Hadadrimmon

Hadadrimmon is named once, as a comparative point for the depth of mourning Zechariah foresees in Jerusalem. The mourning of Hadadrimmon, located in the valley of Megiddon, becomes the gauge against which the city's coming lament is measured.

A byword for great mourning in the valley of Megiddon

The oracle pours out a spirit of grace and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; they look to the one they have pierced and mourn for him "as one mourns for his only son" (Zec 12:10). The next verse names the comparison's other limb: "In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon" (Zec 12:11). Hadadrimmon is fixed in the valley of Megiddon and stands as an already-known site of great mourning, against which the future grief of Jerusalem is to be measured. The oracle's next verse extends the lament family by family: "the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart" (Zec 12:12).