Zechariah 11

Zechariah · Chapter 11

Zechariah 11:4

1Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.2Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.3There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.4Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;5Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.7And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.8Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.9Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.10And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.11And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.12And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.13And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.14Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.15And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.16For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.17Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
4Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter;

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

The LORD tells the prophet to act as shepherd over a flock headed for slaughter. Their owners kill them without guilt, their sellers praise the LORD for their profit, and their own shepherds have no pity on them. The chapter goes on to show this shepherd rejected, paid off with thirty pieces of silver, and the flock left to judgment. Zechariah 11:4Zechariah 11:5Zechariah 11:9Zechariah 11:12Zechariah 11:13

SpeakingThe prophet Zechariah reports the words of "the LORD my God." He uses the same phrase again in 14:5. Zechariah 11:4Zechariah overviewZechariah 14:5

ToThe command is spoken to the prophet himself, and he carries it out in verse 7. The book was given to the people of Judah who had come back from exile in Babylon. Zechariah 11:4Zechariah 11:7Zechariah overview

Also involvedThe "flock" is the people of the land, including "the poor of the flock," who are used and sold by their rulers. Later in the chapter they are named as Judah and Israel. Zechariah 11:5Zechariah 11:6Zechariah 11:7Zechariah 11:14

God appoints the prophet to shepherd a doomed and abused people. He feeds them with two staves called Beauty and Bands. But he grows weary of the flock, and they despise him. So he breaks the staves, a sign that God's covenant with the people and the brotherhood between Judah and Israel are broken. Zechariah 11:4Zechariah 11:7Zechariah 11:8Zechariah 11:10Zechariah 11:14

The flock is the people of "the land" of Judah and Israel. The prophet worked in Jerusalem among the returned exiles. Zechariah 11:6Zechariah 11:14Zechariah overview

JUDAHMediterranean SeaJerusalemTyreSidonDamascusHamath 1GazaAshdodMegiddo

The eventsThe passage gives no date for this sign-act. It belongs to the first "burden" of the book, chapters 9-11. Zechariah overview

WrittenTraditional: Zechariah wrote the whole book; his dated messages run from about 520 to 518 BC. Scholarly: chapters 9-14 carry no dates, and many scholars assign them to a later writer or writers; others hold that Zechariah wrote them. Zechariah overview

HereThe command shows how the people's own leaders had failed them. It also shows that God sent them a true shepherd one more time before judgment came. Zechariah 11:5Zechariah 11:6Zechariah 11:7

In the whole of ScriptureThis part of the book is about "the rejected shepherd." Other Scripture speaks of a shepherd who will "feed in the strength of the LORD" (Micah 5:4). Jesus said he was sent "unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24), and he grieved that Jerusalem "would not" be gathered (Matthew 23:37). Zechariah overviewMicah 5:4Matthew 15:24Matthew 23:37

For readersLeaders who use God's people for gain while claiming his blessing stand condemned. When God sends a true shepherd, rejecting him brings loss. Zechariah 11:5Zechariah 11:9Zechariah 11:17

  • Feedרָעָה
    Hebrew · ra.ah · H7462B

    The word means to pasture, tend, or shepherd. It is used figuratively of a ruler caring for people as a flock. So "feed" here means the whole work of a shepherd-ruler, not just giving food. Strong's H7462BZechariah 11:7Zechariah 11:16

  • flockצֹאן
    Hebrew · tson · H6629G

    The word means sheep and goats, and it can stand as a metaphor for a multitude of people. Verse 6 shows that this flock is "the inhabitants of the land." Strong's H6629GZechariah 11:6

  • slaughterהֲרֵגָה
    Hebrew · ha.re.gah · H2028H

    The word means a killing or slaughter. It marks this flock as one already doomed by those who own it. Strong's H2028HZechariah 11:5

Takeaway

God sends a shepherd to a people their own leaders were destroying. When that shepherd is rejected and valued at thirty pieces of silver, the flock is left to judgment. Zechariah 11:4Zechariah 11:5Zechariah 11:9Zechariah 11:12Zechariah 11:13

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

About 520-518 BC. King of Persia: Darius I (522-486 BC). Where Zechariah prophesied. A small, poor community was rebuilding the temple among the ruins of the city Babylon had burned.

