Zacharie 11:3

3 On entend gémir les bergers, car leur magnificence est dévastée; on entend rugir les lionceaux, car la parure du Jourdain est dévastée.

Zacharie 11:3 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 11:3

[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; (See Gill on Jeremiah 49:19). Jordan is here put for the whole land of Judea now wasted, and so its pride and glory gone; as if the waters of Jordan were dried up, the pride and glory of that, and which it showed when its waters swelled and overflowed; hence called by Pliny F24 "ambitiosus amnis", a haughty and ambitious swelling river.
FOOTNOTES:

F24 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 15.

Zacharie 11:3 In-Context

1 Liban, ouvre tes portes, et que le feu dévore tes cèdres!
2 Cyprès, gémissez! Car le cèdre est tombé, car les plus magnifiques sont ravagés. Gémissez, chênes de Bassan! Car la forêt inaccessible est abattue.
3 On entend gémir les bergers, car leur magnificence est dévastée; on entend rugir les lionceaux, car la parure du Jourdain est dévastée.
4 Ainsi a dit l'Éternel mon Dieu: Pais les brebis destinées à la boucherie,
5 Que leurs acheteurs tuent sans être coupables, et dont les vendeurs disent: "Béni soit l'Éternel! je m'enrichis", et qu'aucun de leurs bergers n'épargne.
The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.