My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; For Yahweh of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle.
Parallel Translations
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My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; For Yahweh of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle.
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Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
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Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats; for the LORD of hosts hath remembered His flock the house of Judah, and maketh them as His majestic horse in the battle.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Zechariah 10:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 34:7-10 “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word: “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd. My shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep.” Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word: The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. The shepherds won’t feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”
- Ezekiel 34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?
- Jeremiah 23:1-2 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says Yahweh. Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says against the shepherds who feed my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 25:34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry. Wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have fully come, and you will fall like fine pottery.
- Ezekiel 34:16-17 “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.” ’ “As for you, O my flock, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
- Ezekiel 34:20-21 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says to them: ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
- Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”
- Zephaniah 2:7 The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God, will visit them, and restore them.
- Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh.
- 1 Peter 2:12 having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.
- Exodus 4:31 The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
- Ruth 1:6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread.
- Isaiah 56:9-12 All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest. His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark— dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. “Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”
- Jeremiah 10:21 For the shepherds have become brutish, and have not inquired of Yahweh. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks have scattered.
- Jeremiah 50:6 My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.
- Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people;
- Jeremiah 25:12 “It will happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” says Yahweh, “for their iniquity. I will make the land of the Chaldeans desolate forever.
- Zechariah 11:5-8 Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says Yahweh; “but, behold, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.” So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor”, and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock. I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
- Matthew 25:32-33 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He had said that the Jews had been driven…
He had said that the Jews had been driven into exile, and had been oppressed by their enemies, because they had no shepherd; not indeed to lessen their fault, for they were wholly inexcusable, since they had wilfully renounced God, who would have been otherwise their perpetual shepherd: but he now turns his discourse to the false teachers, to the false prophets and to the wicked priests. Though then they were all unworthy of pardon, yet God here justly summons the shepherds first before his tribunal, who had been the cause of making others to go astray: as when a blind man leads the blind into a ditch, so ungodly pastors become the cause of ruin to others. We have elsewhere observed similar passages, in which God threatened priests and prophets with special punishment, because they had unfaithfully discharged their office; but yet he did not absolve the common people, for from the least to the greatest they were guilty; and it is also certain that men are punished for their obstinacy and wickedness, whenever God gives loose reins to the devil, and deceives them by ungodly teachers.
We now then see the order observed by the Prophet: At the beginning of the chapter he declares that the Jews were without excuse, because they had turned aside again to their own superstitions, though God had severely punished the sins of their fathers, and that thus they had profited nothing; he also shows that they were acting perversely, if they clamored against God, that he scantily or badly supported them, for they did not look for any thing from him, nor solicited by prayer what he was prepared willingly to grant them. Having thus reproved generally the wickedness of the whole people, the Prophet now assails the ungodly priests, and says that judgment was nigh both the shepherd and the he-goats.
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He gives the name of pastors to wolves, which is a common thing. And here the Papists betray their folly, laying hold of words only, and claiming to themselves all power, because they are called pastors in the Church, and as though Antichrist was not to reign in the temple of God. Does not Zechariah give an honorable name to these wicked men who destroyed the Church of God? Yea, he brings a most heavy charge against them, that they scattered and trampled under their feet the whole kingdom of God, and yet he calls them pastors, even because they held the office of pastors, though they were very far from being faithful, and in no respect attended to their duties.
He then concedes the name of pastors to those who had been called to rule the people, and to whom this office had been divinely committed; and yet God declares that he would visit them, because they had elicited his just displeasure. The same is said of the he-goats, by which metaphorical name he means all those who were governors, or were in rank above the common people. Those who injured and cruelly treated the sheep had been called he-goats by other Prophets, and especially by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:17.) So then he adds the he-goats to the pastors, because the poor and the lower orders had been led to ruin through their misconduct. And it hence appears how dear to God is the salvation of men; for he denounces vengeance on pastors, though they had not exercised tyranny except on men worthy of such punishment; for it was the just wages of their sins, that the Lord gave them wolves instead of shepherds. But though the Jews had merited such a judgment, yet God was angry with the pastors on account of his constant solicitude for his Church.
