_Open thy doors, O Lebanon_ The prophet, having signified in the foregoing prophecy that the Jewish nation should recover its prosperity, flourish for some time, and become considerable; and having announced to Zion the coming of Messiah her king, and congratulated her on the peaceable nature and gr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howl, fir-tree_ By the several sorts of trees here mentioned, seem to be meant the several orders and degrees of men, who should be sharers in the common destruction: see Isaiah 2:13; Isaiah 10:33; and the notes. The _fir-tree_ seems to denote the lower people, who are bid to howl because even thei... [ Continue Reading ]
_Feed the flock of the slaughter_ That is, the people, who are so denominated, because they were devoted to ruin by the following mischievous counsels of their false teachers, and the oppressions of their rulers. This command seems to be addressed to Zechariah; but an insuperable objection lies agai... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land_ I will no more spare them than their shepherds do. _The inhabitants of the land_ are to be distinguished from _the poor of the flock_ in the next verse. By the former are meant those who in their respective stations were as wicked as the rulers, chie... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_ Or rather, _but, I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you _ Or, especially you, _O poor of the flock_ Zechariah here, representing Christ the true shepherd, says, he will enter upon his office, and undertake the care of the flock appointed for the slaughter; _even you, O poor of the flock_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Three shepherds also I cut off in one month_ The prophet may be said to do what God did; either in the punishment of certain false prophets, or of certain wicked governors. Some think, that by these three shepherds were figuratively signified the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the Jews. Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said I, will not feed you_ I will no longer exercise a tender paternal care over you; _that that dieth, let it die_ Or rather, _the dying let it die;_ that which has a deadly disease, let it perish by that disease. Or, that which is ready to die, and will not be cured, but hath rejected the sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I took my staff, even Beauty_ Or, _pleasantness_, or _delight._ See note on Zechariah 11:7: emblematical, as of God's favour, gentleness, or kindness to his people, and of the honour and privilege which they possessed in his oracles, instituted worship, and temple; so especially of God's covena... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I said unto them_ Namely, upon parting. The prophet, still personating Christ, or acting as a type of him, reminds the Jews of his concern for their welfare, the care he had taken of them, and the labour he had bestowed on instructing them; and refers it to them whether his services had not des... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then_ As soon as I saw what little value they put upon me, and my pastoral care over them, and services for them; _I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands_ The prophet did this in type, and Christ in reality; _that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel_ That I might declare, or... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord said, Take thee yet_ [or once more] _the instruments of a foolish_ [or unwise] _shepherd_ The prophet, having hitherto represented the good shepherd, is now directed to assume the dress and equipage of one of a contrary character. As folly in the Scripture is equivalent to wickedness,... [ Continue Reading ]
_For lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land_ A shepherd, in the singular number, denotes a succession of such shepherds as are described in the following words. So a succession of priests is represented under the single person of Levi, Malachi 2:5. Since the Jews had rejected the true Shepherd,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wo to the idol shepherd_ Or the shepherd _of nothing_, or _of no value_, as רעי האליל should be translated; he who calls himself the shepherd, ruler, or teacher of the people, but is in reality nothing less. So רפאי אליל, Job 13:4, signifies _physicians of no value. That leaveth the flock_ Who take... [ Continue Reading ]