撒迦利亚书 11
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
羊群必遭杀戮
11 黎巴嫩啊，打开你的门吧，
好让火焰吞噬你的香柏树。
2 松树啊，哀号吧，
因为香柏树已经倒下，
挺拔的树木已被毁坏。
巴珊的橡树啊，哀号吧，
因为茂密的树林已被砍倒。
3 听啊，牧人在哀号，
因为他们肥美的草场已被毁坏。
听啊，狮子在吼叫，
因为约旦河畔的丛林已被毁坏。
4 我的上帝耶和华说：“你去牧养这群待宰的羊吧。 5 买羊宰羊的不受惩罚，卖羊的说，‘耶和华当受称颂！我发财了。’它们的牧人不怜悯它们。 6 因此，我不再怜悯这地方的居民，我要使他们落在邻人及其君王手中，任这地方被摧毁，必不从敌人手中拯救他们。这是耶和华说的。”
7 于是，我牧养这群最困苦的待宰之羊。我拿了两根杖，一根叫“恩惠”，一根叫“联合”，开始牧养羊群。 8 我在一个月之内除掉了三个牧人。
然而，我厌烦羊群，他们也厌恶我。 9 于是我说：“我不再牧养你们了。要死的就死吧，要灭亡的就灭亡吧，让剩下的互相吞吃吧。” 10 然后，我拿起那根叫“恩惠”的杖，把它折断，以废除我与万民所立的约。 11 约就在当天废除了，那些注视着我的困苦羊便知道这是上帝的话。
12 我对他们说：“你们若认为好，就给我工钱，不然就算了。”于是，他们给了我三十块银子作工钱。 13 耶和华对我说：“把这一大笔钱丢给窑户吧，这就是我在他们眼中的价值！”我便把三十块银子丢给圣殿中的窑户。 14 我又把那根叫“联合”的杖折断，以断开犹大和以色列之间的手足之情。
15 耶和华又对我说：“你再拿起愚昧牧人的器具， 16 因为我要使一位牧人在地上兴起，他不照顾丧亡的，不寻找失散的，不医治受伤的，不牧养健壮的，反而吃肥羊的肉，撕掉它们的蹄子。
17 “丢弃羊群的无用牧人有祸了！
愿刀砍在他的臂膀和右眼上！
愿他的臂膀彻底枯槁，
他的右眼完全失明！”
Zechariah 11
New English Translation
The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings
11 Open your gates, Lebanon,
so that the fire may consume your cedars.[a]
2 Howl, fir tree,
because the cedar has fallen;
the majestic trees have been destroyed.
Howl, oaks of Bashan,
because the impenetrable forest has fallen.
3 Listen to the howling of shepherds,
because their magnificence has been destroyed.
Listen to the roaring of young lions,
because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.
4 The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter. 5 Those who buy them[b] slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land,” says the Lord, “but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”
7 So I[c] began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted[d] of all the flock. Then I took two staffs,[e] calling one “Pleasantness”[f] and the other “Union,”[g] and I tended the flock. 8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month,[h] for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well. 9 I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”
10 Then I took my staff “Pleasantness” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people. 11 So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that it was the Lord’s message.
12 Then I[i] said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it.” So they weighed out my payment—thirty pieces of silver.[j] 13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum[k] at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter[l] at the temple[m] of the Lord. 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.[n] 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.[o] Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy, but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep[p] and tear off their hooves.
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock!
May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!
May his arm wither completely away,
and his right eye become completely blind!”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 11:1 sn In this poetic section, plants and animals provide the imagery for rulers, especially evil ones (cf. respectively Isa 10:33-34; Ezek 31:8; Amos 2:9; Nah 2:12).
- Zechariah 11:5 sn The expression those who buy them appears to be a reference to the foreign nations to whom Israel’s own kings “sold” their subjects. Far from being good shepherds, then, they were evil and profiteering. The whole section (vv. 4-14) refers to the past when the Lord, the Good Shepherd, had in vain tried to lead his people to salvation and life.
- Zechariah 11:7 sn The first person pronoun refers to Zechariah himself who, however, is a “stand-in” for the Lord as the actions of vv. 8-14 make clear. The prophet, like others before him, probably performed actions dramatizing the account of God’s past dealings with Israel and Judah (cf. Hos 1-3; Isa 20:2-4; Jer 19:1-15; 27:2-11; Ezek 4:1-3).
- Zechariah 11:7 tc For the MT reading לָכֵן עֲנִיֵּי (lakhen ʿaniyye, “therefore the [most] afflicted of”) the LXX presupposes לִכְנַעֲנִיֵּי (likhenaʿaniyye, “to the merchants of”). The line would then read “So I began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter for the sheep merchants” (cf. NAB). This helps to explain the difficult לָכֵן (lakhen) here but otherwise has no attestation or justification, so the MT is followed by most modern English versions.
