Zechariah 13:5

5 He will say, ‘I’m no prophet; I’m a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.’

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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Zechariah 13:5 In-Context

3 If anyone continues to prophesy, his own father and mother will tell him, ‘You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the name of the LORD .’ And as he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him.

4 “On that day people will be ashamed to claim the prophetic gift. No one will pretend to be a prophet by wearing prophet’s clothes.

5 He will say, ‘I’m no prophet; I’m a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.’

6 And if someone asks, ‘Then what about those wounds on your chest? ’ he will say, ‘I was wounded at my friends’ house!’

7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my partner,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs.