Add parallel Print Page Options

14 Then I cut the second staff “Union” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.[a] 16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed of the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured.[b] Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy, but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep[c] and tear off their hooves.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 11:15 sn The grammar (e.g., the incipient participle מֵקִים, meqim, “about to raise up,” v. 16) and overall sense of vv. 15-17 give the incident a future orientation. Zechariah once more is role-playing but this time he is a “foolish” shepherd, i.e., one who does not know God and who is opposed to him (cf. Prov 1:7; 15:5; 20:3; 27:22). The individual who best represents this eschatological enemy of God and his people is the Antichrist (cf. Matt 24:5, 24; 2 Thess 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).
  2. Zechariah 11:16 tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).
  3. Zechariah 11:16 tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”