Verse 1

Open, to. Figure of speech Apostrophe. App-6.

Verse 2

fir = cypress.

for. If the cedar is fallen, how much more the cypress.

the. The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version reads "all the".

mighty = honourable, or majestic ones.

forest of the vintage = the inaccessible forest.

Verse 3

shepherds = the rulers of the State.

young lions. The rapacious nobles.

Verse 4

Thus saith = Thus hath said the Lord. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.

Feed = Tend. Zechariah is to represent a good shepherd, and is sent to the People whose rulers destroyed them (verses: Zechariah 11:5, Zechariah 11:16).

of = exposed to, or destined for slaughter. Genitive of Relation App-17. Compare Romans 8:36.

Verse 5

am rich = am become rich, [and therefore can sell them cheaply].

Verse 6

saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah"s oracle.

men, Hebrew. "adam. App-14.

every one. Hebrew. "ish, App-14.

Verse 7

And I will feed = So I [Zechariah] tended.

even you, O poor of the flock. Reading the two words (in Hebrew) as one word (with the Septuagint) it should be "for the sheep-traffickers", as in Zechariah 14:21 ("Caaanite").

I took. Compare verses: Zechariah 11:7, Zechariah 11:10, Zechariah 11:13, Zechariah 11:15 with Zechariah 6:10, Zechariah 6:11.

staves. Which shepherds use; the crook or staff, and the club. See note on Psalms 23:4,

Beauty = Graciousness,

Bands = Union.

Verse 8

cut off = sent off. They are unnamed.

soul, Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.

Verse 9

that, &c. = the dying will die.

eat every one, &c.: i.e. destroy one another.

Verse 10

people = peoples: i.e. here, tribes.

Verse 11

the poor of the flock = the sheep-traflickers; as Zechariah 11:7.

waited upon = were watching me (1 Samuel 1:12; 1 Samuel 19:11. Psa 59, title).

Verse 12

price = wage.

thirty pieces of silver. The damages for injury done to a servant. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 21:32). This is not the passage referred to in Matthew 27:9. Sec App-161. That was "spoken" by Jeremiah; this was written by Zechariah.

Verse 13

Cast it. As in Genesis 21:15. 2 Chronicles 24:10. unto the potter. The Syriac reads "into the treasury".

potter = fashioner. The material cast to, so as to be used by, the fashioner determines the meaning of the word (Hebrew. yazar). If clay, then a potter (Jeremiah 18:4; Jeremiah 19:1). If stone, then a jeweller, or mason (Ex. Zechariah 28:11, 2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Chronicles 22:15). If wood, then a carpenter (1 Samuel 5:11. 2 Kings 12:11. 1 Chronicles 14:1. Isaiah 44:13). If iron, then a smith (2 Chronicles 24:12. Isaiah 44:12). If gold, then a goldsmith (Hosea 8:6). If silver, then a silversmith (Hosea 13:2). The casting of silver to a potter was as incongruous as casting clay to a silversmith. See App-161.

goodly = ample. Used of a wide garment. There is no evidence of irony here or elsewhere in Zechariah. The Hebrew "eder denotes size and amplitude, as in Jonah 3:6 and Micah 2:8.

prised = priced.

of them: i.e. by them. But some codices read "by you

Verse 15

instruments = implements.

foolish = worthless. Judah and Israel had rejected these, and later on they rejected Messiah the good Shepherd; hence the threatening in Zechariah 11:16-17.

Verse 16

lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6, This Looks forward to the Antichrist; for one of his titles is "the idol shepherd "of Zechariah 11:17.

those that be cut off = the perishing.

the young one = the straying.

that that is broken = the wounded.

feed = nourish.

that standeth still = the weak.

Verse 17

idol = idol"s. For the sequel to this prophecy see Zechariah 13:7-9.

clean dried up = withered.

darkened = blinded.