Zechariah 11 - The Good Shepherd & the worthless shepherd

Background

Lebanon

• Known for it’s cedar trees, valuable a building material in the Mediterranean world.
• Largest and most majestic of the region’s trees.

Cypress / Juniper

• A type of evergreen fir tree known for its thick foliage. Represent abundance, lofty.

Oaks of Bashan

• Another valuable tree of the region, represent strength & power.

The NET Bible First Edition Notes Notes for 11:7

4 tc For the MT reading לָכֵן עֲנִיֵּי (lakhen ’aniyyey, “therefore the [most] afflicted of”) the LXX presupposes לִכְנַעֲנֵיּי (“to the merchants of”). The line would then read “So I began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter for the sheep merchants” (cf. NAB). This helps to explain the difficult לָכֵן (lakhen) here but otherwise has no attestation or justification, so the MT is followed by most modern English versions.

Bibliography :

1. New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition. 2021. Friendship Press.
2. Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. 2012, 2016. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Devotional meditation

This chapter captures the contrast of the illustration of two kinds of shepherds according to God’s word, first kind was to shepherd the flock doomed to slaughter as they were being exploited their own shepherds which was disposed mentioned as the three shepherds. According to the context of the historical records of the era of the minor & major prophets, the prophets, kings & priests were supposed to be the shepherds of the nation of Judah/Israel. God became impatient with them and His wrath was stirred against them as they sinned against Him, committed idolatry, wickedness & rejected Him. So He broke the covenant with the people that rejected God & him, left them, letting them devour themselves & be destroyed.

In Hebrew, the meaning is uncertain, the Septuagint (LXX) recorded as “sheep merchants”, there’s a more detailed note in NET Bible.

When Zechariah asked them for the wages, it was actually a weighing of how much they actually valued God as their shepherd, in short, they knew that it was God’s words. So how much they valued Him is how much they valued God’s words. 30 shekels of silver in their culture is the price of a slave. That’s how much they valued God.Another mode of reading this chapter includes the typology of Christ, here Zechariah is a type of Christ as it was quoted in Matthew 27:3-10 when Judas betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver & then thrown down at the temple as well.

The situation continued to unfold where God asked Zechariah to be like the worthless shepherd that does not care about the well being of the people. In the last verse of the chapter shows how the worthless shepherd will be despised. As two kinds of shepherd contrast each other, where the Good Shepherd was rejected & the worthless shepherd became powerless & useless, it is to set a stage allowing the next few chapters on the emphasis on the hope of the salvation that comes with the purpose of forgiveness, restoration & redemption. A sobering read in 2026, that God is real, His words

fulfilled, our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed on the cross after being sold for 30 silvers, that He is our only Saviour thru His grace, love & mercy. For believers or leaders, it is a reminder what kind of fruits that God want us to produce by our words & actions which affects not only ourselves but others too. For non believers, it’s a hopeful invitation to accept Jesus Christ as the one true Lord in order to be reconciled to our Father in Heaven.