Who ruled
  • King of PersiaDarius I522-486 BC

    Zechariah dates his messages by the years of Darius. Darius confirmed Cyrus's decree and ordered the temple work to go on at royal expense. Zechariah 1:1Zechariah 7:1Ezra 6:1-12Haggai 1:1Behistun Inscription

  • Governor of JudahZerubbabelc. 520 BC

    A descendant of David who led the rebuilding. "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it." Zechariah 4:6-10Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:8

  • High priestJoshua the high priestc. 520 BC

    Called Jeshua in Ezra. He stands in Zechariah's vision clothed in filthy garments, which are taken away, and later receives crowns as a sign. Zechariah 3:1-10Zechariah 6:11Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:2

  • Persian governor "on this side the river"Tattenaic. 520 BC

    The governor of the province west of the Euphrates. He asked who had allowed the building, wrote to Darius, and was told to let the work go on. Ezra 5:3-6Ezra 6:6-13

What was happening, 539 BC to 332 BC
  1. 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus king of Persia took Babylon, ending the empire that had destroyed Jerusalem. Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Cyrus Cylinder

  2. 538 BC
    God's peopleThe first return

    Cyrus let the exiles go home to build the LORD's house. About fifty thousand returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Ezra 1:1-4Ezra 2:1-2Ezra 2:64-65

  3. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe foundation is laid, then the work stops

    The returned exiles laid the temple's foundation with shouting and weeping. Opposition from their neighbors stopped the work until the second year of Darius. Ezra 3:10-13Ezra 4:4-5Ezra 4:24

  4. 525 BC
    WarPersia conquers Egypt

    Cyrus's son Cambyses invaded and took Egypt, bringing the whole region from the Nile to the Indus under one king. Herodotus, Histories 3.1-16

  5. 522-521 BC
    WarDarius crushes the revolts

    When Darius took the throne, provinces across the empire rebelled, Babylon twice. By 520 he had put them all down. Compare the riders' report in Zechariah's first vision: "all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." Behistun InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 3.150-159Zechariah 1:11

  6. 520 BC
    God's peopleHaggai and Zechariah stir the people to build

    In Darius's second year the two prophets urged the people to take up the temple work again, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua began to build. Ezra 5:1-2Haggai 1:1-15Zechariah 1:1

  7. c. 520-519 BC
    RulersDarius confirms Cyrus's decree

    Tattenai questioned the building. A search found Cyrus's decree at Achmetha, and Darius ordered the work to continue and be paid for from royal taxes. Ezra 5:3-6:12

  8. 515 BC
    BuildingThe second temple is finished

    The temple was finished on the third day of Adar in Darius's sixth year and dedicated with joy. Ezra 6:14-18Zechariah 4:9

  9. 490-479 BC
    WarPersia's wars with Greece

    Persia invaded Greece twice and was turned back at Marathon (490), Salamis (480) and Plataea (479). Greece, which Zechariah names in 9:13, was becoming Persia's great rival. Herodotus, Histories 6.102-117Herodotus, Histories 8.40-96Herodotus, Histories 9.1-89Zechariah 9:13

  10. 445 BC
    BuildingNehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem's walls

    Under the Persian king Artaxerxes, Nehemiah came from Shushan and rebuilt the walls in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 2:1-8Nehemiah 6:15

  11. 332 BC
    WarAlexander takes Tyre and Gaza

    Alexander the Great besieged island Tyre for seven months and then Gaza for two, on his way to Egypt. Zechariah 9 speaks of Tyre's "strong hold" and of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron and Ashdod. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.15-27Zechariah 9:3-7

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records (the Behistun Inscription, the Cyrus Cylinder, the Babylonian Chronicles) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
thusכֹּ֥הkohH3541
thus

כֹּה (koh) 1) thus, here, in this manner 1a) thus, so 1b) here, here and there 1c) until now, until now...until then, meanwhile Aramaic equivalent: kah (כָּה "thus" H3542)

he saysאָמַ֖ר'a-MARH0559
to say

אָמַר (a.mar) 1) to say, speak, utter 1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend 1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called 1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly 1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)

Yahwehיְהוָ֣הYAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

God myאֱלֹהָ֑י'e-lo-HAIH0430G
God

אֱלֹהִים (e.lo.him) This name means "gods" (plural intensive-singular meaning), "God" Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

shepherdרְעֵ֖הre-'EHH7462B
to pasture

רָעָה (ra.ah) 1) to pasture, tend, graze, feed 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to tend, pasture 1a1a) to shepherd 1a1b) of ruler, teacher (fig) 1a1c) of people as flock (fig) 1a1d) shepherd, herdsman (subst) 1a2) to feed, graze 1a2a) of cows, sheep etc (literal) 1a2b) of idolater, Israel as flock (fig) 1b) (Hiphil) shepherd, shepherdess Also means: ro.i (רֹעִי "to shepherd" H7473)

[the] flock ofצֹ֥אןtzonH6629G
flock

צֹאן (tson) 1) small cattle, sheep, sheep and goats, flock, flocks 1a) small cattle (usually of sheep and goats) 1b) of multitude (simile) 1c) of multitude (metaphor)

the slaughterהַהֲרֵגָֽה׃ha-ha-re-GAHH2028H
slaughter

הֲרֵגָה (ha.re.gah) a killing, slaughter

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.