Zechariah 11:12-14

Zechariah Asks For His Wage To Be Paid Because He Is Giving Up His Position (Zechariah 11:12). And Uses It As A Symbol Of Israel's Rejection

Zechariah 11:12

‘And I said to them, “If you think good, give me my wages, and if not, do not do so.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.'

Having withdrawn his services Zechariah now asks for payment for his past service if they are willing to do so, although he will not insist. He wants them to give him what they think he is worth. It would appear from this that Zechariah was an official servant of the Temple, probably in the guild of prophets, and that now on his retirement from that position, so that he can be free to serve God as he will, he asks for his due reward for his past service.

They give him ‘thirty pieces of silver.' This was the value of a slave gored by an ox in Mosaic times (Exodus 21:32). It was intended here to be a derisory amount, indicating what they thought of his services. The value of a male slave at this time would be more than double this amount.

Zechariah 11:13

‘And YHWH said to me, “Cast it to the smelter, the goodly price that I was valued at by them.” And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the smelter in the house of YHWH.'

God takes the value at which Zechariah is valued as indicative of the value they have placed on Him Himself. The phrase ‘the goodly price' is sarcastic. They clearly think that God and His prophetic word are worth little. So YHWH tells him to reject it.

‘Cast them to the potter (or smelter) in the house of YHWH.' This probably refers to the Temple foundry where the silver is melted down. The Syriac version, however, has ‘into the treasury' and a suggested emendation to the Hebrew text would produce this phrase. But casting it to the Temple smelter implies the same thing. Handing the silver over to the Temple may well have been a device, as it was later, of rejecting the contract as unsatisfactory. Alternately it may be intended as an indication that God is telling Zechariah to give the silver to Him as it demonstrates the value the false shepherds have placed on Him.

The chief priests and Pharisees placed the same value on God and His word when they paid Judas for betraying Jesus. They may well have had this prophecy in mind indicating their scorn for Jesus (Matthew 26:15). But it was, unknowingly to them, a fulfilment of the idea behind the prophecy. He Who had been sent from God was rejected and a derisory amount was paid in respect of Him, and this proved in the end to be the value that they had placed on God.

Zechariah 11:14

‘Then I cut in two my other staff, even Bands, in order that I may break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.'

The derisory offering of thirty pieces of silver finally seals the rejection of the false teachers and prophets. The second staff is broken showing that God and Zechariah are no longer shepherds to His people Who have despised Him. This will result in dissension and division between the two sections of the people and the breaking up of the covenant community.

It is very possible that in taking the two staves Zechariah had Ezekiel 37:15 in mind. There two sticks are joined together to form a unity of Israel and Judah under the Messianic king. Here Zechariah is demonstrating and declaring that that time is not yet. The fulfilling of the promises is yet in the future, and the people will remain divided. It is always a sad thing when the people of God are divided for it is a sign that God's blessing is, at least partly, absent. Thus the shepherd Zechariah looks forward to a greater Shepherd Who will finally seal the covenant with the people of God (Zechariah 13:7).