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Commentary on Zechariah 11 verses 4–14
The prophet here is made a type of Christ, as the prophet Isaiah sometimes was; and the scope of these verses is to show that for judgment Christ came into this world (Joh 9:39), for judgment to the Jewish church and nation, which were, about the time of his coming, wretchedly corrupted and degenerated by the worldliness and hypocrisy of their rulers. Christ would have healed them, but they would not be healed; they are therefore left desolate, and abandoned to ruin. Observe here,
I. The desperate case of the Jewish church, under the tyranny of their own governors. Their slavery in their own country made them as miserable as their captivity in strange countries had done: Their possessors slay them and sell them, Zac 11:5. In Zechariah's time we find the rulers and the nobles justly rebuked for exacting usury of their brethren; and the governors, even by their servants, oppressive to the people, Neh 5:7, Neh 5:15. In Christ's time the chief priests and the elders, who were the possessors of the flock, by their traditions, the commandments of men, and their impositions on the consciences of the people, became perfect tyrants, devoured their houses, engrossed their wealth, and fleeced the flock instead of feeding it. The Sadducees, who were deists, corrupted their judgments. The Pharisees, who were bigots for superstition, corrupted their morals, by making void the commandments of God, Mat 15:16. Thus they slew the sheep of the flock, thus they sold them. They cared not what became of them so they could but gain their own ends and serve their own interests. And, 1. In this they justified themselves: They slay them and hold themselves not guilty. They think that there is no harm in it, and that they shall never be called to an account for it by the chief Shepherd; as if their power were given them for destruction, which was designed only for edification, and as if, because they sat in Moses's seat, they were not under the obligation of Moses's law, but might dispense with it, and with themselves in the breach of it, at their pleasure. Note, Those have their minds woefully blinded indeed who do ill and justify themselves in doing it; but God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. 2. In this they affronted God, by giving him thanks for the gain of their oppression: They said, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich, as if, because they prospered in their wickedness, got money by it, and raised estates, God had made himself patron of their unjust practices, and Providence had become particeps criminis - the associate of their guilt. What is got honestly we ought to give God thanks for, and to bless him whose blessing makes rich and adds no sorrow with it. But with what face can we go to God either to beg a blessing upon the unlawful methods of getting wealth or to return him thanks for success in them? They should rather have gone to God to confess the sin, to take shame to themselves for it, and to vow restitution, than thus to mock him by making the gains of sin the gift of God, who hates robbery for burnt-offerings, and reckons not himself praised by the thanksgiving if he be dishonoured either in the getting or the using of that which we give him thanks for. 3. In this they put contempt upon the people of God, as unworthy their regard or compassionate consideration: Their own shepherds pity them not; they make them miserable, and then do not commiserate them. Christ had compassion on the multitude because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as if they had no shepherd (as really they had worse than none); but their own shepherds pitied them not, nor showed any concern for them. Note, It is ill for a church when its pastors have no tenderness, no compassion for precious souls, when they can look upon the ignorant, the foolish, the wicked, the weak, without pity.
II. The sentence of God's wrath passed upon them for their senselessness and stupidity in this condition. There was a general decay, nay, a destruction, of religion among them, and it was all one to them; they regarded it not. My people love to have it so, Jer 5:31. Though they were oppressed and broken in judgment, yet they willingly walked after the commandment, Hos 5:11. And, as their shepherds pitied them not, so they did not bemoan themselves; therefore God says (Zac 11:6), "I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land. They have courted their own destruction, and so let their doom be." But those are truly miserable whom the God of mercy himself will no more have compassion upon. Those who are willing to have their consciences oppressed by those who teach for doctrines the commandments of men (as the Jews were, who called those Rabbi, Rabbi, that did so, Mat 15:9; Mat 23:7), are often punished by oppression in their civil interests, and justly, for those forfeit their own rights who tamely give up God's rights. The Jews did so; the Papists do so; and who can pity them if they be ruled with rigour? God here threatens them, 1. That he will deliver them into the hand of oppressors, every one into his neighbour's hand, so that they shall use one another barbarously. The several parties in Jerusalem did so; the zealots, the seditious, as they were called, committed greater outrages than the common enemy did, as Josephus relates in his history of the wars of the Jews. They shall be delivered every one into the hand of his king, that is, the Roman emperor, whom they chose to submit to rather than to Christ, saying, We have no king but Caesar. Thus they thought to ingratiate themselves with their lords and masters. But for this God brought the Romans upon them, who took away their place and nation. 2. That he will not deliver them out of their hands: They shall smite the land, the whole land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them; and, if the Lord do not help them, none else can, nor can they help themselves.