And the reason is also added, For visit will God his flock, the house of Judah; as though he had said, that he would not regard what the Jews were, but would regard his own election; for greatly valued by God is his own adoption; and as he had been pleased to choose that people, he could not have allowed them to be destroyed. When therefore he saw that his Church had been so much exposed to destruction through the fault of the pastors, he alleges here as a reason for his future vengeance, that he could not endure his favor to be brought to nothing; nor is it to be doubted but that he mentions here the house of Judah, because he had restored and consecrated that people to himself, that he might be served by them. He then takes away from the false pastors every pretense for an excuse, when he brings forward his own election, as though he had said, “Though this people had provoked me a hundred times, and deserved a hundred deaths, yet I intended you to be pastors, because the house of Judah has been made sacred to me.”
But the visitation of the flock is different from that of the shepherds; for God visits the reprobate, being armed with vengeance, and he visits his own people by aiding them. Now the visitation of the flock refers to the whole house of Judah: and this was owing, as we have said, to their gratuitous adoption; yet the Lord suffered many to rush headlong into ruin, because he delivered only his own elect. It is indeed a mode of speaking that often occurs in the Prophets — that God would help the children of Abraham, when he means only those who were Israelites indeed, and not the degenerated.
He adds that they would be as a splendid horse in war. A contrast is here no doubt implied between splendid horses and asses or oxen; for these shepherds who had tyrannically oppressed God’s people, are said to be like violent riders who ride on asses and shamefully abuse them, or like herdsman, who treat their own oxen inhumanely. God then says that he would ride his people in another manner, even as the horseman, who sits splendidly on his horse when going to battle: for even kings, after having ridden a horse in battle, do afterwards wish it to be well taken care of; and they show much solicitude for their horses, and even go to the stable that they may see, if possible, with their own eyes, that they are properly attended to. God then thus intimates, that he indeed required obedience from his people, and intended to retain his own right, to ride as it were on his own people; but yet that he would not oppress them, and that on the contrary he would make them like a splendid horse. We now then perceive why the Prophet turns his discourse here especially to the false shepherds, not indeed to extenuate the fault of the whole people, for none among them was worthy of pardon. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He will be merciful to his Church and cherish…
He will be merciful to his Church and cherish them as a king or prince doth his best horse which shall be for his own use in war.
Meaning, the cruel governors which did oppress the poor sheep, Ezek. 34:16, 17.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 10:3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,…
Zec 10:3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
Ver. 3. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds] Pastores Impostores; the greedy priests and false prophets, main causes of the captivity; because through their default there was no knowledge nor fear of God in the land, Isa 5:13 Hos 4:6-7 Jer 23:1 Eze 34:1.
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And I punished the goats] The grandees and governors, temporal and ecclesiastical, see Eze 34:17. They should have been as the he goats before the flock, Jer 50:8, worthy guides to God. But they were goats in another sense, unruly, and nasty, and lascivious (as those two filthy fellows, for instance, whom for their adultery the King of Babylon roasted in the fire, Jer 29:22), and such as begat kids of their own kind, men of their own make, and went before them in wickedness, as the goats lead the flocks.
For the Lord of hosts] Better to read it, but the Lord of hosts, &c. And this is spoken for the comfort of those that called upon God, and abhorred idols, and idol shepherds, that were in special covenant with him, and therefore owned by him, as his flock, or peculiar charge. Now to such he promiseth to feed them as his sheep, and to furnish them as his horse for service, his goodly war horse, mainly respected by his master, as Bucephalus was by Alexander. This may in part be understood of the Maccabees’ victories; but principally of the apostles, those white horses, upon which they rode through the world, conquering and to conquer, Rev 6:2. St Paul is fitly compared to that war horse in Job 39:20, whose neck is clothed with thunder, and the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He mocketh at fear, and turneth not back from the sword. He goeth on to meet the armed man, and swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Mine anger was kindled; though it was justly kindled…
Mine anger was kindled; though it was justly kindled against all, yet it was more hot and fierce against the chief sinners among them.
