Zechariah 11:3

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.)

Zechariah 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Zechariah 11:3 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,)