The Foolish Shepherds

4 Thus says the Lord my God , "Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter . 5 "Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished e , and each of those who sell them says , 'Blessed be the Lord , for I have become rich !' And their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 "For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land ," declares the Lord ; "but behold , I will cause the men to fall , each into another's power and into the power of his king ; and they will strike the land , and I will not deliver them from their power ." 7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter , hence the afflicted of the flock . And I took for myself two staffs : the one I called Favor and the other I called Union ; so I pastured the flock . 8 Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month , for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me. 9 Then I said , "I will not pasture you. What is to die , let it die , and what is to be annihilated , let it be annihilated ; and let those who are left eat one another's flesh ." 10 I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces , to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples . 11 So it was broken on that day , and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord .

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Zechariah 11:4-11

Commentary on Zechariah 11:4-14

(Read Zechariah 11:4-14)

Christ came into this world for judgment to the Jewish church and nation, which were wretchedly corrupt and degenerate. Those have their minds wofully blinded, who do ill, and justify themselves in it; but God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. How can we go to God to beg a blessing on unlawful methods of getting wealth, or to return thanks for success in them? There was a general decay of religion among them, and they regarded it not. The Good Shepherd would feed his flock, but his attention would chiefly be directed to the poor. As an emblem, the prophet seems to have taken two staves; Beauty, denoted the privileges of the Jewish nation, in their national covenant; the other he called Bands, denoting the harmony which hitherto united them as the flock of God. But they chose to cleave to false teachers. The carnal mind and the friendship of the world are enmity to God; and God hates all the workers of iniquity: it is easy to foresee what this will end in. The prophet demanded wages, or a reward, and received thirty pieces of silver. By Divine direction he cast it to the potter, as in disdain for the smallness of the sum. This shadowed forth the bargain of Judas to betray Christ, and the final method of applying it. Nothing ruins a people so certainly, as weakening the brotherhood among them. This follows the dissolving of the covenant between God and them: when sin abounds, love waxes cold, and civil contests follow. No wonder if those fall out among themselves, who have provoked God to fall out with them. Wilful contempt of Christ is the great cause of men's ruin. And if professors rightly valued Christ, they would not contend about little matters.