetic utterance, profoundly connecting the Old Testament's anticipation of a suffering servant to the New Testament's revelation of Jesus Christ. The wounds, inflicted by "friends," underscore the depth of betrayal and rejection that the Messiah would endure, not just from His enemies, but from His own people and even those within His inner circle. This suffering is not random but is intrinsically linked to God's redemptive plan, serving as the means by which a "fountain for sin and uncleanness" is opened (Zechariah 13:1). The theological implication is that true atonement requires a sacrifice of immense personal cost, one borne by the innocent at the hands of those who should have known better, highlighting both the severity of human sin and the boundless nature of divine love.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Zechariah 13:6 calls us to a profound contemplation of the cost of our salvation and the nature of divine love. It forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth that humanity's sin, even the sin of those who claim to be "friends" or followers of God, can lead to the deepest betrayal and suffering for the innocent. For believers, this verse deepens our appreciation for Christ's sacrifice, reminding us that His wounds were not merely physical but were also deeply emotional and spiritual, stemming from the rejection by His own. It challenges us to examine our own hearts: are we truly "friends" of Christ, or do our actions, at times, contribute to His ongoing suffering in the world through our indifference, disobedience, or betrayal of His truth? The verse also offers comfort, reminding us that even the most grievous acts of human sin are woven into God's sovereign plan for redemption, leading to ultimate purification and restoration.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Who is the "one" asking the question, and who is "him" who bears the wounds?
Answer: The "one" asking the question is an unidentified individual, representing perhaps a curious observer or even humanity itself, confronting the reality of the suffering. The "him" who bears the wounds is widely understood by Christian theology to be a prophetic figure representing the Messiah. While the immediate context in Zechariah might suggest a prophet or even the nation of Israel, the depth of the wounds and the nature of the betrayal ("in the house of my friends") strongly align with the suffering of Jesus Christ, particularly when read in conjunction with the subsequent verse about the smitten Shepherd in Zechariah 13:7.
Why are the wounds specifically "in thine hands," and what is the significance of "in the house of my friends"?
Answer: The wounds being "in thine hands" is a powerful detail that strongly foreshadows the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, where nail prints would be visible in His hands or wrists. This specificity points to the very instrument of His death and the physical marks of His sacrifice. The phrase "in the house of my friends" signifies the profound betrayal and rejection Jesus experienced. It speaks not of wounds from an external enemy in battle, but from those who should have been allies, family, or close companions. For Jesus, this points to His rejection by the Jewish leadership and people, and the ultimate betrayal by Judas Iscariot, one of His own disciples, as well as the abandonment by His other disciples during His arrest and crucifixion. It emphasizes the deep personal pain of being harmed by those one loves and trusts.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Zechariah 13:6 finds its profound and ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The "wounds in thine hands" are a direct prefigurement of the nail prints that marked Jesus' hands and feet during His crucifixion, as attested by the resurrected Christ showing His disciples His hands and side in John 20:27. The shocking revelation that these wounds were inflicted "in the house of my friends" resonates deeply with Christ's experience of betrayal. He was rejected by His own people, Israel, whom He came to save, and was specifically betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of His chosen twelve disciples, as foretold in Psalm 41:9 and recounted in Matthew 26:47-50. This verse underscores the unique nature of Christ's suffering: it was not merely physical, but deeply personal, stemming from the treachery of those who should have been His closest allies. Yet, these very wounds, inflicted by human sin and betrayal, became the means of our salvation, opening the promised "fountain for sin and uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1) and fulfilling God's eternal plan to reconcile humanity to Himself through the suffering of His beloved Son, the smitten Shepherd of Zechariah 13:7.