Zechariah 7:11

11 But they would not give attention, turning their backs and stopping their ears from hearing;

Zechariah 7:11 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 7:11

But they refused to hearken
. That is, the Jews, before the captivity, refusal to give heed to the above exhortations, and obey the voice of God in them: and pulled away the shoulder;
from serving the Lord, and supporting his interest: or "they gave", or presented, "a rebellious shoulder" {f}; a refractory one, that slides back, like a backsliding or refractory heifer, that will not admit of the yoke, ( Hosea 4:16 ) so these could not bear the yoke of the law, nor the burden of duty; nor suffer the words of exhortation, or receive the admonitions given them: and stopped their ears, that they should not hear;
like the deaf adder, ( Psalms 58:4 Psalms 58:5 ) they would not hear, and pretended they could not; which was an instance of contempt to the speakers.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (trro Ptk) "scapulam aversam", Pagninus; "deflectentem", Montanus; "rebellem", Munster, Tigurine version; "refractarium", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Ben Melech.

Zechariah 7:11 In-Context

9 This is what the Lord of armies has said: Let your judging be upright and done in good faith, let every man have mercy and pity for his brother:

10 Do not be hard on the widow, or the child without a father, on the man from a strange country, or on the poor; let there be no evil thought in your heart against your brother.

11 But they would not give attention, turning their backs and stopping their ears from hearing;

12 And they made their hearts like the hardest stone, so that they might not give ear to the law and the words which the Lord of armies had said by the earlier prophets: and there came great wrath from the Lord of armies.

13 And it came about that as they would not give ear to his voice, so I would not give ear to their voice, says the Lord of armies: