Zechariah 11:9

9 And I said, I shall not feed you; that that dieth, die; and that that is cut down, be cut down; and the residues devour, each man the flesh of his neighbour. (And I said, I shall not feed you; he who shall die, die; and he who shall be cut down, be cut down; and the rest devour each other, yea, each person the flesh of his neighbour.)

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 shall feed the beast of slaying. For this thing, ye poor men of the flock, hear (and I shall feed the beasts for slaughter. And so for this, ye poor of the flock, listen). And I took to me two staffs; one I called Fairness, and the tother I called Little Cord; and I fed the flock.

8 And I cutted down three shepherds in one month, and my soul was drawn (al)together in them; for also the soul of them varied in me. (And I cut down three shepherds in one month, for I lost patience with them; and their souls loathed me.)

9 And I said, I shall not feed you; that that dieth, die; and that that is cut down, be cut down; and the residues devour, each man the flesh of his neighbour. (And I said, I shall not feed you; he who shall die, die; and he who shall be cut down, be cut down; and the rest devour each other, yea, each person the flesh of his neighbour.)

10 And I took my staff, that was called Fairness, and I cutted down it, that I should make void my covenant, which I smote with all peoples. (And I took my staff, that was called Fairness, or Favour, and I cut it down, or I broke it in two, so that I would make void my covenant, which I struck with all the peoples, or all the nations.)

11 And it was made void in that day; and the poor men of the flock that kept to me, knew thus, for it is the word of the Lord. (And it was made void, or annulled, on that day; and the poor of the flock who were watching me, knew this, for it was the word of the Lord.)