Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Zechariah » Chapter 11 » Verse 9

Zechariah 11:9 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

9 Then said H559 I, I will not feed H7462 you: that that dieth, H4191 let it die; H4191 and that that is to be cut off, H3582 let it be cut off; H3582 and let the rest H7604 eat H398 every one H802 the flesh H1320 of another. H7468

Cross Reference

Jeremiah 43:11 STRONG

And when he cometh, H935 he shall smite H5221 the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 and deliver such as are for death H4194 to death; H4194 and such as are for captivity H7628 to captivity; H7628 and such as are for the sword H2719 to the sword. H2719

Matthew 21:19 STRONG

And G2532 when he saw G1492 a G3391 fig tree G4808 in G1909 the way, G3598 he came G2064 to G1909 it, G846 and G2532 found G2147 nothing G3762 thereon, G1722 G846 but G1508 leaves G5444 only, G3440 and G2532 said G3004 unto it, G846 Let no G1096 fruit G2590 grow G1096 on G1537 thee G4675 henceforward G3371 for G1519 ever. G165 And G2532 presently G3916 the fig tree G4808 withered away. G3583

Revelation 22:11 STRONG

He that is unjust, G91 let him be unjust G91 still: G2089 and G2532 he which is filthy, G4510 let him be filthy G4510 still: G2089 and G2532 he that is righteous, G1342 let him be righteous G1344 still: G2089 and G2532 he that is holy, G40 let him be holy G37 still. G2089

Acts 28:26-28 STRONG

Saying, G3004 Go G4198 unto G4314 this G5126 people, G2992 and G2532 say, G2036 Hearing G189 ye shall hear, G191 and G2532 shall G4920 not G3364 understand; G4920 and G2532 seeing G991 ye shall see, G991 and G2532 not G3364 perceive: G1492 For G1063 the heart G2588 of this G5127 people G2992 is waxed gross, G3975 and G2532 their ears G3775 are dull G917 of hearing, G191 and G2532 their G846 eyes G3788 have they closed; G2576 lest G3379 they should see G1492 with their eyes, G3788 and G2532 hear G191 with their ears, G3775 and G2532 understand G4920 with their heart, G2588 and G2532 should be converted, G1994 and G2532 I should heal G2390 them. G846 Be it G2077 known G1110 therefore G3767 unto you, G5213 that G3754 the salvation G4992 of God G2316 is sent G649 unto the Gentiles, G1484 and G2532 that they will hear G191 it. G846

Acts 13:46-47 STRONG

Then G1161 Paul G3972 and G2532 Barnabas G921 waxed bold, G3955 and said, G2036 It was G2258 necessary G316 that the word G3056 of God G2316 should G2980 first G4412 have been spoken G2980 to you: G5213 but G1161 seeing G1894 ye put G683 it G846 from you, G683 and G2532 judge G2919 yourselves G1438 unworthy G3756 G514 of everlasting G166 life, G2222 lo, G2400 we turn G4762 to G1519 the Gentiles. G1484 For G1063 so G3779 hath G1781 the Lord G2962 commanded G1781 us, G2254 saying, I have set G5087 thee G4571 to be G1519 a light G5457 of the Gentiles, G1484 that thou G4571 shouldest be G1511 for G1519 salvation G4991 unto G2193 the ends G2078 of the earth. G1093

John 12:35 STRONG

Then G3767 Jesus G2424 said G2036 unto them, G846 Yet G2089 a little G3398 while G5550 is G2076 the light G5457 with G3326 you. G5216 Walk G4043 while G2193 ye have G2192 the light, G5457 lest G3363 darkness G4653 come upon G2638 you: G5209 for G2532 he that walketh G4043 in G1722 darkness G4653 knoweth G1492 not G3756 whither G4226 he goeth. G5217

