Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 11

Verse 1

Zec 11:1. This chapter as a whole is a prediction of the overthrow of Judaism as the religion of God's people. The self-righteous Jews had become proud and scornful by the time Christ came into the world and they were destined to be brought down by the institution of the new covenant under Him. The cedar is a lofty tree and is used in figurative language to represent that which is proud and self-exalted. Lebanon was the territory where this tree grew in greatest abundance, hence its mention in the present connection. Open thy doors, etc. is a prediction that the haughty Jews (here figurized as the cedars of Lebanon) were to be subdued and humiliated by the king of the new regime.

Verse 2

Zec 11:2. The fir and oak trees were more common than the cedar, but they are represented as howling over the falling of the lofty tree. If such an important plant as the cedar was doomed to humiliation, there was no prospect of the survival of these ordinary ones, hence they were induced to howl in dismay.

Verse 3

Zec 11:3. This verse predicts that the leaders among the Jews were to be humiliated and they were to complain of their lot. All of this was fulfilled when Jesus came into the world and introduced the Gospel.

Verse 4

Zec 11:4. This verse is a prediction that the Lord would feed the flock that had been slaughtered (mistreated) by the cruel and self-righteous princes among the Jews.

Verse 5

Zec 11:5. The possessors and shepherds of this verse means the wicked rulers and princes among the Jewish people wlio imposed on the common population.

Verse 6

Zec 11:6. This verse predicts that God would plunge the entire Jewish nation into confusion and revolution. The common people were to suffer along with the leaders because they did not resist the corrupt prophets and priests. (See Jer 5:31.)

Verse 7

Zec 11:7. God decided to take over the feeding of the flock that had been so neglected by the shepherds. And in order to make the proper progress it was necessary to make a change in the whole system of the feeding by disposing of the unfaithful feeders, or at least by taking charge of their work and directing it according to the new program {the system under Christ). The things the Lord was going to dispose of are termed Beauty and Bands. The first means "agreeableness” and the second is defined "a district or inheritance.” The first stands for the Sinaite covenant as a docu¬ment or constitution as a basis for some form of government. The second stands for the religious nationalism that resulted from the aforesaid con¬stitution.

Verse 8

Zec 11:8-9. This paragraph should be regarded as a parenthetic statement inserted to indicate God’s abhorrence of his unfaithful feeders. Some of them were so objectionable that He disposed of three of them in one month. The prophet will then resume the general prophecy to show what the new Shepherd was going to do about it.

Verse 10

Zec 11:10. The first thing he did was to break the staff called Beauty which means that the Sinaite covenant was to be canceled.

Verse 11

Zec 11:11. After the old law was canceled, the common Jews finally learned that they would no longer be dependent on the self-righteous leaders for spiritual guidance.

Verse 12

Zec 11:12-13. In order for the old law (here called Beauty) to be broken, It was necessary for Christ to nail it to the cross. And in order for that to happen it was necessary for Him to be betrayed and sold for silver. Hence the prophet Interrupts his story long enough to go back a few hours before the crucifixion to show how it was done, even as it had been predicted according to Matthew 27: 9,10. Hence this paragraph should be regarded as another parenthetic passage on that particular item of the whole transaction, to connect up all the vital parts of God’s great plan.

Verse 14

Zec 11:14. Having nailed the old law to the cross. Christ put an end to the Jewish covenant as a religious rule for the Jew's. In other words, the religious brotherhood for the whole 12 tribes (Judah and Israel) was broken up by the crucifixion which cleared the way for a new religion. (See Romans 10:4.)

Verse 15

Zec 11:15. Having annulled the Jewish religious law, the Lord was ready to give the world a new one. This was to be the Gospel of Christ., and it was to be taken to the people of the world by preachers. In 1 Corinthians 1:21 this Gospel is termed ‘‘the foolishness of preaching” and that is the meaning of our present verse that predicts it with the words instruments of a foolish shepherd.

Verse 16

Zec 11:16. The terms of this verse are those that would describe the treatment of an unfaithful shepherd by his displeased master. The meaning is a prediction that Christ would not seek to restore Judaism, but would con-demn the corrupt Jewish leaders. Matthew 23 gives an extended treatment of this attitude of Christ toward them.

Verse 17

Zec 11:17. This verse is a summing up of the entire chapter. The unfaithful Jewish leaders are condemned to complete rejection.