Zechariah 10:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 10:3
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
kindled
חָרָ֣הcha.Rah
H2734
to glow or grow warm · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
shepherds
הָֽרֹעִים֙ha.ro.'Im
H7462
to tend a flock · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
punished
אֶפְק֑וֹד'ef.Kod
H6485
to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
goats
הָעַתּוּדִ֖יםha.'a.tu.Dim
H6260
prepared · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
LORD
יְהוָ֨הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֤וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
visited
פָקַד֩fa.Kad
H6485
to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
flock
עֶדְרוֹ֙ed.Ro
H5739
an arrangement · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
house
בֵּ֣יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֔הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
made
וְשָׂ֣םve.Sam
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
goodly
הוֹד֖וֹho.Do
H1935
grandeur (i.e. an imposing form and appearance) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
horse
כְּס֥וּסke.Sus
H5483
a horse (as leaping) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
battle
בַּמִּלְחָמָֽהba.mil.cha.Mah
H4421
a battle (i.e. the engagement) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 34:7-10 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
Ezekiel 34:2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the…
Jeremiah 23:1-2 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 25:34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispe…
Ezekiel 34:16-17 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen tha…
Ezekiel 34:20-21 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.
Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, a…
Zephaniah 2:7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 10:1-4
Gracious things and glorious ones, very glorious and very gracious, were promised to this poor afflicted people in the foregoing chapter; now here God intimates to them that he will for these things be enquired of by them, and that he expects they should acknowledge him in all their ways and in all his ways towards them - and not idols that were rivals with him for their respects.
I. The prophet directs them to apply to God by prayer for rain in the season thereof. He had promised, in the close of the foregoing chapter, that there should be great plenty of corn and wine, whereas for several years, by reason of unseasonable weather, there had been great scarcity of both; but the earth will no…
against the shepherds--the civil rulers of Israel and Judah who abetted idolatry.
punished--literally, "visited upon." The same word "visited," without the upon, is presently after used in a good sense to heighten the contrast.
goats--he-goats. As "shepherds" described what they ought to have been, so "he-goats" describes what they were, the emblem of headstrong wantonness and offensive lust (Isa 14:9, Margin; Eze 34:17; Dan 8:5; Mat 25:33). The he-goats head the flock. They who are first in crime will be first in punishment.
visited--in mercy (Luk 1:68).
as his goodly horse--In Zac 9:13 they were represented under the image of bows and arrows, here under that of their commander-in-c…
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds - Bad kings and bad priests. I will punish the goats; these were the wicked priests, who were shepherds by their office, and goats by the impurity of their lives.
As his goodly horse in the battle - The honorable war horse, or the horse that carried the general's equipage. In the unaccountable variation of interpreters on these chapters, this, among other things, is thought to be spoken of Matthias, and Judas Maccabeus, who assembled the people from all quarters, as a shepherd gathers his sheep together; and led them against the sons of Greece, the Seleucidae Greeks. Others refer every thing here to times before the captivity.
The Church Fathers
Observe, you who are our beloved sons, how merciful yet righteous the Lord our God is, how gracious and kind to humankind. And yet most certainly "he will not acquit the guilty," though he welcomes returning sinners and revives them, leaving no room for suspicion to such as wish to judge sternly and to reject offenders entirely, and to refuse to grant them exhortations which might bring them to repentance. In contradiction to such, God by Isaiah says to the bishops, "Comfort you, comfort you my people, you priests; speak comfortably to Jerusalem." It therefore behooves you, upon hearing those words of his, to encourage those who have offended, and lead them to repentance, and afford them hope, and not vainly to suppose that you shall be partakers of their offenses on account of such your love to them. Receive the penitent with alacrity and rejoice over them, and with mercy and bowels of compassion judge the sinners. For if a person was walking by the side of a river and ready to stumble, and you should push him and thrust him into the river instead of offering him your hand for his assistance, you would be guilty of the murder of your brother.… You ought rather to lend your helping hand as he was ready to fall, lest he perish without remedy, that both the people may take warning and the offender may not utterly perish. It is your duty, O bishop, neither to overlook the sins of the people nor to reject those who are penitent, that you may not unskillfully destroy the Lord's flock or dishonor his new name which is stamped upon his people, and you yourself be reproached as those ancient pastors were, of whom God speaks thus to Jeremiah: "Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have polluted my heritage." And in another passage, "My anger is waxed hot against the shepherds, and against the lambs shall I have indignation."
