Zechariah 13:5

5 but he will say, ¹‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth. ’ ^[a]

Zechariah 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 13:5

But he shall say, I [am] no prophet
That he is not of the Romish clergy, or of any of their religious orders, having laid aside his habit: I [am] an husbandman;
he shall put on the habit of a husbandman, and work for his bread; for he will not be able to support himself, as before, with the sale of pardons and indulgences, and by praying souls out of purgatory; for no man hereafter will buy of his merchandise, ( Revelation 18:11 ) and he will be ashamed of his former calling and traffic, and will not own that he was ever concerned therein; but will affirm that he was never of the Romish clergy, but always a layman, and employed in husbandry: for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth;
he will say he was brought up to husbandry, or in some mechanic business, from his youth, and never was in any convent or monastery, or of any religious order: it may be rendered, "for man made me to work from my youth" ^F21; and is not to be restrained to keeping cattle, or any particular employment.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (ynnqh) "fecerunt me operari", Noldius; "homo operari fecit me", De Dieu, Burkius.

Zechariah 13:5 In-Context

3 And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord. ’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive,

5 but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth. ’

6 And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back? ’ he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends. ’

7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, ”declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Cross References

• 1. 13:5 Amos 7:14

Footnotes

• [a] 13:5 Or 'for the land has been my possession since my youth'