Against the shepherds; officers in church and state, who neglected to keep the flock from straying, who were ringleaders in idolatry and soothsaying.
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I punished the goats; the wanton, lustful, and petulant officers among them, which, like he-goats, push. and wound, and trample under foot the feebler cattle, as Eze 34:16,17; these were more grievously punished, Jer 29:22; 39:6. Hath visited his flock, in favour and mercy.
Hath made them as his goodly horse; with change of state hath changed their sheepish weakness and cowardice into strength, courage, and gallantry, like that of a goodly horse: this appeared in the Maccabees’ wars.
In the battle; when all his courage is stirred up, and he appears, as Job brings him forth, with neck clothed with-thunder, Job 39:19-26.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,.... The Targum…
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,.... The Targum interprets it of "kings"; as the "goats" of "princes", in the next clause; by whom, according to Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, are meant the kings of Greece; but rather the antichristian kings are designed, the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with the whore of Rome, which is the cause of the anger of the Lord being kindled: or else ecclesiastical rulers are meant, the Romish clergy, the chief of them, as cardinals, archbishops, bishops, &c. who may fitly be represented by the shepherds of Israel in the times of the prophets for their name, professing to be of Israel, or to be Christians; and by them for their ignorance, covetousness, luxury, disregard to the flock, tyranny and cruelty over it, and murder of it; see Isa 56:10, against these the fire of God's wrath will be kindled, and with it will they be destroyed:
and I punished the goats; not the Seleucidae, as the above Jewish writers; though they may with propriety be so called, since they were the successors of Alexander, signified by the he goat in Dan 8:5 rather the monks and friars, comparable to these for their filthiness and uncleanness; and because they pretend to be guides of the people, and to go before them, and yet use them ill, and push them with their horns of power; wherefore God will punish them, and kill those children of Jezebel with death, Rev 2:22,
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for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah; by sending the Gospel to them, and his Spirit with it, to make it effectual to their conversion; which will be at the time that the antichristian hierarchy will be destroyed; then the Lord's flock, who have gone astray, shall be returned to the true Shepherd and Bishop of souls, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their King, and shall be saved by him: a gracious visitation this will be!
and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle; this denotes that the Jews, when converted, will be bold in their God; valiant for the truth on earth; courageously fight the good fight of faith, and be victorious over their enemies; and that they will be in great honour and esteem among the saints, though so mean and justly despicable now: the sense is, that as the horse shows its strength and courage in battle, so should they; see Job 39:19.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The shepherds - Officers in the church and state.…
The shepherds - Officers in the church and state. The goats - The officers among them, who were like he-goats, that push, and wound, and trample under foot the feebler cattle. Visited - In mercy. As his goodly horse - Hath given them strength and courage.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds]…
Verse 3. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds] Bad kings and bad priests. I will punish the goats; these were the wicked priests, who were shepherds by their office, and goats by the impurity of their lives.
As his goodly horse in the battle.] The honourable war horse, or the horse that carried the general's equipage. In the unaccountable variation of interpreters on these chapters, this, among other things, is thought to be spoken of Matthias, and Judas Maccabeus, who assembled the people from all quarters, as a shepherd gathers his sheep together; and led them against the sons of Greece, the Seleucidae Greeks. Others refer every thing here to times before the captivity.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Zec 10:3. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds…
Zec 10:3. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds — Against the kings, princes, and priests. These were the leaders of the Jewish people into idolatry and vice. The word shepherds is beautifully taken up from the preceding verse. And I punished the goats — The chief ones, as Newcome renders it. The principal men are meant. For — Or rather, but, the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock — In mercy. He hath now given his people manifest tokens of his favour and protection. And hath made them — Or, will make them, as his goodly horse in the battle — Will give them strength and courage. This must relate to the times of the Maccabees, and afterward, when God punished several nations by the hands of the Jewish people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds - As…
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds - As Ezekiel continued, “Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand” Eze 34:10.
