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Zechariah 11

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Prophecy of Devastation and Judgment 1–3

1
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. ​
2
Wail, O fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the goodly ones are destroyed: wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is come down. ​
3
A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! for the pride of the Jordan is laid waste. ​

Commission to Feed the Doomed Flock 4–6

4
Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter; ​
5
whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not. ​
6
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. ​

The Symbolic Acts of the True Shepherd 7–14

7
So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. ​
8
And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. ​
9
Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another. ​
10
And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. ​
11
And it was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew that it was the word of Jehovah. ​
12
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver. ​
13
And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them unto the potter, in the house of Jehovah. ​
14
Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. ​

The Coming of the Worthless Shepherd 15–17

15
And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet again the instruments of a foolish shepherd. ​
16
For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those that are cut off, neither will seek those that are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. ​
17
Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Zechariah 11

Verse 1

Open thy doors, O Lebanon — Fire that devours 'the cedars of Lebanon' is the fire of Jotham's parable (Judg 9:15), and Lebanon falls 'by a mighty one' in Isa 10:34. Lebanon had been named as a land where the gathered would be brought (10:10); here its doors are opened to the fire.

Verse 2

oaks of Bashan — 'The cedars of Lebanon' and 'the oaks of Bashan' are named together as everything high and lifted up in Isa 2:13. 'The mighty' is addir, the word of 'a mighty one' in Isa 10:34, which also means a noble or leader. 'The forest of the vintage' renders batsor, inaccessible, a thicket too dense to enter.

Verse 3

the pride of Jordan — Ga'on, arrogance or majesty, the word rendered 'swelling' in 'like a lion from the swelling of Jordan' (Jer 49:19). 'Young lions' is kephirim, and the shepherds' 'glory' is addereth, an ample robe or splendour. The howling of the shepherds and the roaring of the lions are heard together.

Verse 4

the flock of the slaughter — Harugah, the word of 'the day of slaughter' in Jer 12:3. 'Feed' is ra'ah, to shepherd, the verb behind 'shepherds' in vv.3, 5. The prophet is to act the shepherd toward a flock whose shepherds, as Ezekiel had said, 'do feed themselves' (Ezek 34:2).

Verse 5

Whose possessors slay them — 'Possessors' is qanah, those who buy, matched by the sellers. They clear themselves as Jer 50:7 says of Israel's devourers, 'We offend not', and 'I am rich' echoes Ephraim's 'Yet I am become rich… none iniquity in me' (Hos 12:8). 'Pity' is chamal, to spare, the verb of the next verse.

Verse 6

I will no more pity — Chamal, the verb of v.5, where their own shepherds 'pity them not'. 'Out of their hand I will not deliver them' turns around the verb of the exodus, 'to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians' (Ex 3:8, natsal). 'Smite' is katat, to beat to pieces.

Verse 7

Beauty… Bands — Noam, pleasantness or grace, the word of 'the beauty of the LORD' (Ps 27:4), and chovelim, cords, from the verb chabal, to bind tightly. The staves (maqqel) are the shepherd's rods. The 'poor of the flock' are the afflicted, named again in v.11 as the ones who 'knew'.

Verse 8

Three shepherds also I cut off in one month — Scripture does not name the three. 'Cut off' is kachad, to hide or destroy. 'Lothed' is qatsar, to be shortened, as when 'the soul of the people was much discouraged' (Num 21:4). The dislike runs both ways: 'my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me'.

Verse 9

that that dieth, let it die — The shepherd lays down his work. 'Let the rest eat every one the flesh of another' is the horror of siege foretold in Jer 19:9, 'they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness', and in Isa 9:20, 'they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm'.

Verse 10

break my covenant — 'Made' is karat, literally 'cut', the verb for making a covenant (Gen 15:18), and the staff is 'cut asunder' (gada). Beauty is the staff of favour, so its breaking shows the covenant undone, as Jer 31:32 says of Israel, 'my covenant they brake'.

Verse 11

the poor of the flock that waited upon me — The afflicted of v.7, 'O poor of the flock'. 'Waited' is shamar, to keep watch. Luke 2:38 describes such waiting: 'them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem'. When the staff broke they 'knew that it was the word of the LORD'.

Verse 12

thirty pieces of silver — 'My price' is sakar, wages, the word rendered 'hire' in 8:10. 'Weighed' is shaqal, since silver was paid by weight. Thirty shekels is what the law set for a servant gored by an ox (Ex 21:32). Judas covenanted for 'thirty pieces of silver' (Matt 26:15).

Verse 13

Cast it unto the potter — Matthew applies the verse to the thirty pieces cast down in the temple and used for 'the potter's field' (Matt 27:5–10), and names Jeremiah, whose potter's house (Jer 18:2) and field bought for silver (Jer 32:9) are the nearest scenes in his book. 'Goodly' is eder, splendid, and 'price' is yeqar, the value put on him.

Verse 14

the brotherhood between Judah and Israel — Achavah, brotherhood, found only here. Ezekiel had joined the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph into 'one stick' (Ezek 37:16–17); cutting this second staff reverses that sign, and the union of the two houses is broken.

Verse 15

the instruments of a foolish shepherd — Keli, an implement or weapon, the tools of the trade. 'Foolish' is evili, found only here, a word Strong's links to impiety. Christ said, 'if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive' (John 5:43).

Verse 16

shall not visit those that be cut off — This shepherd does what Ezek 34:4 describes: 'neither have ye healed that which was sick… neither have ye sought that which was lost'. 'Visit' is paqad, the verb of 10:3, where the LORD visits his flock. 'Claws' is parsah, the hoof.

Verse 17

the idol shepherd — Elil, worthless, the word for an idol and for 'physicians of no value' in Job 13:4. 'Leaveth' is azab, to forsake, the hireling's act in John 10:12, who 'leaveth the sheep, and fleeth'. The sword falls on the arm and the right eye, the shepherd's strength and sight.