Zechariah 11:9

9 Then I said, "I won't shepherd you. Let the dying die, and let what is to be removed be removed. Let those who are left devour the flesh of their neighbor."

Zechariah 11:9 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 11:9

Then said I, I will not feed you
That is, any longer; either personally, or by his apostles; he fed them himself, during his public ministry; and afterwards by his apostles, whom he ordered to preach the Gospel to the Jews first; but that being contradicted, blasphemed, and despised by them, they were ordered to turn away from them, and go to the Gentiles: this shows that not the shepherds only, but the body of the people, abhorred Christ and his Gospel: and therefore it was taken away from them: that that dieth, let it die;
literally, by the pestilence, that going by the name of death in Scripture; and spiritually, they that are dead in sin, let them continue so; let them die through famine of the word they have despised; let them die in their sins, and die the second death, they justly deserve: and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off;
literally, by the sword; spiritually, the meaning is, that whereas some were in righteous judgment appointed to ruin, vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; let them be left to themselves, to a judicial blindness, and hardness of heart, and be cut off as unfruitful branches, and be no more in a church state here, and hereafter cast into everlasting burnings: and let the rest eat everyone the flesh of another;
through famine; or destroy each other in their internal divisions, which was the case of the Jews, when Jerusalem was besieged; see ( Galatians 5:15 ) .

Zechariah 11:9 In-Context

7 So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter, the afflicted of the flock. I took two staffs for myself. I named one Delight; the other I named Harmony. I shepherded the flock.

8 I removed three shepherds in one month when I grew impatient with them. Moreover, they detested me.

9 Then I said, "I won't shepherd you. Let the dying die, and let what is to be removed be removed. Let those who are left devour the flesh of their neighbor."

10 Then I took the staff Delight, and I chopped it up in order to break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.

11 It was broken on that day. As a result, the afflicted of the flock knew that it was the LORD's word.