I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
Parallel translations
- KJV Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
- BSB And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.
- NKJV I dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
- NASB Then I did away with the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was tired of me.
- NLT I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month. But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too.
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 removes three shepherds in one month, but mutual loathing develops between him and the flock. It matters because it shows the breakdown of relationship between God's Shepherd and a people who reject Him.
Overview
The 'three shepherds' cut off in a single month are debated—possibly specific corrupt leaders, classes of leadership (kings, priests, prophets), or a general sweeping away of false rulers. Whatever the precise reference, the key turn is the mutual aversion: the Shepherd grows weary of the flock and they loathe Him. This estrangement foreshadows Israel's rejection of the Messiah, who came to His own and was not received (John 1:11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- John 15:18If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
- John 7:7The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
- Isa 49:7Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and rise up; princes, and they shall worship; because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
- Matt 23:34–36Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;
- John 15:23–25He who hates me, hates my Father also.
- Hos 5:7They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
- Luke 19:14But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
- Jer 12:8My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. She has uttered her voice against me; therefore I have hated her.
- Heb 10:38But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Deut 32:19Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
- Ps 106:40Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
- Lev 26:11I will set my tent among you, and my soul won’t abhor you.
- Jer 14:21Do not abhor us, for your name’s sake. Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, and don’t break your covenant with us.
- Hos 9:15“All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.
- Matt 24:50–51the lord of that servant will come in a day when he doesn’t expect it, and in an hour when he doesn’t know it,
- Lev 26:30I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.
- Lev 26:44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God;
- Luke 12:50But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
- Ps 5:5The arrogant shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.
- Ps 78:9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
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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 11:8 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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