Zechariah 12:4

Every horse of the people] RV 'peoples,' i.e. nations attacking Jerusalem. The eyes of the Lord will be opened to look favourably upon His people, but their enemies will be blinded.

5, 6. The mutual reliance and helpfulness of Judah and Jerusalem. The victory is to be with Jerusalem, so that Judah may not boast over Jerusalem. The contrast between these two points to a post-exilic date, when the social and economic ideals of the city differed from those of the peasant population.

Jerusalem shall be inhabited again] 100,000 Jews were deported from Jerusalem by Ptolemy, king of Egypt, in 321 b.c.; 80,000 were either killed or carried away captive by Antiochus in 167 b.

6, 7. These vv. would refer more fittingly to the latter period, and the subsequent uprising of the Maccabees: cp. 1 Mac. On the Maccabsean revolt and the causes which led to it see Jos. 'Ant.' 15, 6, and 1 Mac. Judas Maccabæus drove the Syrians from the surrounding country of Judah before attempting to relieve Jerusalem.