56:10 All their watchmen 1 are blind,
they are unaware. 2
All of them are like mute dogs,
unable to bark.
They pant, 3 lie down,
and love to snooze.
8:22 There is still medicinal ointment 4 available in Gilead!
There is still a physician there! 5
Why then have my dear people 6
not been restored to health? 7
11:15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 8 11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. 9 Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep 10 and tear off their hooves.
1 sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.
2 tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”
3 tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.
4 tn Heb “balm.” The more familiar “ointment” has been used in the translation, supplemented with the adjective “medicinal.”
5 tn Heb “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” In this context the questions are rhetorical and expect a positive answer, which is made explicit in the translation.
6 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
7 tn Or more clearly, “restored to spiritual health”; Heb “Why then has healing not come to my dear people?”
8 sn The grammar (e.g., the incipient participle מֵקִים, maqim, “about to raise up,” v. 16) and overall sense of vv. 15-17 give the incident a future orientation. Zechariah once more is role-playing but this time he is a “foolish” shepherd, i.e., one who does not know God and who is opposed to him (cf. Prov 1:7; 15:5; 20:3; 27:22). The individual who best represents this eschatological enemy of God and his people is the Antichrist (cf. Matt 24:5, 24; 2 Thess 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).
9 tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).
10 tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”
11 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
12 tn Or “because they had been bewildered and helpless.” The translational issue is whether the perfect participles are predicate (as in the text) or are pluperfect periphrastic (the alternate translation). If the latter, the implication would seem to be that the crowds had been in such a state until the Great Shepherd arrived.
13 tn Or “straighten.”
14 sn A quotation from Isa 35:3. Strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees refers to the readers’ need for renewed resolve and fresh strength in their struggles (cf. Heb 10:36-39; 12:1-3).