Zechariah 11:2

fir tree or cypress. It is uncertain what tree is meant. See Dict. of Bible, Art. "Cypress."

for the cedar is fallen Grand trees as were the firs, or cypresses, the cedars were grander still. The fall therefore of the latter might well make the former howl in despair at their own assured fate. "Nam si cedris haud parcitur, aliis arboribus, quæ minoris quam illæ pretii sunt, multo minus parcetur." Rosenm.

the mighty i.e. the mighty trees, "præstantes scil. arbores, cedri," Rosenm., who compares, "a goodlycedar," Ezekiel 17:23, where the Heb. word is the same. Possibly, however (especially as the clause is additional or parenthetical and mars the symmetry of the parallelism), it is thrown in to suggest the figurative or allegorical reference to the rulers and chiefs of Israel which lies behind and goes together with the literal reference. The goodly ones, R. V.

Bashan Compare the association of "Gilead and Lebanon," chap. Zechariah 10:10. "From the heights of Lebanon the destructive storm sweeps down on the land of Bashan, and the oaks, the pride of the land (with their kindly shade from the burning heat), are likewise felled by the enemy to meet the wants of the invading army, and to construct his means of offence and defence." Wright.

forest of the vintage Rather, inaccessible forest.