Bible Strands
Zechariah 11:8
And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet speaks as a symbolic shepherd representing God’s temporary oversight of Israel, immediately following the appointment of two staffs to signify Favor and Union.
The words — וַתִּקְצַר (va.tik.Tzar) literally means "and it was short," describing the divine self growing impatient, while נַפְשִׁי (naf.shi) translates as "my self" or "my soul."
The thread — The pattern of divine patience meeting human hostility recurs in John 7:7, John 15:18, and Isaiah 49:7.
Why it lands — The verse records a single month of leadership ending in mutual detestation, demanding the reader acknowledge that divine patience reaches a limit and that the flock’s rejection terminates the shepherd’s duty.
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
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
Cross-references
- John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.
- John 15:18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
- Isaiah 49:7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”
- Matthew 23:34 Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.
- Hosea 5:7 They have been unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land.
- Luke 19:14 But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’
- John 15:23 Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
- Leviticus 26:11 And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
- Leviticus 26:30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- Leviticus 26:44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.