Zechariah 13:4
in Zechariah 13And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he prophesieth; neither shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:
KJV
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
⋯
This verse in Zechariah 13
Commentary
6 notes on this verse(Vers. 3 seqq.) And on that day, the prophets will be confused, each one from his own vision, when he prophesies, and they will not cover themselves with a sackcloth to deceive. Instead, they will say, 'I am not a prophet, I am a farmer, for Adam is my example from my youth.' And it will be said to him, 'What are these wounds in the middle of your hands?' And he will say, 'I have been wounded in the house of those who love me.'
This site's exposition
ashamed every one of his vision
on Zechariah 13:4-6
The false prophets of that day are ashamed of their own visions and no longer wear the rough hairy garment that once marked their office, choosing instead to deny the title outright, calling themselves husbandmen taught to keep cattle from their youth. Asked about wounds in his hands, the denying prophet answers that he was wounded in the house of his friends, a line most of the bench reads as the self-inflicted marks pagan prophets cut into their own flesh in ecstatic worship, now embarrassing evidence he must explain away. Henry and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown also note the verse's language has long been read typologically of Christ wounded by those nearest him, a secondary application named beside the primary sense and not substituted for it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I am a husbandman, and was bred to that business; I was never taught of God to prophesy, but taught of man to keep cattle " Amos was originally such a one too, and yet was afterwards called to be a prophet, Amos vii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed, everyone of his vision, when he hath prophesied,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Neither shall they wear a rough garment - A rough garment made of goats’ hair, coarse wool, or the course pile of the camel, was the ordinary garb of God’s prophets. And the false prophets wore the same; for they pretended to the same gifts, and the same spirit, and therefore they wore the same kind of garments. John Baptist had a garment of this kind.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The prophets shall be ashamed, every one of them - They who before their conversion, gave themselves to such deceits, shall be ashamed of their deeds; as, after the defeat of the seven sons of the chief priest Sceva, “fear fall on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified, and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds: many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all, and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily,” Luke subjoins, “grew the word of God and prevailed” Act 19:13-20. Neither shall wear a rough garment to deceive Feigning themselves ascetics and mourners for their people, as the true prophets were in truth. The sackcloth, which the prophets wore Isa 20:2, was a rough garment of hair Isa 22:12; Jer 4:8; Jer 6:26, worn next to the skin 1Ki 21:27; 2Ki 6:30; Job 16:15, whence Elijah was known to Ahaziah, when described as “a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins” 2Ki 1:8. It was a wide garment, enveloping the whole frame, and so, afflictive to the whole body. Jerome: “This was the habit of the prophets, that when they called the people to penitence, they were clothed with sackcloth.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
a hairy mantle So is the custom of those who entice or draw away [the people], to enwrap themselves with mantles as though they are righteous men in order that their lies be accepted.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
for a man entrusted me with his cattle Menahem (Machbereth p., second definition.) interpreted as an expression of “livestock of flocks and livestock of cattle” (Gen.:14). He entrusted me from my youth to watch his livestock.
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. 4 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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֣ה׀ | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֗וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יֵבֹ֧שׁוּ | yevoshu | they will be ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| הַנְּבִיאִ֛ים | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each one | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מֵחֶזְיֹנ֖וֹ | mechezyono | from vision his | H2384 → | |
| בְּהִנָּֽבְאֹת֑וֹ | behinaveoto | when prophecies he | H5012 → | 115 times |
| וְלֹ֧א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִלְבְּשׁ֛וּ | yilbeshu | they will wear | H3847 → | 110 times |
| אַדֶּ֥רֶת | ʾaderet | a cloak of | H155 → | |
| שֵׂעָ֖ר | sear | hair | H8181 → | |
| לְמַ֥עַן | lemaan | so as | H4616 → | |
| כַּחֵֽשׁ׃ | kachesh | to deceive | H3584 → |
וְהָיָ֣ה׀and it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֗וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
יֵבֹ֧שׁוּthey will be ashamed
yevoshuH954 →127 times
הַנְּבִיאִ֛יםthe prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 times
אִ֥ישׁeach one
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מֵחֶזְיֹנ֖וֹfrom vision his
mechezyonoH2384 →
בְּהִנָּֽבְאֹת֑וֹwhen prophecies he
behinaveotoH5012 →115 times
וְלֹ֧אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִלְבְּשׁ֛וּthey will wear
yilbeshuH3847 →110 times
אַדֶּ֥רֶתa cloak of
ʾaderetH155 →
שֵׂעָ֖רhair
searH8181 →
לְמַ֥עַןso as
lemaanH4616 →
כַּחֵֽשׁ׃to deceive
kacheshH3584 →
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
Matthew 3:4John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 1:8
“He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.
- Mark 1:6
John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 11:8
Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 1:8
Through
2 Kings 1:8“He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.
it leads to
- Matthew 3:4
John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 3:4
Through
Revelation 11:3And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
it leads to
- Revelation 12:6
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
- Revelation 11:2
But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
- Deuteronomy 19:15
A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or…
- Revelation 13:5
The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.
- Revelation 12:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zechariah
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, and 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.