Jesus was a perfect man and the firstborn of creation, sent by Jehovah to
die as a ransom. Jehovah Himself never died and never suffered — that
would contradict His nature. Zechariah 12:10 must be referring symbolically
to Jesus, who was sent by Jehovah.
This is one of the most overlooked OT-deity texts in JW circles. Set it up in three steps. (1) Establish the speaker. Read Zechariah 12 from verse 1 in the NWT. The speaker is "Jehovah" — repeatedly, unambiguously. (2) Read verse 10: "they will look upon the one whom they pierced" (or NWT 2013 rendering). Ask gently — when was Jehovah pierced? Their theology has no answer. Jehovah cannot suffer in JW theology. (3) Turn to . The apostle John explicitly applies to the crucifixion of Jesus: "they will look at the one whom they pierced." applies it again. The NT writers identified the pierced Yahweh of Zechariah as the crucified Jesus. Either John was wrong, or Jesus is Jehovah-incarnate. There is no third option.
In , the speaker is Jehovah, and the One pierced is Jehovah. names that pierced One as Jesus. The apostles read the OT Yahweh-texts as fulfilled in Christ — because Christ IS Yahweh come in the flesh.
The NWT renders it 'and they will certainly look to the one whom they pierced' — referring to Jesus, sent by Jehovah.
Look at the Hebrew. The speaker says "they will look upon ME, the one whom they pierced" (Hebrew: 'elai et-asher daqaru). The pronoun "me" and "the one they pierced" share the same subject — Jehovah. The NWT footnote in older editions even acknowledged this. And the NT writers didn't read it the NWT way. in your own Bible quotes as "they shall look at the one they pierced" — and applies it directly to the moment Roman soldiers pierced Jesus' side on the cross.
Maybe Jehovah is speaking PROPHETICALLY about the Messiah.
Read the surrounding context. — "Jehovah… stretches out the heavens." — "I will set out to annihilate all the nations." — "I will pour out a spirit of favour and supplication on the house of David." All first-person Jehovah-speech. And then in the SAME verse: "they will look upon ME, the one they pierced, and they will mourn over HIM." The grammatical shift from "me" to "him" is exactly what we'd expect if the One speaking is also the One pierced — distinct in person but the same Jehovah. That is classical Trinitarian Christology, embedded in the Hebrew.
Why doesn't the Watchtower teach this if it's so clear?
Honest question, isn't it? You've been reading the Bible all your life and have probably never been shown this passage in this way. That's not your fault. The Watchtower's interpretive system filters out passages where Jehovah and Jesus overlap in identity. is one of the most filtered. Compare your reading group's footnotes with in your own NWT. The footnotes carefully avoid the cross-reference because the implication is too costly for Watchtower Christology.
John must be quoting loosely or applying it spiritually.
John doesn't say "this is somewhat similar." He says "these things took place THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILLED" (). He treats as a literal prophecy fulfilled at the cross. reinforces it: "every eye will see him, even those who pierced him." If John's apostolic interpretation is wrong, then the whole NT pattern of seeing Christ in OT Yahweh-texts collapses. And with it, the inspiration of John's Gospel.
Don't lead with "Jehovah was pierced" as a confrontational statement. Let them read Zechariah 12 themselves. Their own NWT does the work. The shock of the question — "when was Jehovah pierced?" — is far more effective than any answer you provide.
Read in the NWT, then read in the NWT. Notice the cross-reference apparatus — the NWT itself links the passages. Ask: who in the world does Jehovah call "the one they pierced"?