Zechariah 11:9

9 So I said, "I will not shepherd you! The [one] dying will die, and the [one] to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the [ones] remaining, let them devour {the flesh of each other}."

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 And I shepherded the flock [doomed] to slaughter, even the afflicted of the flock. I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.

8 And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for {I grew impatient} with them, and {they also became tired of me}.

9 So I said, "I will not shepherd you! The [one] dying will die, and the [one] to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the [ones] remaining, let them devour {the flesh of each other}."

10 And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I {had made} with all the peoples.

11 And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted of the flock, the [ones who were] watching me, knew that it [was] the word of Yahweh.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "each the flesh of her neighbor"