Bible Strands
Zechariah 11:10
Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet speaks in the first person, delivering a enacted sign to the house of Israel at the moment he declares an end to his shepherding ministry. This action immediately follows his statement that the dying shall die and precedes the confirmation that the revocation occurred on that same day.
The words — נֹעַם (No'am) literally means "favor" and serves as the proper name for the staff. לְהָפֵיר (le-hapîr) carries the literal sense of breaking or annulling, describing the physical severing that terminates the covenant arrangement.
The thread — The act of cutting a staff to nullify a covenant runs through Zech 11:7-11, where two staffs are taken and broken. The theme of covenant revocation or divine memory appears in Ps 89:39 and Jer 14:21.
Why it lands — The text states that the prophet physically breaks a named staff to formally revoke a covenant made with all nations. It requires the reader to acknowledge that communal survival and divine oversight are terminated when that covenant is actively severed.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 11:7 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.
- Psalms 89:39 You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.
- Jeremiah 14:21 For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.
- Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- Hebrews 8:8 But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- 1 Samuel 2:30 Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- Psalms 90:17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands—yes, establish the work of our hands!
- Luke 21:5 As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said,
- Hebrews 7:17 For it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
- Hosea 1:9 And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.