◄ Zechariah 11:17 ►
Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!"
Study Bible
Woe to the worthless shepherd
The term "woe" is a strong expression of judgment and lamentation, often used by prophets to pronounce divine displeasure. In Hebrew, "woe" is "הוֹי" (hoy), a cry of impending doom. The "worthless shepherd" refers to leaders who fail in their duty to care for and protect their people. Historically, this can be seen as a critique of Israel's leaders who neglected their responsibilities. The shepherd metaphor is deeply rooted in the Old Testament, symbolizing guidance and care, as seen in Psalm 23. Here, the "worthless shepherd" is the antithesis of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11).

who deserts the flock
The phrase "deserts the flock" indicates abandonment and neglect. In Hebrew culture, a shepherd's primary role was to protect and lead the sheep. To desert them is to leave them vulnerable to danger. This imagery is powerful, as it underscores the betrayal and failure of leaders who prioritize their interests over the welfare of those they lead. Scripturally, this is a grave sin, as leaders are entrusted by God to shepherd His people faithfully.

May a sword strike his arm and his right eye
The "sword" symbolizes divine judgment and retribution. In biblical times, the arm represented strength and power, while the right eye symbolized insight and vision. The striking of the arm and eye signifies the removal of the shepherd's ability to lead and protect. This is a vivid portrayal of God's judgment on those who fail in their divine mandate. The imagery of the sword is consistent with other prophetic writings where God uses it as an instrument of justice (Ezekiel 21:9-10).

May his arm be completely withered
The withering of the arm suggests a complete loss of strength and capability. In the Hebrew context, physical ailments were often seen as manifestations of spiritual failings or divine punishment. This curse reflects the totality of God's judgment, leaving the shepherd powerless and ineffective. It serves as a warning to leaders about the consequences of neglecting their God-given responsibilities.

and his right eye utterly blinded
Blinding the right eye signifies a loss of vision and discernment. In ancient Near Eastern culture, the right side was often associated with favor and strength. To be blinded in the right eye is to be deprived of the ability to see clearly and make wise decisions. This judgment underscores the importance of spiritual insight and the dire consequences of its absence. It is a call for leaders to seek divine wisdom and guidance in their roles.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Worthless Shepherd
This figure represents leaders who fail in their duty to care for and protect their people. In the context of Zechariah, it can symbolize both historical leaders of Israel and future false leaders.

2. The Flock
Symbolic of the people of Israel, and by extension, God's people who are under the care of their leaders.

3. Zechariah
A prophet who conveyed God's messages to the people of Israel during the post-exilic period, around 520-518 BC.

4. Sword
Represents divine judgment and punishment, often used metaphorically in the Bible to signify God's intervention.

5. Arm and Right Eye
Symbols of strength and vision, respectively. The withering of the arm and blinding of the eye indicate a complete loss of power and insight.
Teaching Points
The Responsibility of Leadership
Leaders are accountable to God for the care and guidance of those they lead. Neglect and self-interest lead to divine judgment.

The Consequences of Neglect
Just as the worthless shepherd faces severe consequences, leaders today must understand that neglecting their duties can lead to personal and communal downfall.

God's Sovereignty in Judgment
God is just and will not allow His people to be led astray indefinitely. He intervenes to correct and restore.

The Need for Discernment
Believers must be discerning about who they follow, ensuring that their leaders align with God's truth and righteousness.

Christ as the Ultimate Shepherd
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise of a good shepherd, providing the perfect model of leadership and care.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the role of the "worthless shepherd" in Zechariah 11:17 compare to the role of leaders in the church today?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we are following leaders who are aligned with God's will, as opposed to "worthless shepherds"?

3. How does the imagery of the sword, arm, and right eye in this verse deepen our understanding of God's judgment?

4. Reflect on a time when you experienced leadership that was either beneficial or detrimental. How did it affect your spiritual journey?

5. How can we apply the lessons from Zechariah 11:17 to our personal lives, especially in roles where we have influence over others?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ezekiel 34
This chapter also addresses the failure of Israel's shepherds (leaders) and God's promise to be the true shepherd to His people.

John 10
Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd, contrasting His care and sacrifice with the neglect of false shepherds.

Matthew 23
Jesus criticizes the religious leaders of His time for their hypocrisy and failure to lead the people rightly.

