Zechariah 11
Zechariah Chapter 11, Explained
A grim prophecy portrays Zechariah as a shepherd over a doomed flock. He takes two staffs named Favor and Union and shepherds sheep marked for slaughter. When the flock detests him, he resigns, breaking the staff Favor and asking his wages, which they weigh out as thirty pieces of silver. God tells him to throw this price to the potter. He breaks the second staff and portrays a worthless shepherd who abandons the flock.
Key verses from Zechariah 11
“And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.”
Zechariah 11:7
“And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.”
Zechariah 11:12
What happens in Zechariah 11
The chapter opens with a taunt against Lebanon's cedars and its ruined shepherds. God commands Zechariah to shepherd the flock marked for slaughter, whose owners kill them without guilt while their own shepherds show no pity. Zechariah takes up two staffs, naming one Favor and the other Union, and tends the afflicted flock, cutting off three shepherds in one month. But he grows weary of them and they detest him, so he announces he will no longer shepherd them. He breaks the staff Favor, annulling a covenant with the peoples.
He asks for his wages, and they weigh out thirty pieces of silver. The LORD sarcastically calls it a lordly price, and tells Zechariah to throw it to the potter in the house of the LORD, which he does. He then breaks the second staff, Union, severing the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. Finally God raises up a foolish, worthless shepherd who devours the flock, and pronounces woe upon him.
Where Zechariah 11 sits
This is one of Scripture's darker prophetic dramas, a symbolic enactment about rejected shepherding. The flock marked for slaughter represents God's people abused by their leaders. The prophet embodies God's own shepherding care, which the people reject, valuing it at the price of a slave. The passage looks ahead to a rejected shepherd and to the judgment of a worthless one who will devour rather than tend, a warning against leaders who exploit those in their care.
Themes in Zechariah 11
The rejected shepherd. Zechariah shepherds the doomed flock with genuine care, yet they detest him and he is driven away. The prophecy dramatizes God's own faithful shepherding being spurned by the very people he seeks to save. Rejecting the true shepherd leaves a flock exposed to those who will not pity them.
A shepherd valued at a slave's price. When Zechariah asks his wages, they weigh out thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave, an insult God calls a lordly price with heavy irony. To value the shepherd so cheaply is to despise the care he gave. The contemptuous sum is thrown to the potter in the temple, a striking detail.
The worthless shepherd. In contrast to the caring shepherd rejected, God raises up a foolish shepherd who ignores the perishing and devours the flock. When people reject true shepherding, they are left to leaders who exploit them. Woe is pronounced on the shepherd who abandons the sheep for his own gain.
How Zechariah 11 points to Jesus
Matthew sees this prophecy fulfilled in the betrayal of Jesus. When Judas takes thirty pieces of silver to hand over Jesus, then throws the money into the temple in remorse, and the priests use it to buy the potter's field, Matthew cites this passage about the thirty pieces of silver thrown to the potter in the house of the LORD. Zechariah's rejected shepherd, valued at a slave's price and spurned by the flock, foreshadows the Good Shepherd priced at thirty silver coins and rejected by the people he came to save. The broken staffs of Favor and Union, and the coming of a worthless shepherd, warn of the consequences of rejecting the true one. In Jesus, the shepherd despised and sold becomes the very means of the flock's salvation.
A thought to carry
This sobering chapter shows what it costs to reject the shepherd who truly cares. It is possible to value God's tender leadership at the price of a slave and turn instead to those who exploit us. Consider whether you have cheapened the Good Shepherd's care, and return to the one who was sold for your sake.
A prayer. Good Shepherd, forgive me for valuing your care too cheaply and turning to shepherds who would only devour me. You were sold for thirty silver coins for my sake. Draw me back to your fold, and let me treasure your faithful love.
Want to sit with this chapter for yourself? Read all of Zechariah 11 in the King James Version, then open The Living Bread to ask any question about it and pray with others, free.
Questions people ask about Zechariah 11
Why are the thirty pieces of silver so significant?
Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave in the law of Moses, so weighing out this sum for the shepherd's wages was a deliberate insult, valuing his care at the cost of a slave. God's ironic label, a lordly price, underscores the contempt. Matthew records that Judas was paid exactly thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus, and the money ended up buying a potter's field, matching Zechariah's detail of throwing the silver to the potter in the temple.
What do the two broken staffs mean?
The two staffs, named Favor and Union, represent God's gracious care and the unity of his people. Breaking Favor pictures the withdrawal of protective grace when the flock rejects its shepherd, and breaking Union pictures the fracturing of the people's brotherhood. The broken staffs dramatize what is lost when the true shepherd is despised: both the covenant favor that shielded them and the bonds that held them together come apart, leaving the flock scattered and exposed.
Every chapter in Zechariah
← Zechariah 10 · The book of Zechariah · The gospel · Zechariah 12 →