Zechariah 11:17

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

15Then the Lord said to me, “Use the equipment of a foolish shepherd again. 16I’m about to place a shepherd in the land. He will not take care of those that are dying. He will not search for the young. He will not heal those that have broken their legs or support those that can still stand. But he will eat the meat of the fat animals and tear off their hoofs. “How horrible it will be for the foolish shepherd who abandoned the sheep. A sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered. His right eye will be completely blind.”

Zechariah 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 to the palace of the king of Judah, and speak this message there:
• Ezekiel 13:3“ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: How horrible it will be for the foolish prophets. They follow their own ideas, and they have seen nothing.
• Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy to these shepherds. Tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: How horrible it will be for the shepherds of Israel who have been taking care of only themselves. Shouldn’t shepherds take care of the sheep?
• Matthew 23:13“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter it yourselves, and you don’t permit others to enter when they try.
• Luke 11:42“How horrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give ⌞God⌟ one-tenth of your mint, spices, and every garden herb. But you have ignored justice and the love of God. You should have done these things without ignoring the others.
• Isaiah 9:15Respected and honored leaders are the head. Prophets who teach lies are the tail.
• Isaiah 44:10Nothing comes from making gods or casting metal idols.
• Jeremiah 23:32I’m against those who prophesy dreams they made up,” declares the Lord. “They tell the dreams they made up and lead my people astray with their lies and their wild talk. I didn’t send them or command them to go. They don’t help these people at all,” declares the Lord.
• 1 Corinthians 8:4Now about eating food that was offered to false gods: We know that the false gods in this world don’t really exist and that no god exists except the one God.
• 1 Corinthians 10:19Do I mean that an offering made to a false god is anything, or that a false god itself is anything?
• John 10:12A hired hand isn’t a shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep. When he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and quickly runs away. So the wolf drags the sheep away and scatters the flock.
• Isaiah 6:9And he said, “Go and tell these people, ‘No matter how closely you listen, you’ll never understand. No matter how closely you look, you’ll never see.’
• Isaiah 29:10The Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He will shut your eyes. (Your eyes are the prophets.) He will cover your heads. (Your heads are the seers.)
• Isaiah 42:19Who is blind except my servant or deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one who has my trust or blind like the servant of the Lord?
• Jeremiah 50:35“A sword will kill the Babylonians and everyone who lives in Babylon,” declares the Lord. “A sword will kill their officials and their wise men.
• Hosea 4:5During the day you stumble, and during the night the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother, ⌞the nation of Israel⌟.

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

• Children
• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Weigh
• Bible, the
• Clean
• Eye
• Salvation
• Shepherd
• Zechariah, Book of

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