The Smiting of the LORD's Shepherd

7 "Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!" declares the Lord Almighty. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Other Translations of Zechariah 13:7

King James Version

The Smiting of the LORD's Shepherd

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

English Standard Version

The Smiting of the LORD's Shepherd

7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," declares the Lord of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.

The Message

The Smiting of the LORD's Shepherd

7 "Sword, get moving against my shepherd, against my close associate!" Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. "Kill the shepherd! Scatter the sheep! The back of my hand against even the lambs!

New King James Version

The Smiting of the LORD's Shepherd

7 "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion," Says the Lord of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.

New Living Translation

The Smiting of the LORD's Shepherd

7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my partner," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies. "Strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Zechariah 13:7

Commentary on Zechariah 13:7-9

(Read Zechariah 13:7-9)

Here is a prophecy of the sufferings of Christ. God the Father gave order to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he freely made his soul an offering for sin. As God, he is called "my Fellow." Christ and the Father are one. He is the Shepherd who was to lay down his life for the sheep. If a Sacrifice, he must be slain, for without shedding of the life-blood there was no remission. This sword must awake against him, yet he had no sin of his own to answer for. It may refer to the whole of Christ's sufferings, especially his agonies in the garden and on the cross, when he endured unspeakable anguish till Divine justice was fully satisfied. Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. This passage our Lord Jesus declares was fulfilled, when all his disciples, in the night wherein he was betrayed, forsook him and fled. It has, and shall have its accomplishment, in the destruction of the corrupt and hypocritical part of the professed church. Because of the sin of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ, and in opposing his gospel, the Romans would destroy the greater part. But a remnant would be saved. And if we are his people, we shall be refined as gold; he will be God, and the end of all our trials and sufferings will be praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.