Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 12:13
The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
The sacerdotal tribe were the most bitter and fierce persecutors of Christ, they hired the traitor, they sought witness; the high priest (head of that family) condemned him to die; for all which they shall one day reckon with God, and therefore above other tribes they are particularly named as chief mourners for their injustice and cruelty to Christ. Here is one particular branch of Levis family mentioned, the family of Shimei, of whom 1Ch 6:17; 23:10. These two families had been deeply guilty; now they do as eminently concern themselves to mourn for him, to lament the sin, deprecate the fierce wrath of God, and submit to his kingdom, which their fathers did not, would not do. In this family, where most were bitter, bloody enemies to Christ, some had other thoughts of him, and mourned for him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. Levi . . . Shimeithehighest and lowest of the priestly order (Num 3:18;Num 3:21). Their example and thatof the royal order would of course influence the rest.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart,…. Because of the contempt of the priestly office of Christ, which theirs prefigured, and was abolished by him; because of their trampling upon his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice:
the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; not of Shimea the son of David, 1Ch 3:5 as Jarchi thinks, for his family is comprehended in the family of David; nor of Shimei the son of Merari, and grandson of Levi, 1Ch 6:16, for the same reason: some think that, by way of prophecy, the family of Semei, mentioned among the progenitors of Christ, Lu 3:26, is intended; and others have thought of Shammai, a famous Misnic doctor in the times of Christ, whose disciples were called the house or family of Shammai, of which frequent mention is made in the Misna and Talmud: but the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read “the family of Simeon”; mentioned together with Levi, as brethren in iniquity, and now mourn for the common concern they had in the crucifixion of Christ, and their refusal of him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now, why he names the house of Levi, and the house of Shimei, or of Simeon, and the house of David, and the house of Nathan, rather than the other tribes, is uncertain: yet it seems to me probable that by the family of David he means the whole tribe of Judah, and the same by the family of Nathan. As to the tribe of Levi it excelled in honor on account of the priesthood, but no honor belonged to Simeon. Why then are Issachar and Reuben the first-born, and the other tribes omitted here? It might indeed have been, that there were then remaining more from the tribes of Simeon and Levi than from the tribe of Zebulon or of Issachar or of Reuben; but this is uncertain, and I am not disposed to make much of mere conjectures. But I am inclined to think that the family of David and the tribe of Levi are here mentioned not for the sake of honor but of reproach, because the royal family and the priests were those who crucified Christ, and pierced God in the person of his only-begotten Son. Jerome conjectures, that the family of Nathan is named, because he was a celebrated Prophet and eminent above others, and that the Prophets are designated by him. He says that many teachers arose from the tribe of Simeon; but I know not where he got his information, for he adduces no proofs. (166)
But I am satisfied with the simple view already given, — that the Prophet by mentioning certain families meant to include the whole people, and that he does not omit the royal family nor the priests, because they were especially those who crucified Christ: and we know that Christ descended from Nathan, though Jerome thought the Prophet to be intended here rather than Nathan, one of Christ’s progenitors: but these things are of small moment.
(166) What he says in substance is, that the family of David represented the royal order — of Nathan, the prophetic — of Levi, the sacerdotal — and of Simeon, the order of teachers, as from that tribe many of them had proceeded. The same view was taken by Theodoret and Cyril. It was thought by Marckius that Nathan the son of David is meant, who represented, not the royal line, but his other descendants, and that Shimei belonged to the tribe of Levi, and represented the Levites, not the priestly line; see Num 3:18; and Henderson’s view is the same. But Blayney though that they were all the progenitors of our Savior. Luk 3:29.
Instead of “Shimei,” the Septuagint, the Arabic, and Syriac, have a “Simeon,” which Newcome, adopts as the true reading. Three MS., the Syriac, and the Targum, supply “house” before it.
Was not this prophecy literally fulfilled in the time of Ezra? His return, and the reformation he effected, were several years posterior to the time when this prophecy was delivered. The brief account, given in the ninth and tenth chapters of Ezra, clearly intimates a state of things similar to what is here described. See especially Ezr 9:1; and the names of those who had transgressed, Ezr 10:20. The priestly line of Levi and those of inferior order are mentioned, and also those “of Israel,” denominated “princes and rulers” in Ezr 9:2. We hence see a reason for the lamentation of the “wives,” and these apart. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Shimei.Not the Benjamite tribe (2Sa. 16:5), but of the family of Gershon, son of Levi (Num. 3:17). Thus, of the two tribes, he mentions one leading family and one subordinate branch, and then (Zec. 12:1) embraces all together, and mentions even their wives apart, to show how general, and yet particular, the mourning should be.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Shimei. See Num 3:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Levi: Exo 6:16-26, Num 3:1 – Num 4:49, Mal 2:4-9
Shimei: or, Simeon, as LXX, 2Sa 16:5, 1Ki 1:8, 1Ch 3:19, 1Ch 4:27, 1Ch 23:7, 1Ch 23:10, 2Ch 29:14
Reciprocal: 1Ki 4:18 – Shimei
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12:13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of {n} Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
(n) Also called Simeon.