Zechariah 11:2
in Zechariah 11Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wail, O fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the goodly ones are destroyed: wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is come down.
KJV
Howl, 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.
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This verse in Zechariah 11
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHowl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen,.... By which are designed the princes, nobles, and magistrates of the land: so the Targum interprets them of kings and princes; see Nah 2:3, because all the mighty are spoiled; which is an explanation of the figurative expressions in the former clause, and in the following; and designs rich men, as the Targum paraphrases it, who at this time would be spoiled of their wealth and substance.
This site's exposition
Open thy doors, O Lebanon
on Zechariah 11:1-3
The chapter opens as a dirge sung over the land itself: Lebanon's doors thrown open to the fire, its cedars devoured, the fir tree howling because the cedar has fallen, the oaks of Bashan crying because the thick forest is cut down. The commentators read the felled timber as a figure for fallen rulers and nations, the glory of Jordan laid waste alongside the shepherds who lose their flocks in the crash. Keil and Pusey trace the same collapse forward into the shepherd oracle that follows, so the taunt song reads as judgment's overture rather than a scene standing on its own.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
Howl, 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.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The forest - Jerusalem, compared to a forest, in regard of the many and tall houses in it. In short, all are called to cry, for the miseries that will come upon all. Come down - Is laid desolate.
Note, The falls of the wise and good into sin, and the falls of the rich and great into trouble, are loud alarms to those that are every way their inferiors not to be secure.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Howl, O cypress, for the cedar is fallen - Jerusalem or the temple having been likened to Lebanon and its cedars, the prophet carries on the image, speaking of the priests princes and people, under the title of firs, cypresses and oaks, trees inferior, but magnificent. He shows that it is imagery, by ascribing to them the feelings of people. The more glorious and stately, “the cedars,” were destroyed.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
fir tree . . . cedar--if even the cedars (the highest in the state) are not spared, how much less the fir trees (the lowest)! forest of . . . vintage--As the vines are stripped of their grapes in the vintage (compare Joe 3:13), so the forest of Lebanon "is come down," stripped of all its beauty.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Howl, fir tree - This seems to point out the fall and destruction of all the mighty men.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Open your doors, O Lebanon Jonathan renders: O peoples, open your gates.
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
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵילֵ֤ל | heilel | wail | H3213 → | |
| בְּרוֹשׁ֙ | berovosh | O cypress | H1265 → | |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נָ֣פַל | nafal | it has fallen | H5307 → | |
| אֶ֔רֶז | ʾerez | a cedar | H730 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַדִּרִ֖ים | ʾadirim | majestic [trees] | H117 → | |
| שֻׁדָּ֑דוּ | shudadu | they have been devastated | H7703 → | 57 times |
| הֵילִ֙ילוּ֙ | heililu | wail | H3213 → | |
| אַלּוֹנֵ֣י | ʾalonei | O oaks of | H437 → | |
| בָשָׁ֔ן | vashan | Bashan | H1316 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָרַ֖ד | yarad | it has come down | H3381 → | |
| יַ֥עַר | yaar | [the] forest | H3293 → | |
| הַבָּצִֽיר׃ | habatzur | of the vintage | H1210 → |
הֵילֵ֤לwail
heilelH3213 →
בְּרוֹשׁ֙O cypress
berovoshH1265 →
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
נָ֣פַלit has fallen
nafalH5307 →
אֶ֔רֶזa cedar
ʾerezH730 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אַדִּרִ֖יםmajestic [trees]
ʾadirimH117 →
שֻׁדָּ֑דוּthey have been devastated
shudaduH7703 →57 times
הֵילִ֙ילוּ֙wail
heililuH3213 →
אַלּוֹנֵ֣יO oaks of
ʾaloneiH437 →
בָשָׁ֔ןBashan
vashanH1316 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יָרַ֖דit has come down
yaradH3381 →
יַ֥עַר[the] forest
yaarH3293 →
הַבָּצִֽיר׃of the vintage
habatzurH1210 →
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
Luke 23:31For if men do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:17–18
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
- Proverbs 11:31
If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!
- John 15:6
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
- Ezekiel 20:47–48
Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all…
- Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- 1 Peter 4:17–18
Through
Ezekiel 31:17They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations.
it leads to
- Psalms 9:17
The wicked will return to Sheol— all the nations who forget God.
- Ezekiel 31:6
All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade.
- Ezekiel 31:3
Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.
- Psalms 9:17
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 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); 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; John Calvin, Commentaries; 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.