Chapter 11 verses 4-17, which is a story of two shepherds, is one of the most difficult passages in the Old Testament to understand. From the New Living Translation, the passage reads as follows:

4 This is what the LORD my God says: "Go and care for a flock that is intended for slaughter. 5 The buyers will slaughter their sheep without remorse. The sellers will say, 'Praise the LORD, I am now rich!' Even the shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 And likewise, I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land," says the LORD. "I will let them fall into each other's clutches, as well as into the clutches of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not protect them." 7 So I cared for the flock intended for slaughter - the flock that was oppressed. Then I took two shepherd's staffs and named one Favor and the other Union. 8 I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month. But I became impatient with these

The passage goes on to say that when he broke staffs, the "buyers and sellers" of the flock knew that he was a true prophet. I think in this case the "buyers and sellers" represent false prophets who knew they were involved in wrongdoing. These false prophets were in it for the money and would base their prophecies on the amount of money they received; if someone gave them a lot of money, they received a good prophecy. So Zechariah asks to be paid for his services. In doing this he was trying to see if anyone acknowledged the fact that he was trying to help them. They paid him an insulting amount, which verified that his prophecies were not appreciated or accepted. The people simply did not want to hear that God was upset with their corrupt ways. He throws this money into the Temple. I think this might be showing that even if he was paid for his services, his prophecies would not change because he is a true prophet.

The third commentary, Zechariah 9-14, began with the translation the authors used, followed by their notes about it, and ending with their comments. This commentary disagreed with the others in that it found the passage "simple and straightforward" (p.293). The authors feel that verses 1-3 and verse 17 frame verses 4-16. These poetic oracles precede and follow the prose verses of the chapter. Their unique approach to understanding this chapter has helped clear up some of the questions that have stumped previous translators.

After learning about the exploitations of the flock, one would most likely expect a message of salvation to follow. However the Lord says instead of rescuing them, He will allow the foreigner leaders to have the sheep, because they are subject to a period of suffering before deliverance will occur due to their rejection of the good shepherd. To expand on this conclusion, the commentary discusses the two staves and the reaction of the people to the good shepherd. The two staffs were called Union and Favor. Union symbolized the uniting of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. Favor referred to God's favor to the Israelites that they would be at peace with foreign nations. In addition to taking up the two staves, he also removed three of the negligent shepherds whose identities remain unknown. Despite these great attempts to protect the sheep, the people still rejected him, thus leading him to relinquish his leadership. Their rejection of the good shepherd is the reason God allows them to suffer for a short time. To officially end his leadership, he breaks the two staves. This symbolizes the postponement of the reuniting of the kingdoms and also that God will allow the people to suffer under the leadership of oppressive rulers for a short period of time. The people pay him for his services by awarding him thirty silver pieces, the price of a slave. After sarcastically commenting on the "large" amount of money they gave him for his services, he gives the money to the potter in the temple as God instructed him to do so. This commentary does not even attempt to guess at the reason for this action. The author briskly passes it over by saying, " The significance of this action is uncertain" (p. 267).

So God instructs Zechariah to be a worthless shepherd, because God said he would raise one up in their land. This shepherd won't tend to the sheep that are to die, he won't look after the children, and he won't help the sick, or provide food for the healthy. I think this is illustrating the people are being socially unjust to each other during the time in which Zechariah is preaching. It is warning the people that if they don't start listening to the true prophets, he will leave them to be destroyed in the hands of the false prophets and corrupt leaders of the land. God tells them that he really does not want it to come to this, because the passage ends with a prophecy about what will become of the worthless shepherd. I think this is a message to fa

Some common words found in the essay are:
Unity Translation, Meyers Meyers, Meyer Meyer, Israel Lord, Israel Favor, Minor Prophets, God Zechariah, Favor Union, Herod Simon, Judah Israel, false prophets, worthless shepherd, political leaders, northern southern kingdoms, buyers sellers, southern kingdoms, foolish shepherd, role shepherd, god tells, god instructed, northern southern, flock intended slaughter, else testament shepherd, testament shepherd refers, moses else testament,
Approximate Word count = 3329
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)