Zechariah 11:13-17

11:13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum ¹  at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter ²  at the temple ³  of the Lord. 11:14 Then I cut the second staff “Binders” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

11:15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ⁴  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. ⁵  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ⁶  and tear off their hooves.

11:17 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!”

[11:13]  ¹ tn Heb “splendor of splendor” (אֶדֶר הַיְקָר, ’eder hayqar). This expression sarcastically draws attention to the incredibly low value placed upon the Lord’s redemptive grace by his very own people.

[11:13]  ² tn The Syriac presupposes הָאוֹצָר (ha’otsar, “treasury”) for the MT הַיּוֹצֵר (hayyotser, “potter”) perhaps because of the lack of evidence for a potter’s shop in the area of the temple. The Syriac reading is followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV. Matthew seems to favor this when he speaks of Judas having thrown the thirty shekels for which he betrayed Jesus into the temple treasury (27:5-6). However, careful reading of the whole gospel pericope makes it clear that the money actually was used to purchase a “potter’s field,” hence Zechariah’s reference to a potter. The MT reading is followed by most other English versions.

[11:13]  ³ tn Heb “house” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:15]  ⁴ 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).

[11:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

[11:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”