# Zechariah 11 📖: The Rejected Shepherd
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#💬 Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#🔗 Related Passages]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#📂 Internal Notes]]
## 📜 Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings
[[#Verse 01.]] Open your gates, Lebanon,
so that the fire may consume your cedars.
[[#Verse 02.]] Howl, fir tree,
because the cedar has fallen;
the majestic trees have been destroyed.
Howl, oaks of Bashan,
because the impenetrable forest has fallen.
[[#Verse 03.]] Listen to the howling of shepherds,
because their magnificence has been destroyed.
Listen to the roaring of young lions,
because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.
[[#Verse 04.]] The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter.
[[#Verse 05.]] Those who buy them slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.
[[#Verse 06.]]Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land,” says the Lord, “but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”
[[#Verse 07.]] So I began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted of all the flock. Then I took two staffs, calling one “Pleasantness” and the other “Union,” and I tended the flock.
[[#Verse 08.]] Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month, for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well.
[[#Verse 09.]] I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”
[[#Verse 10.]] Then I took my staff “Pleasantness” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people.
[[#Verse 11.]] So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that it was the Lord’s message.
[[#Verse 12.]] Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it.” So they weighed out my payment—thirty pieces of silver.
[[#Verse 13.]] The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the temple of the Lord.
[[#Verse 14.]] Then I cut the second staff “Union” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
[[#Verse 15.]] Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
[[#Verse 16.]] Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed of the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy, but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves.
[[#Verse 17.]] “Woe to the worthless shepherd who abandons the flock!
May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!
May his arm wither completely away,
and his right eye become completely blind!”
## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. The cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan (11:1-2) were the most famous trees of the region.
2. Zechariah acts out a prophetic drama as a shepherd of a flock doomed to slaughter (11:4).
3. The two staffs are named Favor (or Grace) and Union (11:7).
4. The three shepherds removed in one month (11:8) are among the most debated details in Zechariah.
5. Thirty pieces of silver (11:12) was the price paid for a slave gored by an ox (Exodus 21:32).
6. Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:15).
7. Matthew 27:9-10 cites this event under Jeremiah's name, likely because Matthew blends Zechariah with themes from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 19; 32).
8. The priests used Judas's returned silver to buy the potter's field (Matthew 27:6-7).
9. Breaking the staff named Union (11:14) pictured broken unity between Judah and Israel.
10. The worthless shepherd's arm withers and right eye goes blind (11:17), removing his strength and sight.
## 🧠 Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the Good Shepherd who was valued at thirty pieces of silver (11:12-13). Judas sold Him for that price, and the money bought a potter's field (Matthew 26:15; 27:9-10).
## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## 💬 Discussion Questions
1. The flock detested the shepherd, and he grew weary of them (11:8). What does this teach about rejecting God's care?
2. The shepherd was paid thirty pieces of silver, which God sarcastically calls a "magnificent price" (11:12-13). How does this show how cheaply people valued the Lord?
3. Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock (11:17). What should we look for in godly leaders?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- 📖 verse 7: The shepherd took two staffs, named Favor and Union, and shepherded the flock.
- 📖 verses 12-13: They weighed out thirty pieces of silver as his wages, and he threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
- 📖 verse 17: Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock.
## 🔗 Related Passages
- 🔗 [[Matthew 26#Verse 14.|Matthew 26:14-16]] - Judas agrees to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins.
- 🔗 [[Matthew 27#Verse 03.|Matthew 27:3-10]] - The potter's field.
- 🔗 [[John 10#Verse 11.|John 10:11-12]] - The Good Shepherd and the hired hand.
- 🔗 [[Exodus 21#Verse 32.|Exodus 21:32]] - Thirty shekels, the price of a slave.
- 🔗 [[Ezekiel 34#Verse 02.|Ezekiel 34:2-10]] - Woe to false shepherds.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
📝 SOAP: [[Zechariah 11- SOAP|The Good Shepherd]]
## 📂 Internal Notes