(Verse 3 and following) My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goats; for the Lord of hosts will visit his flock, the house of Judah, and make them like his majestic horse in battle. From him comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the bow of battle; from him every oppressor comes forth together, and they shall be like mighty warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the Lord is with them. (Septuagint: My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the lambs; and the Lord God Almighty will visit his flock, the house of Judah, and make them like his majestic horse in battle. From him he looked upon, and from him he set, and from him the bow in wrath will come forth; from him every one who brings forth together, and they shall be like warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle, and they shall be prepared, for the Lord is with them.) And in this place there are two explanations of the Jews. For some believe that everything will be accomplished in the coming of Christ: others believe that it has already been accomplished under the Maccabees. And this is the explanation of what the Lord promises: The Lord is angry with the shepherds, rulers, and priests, and with the goats, and he visited the people, according to what is written: My people have become lost sheep, the shepherds have driven them away (Jer. L, 6), so that the disciples would be punished for the fault of their masters: not by the injustice of the judge, who renders the sins of the fathers onto the children; but because, when they sinned, the people applauded them together: and at that time, the Lord visited his goats, or the fattest lambs, and made them, according to the Septuagint, dry with drought. But afterwards the Almighty Lord visited his flock, the house of Judah: for he raised up Judas Maccabaeus, and others with him, against the leaders of Antioch, and he set them up like horses of his glory in battle, that is, those who were born of his lineage: for they oppressed the Macedonians for a long time. And what follows: From him comes the cornerstone, from him comes the peg, from him comes the bow of battle, from him comes every tax collector together, which metaphorically they understand, interpreting the cornerstone as royal power, because it encompasses the very walls. And from it, he says, comes…
Dictionary and topics
Goat — (1.) Heb. ‘ez, the she-goat (Gen. 15:9; 30:35; 31:38). This Hebrew word is also used for the he-goat (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 4:23; Num. 28:15), and to denote a kid (Gen. 38:17, 20). Hence it may be regarded…
Goat, The · Illustrative: Of the wicked — Illustrative: Of the wicked
Horse, The · Illustrative of: Beauty of the church — Illustrative of: Beauty of the church
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Zechariah 10:3
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,.... The Targum interprets it of "kings"; as the "goats" of "princes", in the next clause; by whom, according to Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, are meant the kings of Greece; but rather the antichristian kings are designed, the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with the whore of Rome, which is the cause of the anger of the Lord being kindled: or else ecclesiastical rulers are meant, the Romish clergy, the chief of them, as cardinals, archbishops, bishops, &c. who may fitly be represented by the shepherds of Israel in the times of the prophets for their name, professing to be of Israel, or to be Christians; and by them f…
Zechariah 10:3
3. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
3. Super pastores iratus est furor meus; super hireos visitabo; quia visitabit Iehova exercituum gregem suum, domum Iehudah; et posuit (vel, ponet) eos, quasi equum decoris sui in praelio.
He had said that the Jews had been driven into exile, and had been oppressed by their enemies, because they had no shepherd; not indeed to lessen their fault, for they were wholly inexcusable, since they had wilfully renounced God, who would have been otherwise their perpetual shepherd: but he now…
To this there is appended in Zac 10:3. the promise that Jehovah will take possession of His flock, and redeem it out of the oppression of the evil shepherds. Zac 10:3. "My wrath is kindled upon the shepherds, and the goats shall I punish; for Jehovah of hosts visits His flock, the house of Judah, and makes it like His state-horse in the war. Zac 10:4. From Him will be corner-stone, from Him the nail, from Him the war-bow; from Him will every ruler go forth at once." When Israel lost its own shepherds, it came under the tyranny of bad shepherds. These were the heathen governors and tyrants. Against these the wrath of Jehovah is kindled, and He will punish them. There is no material difference…
My anger burns: Israel is often the object of this divine wrath, incited by disobedience to covenant stipulations or by lapses into idolatry (see Exod 22:22-24; Deut 6:14-15; Josh 7:1; Judg 2:20; Heb 10:31). • these leaders (or these male goats): This is a figure of speech for princes, since male goats typically lead goat herds.
Rashi on Zechariah 10:3
My wrath is kindled against the shepherds Against the kings of Greece.
upon the goats Against their princes, and so did Jonathan render it: My wrath was against the kings and upon the rulers I visit. The Greeks were likened to goats in (Dan. 8:21), “And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece.” Whoever wishes to explain the matter [otherwise] (not as referring to the kings of Greece) will say that הָעַתּוּדִים is an expression of princes, as in (Isa. 14:9), “It aroused the giants for you, all the chiefs of the earth.”
as His majestic horse in battle As the horse whose majesty is recognized in battle.
