New International Version
Zechariah 11:4
4This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.
Zechariah 11:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
- English Standard Version (ESV)Thus said the Lord my God: "Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter,
- New Living Translation (NLT)This is what the Lord my God says: “Go and care for the flock that is intended for slaughter.
Context of Zechariah 11:4
2Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! 3Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined! This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. 5Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”
Read all of Zechariah 11Zechariah 11:4 word by word
כֹּ֥ה אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י רְעֵ֖ה אֶת־צֹ֥אן הַהֲרֵגָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Zechariah 11:4
- Zechariah 14:5You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
- Isaiah 49:4But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
- John 20:17Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
- Ephesians 1:3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
- Zechariah 11:7So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock.
- Isaiah 40:9You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”
- Ezekiel 34:23I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.
- Micah 5:4He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
- Matthew 15:24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
- Matthew 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
- Luke 19:41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
- John 21:15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
- Romans 15:8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed
Commentaries on Zechariah 11:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Feed the flock of the slaughter - This people resemble a flock of sheep fattened for the shambles; feed, instruct, this people who are about to be slaughtered.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Thus saith the Lord my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter - The fulfillment of the whole prophecy shows, that the person addressed is the prophet, not in, or for himself, but (as belongs to symbolic prophecy) as representing Another, our Lord. It is addressed, in the first instance, to Zechariah. For Zechariah is bidden, “take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd” Zechariah 11:15, in words addressed to himself, personally; “And the Lord…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-14Verses 4-14 Christ came into this world for judgment to the Jewish church and nation, which were wretchedly corrupt and degenerate. Those have their minds wofully blinded, who do ill, and justify themselves in it; but God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. How can we go to God to beg a blessing on unlawful methods of getting wealth, or to return thanks for success in them? There was a general decay of religion among them, and they…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The people of Israel are God's flock (see Isaiah 40:11; Micah 5:4). Sheep are helpless, so they need careful shepherding. marked for slaughter: Like sheep fattened for butchering, people are treated as disposable goods in a corrupt economy.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. The prophet here proceeds to show the cause of the destruction just foretold, namely, the rejection of Messiah. flock of ... slaughter--(Psa 44:22). God's people doomed to slaughter by the Romans. Zechariah here represents typically Messiah, and performs in vision the actions enjoined: hence the language is in part appropriate to him, but mainly to the Antitype, Messiah. A million and a half perished in the Jewish war, and one million one hundred…Read the comment
Topics related to Zechariah 11:4
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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