Zechariah 10:3
in Zechariah 10“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders. For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His royal steed in battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats; for Jehovah of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his goodly horse in the battle.
KJV
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
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This verse in Zechariah 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds - As Ezekiel continued, “Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand” Eze 34:10. I punished the he-goats - The evil powerful are called the “he-goats of the earth: Isa 14:9; and in Ezekiel God says, “I will judge between cattle and cattle, between rams and he-goats” Eze 34:17; and our Lord speaks of the reprobate as goats, the saved as sheep Mat 25:
This site's exposition
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds
The Lord's anger falls on the shepherds, Judah's own failed leaders, and the goats among the flock, the strong ones who fed themselves rather than the sheep, language close to Ezekiel's own indictment of the same class. Keil reads the turn from anger at bad shepherds to the Lord's own visitation of his flock as the chapter's hinge, human leadership judged and replaced by direct divine care. The house of Judah is made as the Lord's own goodly horse in battle, an image of strength given rather than achieved.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verse 3 and following) My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goats; for the Lord of hosts will visit his flock, the house of Judah, and make them like his majestic horse in battle. From him comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the bow of battle; from him every oppressor comes forth together, and they shall be like mighty warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the Lord is with them.
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsCONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2:3.15 · Written before 380.
proposed
Observe, you who are our beloved sons, how merciful yet righteous the Lord our God is, how gracious and kind to humankind. And yet most certainly "he will not acquit the guilty," though he welcomes returning sinners and revives them, leaving no room for suspicion to such as wish to judge sternly and to reject offenders entirely, and to refuse to grant them exhortations which might bring them to repentance. In contradiction to such, God by Isaiah says to the bishops, "Comfort you, comfort you my people, you priests; speak comfortably to Jerusalem." It therefore behooves you, upon hearing those words of his, to encourage those who have offended, and lead them to repentance, and afford them hope, and not vainly to suppose that you shall be partakers of their offenses on account of such your love to them. Receive the penitent with alacrity and rejoice over them, and with mercy and bowels of compassion judge the sinners. For if a person was walking by the side of a river and ready to stumble, and you should push him and thrust him into the river instead of offering him your hand for his assistance, you would be guilty of the murder of your brother.… You ought rather to lend your helping hand as he was ready to fall, lest he perish without remedy, that both the people may take warning and the offender may not utterly perish. It is your duty, O bishop, neither to overlook the sins of the people nor to reject those who are penitent, that you may not unskillfully destroy the Lord's flock or dishonor his new name which is stamped upon his people, and you yourself be reproached as those ancient pastors were, of whom God speaks thus to Jeremiah: "Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have polluted my heritage." And in another passage, "My anger is waxed hot against the shepherds, and against the lambs shall I have indignation."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Though the body of the nation suffered in the captivity, yet it was only the goats and the shepherds that God was angry with, and that he punished; the same affliction to others came from the love of God, and was but a fatherly chastisement, which to them came from his wrath, and was a judicial punishment.
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,....
They are encouraged to expect strength and success from him in all their struggles with the enemies of their church and state, and to hope that the issue would be glorious at last,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The he-goats head the flock. They who are first in crime will be first in punishment. visited--in mercy (Lu 1:68). as his goodly horse--In Zec 9:13 they were represented under the image of bows and arrows, here under that of their commander-in-chief, Jehovah's battle horse (So 1:9).
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds - Bad kings and bad priests. I will punish the goats; these were the wicked priests, who were shepherds by their office, and goats by the impurity of their lives. As his goodly horse in the battle - The honorable war horse, or the horse that carried the general’s equipage. In the unaccountable variation of interpreters on these chapters, this, among other things, is thought to be spoken of Matthias, and Judas Maccabeus, who assembled the people from all quarters, as a shepherd gathers his sheep together; and led them against the sons of Greece, the Seleucidae Greeks. Others refer every thing here to times before the captivity.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
My wrath is kindled against the shepherds Against the kings of Greece.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
For the teraphim, etc., and the soothsayers envisioned lies, and dreamers who misled your forefathers, saying, “I dreamt.” They would encourage [your forefathers] to rebel against the Holy One, blessed be He. They spoke futility, and they spoke vanity, saying “peace” - but there was no peace.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | towards | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָֽרֹעִים֙ | haroim | the shepherds | H7462 → | 177 times |
| חָרָ֣ה | charah | it has burned | H2734 → | |
| אַפִּ֔י | ʾapi | anger my | H639 → | |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָעַתּוּדִ֖ים | haatudim | the leaders | H6260 → | |
| אֶפְק֑וֹד | ʾefkod | I will visit [judgment] | H6485 → | 303 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פָקַד֩ | fakad | he visits | H6485 → | 303 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֤וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֶדְרוֹ֙ | edro | flock his | H5739 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וְשָׂ֣ם | vesam | and he will make | H7760 → | 584 times |
| אוֹתָ֔ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כְּס֥וּס | kesus | like [the] horse of | H5483 → | 140 times |
| הוֹד֖וֹ | hodo | majesty his | H1935 → | |
| בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃ | bamilchamah | in <the> battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
עַל־towards
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָֽרֹעִים֙the shepherds
haroimH7462 →177 times
חָרָ֣הit has burned
charahH2734 →
אַפִּ֔יanger my
ʾapiH639 →
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
הָעַתּוּדִ֖יםthe leaders
haatudimH6260 →
אֶפְק֑וֹדI will visit [judgment]
ʾefkodH6485 →303 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
פָקַד֩he visits
fakadH6485 →303 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֤וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֶדְרוֹ֙flock his
edroH5739 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וְשָׂ֣םand he will make
vesamH7760 →584 times
אוֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
כְּס֥וּסlike [the] horse of
kesusH5483 →140 times
הוֹד֖וֹmajesty his
hodoH1935 →
בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃in <the> battle
bamilchamahH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:1
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 3:15
Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
- Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- Luke 20:46–47
“Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.
- Ezekiel 34:8–10
‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My…
- Jeremiah 23:1
Through
Zechariah 11:17Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:3
This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Ezekiel 34:2
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the…
- Ezekiel 13:3
About Zechariah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2:3.15; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.