1.
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
Open, to. Figure of speech Apostrophe. App-6 .
2.
Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
fir = cypress.
for. If the cedar is fallen, how much more the cypress.
the . The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version reads "all the".
mighty = honourable, or majestic ones.
forest of the vintage = the inaccessible forest.
3.
There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
shepherds = the rulers of the State.
young lions . The rapacious nobles.
4.
Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
Thus saith = Thus hath said the Lord. Hebrew. Jehovah . App-4 .
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .
Feed = Tend. Zechariah is to represent a good shepherd, and is sent to the People whose rulers destroyed them (verses: Zechariah 11:5 , Zechariah 11:16 ).
of = exposed to, or destined for slaughter. Genitive of Relation App-17 . Compare Romans 8:36 .
5.
Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
am rich = am become rich, [and therefore can sell them cheaply].
6.
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah's oracle.
men , Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 .
every one. Hebrew. 'ish , App-14 .
7.
And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
And I will feed = So I [Zechariah] tended.
even you, O poor of the flock. Reading the two words (in Hebrew) as one word (with the Septuagint) it should be "for the sheep-traffickers", as in Zechariah 14:21 ("Caaanite").
I took. Compare verses: Zechariah 11:7 , Zechariah 11:10 , Zechariah 11:13 , Zechariah 11:15 with Zechariah 6:10 , Zechariah 6:11 .
staves. Which shepherds use; the crook or staff, and the club. See note on Psalms 23:4 ,
Beauty = Graciousness,
Bands = Union.
8.
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
cut off = sent off. They are unnamed.
soul, Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
9.
Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.
that, &c. = the dying will die.
eat every one, &c.: i.e. destroy one another.
10.
And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it assunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
people = peoples: i.e. here, tribes.
11.
And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
the poor of the flock = the sheep-traflickers; as Zechariah 11:7 .
waited upon = were watching me ( 1Sa 1:12 ; 1 Samuel 19:11 .Psalms 59 , title).
12.
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
price = wage.
thirty pieces of silver. The damages for injury done to a servant. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 21:32 ). This is not the passage referred to in Matthew 27:9 . Sec App-161 . That was "spoken" by Jeremiah; this was written by Zechariah.
13.
And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
Cast it. As in Genesis 21:15 . 2 Chronicles 24:10 . unto the potter. The Syriac reads "into the treasury".
potter = fashioner. The material cast to, so as to be used by, the fashioner determines the meaning of the word (Hebrew. yazar) . If clay, then a potter (Jeremiah 18:4 ; Jeremiah 19:1 ). If stone, then a jeweller, or mason (Ex. Zec 28:11 , 2 Samuel 5:11 ; 1 Chronicles 22:15 ). If wood, then a carpenter (1 Samuel 5:11 . 2Ki 12:11 . 1 Chronicles 14:1 .Isaiah 44:13; Isaiah 44:13 ). If iron, then a smith (2 Chronicles 24:12 .Isaiah 44:12; Isaiah 44:12 ). If gold, then a goldsmith (Hosea 8:6 ). If silver, then a silversmith (Hosea 13:2 ). The casting of silver to a potter was as incongruous as casting clay to a silversmith. See App-161 .
goodly = ample. Used of a wide garment. There is no evidence of irony here or elsewhere in Zechariah. The Hebrew 'eder denotes size and amplitude, as in Jonah 3:6 and Micah 2:8 .
prised = priced.
of them : i.e. by them. But some codices read "by you
14.
Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15.
And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
instruments = implements.
foolish = worthless. Judah and Israel had rejected these, and later on they rejected Messiah the good Shepherd; hence the threatening in Zechariah 11:16-17 .
16.
For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 , This Looks forward to the Antichrist; for one of his titles is "the idol shepherd "of Zechariah 11:17 .
those that be cut off = the perishing.
the young one = the straying.
that that is broken = the wounded.
feed = nourish.
that standeth still = the weak.
17.
Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
idol = idol's. For the sequel to this prophecy see Zechariah 13:7-9 .
clean dried up = withered.
darkened = blinded.