Zechariah 13:5

5 but each of them will say, "I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the soil; for the land has been my possession since my youth."

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 And if any prophets appear again, their fathers and mothers who bore them will say to them, "You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord"; and their fathers and their mothers who bore them shall pierce them through when they prophesy.
4 On that day the prophets will be ashamed, every one, of their visions when they prophesy; they will not put on a hairy mantle in order to deceive,
5 but each of them will say, "I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the soil; for the land has been my possession since my youth."
6 And if anyone asks them, "What are these wounds on your chest?" the answer will be "The wounds I received in the house of my friends."
7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate," says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Cn: Heb [for humankind has caused me to possess]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.