Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.
Parallel translations
- WEB I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
- KJV And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
- NKJV And I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
- NASB And I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
- NLT Then I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, showing that I had revoked the covenant I had made with all the nations.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Shepherd breaks the staff 'Favor,' annulling a covenant of restraint He had with the peoples. It matters because it signals the withdrawal of God's protective grace over the nation.
Overview
Snapping the staff named Favor enacts the breaking of God's gracious protection—likely a covenant by which the surrounding nations had been restrained from harming the people. With that grace removed, the flock is exposed to the hostility of the nations. The scene dramatizes how the loss of divine favor leaves a people defenseless, a fate the gospel warns against and Christ alone reverses.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Zech 11:7So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.
- Ps 89:39You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.
- Jer 31:31–32Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- Heb 8:8–13But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- Jer 14:21For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.
- Luke 21:5–6As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said,
- Heb 7:17–22For it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
- Ps 90:17May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands—yes, establish the work of our hands!
- 1 Sam 2:30Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- Luke 21:32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.
- Rom 9:3–5For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,
- Hos 1:9And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.
- Acts 6:13–14where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.
- Num 14:34In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.
- Ps 50:2From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
- Ezek 7:20–22His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them.
- Ezek 16:59–61For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
- Ezek 24:21Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’
- Dan 9:26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
- Gal 3:16–18The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 11:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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