Zechariah 11:4

Feed the flock of the slaughter— Or the flock prepared for slaughter. That flock is so described in the next verse, as to make it evident that a flock not of sheep, but of men, is meant, and consequently an allegorical shepherd. Zechariah was not only of a priestly family, but one of the chief priests; supposing him to be, as it is most likely he was, the person mentioned Nehemiah 12:16. It belonged therefore to his station and office to take upon himself the guidance and instruction of the people. For, as his contemporary Malachi observes, ch. Zechariah 2:7. The priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth. Compare Deuteronomy 30:10; Deuteronomy 33:10. Jeremiah 18:18; Jeremiah 18:23. The people are denominated the flock of slaughter, because they were devoted to ruin by following the mischievous counsels of their false teachers.