Charles Ellicott Commentary Zechariah 11
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Zechariah 11
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Zechariah 11
"Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 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. 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." — Zechariah 11:1-3 (ASV)
Here, as in Zechariah 9:1-8, we have an intimation of an invasion of the land of Israel from the north; only, whereas in the former case Philistia, as well as Syria and Phoenicia, was to be the sufferer, here it is the pride of Jordan that is to be spoiled. Some have considered the first three verses of this chapter to be a distinct prophecy by themselves. No valid objection can be made to this supposition. But the terms of the prophecy are so vague that it is impossible to decide with any degree of satisfaction to what particular invasion it refers. It might be descriptive of any invasion which took place from the north, whether Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, or Roman.
Others take these verses as introductory to the prophecy that follows, and consider them to be descriptive either of a storm breaking over the country (Compare to Psalm 29:0 and, according to some, Isaiah 2:10–22) from the north, or else of some terrible visitation which would come upon the land, similar to the invasions that had taken place in ancient times. In any case, these verses have so little necessary connection with what follows that it will make little difference to our interpretation of the remainder of the chapter which of the above theories we adopt. (Compare for similar expressions, Isaiah 37:24; Isaiah 14:8; Jeremiah 25:34–36.)
"Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter;" — Zechariah 11:4 (ASV)
Of the slaughter — that is, which is being slaughtered. .
"Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter; 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. 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. 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. And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. 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. And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 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. 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. 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. Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet again the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 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. 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." — Zechariah 11:4-17 (ASV)
The great difficulty of this passage, which is metaphorical and symbolic throughout, is that hardly any clue to its interpretation is given to us. Thus, commentators cannot agree on whether the shepherds spoken of are heathen or native rulers. And on this point, the whole nature of the interpretation turns.
Guided by the language of Zechariah 11:6, 10, we conclude that the shepherds represent foreign oppressors. Our prophet seems to have had Ezekiel 37:16-22 in mind when he, probably in a vision, performed the symbolic acts of the two shepherds; but he also had Ezekiel 34 in view.
In feeding the flock, he actually, though undoubtedly unconsciously, represents not only God, who Himself would feed the flock (Ezekiel 34:11–12, 15-16), but also that ideal shepherd, “my servant David,” whom He would set up as “one shepherd over them” (Ezekiel 34:23–24). At the same time, he retains his old imagery from Zechariah 10:3 and speaks of the foreign oppressors as shepherds. The prophet’s historical starting point seems to be the same here as in Zechariah 9:10, though his goal is more distant.
"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." — Zechariah 11:5 (ASV)
And hold ... not guilty. —Compare to Jeremiah 1:7. Own is a gloss of the English version.
"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." — Zechariah 11:6 (ASV)
Of the land. —Better, of the world.
The men. —Better, mankind. God would punish the nations for their cruelty to His people . He would cause the world to be struck or broken up with wars and civil disorders.
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