Zechariah 11
Lament for Lebanon and Bashan
1Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.
2Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.
3A 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 ruined.
The Two Shepherds
4The LORD my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter.
5Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them.
6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD; “but, behold, I will deliver every one of the men into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”
7So I fed the flock to be slaughtered, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor” and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock.
8I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
9Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.”
10I took my staff Favor and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
11It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the LORD’s word.
12I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13The LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter—the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the LORD’s house.
14Then I cut apart my other staff, Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15The LORD said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
16For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.
17Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”
Zechariah 11 presents a dramatic prophetic allegory depicting God's judgment on Israel through failed leadership. The chapter opens with a lament over the destruction of Lebanon's cedars, symbolizing the fall of Israel's leaders. The central narrative features Zechariah acting as a shepherd with two staffs named 'Favor' and 'Union,' representing God's covenant and the unity between Judah and Israel, both of which are broken due to the people's rejection of divine care, culminating in the symbolic payment of thirty pieces of silver.
Context
This chapter continues the prophetic themes from chapters 9-10 about Israel's future, transitioning from promises of restoration to warnings of judgment before the final restoration visions in chapters 12-14.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-3Lament for the LandA poetic dirge mourning the destruction of Lebanon's cedars and the downfall of Israel's shepherds and leaders.
- 4-6The Flock Destined for SlaughterGod commands the prophet to shepherd a doomed flock whose buyers and sellers show no compassion.
- 7-11The Breaking of FavorZechariah shepherds with two staffs but breaks the first staff 'Favor,' symbolizing the end of God's covenant protection.
- 12-14Thirty Pieces of Silver and Broken UnityThe prophet receives thirty pieces of silver as wages, throws them to the potter, and breaks his second staff 'Union.'
- 15-17The Worthless ShepherdGod announces the coming of a foolish shepherd who will exploit rather than care for the flock, ending with a curse upon him.
Lament for Lebanon and Bashan
11:1–11:3A prophetic lament calling for the destruction of Lebanon's cedars and Bashan's oaks, symbolizing the downfall of proud leaders and their glory.
structural
Lebanon's cedars and Bashan's oaks—symbols of strength throughout Scripture—receive direct address as personified mourners, creating an unprecedented reversal where nature's mightiest trees become vulnerable witnesses to divine judgment.
The Two Shepherds
11:4–11:17A symbolic narrative about shepherds representing failed leadership, featuring the breaking of covenant staffs and the infamous thirty pieces of silver, pointing to rejected divine care.
quotation_chain
Zechariah's thirty pieces of silver wages for the rejected shepherd creates a prophetic template that Matthew explicitly connects to Judas's betrayal price for Jesus.
Zechariah 11:2
Isaiah 2:13lexicalfor all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, for all the oaks of Bashan,
Isaiah 44:14lexicalHe cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of t…
Isaiah 37:24lexicalBy your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the heig…
2 Kings 19:23lexicalBy your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the h…
Jeremiah 25:34lexicalWail, you shepherds, and cry. Wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your disper…
Zechariah 11:3
Jeremiah 25:36lexicalA voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leader of the flock, for the LORD destroys their pasture.
Job 4:10lexicalThe roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
Jeremiah 49:19lexical“Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will suddenly mak…
Jeremiah 50:44lexicalBehold, the enemy will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against the strong habitation; for I will sud…
Isaiah 31:4lexicalFor the LORD says to me, “As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called t…
Zechariah 11:7
Zephaniah 2:6lexicalThe sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.
Zechariah 11:10
Jeremiah 31:32lexicalnot according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out o…
Genesis 17:14lexicalThe uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people.…
Deuteronomy 31:16lexicalThe LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute aft…
Jeremiah 11:10lexicalThey have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other g…
Zechariah 11:16
Genesis 41:2lexicalBehold, seven cattle came up out of the river. They were sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.
Genesis 41:18lexicaland behold, seven fat and sleek cattle came up out of the river. They fed in the marsh grass;
Ezekiel 34:4lexicalYou haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed that which was sick. You haven’t bound up that which was broke…
Ezekiel 34:16lexical“I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken…
Interlinear
Word-by-word original language
Historical Context
Places and events in this chapter