III. A trial yet made whether their ruin might be prevented by sending Christ among them as a shepherd; God had sent his servants to them in vain, but last of all he sent unto them his Son, saying, They will reverence my Son, Mat 21:37. Divers of the prophets had spoken of him as the Shepherd of Israel, Isa 40:11; Eze 34:23. he himself told the Pharisees that he was the Shepherd of the sheep, and that those who pretended to be shepherds were thieves and robbers (Joh 10:1, Joh 10:2, Joh 10:11), apparently referring to this passage, where we have, 1. The charge he received from his Father to try what might be done with this flock (Zac 11:4): Thus saith the Lord my God (Christ called his Father his God because he acted in compliance with his will and with an eye to his glory in his whole undertaking), Feed the flock of the slaughter. The Jews were God's flock, but they were the flock of slaughter, for their enemies had killed them all the day long and accounted them as sheep for the slaughter; their own possessors slew them, and God himself had doomed them to the slaughter. Yet "feed them by reproof instruction, and comfort; provide wholesome food for those who have so long been soured with the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees." Other sheep he had, which were not of this fold, and which afterwards must be brought; but he is first sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Mat 15:24. 2. His acceptance of this charge, and his undertaking pursuant to it, Zac 11:7. He does as it were say, Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God! and, since this is thy will, it is mine: I will feed the flock of slaughter. Christ will care for these lost sheep; he will go about among them, teaching and healing even you, O poor of the flock! Christ did not neglect the meanest, nor overlook them for their meanness. The shepherds that made a prey of them regarded not the poor; they were conversant with those only that they could get by; but Christ preached his gospel to the poor, Mat 11:5. It was an instance of his humiliation that his converse was mostly with the inferior sort of people; his disciples, who were his constant attendants, were of the poor of the flock. 3. His furnishing himself with tools proper for the charge he had undertaken: I took unto me two staves, pastoral staves; other shepherds have but one crook, but Christ had two, denoting the double care he took of his flock, and what he did both for the souls and for the bodies of men. David speaks of God's rod and his staff (Psa 23:4), a correcting rod and a supporting staff. One of these staves was called Beauty, denoting the temple, which is called the beauty of holiness and one of its gates beautiful, which Christ called his Father's house, and for which he showed a great zeal when he cleared it of the buyers and sellers; the other he called Bands, denoting their civil state, and the incorporate society of that nation, which Christ also took care of by preaching love and peace among them. Christ, in his gospel, and in all he did among them, consulted the advancement both of their civil and of their sacred interests. 4. His execution of his office, as the chief Shepherd. He fed the flock (Zac 11:7), and he displaced those under-shepherds that were false to their trust (Zac 11:8): Three shepherds I cut off in one month. Through the deficiency and uncertainty of the history of the Jewish church, in its latter ages, we know not what particular event this had its accomplishment in; in general, it seems to be an act of power and justice for the punishment of the sinful shepherds and the redress of the grievances of the abused flock. Some understand it of the three orders of princes, priests, and scribes or prophets, who, when Christ had finished his work, were laid aside for their unfaithfulness. Others understand it of the three sects among the Jews, of Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, all whom Christ silenced in dispute (Mt. 22) and soon after cut off, all in a little time.
IV. Their enmity to Christ, and making themselves odious to him. He came to his own, the sheep of his own pasture; it might have been expected that between them and him there would be an entire affection, as between the shepherd and his sheep; but they conducted themselves so ill that his soul loathed them, was straitened towards them (so it may be read); he intended them kindness, but could not do them the kindness he intended them, because of their unbelief, Mat 13:58. He was disappointed in them, discouraged concerning them, grieved for them, not only for the shepherds, whom he cut off, but for the people, whom Christ often looked upon with grief in his heart and tears in his eyes. Their provocations even wore out his patience, and he was weary of that faithless and perverse generation. Their soul also it abhorred me; and therefore it was that his soul loathed them; for, whatever estrangement there is between God and man, it begins on man's side. The Jewish shepherds rejected this chief Shepherd, as the Jewish builders rejected this chief corner stone. They had indignation at Christ's doctrine and miracles, and his interest in the people, to whom they did all they could to render him odious, as they had made themselves odious to him. Note, There is a mutual enmity between God and wicked people; they are hateful to God and haters of God. Nothing speaks more the sinfulness and misery of an unregenerate state than this does. The carnal mind, the friendship of the world, are enmity to God, and God hates all the workers of iniquity; and it is easy to foresee what this will end in, if the quarrel be not taken up in time, Isa 27:4, Isa 27:5.
V. Christ's rejecting them as incurable, and leaving them their house desolate, Mat 23:38. The things of their peace are now hidden from their eyes, because they knew not the day of their visitation. Here we have,
1.The sentence of their rejection passed (Zac 11:9): "Then said I, I will not feed you. I will take no further care of you; you shall not see me again; take your own course. As I will not feed you, so I will not cure you; that that dieth, let it die (the Shepherd will do nothing to save its forfeited life); that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; that which will make itself a prey to the wolf, let it be a prey, and let the rest so far forget their own mild and gentle nature as to eat the flesh of one another; let these sheep fight like dogs." Those that reject Christ will be certainly and justly rejected by him, and then are miserable of course.
2.A sign of it given (Zac 11:10): I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, in token of this, that he would be no longer a shepherd to them, as the lord high steward determines his commission by breaking his white staff, and as Moses's breaking the tables of the law put a stop, for the present, to the treaty between God and Israel. The breaking of this staff signified the breaking of God's covenant which he had made with all the people, the covenant of peculiarity made with all the tribes of Israel, and all other people who, by being proselyted to their religion, were incorporated into their nation. The Jewish church was now stripped of all its glory; its crown was profaned and cast to the ground, and all its honour laid in the dust; for God departed from it, and would no more own it for his. When Christ told them plainly that the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and given to another people, then be broke the staff of Beauty, Mat 21:43. And it was broken in that day, though Jerusalem and the Jewish nation held up forty years longer, yet from that day we may reckon the staff of Beauty broken, Zac 11:11. And though the great men did not, or would not, understand it as a divine sentence, but thought to put it by with a cold God forbid (Luk 20:16), yet the poor of the flock, the disciples of Christ, that waited on him, and understood with what authority he spoke, and could distinguish the voice of their Shepherd from that of a stranger, knew that it was the word of the Lord, and trembled at it, and were confident that it should not fall to the ground. Note, Christ is waited on by the poor of the flock; he chose them to be with him, to be his pupils, to be his witnesses; the poor received him and his gospel, when those that had great possessions turned their backs upon him. And those that wait upon Christ, that sit at his feet, to hear and receive his words, shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, Joh 7:17.
3.A further reason given for their rejection. It was said before, Their souls abhorred him; and here we have an instance of it, their buying and selling him for thirty pieces of silver, either thirty Roman pence, or rather thirty Jewish shekels; this is here foretold in somewhat obscure expressions, as it is fit that such particular prophecies should be delivered, lest otherwise the plainness of the prophecy might prevent the accomplishment of it. Here, (1.) The Shepherd comes to them for his wages (Zac 11:12): "If you think good, give me my price; you are weary of me, pay me off and discharge me; and, if not, forbear; if you be willing to continue me longer in your service, I will continue, or, if to turn me off without wages, I am content." Christ was no hireling, and yet the labourer is worthy of his hire. Compare with this what Christ said to Judas when he was going to sell him, "What thou doest do quickly; be at a word with the chief priests; let them either take the bargain or leave it," Joh 13:27. Those that betray Christ are not forced to it; they might have chosen. (2.) They value him at thirty pieces of silver. Many years' service he had done them as a Shepherd, yet this is all they will now turn him off with - "A goodly price that I with all my care and pains was valued at by them." If Judas fixed this sum in his demand, it is observable that his name was Judah, the same name with that of the body of the people, for it was a national act; or, if (as it rather seems) the chief priests pitched upon this sum in their proffers, they were the representatives of the people; it was part of the priest's office to put a value upon the devoted things (Lev 27:8), and thus they valued the Lord Jesus. it was the ordinary price of a slave, Exo 21:32. Making light of Christ, and undervaluing the love of that great and good Shepherd, are the ruin of multitudes, and justly so. (3.) The silver being no way proportionable to his worth, it is thrown to the potter with disdain: "Let him take it to buy clay with, or for any use that a little money will serve to, for it is not worth hoarding; it may be enough for a potter's stock, but not for the pay of such a shepherd, much less for his purchase." So the prophet cast the thirty pieces of silver to the potter in the house of the Lord: "Let him take them, and do what he will with them." Now we find a particular accomplishment of this in the history of Christ's sufferings, and reference is had to this prophecy, Mat 27:9, Mat 27:10. Thirty pieces of silver was the very sum for which Christ was sold to the chief priests; the money, when Judas would not keep it, and the chief priests would not take it back was laid out in the purchase of the potter's field. Even that sudden resolve of the chief priests was according to an ancient prophecy and the more ancient counsel and foreknowledge of God.
