Charles Ellicott Commentary Zechariah 12:11

"In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon." — Zechariah 12:11 (ASV)

Hadadrimmon, says Jerome, “is a city near Jezreel, now called Maximianopolis, in the field of Mageddon, where the good king Josiah was (mortally) wounded in battle with Pharaoh-necho.” (Compare to 2 Chronicles 35:22–25). Assyriologists seem to be of the opinion that the name should be pronounced Hadar-Ramman.

It has been urged as an objection to the post-exilic origin of this prophecy that the expression “as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon” is a note of time, which should fix the date of this prophecy to a time shortly after the death of Josiah. We reply that this mourning over Josiah was a typical instance, and became “an ordinance for Israel” (2 Chronicles 35:25), and so was naturally cited with reference to a similar occasion. Moreover, the fact that a place in the tribe of Issachar was, in the prophet’s time, known by an Assyrian name seems to us a proof, in itself almost conclusive, that the date of this prophecy is post-exilian.