John 8:24 STRONG

I said G2036 therefore G3767 unto you, G5213 that G3754 ye shall die G599 in G1722 your G5216 sins: G266 for G1063 if G3362 ye believe G4100 not G3362 that G3754 I G1473 am G1510 he, ye shall die G599 in G1722 your G5216 sins. G266

John 8:21 STRONG

Then G3767 said G2036 Jesus G2424 again G3825 unto them, G846 I G1473 go my way, G5217 and G2532 ye shall seek G2212 me, G3165 and G2532 shall die G599 in G1722 your G5216 sins: G266 whither G3699 I G1473 go, G5217 ye G5210 cannot G3756 G1410 come. G2064

Matthew 23:38-39 STRONG

Behold, G2400 your G5216 house G3624 is left G863 unto you G5213 desolate. G2048 For G1063 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 Ye shall G1492 not G3364 see G1492 me G3165 henceforth, G575 G737 till G2193 G302 ye shall say, G2036 Blessed G2127 is he that cometh G2064 in G1722 the name G3686 of the Lord. G2962

Matthew 21:43 STRONG

Therefore G1223 G5124 say I G3004 unto you, G5213 G3754 The kingdom G932 of God G2316 shall be taken G142 from G575 you, G5216 and G2532 given G1325 to a nation G1484 bringing forth G4160 the fruits G2590 thereof. G846

Deuteronomy 28:53-56 STRONG

And thou shalt eat H398 the fruit H6529 of thine own body, H990 the flesh H1320 of thy sons H1121 and of thy daughters, H1323 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath given H5414 thee, in the siege, H4692 and in the straitness, H4689 wherewith thine enemies H341 shall distress H6693 thee: So that the man H376 that is tender H7390 among you, and very H3966 delicate, H6028 his eye H5869 shall be evil H3415 toward his brother, H251 and toward the wife H802 of his bosom, H2436 and toward the remnant H3499 of his children H1121 which he shall leave: H3498 So that he will not give H5414 to any H259 of them of the flesh H1320 of his children H1121 whom he shall eat: H398 because he hath nothing left H7604 him in the siege, H4692 and in the straitness, H4689 wherewith thine enemies H341 shall distress H6693 thee in all thy gates. H8179 The tender H7390 and delicate H6028 woman among you, which would not adventure H5254 to set H3322 the sole H3709 of her foot H7272 upon the ground H776 for delicateness H6026 and tenderness, H7391 her eye H5869 shall be evil H3415 toward the husband H376 of her bosom, H2436 and toward her son, H1121 and toward her daughter, H1323

Matthew 15:14 STRONG

Let G863 them G846 alone: G863 they be G1526 blind G5185 leaders G3595 of the blind. G5185 And G1161 if G1437 the blind G5185 lead G3594 the blind, G5185 both G297 shall fall G4098 into G1519 the ditch. G999

Matthew 13:10-11 STRONG

And G2532 the disciples G3101 came, G4334 and said G2036 unto him, G846 Why G1302 speakest thou G2980 unto them G846 in G1722 parables? G3850 He answered G611 and G1161 said G2036 unto them, G846 Because G3754 it is given G1325 unto you G5213 to know G1097 the mysteries G3466 of the kingdom G932 of heaven, G3772 but G1161 to them G1565 it is G1325 not G3756 given. G1325

Ezekiel 5:10 STRONG

Therefore the fathers H1 shall eat H398 the sons H1121 in the midst H8432 of thee, and the sons H1121 shall eat H398 their fathers; H1 and I will execute H6213 judgments H8201 in thee, and the whole remnant H7611 of thee will I scatter H2219 into all the winds. H7307

Jeremiah 23:39 STRONG

Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly H5377 forget H5382 you, and I will forsake H5203 you, and the city H5892 that I gave H5414 you and your fathers, H1 and cast you out of my presence: H6440

Jeremiah 23:33 STRONG

And when this people, H5971 or the prophet, H5030 or a priest, H3548 shall ask H7592 thee, saying, H559 What is the burden H4853 of the LORD? H3068 thou shalt then say H559 unto them, What burden? H4853 I will even forsake H5203 you, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068

Jeremiah 19:9 STRONG

And I will cause them to eat H398 the flesh H1320 of their sons H1121 and the flesh H1320 of their daughters, H1323 and they shall eat H398 every one H376 the flesh H1320 of his friend H7453 in the siege H4692 and straitness, H4689 wherewith their enemies, H341 and they that seek H1245 their lives, H5315 shall straiten H6693 them.

