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Zechariah 11:9

in Zechariah 11

Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.

KJV

Then 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.

This verse in Zechariah 11

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
And I said, I will not feed you - God, at last, leaves the rebellious soul or people to itself, as He says by Moses, “Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and will hide My Face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall find them” Deu 31:17: and our Lord tells the captious Jews; “I go My way, and ye shall seek Me and shall die in your sins” Joh 8:

This site's exposition

I will not feed you

on Zechariah 11:9-11

The shepherd resigns his charge outright, I will not feed you, let the dying die and the perishing perish, and let the rest devour one another, a sentence the commentators read as covenant care formally withdrawn rather than merely neglected. The staff called Beauty is cut in two, breaking the covenant the Lord had made with all the peoples, and the poor of the flock who watched him do it recognized the word of the Lord in the very breaking. Barnes and Pusey take the shattered staff as beauty forfeited, the outward favor Judah had known among the nations withdrawn along with the shepherd's protection.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Zechariah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 8, 9.) And I took for myself two staffs: one I called Beauty, and the other I called Cords (or Funicles); and I fed the flock. And I cut off three shepherds in one month, and my soul was grieved with them; for their soul also varied against me. And I said, I will not feed you; let it die, let it die; and let it be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

A commentator

Theodoret of Cyrus

ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE 7:38 · Written before 458.

proposed

We find the God of the universe often giving rein to humanity because of the excess of its wickedness, and he allows the human race to be borne where it will. Of this he has warned us speaking through his prophet to Israel: "And I …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Then - After that time of his patient feeding the flock, and cutting off the unfaithful shepherds. Cut off - By the sword or famine. The flesh - Either live to be besieged, 'till hunger makes the living eat the dead, or by seditions and bloody intestine quarrels, destroy each other.
Then said I, I will not feed you,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The last rejection of the Jews is foretold, of which the former under Nebuchadnezzar, similarly described, was the type (Jer 15:1-3; Perish those who are doomed to perish, since they reject Him who would have saved them! Let them rush on to their own ruin, since they will have it so. eat . . . flesh of another--Let them madly perish by mutual discords.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I will not feed you - I shall instruct you no longer: some of you are appointed to death by famine; others, to be cut off by the sword; and others of you, to such desperation that ye shall destroy one another.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וָאֹמַ֕רand I said

    vaomarH5595305 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H38085168 times

  • אֶרְעֶ֖הI will shepherd

    ʾerehH7462177 times

  • אֶתְכֶ֑ם<obj.> you

    ʾetkhemH85310935 times

  • הַמֵּתָ֣הthe [one which] dies

    hametahH4191

  • תָמ֗וּתlet it die

    tamutH4191

  • וְהַנִּכְחֶ֙דֶת֙and the [one which] is being destroyed

    vehannikhchedetH358232 times

  • תִּכָּחֵ֔דlet it be destroyed

    tikachedH358232 times

  • וְהַ֨נִּשְׁאָר֔וֹתand those [which] survive

    vehanisharotH7604133 times

  • תֹּאכַ֕לְנָהlet them devour

    tokhalnahH398810 times

  • אִשָּׁ֖הeach

    ʾishahH802781 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • בְּשַׂ֥ר[the] flesh of

    besarH1320270 times

  • רְעוּתָֽהּ׃[female] neighbor its

    reutahH7468

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Revelation 22:11

    Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”

    it leads to

    • Daniel 12:10

      Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

    • Proverbs 4:18

      The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

    • Ezekiel 3:27

      But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him…

    • 2 Timothy 3:13

      while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

    • Matthew 15:14

      Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

  • Through

    Matthew 21:43

    Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 21:41

      “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

    • Matthew 8:11–12

      I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

    • 1 Peter 2:9

      But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Where this verse is studied

About Zechariah

Zechariah's Vision of Four Chariots, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Zechariah's Vision of Four Chariots, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE 7:38.