Zechariah 11:1

1 Thou Lebanon, open thy gates, and (then the) fire shall eat thy cedars.

Zechariah 11:1 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 11:1

Open thy doors, O Lebanon
By which may be meant, either the temple of Jerusalem, which was built of the cedars of Lebanon;

``the gates of which are said ^F23 to open of themselves forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, when Jochanan ben Zaccai, who lived at the same time, rebuked them, saying, O temple, temple, wherefore dost thou frighten thyself? I know thine end is to be destroyed; for so prophesied Zechariah, the son of Iddo, concerning thee, "open thy doors, O Lebanon".''

So Lebanon, in ( Zechariah 10:10 ) , is interpreted of the sanctuary, both by the Targum and by Jarchi; or else it may be understood of Jerusalem, and of the whole land of Judea, because it was situated by it; it was the border of it on the north side. That the fire may devour thy cedars;
of which the temple was built, and the houses of Jerusalem, which were consumed by fire; unless the fortresses of the land are meant. So the Targum paraphrases it,

``and the fire shall consume your fortresses.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 39. 2.

Zechariah 11:1 In-Context

1 Thou Lebanon, open thy gates, and (then the) fire shall eat thy cedars.

2 Yell, thou fir tree, for the cedar fell down, for great men be destroyed; yell, ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is cut down.

3 The voice of yelling of shepherds, for the great worship of them is destroyed; the voice of roaring of lions, for the pride of Jordan is wasted. (The sound of the yelling of the shepherds, or of the leaders, for their great glory is destroyed; the sound of the roaring of the lions, for the thickets of Jordan be destroyed.)

4 My Lord God saith these things, Feed thou beasts of slaughter, (The Lord my God saith these things, Feed thou the beasts for slaughter,)

5 which they that wielded slew; and sorrowed not, and sold them, and they said, Blessed be the Lord, we be made rich. And the shepherds of them spared not them, (which they who possessed them killed; and they did not have any sorrow, or any regret, and they sold them, and they said, Blessed be the Lord, for we be made rich. And their shepherds did not spare them,)