Zechariah 11:3

There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. THERE IS A VOICE OF THE HOWLING OF THE SHEPHERDS - "the shepherds" are the Jewish rulers. FOR THEIR GLORY IS SPOILED - their wealth and magnificence; or that of the temple, which was regarded by the Jews as preeminently "their glory" (; ). A VOICE OF THE ROARING OF YOUNG LIONS. The princes are so described on account of their cruel rapacity. FOR THE PRIDE OF JORDAN IS SPOILED - i:e., its thickly wooded banks, the lair of "lions" (;...

He then adds, _The voice of the howling of shepherds; for their excellency_, or their courage, is laid waste. Here he has אדר, _ader_, and before אדירים, _adirim_, in the masculine gender. We see then that the Prophet confirms the same thing in other words, “Howl now,” he says, “shall the shepherds.” He intimates that the beginning of this dreadful judgment would be with the chief men, as they were especially the cause of the public ruin. He then says, that the dignity of the great was now approaching its fall, and hence he bids them to howl. He does not in these words exhort them to repentance, but follows the same strain of doctrine. By God’s command he here declares, that the shepherds who took pride in their power, could not escape the judgment which they had deserved: and as this is a mode of speaking usually adopted by the Prophets, I shall no longer dwell on the subject. He afterw...

1-3 In figurative expressions, that destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish church and nation, is foretold, which our Lord Jesus, when the time was at hand, prophesied plainly and expressly. How can the fir trees stand, if the cedars fall? The falls of the wise and good into sin, and the falls of the rich and great into trouble, are loud alarms to those every way their inferiors. It is sad with a people, when those who should be as shepherds to them, are as young lions. The pride of Jordan was the thickets on the banks; and when the river overflowed the banks, the lions came up from them roaring. Thus the doom of Jerusalem may alarm other churches....

Verse Zechariah 11:3. _YOUNG LIONS_] Princes and rulers. By _shepherds, kings_ or _priests_ may be intended....

A VOICE OF THE HOWLING OF THE SHEPHERDS, FOR THEIR GLORY IS SPOILED - It echoes on from Jeremiah before the captivity, “Howl, ye shepherds - A voice of the cry of the shepherds. and an howling of the principal of the flock; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture” Jeremiah 25:34, Jeremiah 25:36. There is one chorus of desolation, the mighty and the lowly; the shepherds and the young lions; what is at other times opposed is joined in one wailing. “The pride of Jordan” are the stately oaks on its banks, which shroud it from sight, until you reach its edges, and which, after the captivity of the ten tribes, became the haunt of lions and their chief abode in Palestine, “on account of the burning heat, and the nearness of the desert, and the breadth of the vast solitude and

EXPOSITION ZECHARIAH 11:13 § 8. Restoration to their own land and material prosperity do not free the Israelites from probation or trouble. The prophet, therefore, darkens his late picture with some gloomy shadows. _The Holy Land is threatened with judgment _(Zechariah 11:1). ZECHARIAH 11:1 OPEN THY DOORS, O LEBANON. The prophet graphically portrays the punishment that is to fall upon the people. The sin that occasions this chastisement, viz. the rejection of their Shepherd and King, is denounced later (§ 9). Lebanon stood in the path of an invader from the north, whence most hostile armies entered Palestine. The "doo

[THERE IS] A VOICE OF THE HOWLING OF THE SHEPHERDS,.... Which may be understood either of the civil rulers among the Jews, who now lose their honour and their riches; and so the Targum, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra, interpret it of kings; or of the ecclesiastical rulers, the elders of the people, the Scribes and Pharisees: FOR THEIR GLORY IS SPOILED; their power and authority; their riches and wealth; their places of honour and profit; their offices, posts, and employments, whether in civil or religious matters, are taken from them, and they are deprived of them: A VOICE OF THE ROARING OF YOUNG LIONS; of princes, comparable to them for their power, tyranny, and cruelty: the Targum is, "their roaring is as the roaring of young lions:'' FOR THE PRIDE OF JORDAN IS SPOILED; a place where lions and their young ones resorted, as Jarchi observes;...

CHAPTER 11 _ 1. The judgment of the land, the temple and the slaughter of the flock (Zechariah 11:1) _ 2. The true shepherd set aside and rejected (Zechariah 11:7) 3. The foolish shepherd (Zechariah 11:15) Zechariah 11:1. This chapter presents a dark prophetic picture. We have seen in the preceding Chapter s the blessings and mercies in store for the Israel of the future. The visions and prophecies have revealed their national and spiritual restoration, the overthrow of their enemies, the destruction of the world-powers, the establishment of the theocracy and the blessings of the k

The strongholds of the Syro-Greek empire are taunted with the failure of their power. The cedars of Lebanon and the oaks of Bashan are a constant metaphor for that which is lofty and powerful (_cf._ Isaiah 2:13). For the strong forest a probable correction is the forest of Bozrah, _i.e._ not the Edomite town but the Bosora of 1Ma_5:26, the modern Buṣ? râ, 22 miles SE. of Edrei. The shepherds and, with a change of metaphor, the young lions are the heathen rulers. The pride of Jordan here and elsewhere means the luxuriant vegetation of the Jordan valley which afforded cover for the wild beasts. The passage means that the heathen rulers may howl in sorrow and anguish, since their strongholds can no longer protect them....

SHEPHERDS. the rulers of the State. YOUNG LIONS. The rapacious nobles....