Zechariah 13:5

5 He will say: I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man purchased^[a] me as a servant since my youth.^[b]

Zechariah 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 13:5

But he shall say, I [am] no prophet
That he is not of the Romish clergy, or of any of their religious orders, having laid aside his habit: I [am] an husbandman;
he shall put on the habit of a husbandman, and work for his bread; for he will not be able to support himself, as before, with the sale of pardons and indulgences, and by praying souls out of purgatory; for no man hereafter will buy of his merchandise, ( Revelation 18:11 ) and he will be ashamed of his former calling and traffic, and will not own that he was ever concerned therein; but will affirm that he was never of the Romish clergy, but always a layman, and employed in husbandry: for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth;
he will say he was brought up to husbandry, or in some mechanic business, from his youth, and never was in any convent or monastery, or of any religious order: it may be rendered, "for man made me to work from my youth" ^F21; and is not to be restrained to keeping cattle, or any particular employment.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (ynnqh) "fecerunt me operari", Noldius; "homo operari fecit me", De Dieu, Burkius.

Zechariah 13:5 In-Context

3 If a man still prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him: You cannot remain alive because you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord. When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through.

4 On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.

5 He will say: I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man purchased me as a servant since my youth.

6 If someone asks him: What are these wounds on your chest?-then he will answer: The wounds I received in the house of my friends.

7 Sword, awake against My shepherd, against the man who is My associate- the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will also turn My hand against the little ones.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or sold
• [b]. Am 7:14