Zechariah 11:3
in Zechariah 11Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is in ruins. Listen to the roaring of the young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! for the pride of the Jordan is laid waste.
KJV
There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
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This verse in Zechariah 11
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A voice of the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled - It echoes on from Jeremiah before the captivity, “Howl, ye shepherds - A voice of the cry of the shepherds. and an howling of the principal of the flock; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture” Jer 25:34, Jer 25:
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
In order to render his prophecy impressive, Zechariah addresses Libanon; as though he was God's herald, he bids it to open its gates, for the whole wood was now given up to the fire. Had he spoken without a figure, his denunciation would not have had so much force: he therefore denounces near ruin on Lebanon and on other places.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֚וֹל | kol | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| יִֽלְלַ֣ת | yilat | [the] wailing of | H3215 → | |
| הָרֹעִ֔ים | haroim | the shepherds | H7462 → | 177 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שֻׁדְּדָ֖ה | shudedah | it has been devastated | H7703 → | 57 times |
| אַדַּרְתָּ֑ם | ʾadartam | splendor their | H155 → | |
| ק֚וֹל | kol | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| שַׁאֲגַ֣ת | shaagat | [the] roaring of | H7581 → | |
| כְּפִירִ֔ים | kefirim | young lions | H3715 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שֻׁדַּ֖ד | shudad | it has been devastated | H7703 → | 57 times |
| גְּא֥וֹן | geon | [the] thicket[s] of | H1347 → | 49 times |
| הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃ ס | haiyarden | the Jordan | H3383 → |
ק֚וֹל[the] sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
יִֽלְלַ֣ת[the] wailing of
yilatH3215 →
הָרֹעִ֔יםthe shepherds
haroimH7462 →177 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
שֻׁדְּדָ֖הit has been devastated
shudedahH7703 →57 times
אַדַּרְתָּ֑םsplendor their
ʾadartamH155 →
ק֚וֹל[the] sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
שַׁאֲגַ֣ת[the] roaring of
shaagatH7581 →
כְּפִירִ֔יםyoung lions
kefirimH3715 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
שֻׁדַּ֖דit has been devastated
shudadH7703 →57 times
גְּא֥וֹן[the] thicket[s] of
geonH1347 →49 times
הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃ סthe Jordan
haiyardenH3383 →
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
Zephaniah 1:10On that day,” declares the LORD, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second District, and a loud crashing from the hills.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 33:14
After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of…
- Amos 8:3
“In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”
- 2 Kings 22:14
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived…
- 2 Chronicles 33:14
Through
Jeremiah 50:44Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:19–21
Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one…
- Isaiah 41:25
I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who…
- Isaiah 43:10
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…
- Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Isaiah 46:11
I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it,…
- Jeremiah 49:19–21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zechariah
This page draws on 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 and John Calvin, Commentaries.