Zechariah 11

Zechariah 11 is the eleventh of the 14 chapters in the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2][3] This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Zechariah, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.[4] This chapter is a part of a section (so-called "Second Zechariah") consisting of Zechariah 9–14.[5]

Zechariah 11
Book of Zechariah (6:15-13:9) in Latin in Codex Gigas, made around 13th century.
BookBook of Zechariah
CategoryNevi'im
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part38

Text

The original text was written in the Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (from year 895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (930), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[7][8] Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, 4Q82 (4QXIIg; 50–25 BCE) with extant verses 1–2.[9][10][11][12]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[13]

Desolation of Israel (11:1–3)

These verses are forming a taunting song against the leadership of the people, or even the temple, alluding to Jeremiah 25:36.[14] This section is a so-called 'link passage' with the 'stitch words': 'Lebanon' (cf 10:12; 11:1) and 'shepherds' (10:3; 11:3, 4).[14] The passage was interpreted to refer to the second temple after the destruction of that temple in AD 70.[14]

Prophecy of the Shepherds (11:4–17)

In this section verses 4–6 introduce a prophet who plays a "shepherd" and is strongly identified with YHWH, with the people of Israel as the "flock", and their leaders as "merchants".[14] The passage alludes to Ezekiel 37:15–28, but controversially turning Ezekiel's image of unity into one of threefold disunity (verses 9, 10, 14).[15] Verses 15–16 contain the image of an antitype to the good shepherd, echoing similar imagery found in Ezekiel 34:3–4; verse 17 counteracts verses 15–16 with an oracle of woe against the worthless shepherd.[16]

Verse 12
And I said unto them,
If ye think good, give me my price;
and if not, forbear.
So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.[17]
  • "My price": that is, "my wages" for taking care of the "flock", which represents "people".[18]
  • "If ye think good": literally, "If it be good in your eyes." Christian writers connect this to the ministry of Jesus, who had given pastoral care to the people, speaking of himself as a "servant" to fulfill the Father's will (Philippians 2:7).[6]
  • "If not, forbear": recalls the passages in the book of Ezekiel: "Thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, He that heareth, let him hear, and he that forbeareth, let him forbear" (Ezekiel 3:27; cf. Ezekiel 2:5, Ezekiel 2:7; Ezekiel 3:11). Elijah had also said, "If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him" (1 Kings 18:21) indicating that God will not force the free-will of men.[19]
  • "Thirty pieces of silver": is the price of a slave, gored to death by an ox (Exodus 21:32). This is connected to the bargain of Judas (Matthew 26:15), which the high priest, knowingly or unknowingly, fixed on the price of "thirty pieces of silver."[19] Bereshit Rabba notes that this prophecy 'belongs to the Messiah'.[20][21]

Verse 13
And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.[22]
  • "Thirty pieces of silver" (NRSV: "Thirty shekels of silver"): is the price of a slave in Exodus 21:32.[23]

This saying is attributed to Jeremiah (as a form of midrash on Jeremiah 18–19) in the New Testament (Matthew 26:15; Matthew 27:3-10).[24]

See also

Notes and references
  1. Collins 2014, p. 428.
  2. Hayes 2015, Chapter 23.
  3. Zechariah, Book of. Jewish Encyclopedia
  4. Mason 1993, pp. 826–828.
  5. Coogan 2007, p. 1357 Hebrew Bible.
  6. Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. "Zechariah 11". 1871.
  7. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
  8. Boda 2016, pp. 2–3.
  9. Boda 2016, p. 3.
  10. Dead sea scrolls – Zechariah
  11. Ulrich 2010, p. 622.
  12. Fitzmyer 2008, p. 39.
  13. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  14. Larkin 2007, p. 613.
  15. Larkin 2007, pp. 613–614.
  16. Larkin 2007, p. 614.
  17. Zechariah 11:12 KJV
  18. Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Zechariah 11". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
  19. Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Bible - Zechariah 11. James Murphy (ed). London: Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.
  20. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 98. fol. 85. 3.
  21. Gill, John. Exposition of the Entire Bible. "Zechariah 11". Published in 1746-1763.
  22. Zechariah 11:13 NKJV
  23. Coogan 2007, p. 1367 Hebrew Bible.
  24. Coogan 2007, pp. 1367 Hebrew Bible, 52 New Testament.

Sources
  • Boda, Mark J. (2016). Harrison, R. K.; Hubbard, Jr, Robert L. (eds.). The Book of Zechariah. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0802823755.
  • Collins, John J. (2014). Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451469233.
  • Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288810.
  • Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008). A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 9780802862419.
  • Hayes, Christine (2015). Introduction to the Bible. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300188271.
  • Larkin, Katrina J. A. (2007). "37. Zechariah". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 610–615. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  • Mason, Rex (1993). "Zechariah, The Book of.". In Metzger, Bruce M; Coogan, Michael D (eds.). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195046458.
  • Rogerson, John W. (2003). "Zechariah". In Dunn, James D. G.; Rogerson, John William (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible (illustrated ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 721–729. ISBN 978-0802837110.
  • Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill.
  • Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

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