to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Take
קַחkach-
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
instruments
כְּלִ֖יke.Li
H3627
something prepared · noun, common masculine singular construct
foolish
אֱוִלִֽי'e.vi.Li
H196
silly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
shepherd
רֹעֶ֥הro.'Eh
H7462
to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine 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
Isaiah 6:10-12 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,…
Jeremiah 2:26-27 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their…
Lamentations 2:14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have s…
Ezekiel 13:3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
Matthew 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Matthew 23:17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
Luke 11:40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 11:15–end
God, having shown the misery of this people in their being justly abandoned by the good Shepherd, here shows their further misery in being shamefully abused by a foolish shepherd. The prophet is himself to personate and represent this pretended shepherd (Zac 11:15): Take unto thee the instruments or accoutrements of a foolish shepherd, that are no way fit for the business, such a shepherd's coat, and bag, and staff, as a foolish shepherd would appear in; for such a shepherd shall be set over them (Zac 11:16), who, instead of protecting them, shall oppress them and do them mischief. 1. They shall be under the inspection of unfaithful ministers. Their scribes, and priests, and doctors of their…
yet--"take again"; as in Zac 11:7 previously he had taken other implements.
instruments--the accoutrements, namely, the shepherd's crook and staff, wallet, &c. Assume the character of a bad ("foolish" in Scripture is synonymous with wicked, Psa 14:1) shepherd, as before thou assumedst that of a good shepherd. Since the Jews would not have Messiah, "the Good Shepherd" (Joh 10:11), they were given up to Rome, heathen and papal, both alike their persecutor, especially the latter, and shall be again to Antichrist, the "man of sin," the instrument of judgment by Christ's permission. Antichrist will first make a covenant with them as their ruler, but then will break it, and they shall feel the i…
The instruments of a foolish shepherd - Such as a bag without bread, a scrip without measure, and a staff without a hook, etc., things that were needless or of no use; to point out to the Jewish pastors, who took no care of the flock, but devoured them, or ruled them with force and with cruelty.
John Gill on Zechariah 11:15
And the Lord said unto me,.... The Prophet Zechariah:
Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd; the meaning is, that the prophet should put on the habit of a shepherd, and take a scrip and staff in his hands, and represent a foolish shepherd, hereafter described.
The Church Fathers
Such is my defense; its reasonableness I have set forth. And may the God of peace, who made both one and has restored us to each other, who sets kings upon thrones and raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, who chose David his servant and took him away from the sheepfolds, though he was the least and youngest of the sons of Jesse, who gave the word to those who preach the gospel with great power for the perfection of the gospel—may he himself hold me by my right hand. [May he] guide me with his counsel and receive me with glory, who is a Shepherd to shepherds and Guide to guides. [May he guide us] that we may feed his flock with knowledge, not with the instruments of a foolish shepherd, according to the blessing, and not according to the curse pronounced against the men of former days. May he give strength and power to his people and himself present to himself his flock resplendent and spotless and worthy of the fold on high, in the habitation of them that rejoice, in the splendor of the saints, so that in his temple everyone, both flock and shepherds together may say, Glory in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be all glory forever and ever. Amen.
(vv. 15 seqq.) And the Lord said to me: Take for yourself the vessels of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not visit those who are abandoned, he will not seek the scattered, and he will not heal the broken. And what stands, he will not nourish, and he will eat the flesh of the fat ones, and he will dissolve their hoofs. O shepherd, forsaking the flock and the idol: a sword will be upon his arm and upon his right eye, his arm will be dried up with dryness, and his right eye will be darkened with darkness. LXX: And the Lord said to me: Take yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For behold I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish that which standeth, and he shall eat the flesh of the fat ones, and break their hoofs. O shepherd, that feedest the sheep, woe to the idle shepherd that forsaketh the flock: the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quite wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. When he says, 'Take for yourself the vessels of a foolish shepherd,' it signifies that he had taken for himself two staffs, one called Favor, and the other called Union. And because he had thrown them away due to his own fault and sin, and the unity between Judah and Israel had been broken, we have been grafted into the root of the good olive tree, and blindness has come upon the house of Israel in part, until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in (Rom. 11). Now it is said to the prophet, as a most weighty foolish shepherd, or unwise, to assume the prophecy. The foolish and ignorant shepherd is undoubtedly the Antichrist; who is said to come at the end of the world, and the manner in which he will come is indicated. So we must take the shepherd's vessels, his symbols and attire, a purse, a staff, a flute, and a whistle. Just as Isaiah, in order to demonstrate the captivity of the people, enters naked (Isa. 20); and Jeremiah goes to the house of the potter, to show the destruction of the vessel which was spinning on the wheel, and to demonstrate the destruction of Israel and the power of God (Jer. 18); and Ezekiel, in order to demonstrate the overthrow of Jerusalem and the escape of Zedekiah, and the burdens of the captives, not only speaks but also demonstrates through his attire, by…
Dictionary and topics
Bag — (1.) A pocket of a cone-like shape in which Naaman bound two pieces of silver for Gehazi (2 Kings 5:23). The same Hebrew word occurs elsewhere only in Isa. 3:22, where it is rendered “crisping-pins,”…
Shepherds · Illustrative: (Ignorant and foolish,) of bad ministers — Illustrative: (Ignorant and foolish,) of bad ministers
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 Calvin on Zechariah 11:15-16
Zechariah 11:15, 16
15. And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
15. Et dixit Iehova mihi, Adhuc sume tibi vas patoris stulti. [147]
16. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
16. Quia ecce ego constituo pastorem in terra; quod excisum est no visitabit, quod juvenile est no requieret, quod confractum est non sanabit, quod stat non pascet; et carnem pinguis comedet, et ungulas eorum confringet.
Here the Prophet teaches us,…
The Foolish Shepherd. - Zac 11:15. "And Jehovah said to me, Take to thee yet the implement of a foolish shepherd. Zac 11:16. For, behold, I raise up to myself a shepherd in the land: that which is perishing will he not observe, that which is scattered will he not seek, and that which is broken will he not heal; that which is standing will he not care for; and the flesh of the fat one will he eat, and tear their claws in pieces. Zac 11:17. Woe to the worthless shepherd, who forsakes the flock! sword over his arm, and over his right eye: his arm shall wither, and his right eye be extinguished." After Israel has compelled the good shepherd to lay down his shepherd's office, in consequence of it…
The worthless shepherd represents corrupt leaders, in contrast with the good shepherd (cp. Ezek 34:7-16).
Rashi on Zechariah 11:15
Take for yourself, etc. This is what He said to him above: Tend the flock of slaughter (verse 4). This is a sign that I am destined to deliver the generation of the destruction of this Second Temple into the hands of Esau.