Who is the one pierced in Zechariah?

Originally posted by JS357
Well here's a non-theistic view I could imagine being offered to you. According to Wikipedia, Zechariah was said to be a prophet of the Kingdom of Judah who started his prophetical career around 520 BC, so I suppose the Lord of Host referred to a deity, perhaps the sole deity, of that people at that time. Since the things attributed to deities change over time For example, lots of martyrs get pierced. And things get embroidered about their deaths, too.

So you believe the Lord of Host refers to a deity, perhaps the sole deity, of
that people at that time. Then is there any reason to believe the one
diety referred to as the Lord of Host is not the same one who later says the
following in Zechariah 12:10?
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom
they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only
son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a
firstborn."

Originally posted by RJHinds
So you believe the Lord of Host refers to a deity, perhaps the sole deity, of
that people at that time. Then is there any reason to believe the one this
diety referred to as the Lord of Host is not the same one who later says the
following in Zechariah 12:10?
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the Spirit of grac ...[text shortened]... an only
son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a
firstborn."

References to characters in stories are probably best taken to be references to the "same" character if the author(s) treat them that way. For example, we can take the Harry Potter books to be about the same Harry Potter.

From your perspective, we are not talking about a Harry Potter type of character. We are talking about, a character more like, say, Abraham Lincoln. If we found a series of stories that have a central character by that name, and they fit together with each other and matched our understanding of history and beliefs about a person we believe existed, we'd say they are about the same Abe.

So we are on different wavelengths when we discuss whether the Lord of Host in one story is the same Lord of Host in another story. Even if I agreed that they are, for me, it would be more like agreeing that two Harry Potter stories are about the same person, than like agreeing that two Abe Lincoln stories are about the same person. I wouldn't want you to take it another way.

Given that, I don't think my view is very important, nor is it very important (to me) whether the two "Lord of Hosts" are the same person. Maybe they are meant that way by the author. Probably, in fact. Would it matter?