Bible Strands
Zechariah 11:17
Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Zechariah pronounces this oracle against a false shepherd who abandons the flock, immediately following his description of a leader who will neither seek the lost nor heal the broken but will devour the choice sheep.
The words — The Hebrew ה֣וֹי (ho) functions as a formal declaration of impending judgment, while אֱלִיל (elil) literally denotes worthlessness or vanity, characterizing the shepherd’s complete lack of divine authority.
The thread — This oracle parallels Jeremiah 23:1, which condemns shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep, and Ezekiel 13:3, which pronounces woe on leaders who act foolishly without true vision.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that leadership divorced from care for the vulnerable invites divine judgment, requiring the reader to evaluate whether their own guidance aligns with faithful stewardship or self-serving abandonment.
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
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, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
- Ezekiel 13:3 This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit yet have seen nothing.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4 So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Ezekiel 34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?
- Isaiah 42:19 Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
- Matthew 23:16 Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
- 1 Corinthians 10:19 Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
- Isaiah 6:9 And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Jeremiah 23:32 “Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 50:35 A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.