Zechariah 11:5

Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. WHOSE POSSESSORS SLAY THEM, AND HOLD THEMSELVES NOT GUILTY. Translate [ qoneeyhen (H7069), from qaanaah (H7069), to buy], the buyers (Maurer, Vatablus, Drusius), their Roman oppressors, contrasted with "they that sell them." The Romans, as being the instruments of God's righteous judgment, did "not hold themselves guilty" (Jeremiah 50:7, "All their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice; even the Lord, the hope of their fathers"). It is meant that they might use this plea,...

He afterwards adds another circumstance, which shows still further the wonderful and ineffable goodness of God, — that he had been a shepherd of a flock, which had not only been harassed by wolves and robbers, but also by its own shepherds. In short, the import of the whole is, — that though wolves and robbers had ranged with great barbarity among the people, yet God had always been their shepherd. He then enlarges on the subject and says, that they who _possessed them _had _killed _them, so that they spared not. By these words the Prophet shows that the safety of the people had been deemed as nothing by their very leaders: they could not then by any excellence of their own have induced God to show so much kindness to them. But these words ought to be attentively noticed, — that when the flock was slain, the executioners or butchers themselves had no mercy, for they thought it was a spoi...

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 regarded it not. The Good Shepherd would feed his flock, but his attention would chiefly be directed to the poor. As an emblem, the prophet seems to have taken two staves; Beauty, denoted the privileges of the Jewish nation, in their national covenant; the other he called Bands, denoting the harmony which hitherto united them as the flock of God. But they chose to cleave to false teachers. The carnal mind and the friendship of the world are enmity...

Verse Zechariah 11:5. _WHOSE POSSESSORS_] Governors and false prophets, _slay_ _them_, by leading them to those things that will bring them to destruction. _AND THEY THAT SELL THEM_] Give them up to idolatry; and bless God, strange to tell, that they get _secular advantage_ by the establishment of this _false religion_....

WHOSE POSSESSORS - (buyers) slay them and hold themselves not guilty, rather, are not guilty either in their own eyes, or in the sight of God, since He gave them up and would no more avenge them. They contract no guilt. Aforetime God said; “Israel was holiness to the Lord, the first-fruits of His increase; all that devour him shall be guilty: evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord” Jeremiah 2:3. Now God reversed this, as He said by the same prophet, “My people hath been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; all that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries say, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, yea, the hope of their fathers, the Lord” Jeremiah 50

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

WHOSE POSSESSORS SLAY THEM, AND HOLD THEMSELVES NOT GUILTY,.... Not the Romans after Christ came, into whose hands they were delivered, and by whom they were slain in great numbers, not accounting it any sin to put them to death; but the priests, Scribes, Pharisees, and doctors, among the Jews, who ruined and destroyed their souls, by feeding them with poisonous doctrines; teaching them the commandments of men, and to observe the traditions of the elders; and to seek for life and salvation by the works of the law, which was a ministration of condemnation and death to them; and yet thought they did God and the souls of men good service: AND THEY THAT SELL THEM; as false teachers make merchandise of the souls of men: SAY, BLESSED [BE] THE LORD, FOR I AM RICH; having devoured widows' houses and substances, under a pretence of long prayers; and enriched themselves through tithes of everyth...

Zechariah 11:4. _Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;_ This is a deep prophecy. It may be interpreted concerning many events, but I think it primarily refers to the departure of the people of Israel from God, and their rejection of Christ. It has to do with the first coming of Christ, and the way in which they cast off the great Shepherd, and he cast them off, so that Israel was simply spoiled and scattered throughout the whole earth. The teachers of those days were false to their service. Zechariah 11:5. _Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not._ They bound heavy burdens upon them, grievous to be borne, but they to

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

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH IN FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. The author here assumes the rô le of the chief actor in the events he is describing, and speaks in the first person. Unlike Zechariah, but in accordance with the custom of the later apocalyptic school, he does not mention by name the personages to whom he refers. They must, however, have been easily recognisable by his readers. We have here a soliloquy spoken by one who plays the part of the chief shepherd, _i.e._ ruler of Israel. This ruler is not, however, supreme, for he mentions those who buy and sell the sheep, and also the sheep's own shepherds, who are evidently Jews like himself. Unfortunately the text is not only corrupt, but also mutilated; for the three shepherds are mentioned as though they had been previously described; while some reference to the sheep must originally have stood between Zechariah 11:8_ a_ and...