I punished the he-goats - The evil powerful are called the “he-goats of the earth: Isa 14:9; and in Ezekiel God says, “I will judge between cattle and cattle, between rams and he-goats” Eze 34:17; and our Lord speaks of the reprobate as goats, the saved as sheep Mat 25:32. God “visited upon these in His displeasure, “because” He “visited His flock, the people of Judah,” to see to their needs and to relieve them.
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And hath made them as the goodly horse - As, before, He said, “I made thee as the sword of a mighty man” Zec 9:13 Judah’s might was not in himself; but, in God’s hands, he had might like and above the might of this world; he was fearless, resistless; as Paul says, “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” 2Co 10:4.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Goats; the leaders of the people, Jeremias l. 8.…
Goats; the leaders of the people, Jeremias l. 8. (Calmet) --- Vir gregis ipse caper. (Virgil, Eclogues vii.) --- Jason died in exile, Lysimachus was slain in the temple, Alcimus perished miserably, and Menelaus was hurled among ashes, 2 Machabees v. 5., and iv. 39., and xiii. 4., and 1 Machabees ix. 54. --- Battle. The apostates have suffered: God will not abandon his flock, but raises up Mathathias, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain against the shepherds--the civil rulers of Israel and Judah…
against the shepherds--the civil rulers of Israel and Judah who abetted idolatry.
punished--literally, "visited upon." The same word "visited," without the upon, is presently after used in a good sense to heighten the contrast.
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goats--he-goats. As "shepherds" described what they ought to have been, so "he-goats" describes what they were, the emblem of headstrong wantonness and offensive lust (Isa 14:9, Margin; Eze 34:17; Dan 8:5; Mat 25:33). The he-goats head the flock. They who are first in crime will be first in punishment.
visited--in mercy (Luk 1:68).
as his goodly horse--In Zac 9:13 they were represented under the image of bows and arrows, here under that of their commander-in-chief, Jehovah's battle horse (Sol 1:9). God can make His people, timid though they be as sheep, courageous as the charger. The general rode on the most beautiful and richly caparisoned, and had his horse tended with the greatest care. Jehovah might cast off the Jews for their vileness, but He regards His election or adoption of them: whence He calls them here "His flock," and therefore saves them.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Rejuvenation of Judah and Ephraim, 3-7.
Rejuvenation of Judah and Ephraim, 3-7.
Jehovah has resolved to deliver the oppressed people; his anger will be kindled against the oppressors. The exiles will be made strong, so that they can trample their enemies under foot; then they will be restored to their own land, because Jehovah will have mercy upon them.
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In Zec_10:3-4 the prophet looks into the future, therefore the tenses of R.V. are to be preferred.
The shepherds — Now ruling over the Jews, the representatives of the foreign nations.
Goats [“he-goats”] — Who lead the herds — bell-wethers; practically synonymous with “shepherds.” There is no reason for supposing that the prophet means to make a distinction between the monarchs (shepherds) and the nobles or officials (he-goats). Against the oppressors the anger of Jehovah is kindled.
Hath visited — A perfect of prophetic certainty; Jehovah has already decided upon the act, and he will surely carry out his purpose. The verb is used here in a favorable sense (compare Jer_23:2), visit with blessing.
Flock — The picture of the shepherd and the sheep is continued.
House of Judah — In apposition to his flock. Ephraim is not to be excluded (Zec_10:6-7), but Judah forms the nucleus, to which Ephraim will be joined.
As his goodly horse — Literally, horse of splendor; a splendid war horse. Not only will the oppressors be cut off, but Israel will be transformed from an oppressed and trembling flock into a strong and victorious host, resembling in courage and swiftness a spirited war horse.
RESTORATION OF THE JEWS AND OVERTHROW OF THE HOSTILE NATIONS, Zec_10:3 to Zec_11:3.
