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Text -- Zechariah 11:1-12 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings
11:1 Open your gates , Lebanon , so that the fire may consume your cedars .
11:2 Howl , fir tree, because the cedar has fallen ; the majestic trees have been destroyed . Howl , oaks of Bashan , because the impenetrable forest has fallen .
11:3 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 .
11:4 The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter .
11:5 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.
11:6 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.”
11:7 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 “Binders,” and I tended the flock .
11:8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month , for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well .
11:9 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 !”
11:10 Then I took my staff “Pleasantness ” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people .
11:11 So it was annulled that very day , and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that that was the word of the Lord .
11:12 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 .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Israel |
ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF |
Staves |
Cedar |
SWELLING |
Symbols and Similitudes |
Minister |
Bashan |
Beauty and Bands |
SHEPHERD |
PIECE OF SILVER |
Jesus, The Christ |
Money |
Quotations and Allusions |
Poor |
TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT |
Judas |
OAK |
ASUNDER |
BAND |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Zec 11:1 In this poetic section, plants and animals provide the imagery for rulers, especially evil ones (cf. respectively Isa 10:33-34; Ezek 31:8; Amos 2:9; N...
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NET Notes: Zec 11:5 The expression those who buy them appears to be a reference to the foreign nations to whom Israel’s own kings “sold” their subjects....
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NET Notes: Zec 11:7 The name of the second staff, Binders, refers to the relationship between Israel and Judah (cf. v. 14).
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NET Notes: Zec 11:8 Zechariah is only dramatizing what God had done historically (see the note on the word “cedars” in 11:1). The “one month” prob...
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