Zechariah 10:3

Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds Against the kings, princes, and priests. These were the leaders of the Jewish people into idolatry and vice. The word shepherds is beautifully taken up from the preceding verse. And I punished the goats The chief ones, as Newcome renders it. The principal men are meant. For Or rather, but, the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock In mercy. He hath now given his people manifest tokens of his favour and protection. And hath made them Or, will make them, as his goodly horse in the battle Will give them strength and courage. This must relate to the times of the Maccabees, and afterward, when God punished several nations by the hands of the Jewish people.