When the Jews came into the power of hostile nations (Zec_10:2) they were governed by bad shepherds, that is, by cruel foreign rulers. But a change is about to take place; Jehovah will cut off the bad shepherds and deliver the oppressed flock (3). Judah and Ephraim will be transformed into mighty men (4-7), and Jehovah will bring them back from Assyria and Egypt to dwell in their own land (8-12), where they may rejoice over the wonderful deliverance, while the hostile powers wail and lament over their own complete undoing (Zec_11:1-3).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. was kindled … punished … hath made] is…
3. was kindled … punished … hath made] is kindled … will punish … shall make, R. V.
the shepherds] who though they were “no (true) shepherds,” yet retained the name and office. Quite parallel is the passage in Ezekiel (Eze_34:5-6 with Eze_34:7-10); where also (Eze_10:17-22), as here, the rulers and principal men are spoken of as “goats,” as well as “shepherds.”
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his goodly horse] Comp. Zec_9:13; and for the image of the war-horse, Job_39:19-25.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Was kindled.—Better, is kindled. (Comp. Note on Zec_8:2.)
(3) Was kindled.—Better, is kindled. (Comp. Note on Zec_8:2.)
Shepherds.—This term is used of native rulers and guides (Jer_2:8; Jer_17:16; Jer_23:1-4; Eze_34:2, &c.), and also of foreign rulers and oppressors (Jer_6:3-4; Jer_25:34-38; Jer_49:19).
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I punished.—Better, I will punish.
The [he] goats are, probably, to be identified with “the shepherds” (as seems to be the case in Ezekiel 34), and both to be referred to foreign rulers and leaders, since the latter part of the verse seems to denote that the whole people (see Zec_10:6-7, and comp. Zec_9:13) is to be changed from a timid flock into a nation of warriors.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 3, 4. The evil rulers set over them…
Vers. 3, 4. The evil rulers set over them for their sins shall be removed, and Israel shall be firmly established.
Mine anger was (is) kindled against the shepherds. These heathen rulers were indeed God"s instruments in punishing his people, but they had exceeded their commission, and afflicted Israel in order to carry out their own evil designs, and now they themselves shall be chastised. Some commentators raise "the shepherds" to be the rulers of Israel civil and ecclesiastical, comparing Eze_34:2, Eze_34:5, etc. But the context leads us to consider them as those who took the place of rulers of Israel when she had no shepherd of her own (ver. 2). I punished (will punish) the goats (bellwethers); literally, will visit upon; i.e. will chastise. The same word (paquad ) is used in the next clause in a good sense. The "goats" are the leading men, those powerful for evil, as Isa_14:9. Hath visited his flock. The reason why the evil shepherds are punished is because God visits his flock in love and care, to see their state and to relieve them from trouble. (Zep_2:7) The house of Judah here includes all the nation, to which it afterwards gave its name. Hath made (shall make) them as his goodly horse. The Israelites shall not only be delivered from oppression, but God shall use them as a stately war horse, richly caparisoned, to tread down enemies and triumph ever them. So he said before (Zec_9:13) that he would make Judah his bow and Ephraim his arrow. (For a description of the war horse, see Job_39:19-25; comp. Rev_6:2 Rev_19:14, where Christ is represented riding on a white horse, and his saints following him on white horses)
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God"s visits to his people.
Indicate
I HIS CONCERN FOR THEIR WELFARE.
II HIS PURPOSE TO DO THEM GOOD.
III HIS DELIGHT IN THEIR HEALTH AND PROSPERITY. Wordsworth gave as a motto for a dial, "Light, come, visit me." So we should lay open our souls to the coming of God, and welcome his visits. F.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain The unity of this section is more apparent than…
5. AGAINST EVIL SHEPHERDS
Zec_10:3-12
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The unity of this section is more apparent than its connection with the preceding, which had spoken of the want of a shepherd, or religious director, of Israel, while this is directed against their shepherds and leaders, meaning their foreign tyrants.