Jeremiah 15:2-3 STRONG

And it shall come to pass, if they say H559 unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? H3318 then thou shalt tell H559 them, Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 Such as are for death, H4194 to death; H4194 and such as are for the sword, H2719 to the sword; H2719 and such as are for the famine, H7458 to the famine; H7458 and such as are for the captivity, H7628 to the captivity. H7628 And I will appoint H6485 over them four H702 kinds, H4940 saith H5002 the LORD: H3068 the sword H2719 to slay, H2026 and the dogs H3611 to tear, H5498 and the fowls H5775 of the heaven, H8064 and the beasts H929 of the earth, H776 to devour H398 and destroy. H7843

Isaiah 9:19-21 STRONG

Through the wrath H5678 of the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 is the land H776 darkened, H6272 and the people H5971 shall be as the fuel H3980 of the fire: H784 no man H376 shall spare H2550 his brother. H251 And he shall snatch H1504 on the right hand, H3225 and be hungry; H7457 and he shall eat H398 on the left hand, H8040 and they shall not be satisfied: H7646 they shall eat H398 every man H376 the flesh H1320 of his own arm: H2220 Manasseh, H4519 Ephraim; H669 and Ephraim, H669 Manasseh: H4519 and they together H3162 shall be against Judah. H3063 For all this his anger H639 is not turned away, H7725 but his hand H3027 is stretched out still. H5186

Psalms 69:22-28 STRONG

Let their table H7979 become a snare H6341 before H6440 them: and that which should have been for their welfare, H7965 let it become a trap. H4170 Let their eyes H5869 be darkened, H2821 that they see H7200 not; and make their loins H4975 continually H8548 to shake. H4571 Pour out H8210 thine indignation H2195 upon them, and let thy wrathful H2740 anger H639 take hold H5381 of them. Let their habitation H2918 be desolate; H8074 and let none dwell H3427 in their tents. H168 For they persecute H7291 him whom thou hast smitten; H5221 and they talk H5608 to the grief H4341 of those whom thou hast wounded. H2491 Add H5414 iniquity H5771 unto their iniquity: H5771 and let them not come H935 into thy righteousness. H6666 Let them be blotted H4229 out of the book H5612 of the living, H2416 and not be written H3789 with the righteous. H6662

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Zechariah 11

Commentary on Zechariah 11 Matthew Henry Commentary


Chapter 11

God's prophet, who, in the chapters before, was an ambassador sent to promise peace, is here a herald sent to declare war. The Jewish nation shall recover its prosperity, and shall flourish for some time and become considerable; it shall be very happy, at length, in the coming of the long-expected Messiah, in the preaching of his gospel, and in the setting up of his standard there. But, when thereby the chosen remnant among them are effectually called in and united to Christ, the body of the nation, persisting in unbelief, shall be utterly abandoned and given up to ruin, for rejecting Christ; and it is this that is foretold here in this chapter-the Jews rejecting Christ, which was their measure-filling sin, and the wrath which for that sin came upon them to the uttermost. Here is,

  • I. A prediction of the destruction itself that should come upon the Jewish nation (v. 1-3).
  • II. The putting of it into the hands of the Messiah.
    • 1. He is charged with the custody of that flock (v. 4-6).
    • 2. He undertakes it, and bears rule in it (v. 7, 8).
    • 3. Finding it perverse, he gives it up (v. 9), breaks his shepherd's staff (v. 10, 11), resents the indignities done him and the contempt put upon him (v. 12, 13), and then breaks his other staff (v. 14).
    • 4. He turns them over into the hands of foolish shepherds, who, instead of preventing, shall complete their ruin, and both the blind leaders and the blind followers shall fall together into the ditch (v. 15-17).

