Zechariah 11:14
in Zechariah 11Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
KJV
Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
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This verse in Zechariah 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 14) And I cut off my second staff, called 'Favor,' in order to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. Septuagint: And I threw away my second staff, called 'Favor,' in order to annul the covenant that existed between Judah and Israel. And in this place, I came across a long explanation, or rather, intricate puzzles, that I read in the volume of Ezekiel, bringing together the two staffs into one community, and all the things that should be spiritually understood about the harmony between Judah and Ephraim, fitting in with this chapter.
This site's exposition
brotherhood between Judah and Israel
The second staff, Bands, is cut asunder to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel, undoing in a gesture the very unity the name proclaimed. Gill and Wesley read the act as sealing the division between the two kingdoms at the level of symbol, the political rupture of Rehoboam's day given its final prophetic verdict here. The two staves broken in sequence, grace withdrawn and then brotherhood severed, present one shepherd's resignation as a two-part covenant collapse.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands,....
When the staff of Beauty is broken the staff of Bands will not hold long. An unchurched people will soon be an undone people. Judgments Predicted and Typified.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
That I might break the brotherhood - I cannot, says Newcome, explain this passage, without supposing that the kingdom of Israel subsisted when the prophet wrote it; and that either the wars between Judah and Israel are referred to, (see 2Ki 16:5), or the captivity of the ten tribes, when the brotherly connection between these kingdoms ceased.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The breaking of the bond of union between Judah and Israel's ten tribes under Rehoboam is here the image used to represent the fratricidal discord of factions which raged within Jerusalem on the eve of its fall, while the Romans were thundering at its gates without.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I cut asunder mine other staff, Bands, to dissolve the brotherhood between Judah and Israel - Hitherto prophecy had spoken of the healing of the great breach between Israel and Judah, in Christ. “The Lord,” Isaiah said, “shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim” Isa 11:12-13; and Hosea, “Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and shall appoint themselves one Head” Hos 1:11; and Jeremiah, “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel.” Jer 3:18. And Ezekiel, in the midst of the captivity, in a symbolic action the counterpart of this, is bidden, “Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions, and join them one to another into one stick, and they shall become one in thy hand” Eze 37:16-17; and, when asked the meaning of this act, he was to say, “Thus saith the Lord God, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and will make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand” Eze 37:19. And dropping the symbol; “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the pagan, whither they be gone - and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel: and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all - I will cleanse them, and they shall be My people and I will be […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the keeper of the treasury like הָאוֹצֵר, the keeper of the treasury.
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָֽאֶגְדַּע֙ | vaegda' | and I cut up | H1438 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַקְלִ֣י | makli | staff my | H4731 → | 18 times |
| הַשֵּׁנִ֔י | hasheni | <the> second | H8145 → | 156 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַחֹֽבְלִ֑ים | hachoelim | <the> Union | H2256 → | 62 times |
| לְהָפֵר֙ | lehafer | to break | H6565 → | 50 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָֽאַחֲוָ֔ה | haachavah | the brotherhood | H264 → | |
| בֵּ֥ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| יְהוּדָ֖ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וּבֵ֥ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ס | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וָֽאֶגְדַּע֙and I cut up
vaegda'H1438 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַקְלִ֣יstaff my
makliH4731 →18 times
הַשֵּׁנִ֔י<the> second
hasheniH8145 →156 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
הַחֹֽבְלִ֑ים<the> Union
hachoelimH2256 →62 times
לְהָפֵר֙to break
lehaferH6565 →50 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָֽאַחֲוָ֔הthe brotherhood
haachavahH264 →
בֵּ֥יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
יְהוּדָ֖הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וּבֵ֥יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 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
James 3:16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
it leads to
- James 3:14
But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 3:3
for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints.
- 1 John 3:12
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
- James 3:14
Through
James 3:14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
it leads to
- James 3:16
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
- Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- James 3:16
Through
Galatians 5:15But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
it leads to
- Galatians 5:26
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.
- Galatians 5:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zechariah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.