Bible Strands
Zechariah 12:2
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD declares this burden concerning Israel to the people of Judah. The statement announces a future moment when surrounding nations will gather against Jerusalem and Judah.
The words — The Hebrew terms סַף (saf) and רַ֛עַל (Ra' al) literally mean “a basin of reeling” or “a cup of drunkenness.” This phrase describes the vessel through which the surrounding nations will experience divine judgment.
The thread — The cup imagery appears in Psalms 75:8 as a vessel of judgment held by the LORD and in Isaiah 51:22 where God removes the cup of staggering from His people. The siege motif continues in Zechariah 14:14, where Judah fights at Jerusalem and the wealth of surrounding nations is gathered.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God sovereignly directs the actions of surrounding nations against Jerusalem and Judah. It requires readers to acknowledge divine control over historical conflict and the certainty of the announced siege.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
Cross-references
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- Zechariah 14:14 Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance.
- Isaiah 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.
- Jeremiah 8:14 Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
- Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
- Jeremiah 25:17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me,
- Jeremiah 49:12 For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.
- Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Jeremiah 51:57 I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.