This is foretold to the poor of the flock before it comes to pass, that, when it does come to pass, they may not be offended.

Zec 11:1-3

In dark and figurative expressions, as is usual in the scripture predictions of things at a great distance, that destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish church and nation is here foretold which our Lord Jesus, when the time was at hand, prophesied of very plainly and expressly. We have here,

  • 1. Preparation made for that destruction (v. 1): "Open thy doors, O Lebanon! Thou wouldst not open them to let thy king in-he came to his own and his own received him not; now thou must open them to let thy ruin in. Let the gates of the forest, and all the avenues to it, be thrown open, and let the fire come in and devour its glory.' Some by Lebanon here understand the temple, which was built of cedars from Lebanon, and the stones of it white as the snow of Lebanon. It was burnt with fire by the Romans, and its gates were forced open by the fury of the soldiers. To confirm this, they tell a story, that forty years before the destruction of the second temple the gates of it opened of their own accord, upon which prodigy Rabbi Johanan made this remark (as it is found in one of the Jewish authors), "Now I know,' said he, "that the destruction of the temple is at hand, according to the prophecy of Zechariah, Open thy doors, O Lebanon! that the fire may devour thy cedars.' Others understand it of Jerusalem, or rather of the whole land of Canaan, to which Lebanon was an inlet on the north. All shall lie open to the invader, and the cedars, the mighty and eminent men, shall be devoured, which cannot but alarm those of an inferior rank, v. 2. If the cedars have fallen (if all the mighty are spoiled, and brought to ruin), let the fir-tree howl. How can the slender fir-trees stand if stately cedars fall? If cedars are devoured by fire, it is time for the fir-trees to howl; for no wood is so combustible as that of the fir. And let the oaks of Bashan, that lie exposed to every injury, howl, for the forest of the vintage (or the flourishing vineyard, that used to be guarded with a particular care) has come down, or (as some read it) when the defenced forests, such as Lebanon was, have come down. Note, The falls of the wise and good into sin, and the falls of the rich and great into trouble, are loud alarms to those that are every way their inferiors not to be secure.
  • 2. Lamentation made for the destruction (v. 3): There is a voice of howling. Those who have fallen howl for grief and shame, and those who see their own turn coming howl for fear. But the great men especially receive the alarm with the utmost confusion. Those who were roaring in the day of their revels and triumphs are howling in the day of their terrors; for now they are tormented more than others. Those great men were by office shepherds, and such should have protected God's flock committed to their charge; it is the duty both of princes and priests. But they were as young lions, that made themselves a terror to the flock with their roaring and the flock a prey to themselves with their tearing. Note, It is sad with a people when those who should be as shepherds to them are as young lions to them. But what is the issue? The shepherds howl, for their glory is spoiled. Their pastures, and the flocks which covered them, which were the glory of the swains, are laid waste. The young lions howl, for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. The pride of Jordan was the thickets on the banks, in which the lions reposed themselves; and therefore, when the river overflowed and spoiled them, the lions came up from them (as we read Jer. 49:19), and they came up roaring. Note, When those who have power proudly abuse their power, and, instead of being shepherds, are as young lions, they may expect that the righteous God will humble their pride and break their power.

Zec 11:4-14

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 (Jn. 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, v. 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, 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, Mt. 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 (v. 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, Mt. 15:9; 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, Mt. 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 (Jn. 10:1, 2, 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 (v. 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, Mt. 15:24.
    • 2. His acceptance of this charge, and his undertaking pursuant to it, v. 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, Mt. 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 (Ps. 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 (v. 7), and he displaced those under-shepherds that were false to their trust (v. 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, Mt. 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, 5.
  • V. Christ's rejecting them as incurable, and leaving them their house desolate, Mt. 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 (v. 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 (v. 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, Mt. 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, v. 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 (Lu. 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, Jn. 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 (v. 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,' Jn. 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, Ex. 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, Mt. 27:9, 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, v. 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.