4.The completing of their rejection in the cutting asunder of the other staff, Zac 11:14. The former denoted the ruin of their church, by breaking the covenant between God and them - that defaced their beauty; this denotes the ruin of their state, by breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel, by reviving animosities and contention among them, such as were of old between Judah and Israel, the writing of whom as one stick in the hand of the Lord was one of the blessings promised after their return out of captivity, Eze 37:19. But that union shall now be dissolved; they shall be crumbled into parties and factions, exasperated one against another; and their kingdom, being thus divided, shall be brought to desolation. (1.) Nothing ruins a people so certainly, so inevitably, as the breaking of the staff of Bands, and the weakening of the brotherhood among them; for hereby they become an easy prey to the common enemy. (2.) This follows upon the dissolving of the covenant between God and them, and the decay of religion among them. When iniquity abounds love waxes cold. No wonder if those fall out among themselves that have provoked God to fall out with them. When the staff of Beauty is broken the staff of Bands will not hold long. An unchurched people will soon be an undone people.
(Verse 12, 13.) And I said to them: If it is good in your eyes, give me my reward, and if not, stop; and they gave me my reward, thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, Throw them (Vulgate: it) to the potter, a handsome price at which I was appraised by them: and I took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter. LXX: And I will say to them: If it is good in your sight, give those who determine my reward, or refuse. And they set my wages at thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me: Put them in the melting pot, and see if they are proven, as I have been proven for them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and put them in the house of the Lord in the melting pot. To the poor shepherds of the Israelite flock, who keep my commandments, it is the word of the Lord that I spoke, and the truths that I said, he said to them, that is, to the poor shepherds, if it pleases you (for you are men and I created you with free will, to whom I also spoke in the wilderness: If you listen to me, you will eat the good things of the land (Isa. 1)) for this assumption, by which I rejected the whole human race, and chose you as my special flock, and desired to have a small cord, give me my wages, that is, keep my commandments. But if you do not want to give payment, and it is not pleasing in your eyes to be considered in my name, openly refuse, and do what you want. And those indeed responded to Moses: Whatever the Lord says, we will do (Exod. XXIV, 3). But in the end of times, because I chose them from among the nations, and I freed them from the iron furnace of Egypt, they paid my payment with thirty silver coins, giving them to the Jewish traitor for my blood (Matt. XXVI). And he said, as the prophet said, the Lord said to me, or rather, the Savior, whose words are before, that the Father spoke to him, testifying: Cast it to the sculptor: for which in Hebrew is read Joser (), that is, the sculptor, whom we can call the maker and potter. And the meaning is: Cast my price to the sculptor, who is the Creator and maker of all things. And he did not say, put down; but, cast, so that the payment of the Lord could be judged by the judgment of the sculptor and the potter. And ironically, seeing his own worth, that is, the divine majesty, for thirty pieces of silver, and being betrayed for such a cheap price: 'This,' he says, 'is the price at which I am appraised by them; but it should be read more closely with the mockery and derision of the speaker: 'So much did my people, and the poor flock once chosen by me as children, judge me worthy of buying and selling. And I, says the Lord through the prophet, as it had been commanded to me by God, took thirty pieces of silver and did not keep them, but threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter: in the house of the Lord, I made them be given to the priests and Pharisees, the very ones who sold me, confessing: 'I have sinned, betraying innocent blood' (Matthew 27:4). But because they considered it the price of blood, they did not want to return it to the treasury, that is, the treasury; but they bought with it a potter's field as a burial place for strangers. For all of us who were foreigners and strangers to the Law have been redeemed by his precious blood, and we are buried and rest in the house of the potter and the Creator of all. For πλάστῃ and fictore, I have once interpreted as a sculptor, forced by the ambiguity of the word, which signifies both a sculptor and a maker of statues. The Jews, interpreting this passage maliciously, mention thirty pieces of silver, and they mention thirty commandments of the Law, which they are commanded to do in the Law, and again thirty-six others which are prohibited in the Law, and they say that they should return the silver of the Lord's commandments to their own goldsmith and maker: but because they did not want to do this, they were rejected. I wanted to briefly indicate what they think, otherwise I am tired of going through their tedious explanation, so let's move on to the rest.
The statuary: The Hebrew word signifies also a potter.