- Zechariah 11:7 sn The two staffs represent the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. For other examples of staffs representing tribes or nations see Num 17:1-11; Ezek 37:15-23.
- Zechariah 11:7 tn The Hebrew term נֹעַם (noʿam) is frequently translated “Favor” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. KJV “Beauty”; CEV “Mercy.”sn The name of the first staff, pleasantness, refers to the rest and peace of the covenant between the Lord and his people (cf. v. 10).
- Zechariah 11:7 tn The Hebrew term חֹבְלִים (khovelim) is often translated “Union” (so NASB, NIV, NLT, HCSB); cf. KJV, ASV “Bands”; NAB “Bonds”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “Unity”).sn The name of the second staff, Union, refers to the relationship between Israel and Judah (cf. v. 14).
- Zechariah 11:8 sn Zechariah is only dramatizing what God had done historically (see the note on the word “cedars” in 11:1). The “one month” probably means just any short period of time in which three kings ruled in succession. Likely candidates are Elah, Zimri, Tibni (1 Kgs 16:8-20); Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem (2 Kgs 15:8-16); or Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:1-25:7).
- Zechariah 11:12 sn The speaker (Zechariah) represents the Lord, who here is asking what his service as faithful shepherd has been worth in the opinion of his people Israel.
- Zechariah 11:12 sn If taken at face value, thirty pieces (shekels) of silver was worth about two and a half years’ wages for a common laborer. The Code of Hammurabi prescribes a monthly wage for a laborer of one shekel. If this were the case in Israel, 30 shekels would be the wages for 2 1/2 years (R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 76, 204-5). For other examples of “thirty shekels” as a conventional payment, see K. Luke, “The Thirty Pieces of Silver (Zech. 11:12f.), Ind TS 19 (1982): 26-30. Luke, on the basis of Sumerian analogues, suggests that “thirty” came to be a term meaning anything of little or no value (p. 30). In this he follows Erica Reiner, “Thirty Pieces of Silver,” in Essays in Memory of E. A. Speiser, AOS 53, ed. William W. Hallo (New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1968), 186-90. Though the 30 shekels elsewhere in the OT may well be taken literally, the context of Zech. 11:12 may indeed support Reiner and Luke in seeing it as a pittance here, not worth considering (cf. Exod 21:32; Lev 27:4; Matt 26:15).
- Zechariah 11:13 tn Heb “splendor of splendor” (אֶדֶר הַיְקָר, ʾeder hayeqar). This expression sarcastically draws attention to the incredibly low value placed upon the Lord’s redemptive grace by his very own people.
- Zechariah 11:13 tn The Syriac presupposes הָאוֹצָר (haʾotsar, “treasury”) for the MT הַיּוֹצֵר (hayyotser, “potter”) perhaps because of the lack of evidence for a potter’s shop in the area of the temple. The Syriac reading is followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV. Matthew seems to favor this when he speaks of Judas having thrown the thirty shekels for which he betrayed Jesus into the temple treasury (27:5-6). However, careful reading of the whole gospel pericope makes it clear that the money actually was used to purchase a “potter’s field,” hence Zechariah’s reference to a potter. The MT reading is followed by most other English versions.
- Zechariah 11:13 tn Heb “house” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- 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).
- Zechariah 11:16 tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).
- Zechariah 11:16 tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”
Zechariah 11
New King James Version
Desolation of Israel
11 Open (A)your doors, O Lebanon,
That fire may devour your cedars.
2 Wail, O cypress, for the (B)cedar has fallen,
Because the mighty trees are ruined.
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
(C)For the thick forest has come down.
3 There is the sound of wailing (D)shepherds!
For their glory is in ruins.
There is the sound of roaring lions!
For the [a]pride of the Jordan is in ruins.
Prophecy of the Shepherds
4 Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, 5 whose owners slaughter them and (E)feel no guilt; those who sell them (F)say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do (G)not pity them. 6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall [b]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”
7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, [c]in particular (H)the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called [d]Beauty, and the other I called [e]Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8 I [f]dismissed the three shepherds (I)in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. (J)Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff, [g]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day. Thus (K)the[h] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it is [i]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they (L)weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the (M)potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. 14 Then I cut in two my other staff, [j]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, (N)“Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16 For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in (O)pieces.
17 “Woe(P) to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 11:3 Or floodplain, thicket
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit. strike
- Zechariah 11:7 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX for the Canaanites
- Zechariah 11:7 Or Grace
- Zechariah 11:7 Or Unity
- Zechariah 11:8 Or destroyed, lit. cut off
- Zechariah 11:10 Or Grace
- Zechariah 11:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX the Canaanites
- Zechariah 11:12 good in your sight
- Zechariah 11:14 Or Unity
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
