Zechariah 11:9

9 And then I got tired of the sheep and said, "I've had it with you - no more shepherding from me. If you die, you die; if you're attacked, you're attacked. Whoever survives can eat what's left."

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 took over from the crass, money-grubbing owners, and shepherded the sheep marked for slaughter. I got myself two shepherd staffs. I named one Lovely and the other Harmony. Then I went to work shepherding the sheep.

8 Within a month I got rid of the corrupt shepherds. I got tired of putting up with them - and they couldn't stand me.

9 And then I got tired of the sheep and said, "I've had it with you - no more shepherding from me. If you die, you die; if you're attacked, you're attacked. Whoever survives can eat what's left."

10 Then I took the staff named Lovely and broke it across my knee, breaking the beautiful covenant I had made with all the peoples.

11 In one stroke, both staff and covenant were broken. The money-hungry owners saw me do it and knew God was behind it.