Jeremiah 23
God condemns the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of His pasture, promising to raise up a righteous Branch.
Sermons
Fraudulent Shepherds of the PeopleD. Thomas Zechariah 11:15-17
The Evil ShepherdW. Forsyth Zechariah 11:15-17
People
Zechariah
Places
Bashan, Jordan River, Lebanon
Topics
Arm, Blinded, Completely, Deserts, Eye, Flock, Leaves, Oracle, Shepherd, Strike, Sword, Totally, Withered, Woe, Worthless
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Zechariah 11:17

     4819   dryness
     5126   arm

Zechariah 11:7-17

     7130   flock, God's

Zechariah 11:15-17

     9250   woe

Zechariah 11:16-17

     5885   indifference

Library
Inspiration of Scripture. --Gospel Difficulties. --The Word of God Infallible. --Other Sciences Subordinate to Theological Science.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. BUT that is not exactly what St. Paul says. The Greek for that, would be He graphe--not pasa graphe--theopneustos. St. Paul does not say that the whole of Scripture, collectively, is inspired. More than that: what he says is, that every writing,--every several book of those hiera grammata, or Holy Scriptures, in which Timothy had been instructed from his childhood,--is inspired by God [330] . It comes to very nearly the same thing but it is not quite …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

And Again David Says:...
And again David says: They looked upon me: they parted my garments among them, and upon any vesture they cast lots. For at His crucifixion the soldiers parted His garments as they were wont; and the garments they parted by tearing; but for the vesture, because it was woven from the top and was not sewn, they cast lots, that to whomsoever it should fall he should take it. And again Jeremiah the prophet says: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was sold, whom they bought …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

In the House of his Heavenly, and in the Home of his Earthly Father - the Temple of Jerusalem - the Retirement at Nazareth.
Once only is the great silence, which lies on the history of Christ's early life, broken. It is to record what took place on His first visit to the Temple. What this meant, even to an ordinary devout Jew, may easily be imagined. Where life and religion were so intertwined, and both in such organic connection with the Temple and the people of Israel, every thoughtful Israelite must have felt as if his real life were not in what was around, but ran up into the grand unity of the people of God, and …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The closing words which Jesus had spoken to those Pharisees who followed HIm breathe the sadness of expected near judgment, rather than the hopefulness of expostulation. And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. All the topics of the former Discourses are now resumed and applied. They are not in any way softened or modified, but uttered in accents of …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins from the final disturbance and overthrow of the Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal; and as it was to bring the first plague on the empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it depopulates the territory and people of the Roman world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of the northern nations, …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Remorse and Suicide of Judas.
(in the Temple and Outside the Wall of Jerusalem. Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 3-10; ^E Acts I. 18, 19. ^a 3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned [Judas, having no reason to fear the enemies of Jesus, probably stood in their midst and witnessed the entire trial], repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. [There are two Greek words which are translated "repented," …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Questions.
LESSON I. 1. In what state was the Earth when first created? 2. To what trial was man subjected? 3. What punishment did the Fall bring on man? 4. How alone could his guilt be atoned for? A. By his punishment being borne by one who was innocent. 5. What was the first promise that there should be such an atonement?--Gen. iii. 15. 6. What were the sacrifices to foreshow? 7. Why was Abel's offering the more acceptable? 8. From which son of Adam was the Seed of the woman to spring? 9. How did Seth's …
Charlotte Mary Yonge—The Chosen People

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative …
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Of the Incapacity of an Unregenerate Person for Relishing the Enjoyments of the Heavenly World.
John iii. 3. John iii. 3. --Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God. IN order to demonstrate the necessity of regeneration, of which I would fain convince not only your understandings, but your consciences, I am now proving to you, that without it, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God; and how weighty a consideration that is I am afterwards to represent. That it is thus impossible, the words in the text do indeed sufficiently prove: but for the further illustration …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Fifthly, as this Revelation, to the Judgment of Right and Sober Reason,
appears of itself highly credible and probable, and abundantly recommends itself in its native simplicity, merely by its own intrinsic goodness and excellency, to the practice of the most rational and considering men, who are desirous in all their actions to have satisfaction and comfort and good hope within themselves, from the conscience of what they do: So it is moreover positively and directly proved to be actually and immediately sent to us from God, by the many infallible signs and miracles …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Zechariah
CHAPTERS I-VIII Two months after Haggai had delivered his first address to the people in 520 B.C., and a little over a month after the building of the temple had begun (Hag. i. 15), Zechariah appeared with another message of encouragement. How much it was needed we see from the popular despondency reflected in Hag. ii. 3, Jerusalem is still disconsolate (Zech. i. 17), there has been fasting and mourning, vii. 5, the city is without walls, ii. 5, the population scanty, ii. 4, and most of the people …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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