The figure is taken from Jer_23:1 ff., where, besides, "to visit upon" is used in a sense of punishment, but the simple "visit" in the sense of to look after, just as within Zec_10:3 of this tenth chapter. Who these foreign tyrants are is not explicitly stated, but the reference to Egypt and Assyria as lands whence the Jewish captives shall be brought home, while at the same time there is a Jewish nation in Judah, suits only the Greek period, after Ptolemy had taken so many Jews to Egypt, and there were numbers still scattered throughout the other great empire in the north, to which, as we have already seen, the Jews applied the name of Assyria. The reference can hardly suit the years after Seleucus and Ptolemy granted to the Jews in their territories the rights of citizens. The captive Jews are to be brought back to Gilead and Lebanon Why exactly these are mentioned, and neither Samaria nor Galilee, forms a difficulty, to whatever age we assign the chapter.
The language of Zec_10:3-12 has several late features. Joseph or Ephraim, here and elsewhere in these chapters, is used of the portion of Israel still in captivity, in contrast to Judah, the returned community.
The passage predicts that Jehovah will change His poor leaderless sheep, the Jews, into war-horses, and give them strong chiefs and weapons of war. They shall overthrow the heathen, and Jehovah will bring back His exiles. The passage is therefore one with chapter 9.
"My wrath is hot against the shepherds, and I will make visitation on the he-goats: yea, Jehovah of Hosts will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like His splendid war horses. From Him the corner-stone, from Him the stay, from Him the war-bow, from Him the oppressor-shall go forth together. And in battle shall they trample on heroes as on the dirt of the streets, and fight, for Jehovah is with them, and the riders on horses shall be abashed. And the house of Judah will I make strong and work salvation for the house of Joseph, and bring them back, for I have pity for them, and they shall be as though I had not put them away, for I am Jehovah their God and I will hold converse with them. And Ephraim shall be as heroes, and their heart shall be glad as with wine, and their children shall behold and be glad: their heart shall rejoice in Jehovah. I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they once were. I scattered them among the nations, but among the faraway they think of Me, and they will bring up their children, and come back. And I will fetch them home from the land of Misraim, and from Asshur will I gather them, and to the land of Gilead and Lebanon will I bring them in, though these be not found sufficient for them. And they shall pass through the sea of Egypt, and He shall smite the sea of breakers, and all the deeps of the Nile shall be dried, and the pride of Assyria brought down, and the scepter of Egypt swept aside. And their strength shall be in Jehovah, and in His Name shall they boast themselves-oracle of Jehovah."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
It is unclear whether Yahweh is speaking, or if Zechariah is speaking for Yahweh in verses 3-5.
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My wrath burns against the shepherds
Here "the shepherds" represent the leaders of God's people. The intensity of Yahweh's anger is spoken of as if it was a blazing fire. AT: "My anger toward the shepherds of my people is as intense as a fire" or "I am very angry with the leaders of my people" (See: Metaphor)
it is the male goats—the leaders—that I will punish
Male goats are typically more dominant than female goats. Here "male goats" represents the oppressive leaders of God's people. (See: Metaphor)
Yahweh of hosts will also attend to his flock, the house of Judah
Here Yahweh's care for his people is spoken of as a shepherd cares for his sheep. AT: "Yahweh of hosts will take care of the house of Judah as a shepherd cares for his sheep"
the house of Judah
The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house. In this case it refers to the people of Judah, which included the descendants of Judah and Benjamin. AT: "Judah" or "the people of Judah" (See: Metonymy)
make them like his warhorse in battle
Yahweh changes the metaphor for his people from defenseless sheep to a mighty war horse. He speaks of his people as if they were a strong horse in battle. AT: "will cause them to be strong like war horses in battle" (See: Metaphor and Simile)
translationWords
wrath
goat
punish
Yahweh of hosts
flocks
house
Judah
horse
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:3 My anger burns: Israel is often the object…
10:3 My anger burns: Israel is often the object of this divine wrath, incited by disobedience to covenant stipulations or by lapses into idolatry (see Exod 22:22-24; Deut 6:14-15; Josh 7:1; Judg 2:20; Heb 10:31). • these leaders (or these male goats): This is a figure of speech for princes, since male goats typically lead goat herds.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.