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SUMMARY
Zechariah 11:13 records a poignant prophetic act where the prophet Zechariah, symbolizing the rejected Shepherd (the LORD), is paid a paltry sum of thirty pieces of silver by the people, a "goodly price" offered with profound irony. Commanded by the LORD, Zechariah casts this devalued payment to the potter in the temple, an act that powerfully foreshadows the betrayal of Jesus Christ for the same sum and the subsequent purchase of the potter's field with that very money, revealing both human contempt for divine value and God's sovereign orchestration of redemptive history.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Zechariah 11:13 is rich with Symbolism, where the "thirty pieces of silver" symbolizes the contemptuous valuation of the divine Shepherd, and the "potter" symbolizes a common, perhaps ignoble, destination for the rejected price. The entire enacted prophecy is a symbolic drama. Irony is powerfully employed in the phrase "a goodly price that I was prised at of them," where "goodly" is used sarcastically to highlight the utter lack of value the people placed on the LORD, equating Him to a slave. This verbal irony underscores the depth of their spiritual blindness and rebellion. Furthermore, the verse functions as profound Foreshadowing, specifically of the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot for thirty pieces of silver and the subsequent use of that money to purchase the potter's field, demonstrating God's meticulous foresight and control over history.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Zechariah 11:13 stands as a stark testament to the profound tragedy of humanity's rejection of divine value and leadership, while simultaneously affirming God's unwavering sovereignty. The "goodly price" is a bitter indictment of Israel's spiritual blindness, where the very One who shepherded them with grace and truth was esteemed as no more than a slave. Yet, in this act of human contempt, God's prophetic word is meticulously fulfilled, revealing that even the darkest betrayals are woven into the fabric of His redemptive plan. The divine command to cast the money to the potter signifies a symbolic act of judgment and disposal, a powerful foreshadowing of how the very instruments of rejection would be repurposed for God's ultimate, if painful, purposes. This verse underscores that God's worth is not determined by human valuation, and His purposes will prevail despite human sin.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Zechariah 11:13 challenges us to deeply examine our own valuation of Christ and His kingdom. Do we, like the people of Zechariah's day, subtly or overtly diminish His worth, prioritizing worldly gain, comfort, or self-interest over His divine call? The "goodly price" serves as a piercing reminder that our estimation of God's value is often revealed not in our words, but in our actions and priorities. This passage calls us to repent of any tendency to treat Christ as a mere commodity or to cast aside His commands for what we deem more expedient. It assures us that even when we fail, God's sovereign plan is not derailed, but it also warns of the consequences of rejecting His gracious leadership. For believers, it reinforces the immense privilege of recognizing Christ's immeasurable worth and responding with wholehearted devotion, trusting that His purposes will always triumph, even through the crucible of human sin and betrayal.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why is the amount "thirty pieces of silver" so significant?
Answer: The specific amount of thirty pieces of silver holds profound significance because, in ancient Israelite law, it was the legal compensation for a slave gored by an ox, as stipulated in Exodus 21:32. In Zechariah 11:13, this sum represents the contemptuous and demeaning valuation placed upon the divine Shepherd by His own people, equating His worth to that of a mere slave. Its prophetic significance is fully realized in the New Testament when Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus for precisely this amount, as recorded in Matthew 26:15.
What is the meaning of casting the money "to the potter"?
Answer: The instruction to cast the money "to the potter" is a key prophetic detail. In Zechariah's time, a potter was a common craftsman, and potter's fields were often associated with humble, discarded, or common land, sometimes used for burial of strangers or for dumping. This act signifies the rejection and disposal of the contemptible payment, indicating that the money, tainted by the betrayal and undervaluation of the Shepherd, was unfit for sacred use. Its ultimate fulfillment comes in Matthew 27:7-10, where the chief priests, unwilling to put Judas's returned blood money into the temple treasury, use it to buy the "Potter's Field" (Aceldama) as a burial ground for strangers. This demonstrates God's sovereign hand in directing the outcome of human sin to fulfill His prophetic word.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Zechariah 11:13 stands as one of the most striking and precise prophecies of Christ's betrayal in the Old Testament, finding its dramatic fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. The "goodly price" of thirty pieces of silver, the paltry sum at which the divine Shepherd was "prised" by His own people, is directly echoed in the New Testament when Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus for this exact amount (as recounted in Matthew 26:15). Just as the prophet Zechariah, acting as the rejected shepherd, was commanded to cast the money to the potter, so too did Judas, filled with remorse, cast the silver back into the temple, only for the chief priests to use it to purchase the potter's field as a burial ground for strangers (as detailed in Matthew 27:3-10). This meticulous fulfillment underscores God's absolute sovereignty, demonstrating that even the most heinous acts of human sin and betrayal are not outside His divine plan. Jesus, the true Good Shepherd (as He describes Himself in John 10:11), was rejected and undervalued by His own, yet through this very rejection and betrayal, He accomplished the ultimate act of redemption, becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Thus, the contemptible "price" paid for the Shepherd ultimately facilitated the purchase of humanity's salvation, transforming an act of profound betrayal into the cornerstone of God's redemptive work.