Christian 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 wither away and his right eye go completely blind!”
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
15The Lord also said to me, “Take the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are perishing, and he will not seek the lost or heal the broken. He will not sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the fat 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 wither away and his right eye go completely blind!”
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
Words taken from the KJV.
- Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- to the idolאֱלִיל'ĕlîyl · idolH457
- shepherdרֹעִיrô‛îy · to shepherdH7473
- that leavethעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
- the flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
- the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- upon his armזְרוֹעַzerôa‛ zerôa‛ zerô‛âh zerô‛âh · armH2220
- and upon his rightיָמִיןyâmîyn · rightH3225
- eyeעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- shall be cleanיָבֵשׁyâbêsh · to witherH3001
- shall be utterlyכָּהָהkâhâh · 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 announce this word there.
- Ezekiel 13:3This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.
- Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?
- Matthew 23:13“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.
- Luke 11:42“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.
- Isaiah 9:15The head is the elder, the honored one; the tail is the prophet, the one teaching lies.
- Isaiah 44:10Who makes a god or casts a metal image that benefits no one?
- Jeremiah 23:32I am against those who prophesy false dreams” — the Lord’s declaration — “telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people” — this is the Lord’s declaration.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:19What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
- John 10:12The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.
- Isaiah 6:9And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.
- Isaiah 29:10For the Lord has poured out on you an overwhelming urge to sleep; he has shut your eyes (the prophets) and covered your heads (the seers).
- Isaiah 42:19Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger I am sending? Who is blind like my dedicated one, or blind like the servant of the Lord?
- Jeremiah 50:35A sword is over the Chaldeans — this is the Lord’s declaration — against those who live in Babylon, against her officials, and against her sages.
- Hosea 4:5You will stumble by day; the prophet will also stumble with you by night. And 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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