Zec 11:15-17

God, having shown the misery of this people in their being justly abandoned by the good Shepherd, here shows their further misery in being shamefully abused by a foolish shepherd. The prophet is himself to personate and represent this pretended shepherd (v. 15): Take unto thee the instruments or accoutrements of a foolish shepherd, that are no way fit for the business, such a shepherd's coat, and bag, and staff, as a foolish shepherd would appear in; for such a shepherd shall be set over them (v. 16), who, instead of protecting them, shall oppress them and do them mischief.

  • 1. They shall be under the inspection of unfaithful ministers. Their scribes, and priests, and doctors of their law, shall bind heavy burdens upon them, and grievous to be borne, and, with their traditions imposed, shall make the ceremonial law much more a yoke than God had made it. The description here given of the foolish shepherd suits very well with the character Christ gives of the scribes and Pharisees, Mt. 23.
  • 2. They shall be under the tyranny of unmerciful princes, that shall rule them with rigour, and make their own land as much a house of bondage to them as ever Egypt or Babylon was. When they had rejected him by whom princes decree justice it was just that they should be turned over to those who decree unrighteous decrees.
  • 3. They shall be imposed upon and deluded by false Christs and false prophets, as our Saviour foretold, Mt. 24:5. Many such there were, who by their seditious practices provoked the Romans, and hastened the ruin of the Jewish nation; but it is observable that they were never cheated by a counterfeit Messiah till they had refused and rejected the true Messiah. Now observe,
    • I. What a curse this foolish shepherd should be to the people, v. 16. God will, for their punishment, raise up a foolish shepherd, who will not do the duty of a shepherd; he will not visit those that are cut off, nor go after those that go astray, nor seek those that are missing, to find them out and bring them home, as the good shepherd does, Mt. 18:12, 13. Their shepherds take no care of the young ones, that need their care and are well worthy of it, as Christ does, Isa. 40:11. They do not heal that which was broken, which was worried and torn, but let it die of its bruises, when a little thing, in time, would have saved it. They do not feed those who, through weakness, stand still, and are ready to faint, and cannot get forward, but leave them behind, let who will take them up; they do not carry that which stands still (so some read it); they never do any thing to support the weak and comfort the feeble-minded; but, on the contrary,
      • 1. They are luxurious themselves: They eat of the flesh of the fat; they will have of the best for themselves; and, like that wicked servant that said, My lord delays his coming, they eat and drink with the drunken, and serve their own bellies.
      • 2. They are barbarous to the flock. Their passions are as ill-governed as their appetites, for, when they are in a rage against any of the flock, they tear their very claws in pieces by over-driving them; they beat their hoofs; they smite their fellow servants. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy king is such a child!
    • II. What a curse this foolish shepherd should bring upon himself (v. 17): Woe to the idol-shepherd, who, like an idol, has eyes and sees not, who, like an idol, receives abundance of respect and homage from the people and the chief of their offerings, but neither can nor will do them any kindness. He leaves the flock when they most need his care, leaves them destitute, and flees, because he is a hireling; his doom is that the sword of God's justice shall be upon his arm and his right eye, so that he shall quite lose the use of both. His arm shall wither and be dried up, so that he who would not help his friends when it was required shall not know how to help himself; his right eye shall be utterly darkened, that he shall not discern the danger that his flock is in, nor know which way to look for relief. This was fulfilled when Christ said to the Pharisees, I have come that those who see may be made blind, Jn. 9:39. Those that have gifts which qualify them to do good, if they do not do good with them, shall be deprived of them; those that should have been workmen, but were slothful and would do nothing, will justly have their arm dried up; and those that should have been watchmen, but were sleepy and would never look about them, will justly have their eye blinded.