Zechariah 11:17

17 A! the shepherd, and idol, forsaking the flock; sword on his arm, and on his right eye; the arm of him shall be dried with dryness, and his right eye waxing dark shall be made dark. (O! the idle shepherd, deserting his flock; the sword shall fall upon his arm, and upon his right eye; and his arm shall be dried up with dryness, and his right eye growing dark shall be made dark, or shall go blind.)

Zechariah 11:17 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 11:17

Woe to the idol shepherd
Or, "the shepherd of nothing" ^F23; that is, no true shepherd, that is good for nothing, for an idol is nothing in the world, ( 1 Corinthians 8:4 ) and who is an idol himself, sits in the temple of God, and is worshipped as if he was God. ( 2 Thessalonians 2:4 ) ( Revelation 13:4 Revelation 13:8 Revelation 13:15 ) and is an encourager and defender of idolatry:

that leaveth the flock;
has no regard to its spiritual concerns; does not feed it, but fleece it, and leaves it to the cruelty and avarice of his creatures under him:

the sword [shall be] upon his arm;
with which he should feed the flock:

and upon his right eye;
with which he should watch over it:

his arm shall be clean dried up;
his power shall be taken away from him; the antichristian states, which supported him, shall withdraw from him; the ten kings shall hate the whore, strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, ( Revelation 17:16 ) :

and his right eye shall be utterly darkened;
not only given up to judicial blindness, which has been always his case; but his kingdom shall be full of darkness, ( Revelation 16:10 ) his hidden things of darkness shall be exposed; all his crafty schemes will be confounded; and all his wit, cunning, and subtlety, will cease; and everything desirable to him will be taken away from him. His "arm" may denote his secular power, which shall be taken away from him: and his "right eye" his knowledge of the Scriptures, judgment in controversies, and infallibility pretended to by him, which wilt cease, even in the opinion of men. Ben Melech interprets it the eye of his heart or mind; and so Aben Ezra.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (lylah yer) "pastori nihili", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, So R. So. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 4. 2.

Zechariah 11:17 In-Context

15 And the Lord said to me, Yet take to thee the vessels of a fond shepherd; (And the Lord said to me, Now get thee for thyself the instruments of a foolish shepherd;)

16 for lo! I shall raise a shepherd in earth, which shall not visit forsaken things, and shall not seek scattered things, and he shall not heal a thing all-broken, and shall not nourish forth that that standeth. And he shall eat fleshes of the fat, and shall unbind the claws of them. (for lo! I shall raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit the forsaken, or seek out the scattered, and he shall not heal anyone who is broken, or who is ill, and shall not feed anyone who standeth up straight, or who is healthy. But he shall eat the flesh of the fat beasts, and he shall cut off their hoofs.)

17 A! the shepherd, and idol, forsaking the flock; sword on his arm, and on his right eye; the arm of him shall be dried with dryness, and his right eye waxing dark shall be made dark. (O! the idle shepherd, deserting his flock; the sword shall fall upon his arm, and upon his right eye; and his arm shall be dried up with dryness, and his right eye growing dark shall be made dark, or shall go blind.)