Berean Standard Bible
Zechariah 11:17
17Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
Zechariah 11:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
- New International Version (NIV)“Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!”
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”
Context of Zechariah 11:17
15And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves. Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
Read all of Zechariah 11Zechariah 11:17 word by word
ה֣וֹי רֹעִ֤י הָֽאֱלִיל֙ עֹזְבִ֣י הַצֹּ֔אן חֶ֥רֶב עַל־זְרוֹע֖וֹ וְעַל־עֵ֣ין יְמִינ֑וֹ זְרֹעוֹ֙ יָב֣וֹשׁ תִּיבָ֔שׁ וְעֵ֥ין יְמִינ֖וֹ כָּהֹ֥ה תִכְהֶֽה׃ סRead the interlinear
- Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- to the worthlessאֱלִיל'ĕlîyl · idolH457
- shepherdרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
- who desertsעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
- the flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
- May a swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- May a swordעַל‛al · uponH5921
- strike his armזְרוֹעַzerôa‛ zerôa‛ zerô‛âh zerô‛âh · armH2220
- and his rightיָמִיןyâmîyn · rightH3225
- eyeעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- be completely witheredיָבֵשׁyâbêsh · to witherH3001
- utterly blindedכָּהָהkâhâh · to grow dimH3543
Cross-references for Zechariah 11:17
- Jeremiah 22:1This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there,
- Ezekiel 13:3This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit yet have seen nothing.
- Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?
- Matthew 23:13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- Luke 11:42Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
- Isaiah 9:15The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
- Isaiah 44:10Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?
- Jeremiah 23:32“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- 1 Corinthians 10:19Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
- John 10:12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.
- Isaiah 6:9And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Isaiah 29:10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Isaiah 42:19Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
- Jeremiah 50:35A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.
- Hosea 4:5You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother—
Commentaries on Zechariah 11:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Wo to the idol shepherd - האליל רעי roi haelil, "the worthless," or "good for nothing shepherd." The shepherd in name and office, but not performing the work of one. See John 10:11. The sword shall be upon his arm - Punishment shall be executed upon the wicked Jews, and especially their wicked kings and priests. See Zechariah 11:16. Arm - the secular power; right eye - the ecclesiastical state. His arm shall be clean dried up - The secular power shall be…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Woe to the idol shepherd - (A shepherd of nothingness, one who hath no quality of a shepherd;) “who leaveth the flock.” The condemnation of the evil shepherd is complete in the abandonment of the sheep; as our Lord says, “He that is an hireling and not the Shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling and…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-17Verses 15-17 God, having showed the misery of this people in their being justly left by the Good Shepherd, shows their further misery in being abused by foolish shepherds. The description suits the character Christ gives of the scribes and Pharisees. They never do any thing to support the weak, or comfort the feeble-minded; but seek their own ease, while they are barbarous to the flock. The idol shepherd has the garb and appearance of a shepherd, receives…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17This oracle of woe is a poetic curse against the worthless shepherd for abandoning the flock. The arm and right eye represent the physical and mental abilities of the shepherd. The injured arm and blinded eye leave the worthless shepherd without strength or vision. These wounds bring his selfish and harmful rule to an end.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. the idol--The Hebrew expresses both vanity and an idol. Compare Is 14:13; Da 11:36; 2Th 2:4; Re 13:5, 6, as to the idolatrous and blasphemous claims of Antichrist. The "idol shepherd that leaveth the flock" cannot apply to Rome, but to some ruler among the Jews themselves, at first cajoling, then "leaving" them, nay, destroying them (Da 9:27; 11:30-38). God's sword shall descend on his "arm," the instrument of his tyranny towards the sheep (2Th 2:8)…Read the comment
Topics related to Zechariah 11:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Zechariah 11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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