_THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. THE FAITHFUL BEING CARED FOR, THE IMPENITENT ARE REJECTED. THE SLAVES OF BEAUTY AND BANDS BROKEN BY THE REJECTION OF CHRIST. THE TYPE AND CURSE OF A FOOLISH SHEPHERD._ _Before Christ 517._ THIS chapter contains a prophesy of a very different cast from the foregoing.... [ Continue Reading ]
OPEN THY DOORS, &C.— This manner of expression sufficiently shews, that Lebanon itself is not addressed, which had no doors, or gates; but the temple, built of the cedars of Lebanon. In the three preceding Chapter s, Zechariah spoke of the advantages and prosperities of Judah and Jerusalem, after th... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWL, FIR-TREE— _O fir-tree; because the cedar is fallen, because,_ &c. _Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, because the defenced forest is overthrown._ Houbigant. When any apologue or fable became celebrated for the art and beauty of its composition, or for some extraordinary efficacy in its application, it... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE PRIDE OF JORDAN IS SPOILED— _Because the waters of Jordan have overflowed,_ so that the lions can no more rest among its reeds, and on its banks; that is, no place in Judaea is safe whither the warriors and great men may betake themselves. Houbigant. Dr. Blayney observes, that by "the pride... [ Continue Reading ]
FEED THE FLOCK OF THE SLAUGHTER— Or _the flock prepared for slaughter._ That flock is so described in the next verse, as to make it evident that a flock not of _sheep,_ but of _men,_ is meant, and consequently an allegorical shepherd. Zechariah was not only of a priestly family, but one of the chief... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HOLD THEMSELVES NOT GUILTY— _And repent not,_ or _are not ashamed._ See Jeremiah 2:3; Jeremiah 50:7. Hosea 5:15. The Romans are here referred to, who, at the time of the coming of the great Shepherd of the sheep, the Messiah, had reduced the Jews under their power, whom they bought and sold as t... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I WILL NO MORE PITY, &C.— It is a remark which deserves attention, that the prophets representing two persons, the Word, or the Messiah, and themselves, in the very same discourses, will sometimes speak of themselves, and at other times in the character that they are commanded to assume; of this... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL FEED, &C.— In Ezekiel 37:16 the prophet writes the names of the tribes upon two sticks, which, joined together, aptly express the union of all the tribes. But here the prophet takes the shepherd's _crook,_ or _staff,_ to shew the office and power of the Messiah; the _Logos,_ or Word; for,... [ Continue Reading ]
THREE SHEPHERDS ALSO—IN ONE MONTH— The _great Shepherd,_ the Messiah, goes on to speak, agreeably to the ancient custom, of hiring shepherds for a month. The priests were frequently changed among the Jews during the latter part of their polity or commonwealth; whence the priesthood became venal, or... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID I, &C.— These are the words of the Messiah to the priests of his time, whom he quickly forsook, and broke his staff of _loveliness_ or _delight,_ being no longer inclined to spare them, nor to restrain the people from oppressing the Jewish nation, as he had before restrained them by that c... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT WAS BROKEN, &C.— _But when this was broken in that day, the poor_ or _meek of the flock, as also those who watched with me, knew that this was the word of the Lord._ The prophet calls those who followed the true Shepherd, _the poor,_ or _meek of the flock;_ but _those who watched,_ priests an... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I SAID, &C.— _Afterwards I said unto them, if this pleaseth you, give me my hire; if not, forbear: so,_ &c. Zechariah 11:13. _And the Lord said unto me, cast it to the potter,_ [namely,] _this very goodly valuation which they made of me._ The Messiah speaks this to the chief-priests and rulers o... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN I CUT ASUNDER, &C.— From the time that the people returned from Babylon, the Jews and Israelites had formed one society both of religion and polity, which society continued till the last destruction of Jerusalem, when, the Jewish kingdom being subverted, _the bands were broken,_ and a disunion... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE UNTO THEE YET THE INSTRUMENTS OF A FOOLISH SHEPHERD— The prophet follows the order of time, that he may foretel the madness and blindness of the shepherds, or of the priests and rulers of the Jewish nation, till the last destruction of Jerusalem; who not only disregarded religion, and the safet... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR, LO,—WHICH SHALL NOT VISIT, &C.— _For lo,—who will not look after those that are perishing, nor seek the wandering one, nor heal the broken, nor carry the restive or the weary; but will eat the flesh of the fat one, and pluck off their hoofs._ The unwise and wicked shepherd, instead of being ten... [ Continue Reading ]