Zechariah 12:10, “they will look on me whom they pierced”?
Zechariah 12:10 is transmitted with both “me” and “him” for the one pierced. One vav changes whether the speaker is named as the pierced one or the gaze is directed toward someone else.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Since revision 3.5, the places where the manuscripts disagree are decided before translation by three readers, Grok 4.3, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Fable 5.1, who see the readings and the witnesses by age and class but never a reference or a manuscript name. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
The blind committee's printed text reads, “and they will look to me whom they have pierced,” then continues with mourning for him. No rationale note matches this crux, and the pericope's audit verdict is “clean.” The record therefore shows the committee's published rendering, not an explanation of its choice.
The argument for each reading
If “look on me”
Reading A is the wording of the Masoretic Text (Westminster Leningrad Codex): אלי את אשר דקרו, to me, whom they pierced. In this form, the first-person speaker is the one connected with piercing. The received Hebrew is consequently striking: the LORD speaks, and the clause places the piercing in relation to that speaker. The LXX also has πρός με, to me, which preserves the first-person direction of the phrase. Its rendering differs at the verb, however: it reads the difficult expression as dancing in triumph. Reading A therefore has support both from the received Hebrew wording and from a Greek translation that retains me, while also leaving a hard verbal question visible.
If “look on him”
Reading B adds one letter, vav: אליו, to him. A minority of medieval Hebrew manuscripts has this third-person reading, which avoids the startling first person in the received Hebrew. The Gospel of John's quotation likewise speaks of the pierced one in the third person, using ὄψονται εἰς ὃν ἐξεκέντησαν, they shall look on him whom they pierced. This reading can also sit naturally beside the verse's later language of mourning for him. Its evidence is not identical in form: the Hebrew manuscripts offer אליו, while the quotation gives a Greek third-person expression. The question remains whether these forms reflect the same underlying wording or parallel ways of expressing the verse.
The uncertainty concerns the small but consequential shift between me and him, and the LXX also shows uncertainty around the verb. Either reading leaves the verse's mourning language present. This variant changes how the pierced one is identified within the clause; it does not by itself settle every question raised by the pericope.
Common questions
Does Zechariah 12:10 say me or him?
The Masoretic Text (Westminster Leningrad Codex) reads אלי, to me. A minority of medieval Hebrew manuscripts reads אליו, to him, and the Gospel of John's quotation uses a third-person expression.
What is the difference between the two readings?
One vav changes the phrase from to me to to him. With me, the speaker is connected with the piercing; with him, the gaze is directed toward someone else.
How does the Septuagint read Zechariah 12:10?
The LXX has πρός με, to me, but renders the difficult verb as dancing in triumph: πρός με ἀνθ᾽ ὧν κατωρχήσαντο.
Related entries
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. The page does not declare which reading is original.
The registry gives no verdict
The registry does not say which reading is original. Each page lists the witnesses, shows what the committee did with the same text, and leaves the judgment to the reader.