Zechariah · chapter 11 of 14
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Zechariah 11 begins with a lament over the cedars of Lebanon and the ruined shepherds, and then presents a symbolic act: the prophet becomes the shepherd of a flock doomed for slaughter, takes two staffs named Favor and Union, and the flock rejects him. His wages are thirty pieces of silver, which he throws into the house of the Lord to the potter. Matthew 27:9-10 relates that passage to the price of Jesus' betrayal.
This is one of the most difficult chapters of Zechariah, because it combines a poetic lament, a symbolic act by the prophet and a warning about a worthless shepherd. In the context of chapters 9 to 14, the people have a humble king (chapter 9) and a God who gathers them (chapter 10), but they also have a history of leaders who exploit them and of a flock that rejects its shepherd.
The chapter opens with a call to Lebanon: open your doors so that fire may devour your cedars. The cypress and the oaks of Bashan wail, for the thick forest has fallen. The shepherds wail, for their glory is ruined. The Lord tells the prophet to shepherd the flock doomed to slaughter. Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished, and their sellers say, blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich; their own shepherds have no pity on them. The Lord will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land, but will give each one into the hand of his neighbor and of his king.
The prophet shepherds the flock doomed to slaughter, and takes two staffs: one he names Favor and the other Union. In one month he destroys three shepherds, for the flock grows weary of him and he becomes impatient with them. He says he will not shepherd them; let what is to die, die. He breaks the staff Favor, annulling the covenant he had made with all the peoples. The oppressed of the flock who were watching him recognize that it is the word of the Lord.
Then he asks the owners, if it seems good to them, to give him his wages, and if not, to keep them. They weigh out as his wages thirty pieces of silver. The Lord tells him to throw it to the potter, the lordly price at which he was priced by them; he takes the thirty pieces and throws them into the house of the Lord to the potter. Then he breaks the second staff, Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Finally, the Lord tells him to take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd: he will raise up in the land a shepherd who does not care for the perishing, nor seek the scattered, nor heal the injured, but devours the flesh of the fat ones. Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock: the sword will strike his arm and his right eye.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord commands the prophet to shepherd the flock doomed to slaughter. God orders the care of a people whose own leaders have handed them over to death, and so the prophet acts out the part of the true shepherd.
The prophet asks for his wages and they weigh out thirty pieces of silver. The price is an insult: it is the value of a servant, and it shows how little the flock esteems its shepherd.
The Lord orders the silver thrown to the potter, and the prophet throws it into the house of the Lord. Matthew 27:9-10 relates this act to the thirty pieces Judas received, which were used to buy the potter's field, and attributes the quotation to Jeremiah, probably because it joins ideas from Jeremiah 18, 19 and 32.
Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock: the sword will strike his arm and his right eye. Judgment falls on the leader who serves himself and leaves the people unprotected.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The sheep doomed to slaughter. — Zechariah 11:4
Answer: Favor and Union. — Zechariah 11:7
Answer: Three shepherds. — Zechariah 11:8
Answer: Thirty pieces of silver. — Zechariah 11:12
Answer: He throws them into the house of the Lord to the potter. — Zechariah 11:13
Answer: The brotherhood between Judah and Israel. — Zechariah 11:14
Zechariah 11 is a painful chapter, but a useful one for those who lead. A shepherd can care for or exploit, and the text shows what happens when leaders use the flock for themselves. In a class or small group you can pray for the leaders of the church and reflect on how to care for the vulnerable.
It is also moving to see a rejected shepherd who receives a ridiculous payment. Christians see in this a foreshadowing of the rejection of Jesus, the good shepherd, who nevertheless gave his life for the sheep. It is an invitation to value the shepherd who cares for us at such cost.
Zechariah 11 shows the rejection of the shepherd and the woe on the worthless shepherd. Chapters 12 to 14 return to a tone of hope and final judgment: the Lord defends Jerusalem, pours out a spirit of grace, and in the end reigns over all the earth.
Matthew 27:3-10 tells that Judas returned the thirty pieces of silver and that the potter's field was bought with them, and relates this to what the prophet said. The Gospels see in the rejected shepherd and his wages an announcement of what happened with Jesus.
Matthew 27:9 names Jeremiah, though the closest text is Zechariah 11:12-13. It is usually explained that Matthew joins several texts, including Jeremiah's visit to the potter (Jeremiah 18:1-4), the purchase of a field (Jeremiah 32:6-9) and Zechariah, and names the major prophet.
Favor represents God's protection over his people and his covenant with the nations; Union represents the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. Breaking them means that, after rejecting the shepherd, the people lose both blessings.