"Zechariah 12:10 is about someone else who was killed"
The claim, stated fairly
Many commentators translate the verse so that the people look to God because of someone else whom they pierced, making the pierced one a different person from God.
God is the speaker: "they shall look unto Me", and then "they shall mourn for him". The one pierced and the one speaking are tied together.
The Hebrew reads ve'hibitu elai et asher dakaru. JPS 1917 translates "they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through"; the World Messianic Bible, "They will look to me whom they have pierced". Either way God says "unto Me". The Talmud applies the mourning to Messiah son of Joseph, who is killed (Sukkah 52a).
Yeshua's side was pierced, and John quotes this verse (John 19:37).
The text
10וְשָׁפַכְתִּי֩ עַל־בֵּ֨ית דָּוִ֜יד וְעַ֣ל ׀ יוֹשֵׁ֣ב יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗ם ר֤וּחַ חֵן֙ וְתַ֣חֲנוּנִ֔ים וְהִבִּ֥יטוּ אֵלַ֖י אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁר־דָּקָ֑רוּ וְסָפְד֣וּ עָלָ֗יו כְּמִסְפֵּד֙ עַל־הַיָּחִ֔יד וְהָמֵ֥ר עָלָ֖יו כְּהָמֵ֥ר עַֽל־הַבְּכֽוֹר׃
10And I will pour upon the house of David, And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The spirit of grace and of supplication; And they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through; And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
WEB/WMB: I will pour on David’s house and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. They will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10 (Hebrew, JPS 1917, WMB)
In the New Covenant
34However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe. 36For these things happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of him will not be broken.” 37Again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they pierced.”
John 19:34-37 (WMB)
Where scholars disagree
The words et asher can also be read as pointing to a second person (the one about whom they mourn), and some translations do so. The JPS 1917 rendering keeps "unto Me".
Sources
- Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 52a
- JPS 1917, Zechariah 12:10
- Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex. English: JPS 1917; World Messianic Bible (public domain).