Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 11:6
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver [them].
6. the men ] Rather, man. This verse at once gives the reason of the misery described in Zec 11:5, viz. Jehovah’s displeasure, and interprets the parable of the flock. They of whom I am speaking are “the inhabitants of the land (of Juda);” they are not sheep but “men.” Comp. Eze 34:31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I will no more pity – Therefore were they a flock of the slaughter, because God would have no pity on those who went after shepherds who had no Pity upon them, but corrupted them; who entered not in themselves, and those who were entering in, they hindered Luk 11:52.
The inhabitants of the land – That land, of which he had been speaking, Judaea. And lo. God, by this word, lo, always commands heed to His great doings with man; I, I, Myself, visibly interposing, will deliver man, the whole race of inhabitants, every one into his neighbors hand, by confusion and strife and hatred within, and into the hand of his king, him whom they chose and took as their own king, when they rejected Christ as their King, repudiating the title which Pilate gave Him, to move their pity. Whereas He, their Lord and God, was their King, they formally denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go; they denied the Holy One and the Just Act 3:13-14, and said, We have no king but Caesar Joh 19:15.
And they – The king without and the wild savages within, shall smite, bruise, crush in pieces, like a broken vessel, the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. Their captivity shall be without remedy or end. Holy Scripture often says, there is no deliverer Jdg 18:28; 2Sa 14:6; Job 5:4; Psa 7:3; Psa 50:22; Psa 71:11; Isa 5:29; Isa 42:22; Hos 5:14, Mic 5:7-8, or none can deliver out of My hand Deu 32:39; Job 10:7; Psa 50:22; Psa 71:11; Isa 43:13; Dan 8:4, Dan 8:7, or, since God delighteth in doing good, I Exo 6:6; 2Ki 20:6; Jer 15:21; Jer 39:17; Eze 34:27, He 1Sa 7:3; Psa 18:15; Psa 72:12; 2Ki 17:39; Isa 19:20; Isa 31:5; Job 5:19, will deliver, or delivered Exo 18:10; Jos 24:10; Jdg 6:9; 1Sa 10:18; 1Sa 14:10; 2Sa 22:1; Psa 34:5, Psa 34:18; 54:9; Ezr 8:31; Jer 20:13 from the hands of the enemy, or their slavery, or their own fears, or afflictions, or the like. God nowhere else says absolutely as here, I will not deliver . Hear, O Jew, says Jerome, who holdest out to thyself hopes most vain, and hearest not the Lord strongly asserting, I will not deliver them out of their hands, that thy captivity among the Romans shall have no end. In the threatened captivity before they were carried to Babylon, the prophet foretold the restoration: here only it is said of Judah, as Hosea had said of lsrael, that there should be no deliverer out of the hand of the king whom they had chosen.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Zec 11:6-7
I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land
A terrible doom, and an invaluable privilege
I.
A terrible doom. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land. What is the doom? The abandonment of God.
1. This abandonment came after great kindness. For long centuries He had manifested the greatest kindness to the Hebrew people. From their rescue from Egypt down to this hour He had been merciful to them. My Spirit will not always strive with man.
2. This abandonment involved inexpressible ruin. They were given up to the heathen cruelty of one another and to the violence of foreigners. If God abandon us, what are we? This will be the doom of the finally impenitent. Depart from Me.
II. An invaluable privlege. I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. When He saw the multitudes He wast moved with compassion towards them, because, they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. I am the Good Shepherd, said Christ. Conclusion–Thank God, we are not abandoned yet. God is with us as a shepherd. He is seeking the lost and feeding those who are in His fold. (Homilist.)
Abandoned
The saddest spectacle earth can show is a shipwrecked life–the terrible loss of all the possibilities humanity involves. If a man quenches the light God gives him, and by self-indulgence and unfaithfulness so debauches his spirit that at last he is deserted by every angel of purity and goodness, and becomes unvisited by even the desire for any spiritual attainment, then there is a lost soul in the most awful sense, whether here or in the world to come. (Dr. Macleod.)
And I took unto Me two staves–
Two shepherds staves
In the next place is represented Christs undertaking of this charge, and His going diligently about it, signified by two shepherds staves the first whereof, called Beauty, holds forth the sweet and beautiful order of His Covenant, and the doctrine thereof, whereby the Church is directed in faith, worship, and obedience of God. The second, called Bands, signifies that policy in Church and State whereby they are kept one, and without schisms among themselves.
1. Christ the Mediator became as obedient servant, and is willing, and takes pleasure to be employed for His Churchs good; and will have a tender consideration of their case.
2. Christ in His care over the visible Church, bath an especial eye to His elect, and the regenerate in it, how abject-like soever they seem in the eyes of men, or in their outward condition.
3. Christ is a faithful shepherd, singular and incomparable in His care and diligence about His people for, saith He, I took unto Me two staves, whereas other shepherds use but one.
4. The Covenant and doctrine revealed by Christ unto His Church, as it sets forth the beauty and excellency of God, so it is beautiful and sweetly ordered in itself, so as faith and obedience sweetly work to others hands, and make the followers thereof to be beautiful and excellent above all people; for the one staff I called Beauty.
5. As unity and concord in a Church is a fruit of Christs feeding His flock, so policy and order, whereby unity is preserved, is a rich blessing. The other I called Bands.
6. Christs performances are answerable to His undertakings: what He saith He doth; and His practice will never give His promise the lie: for unto His promise, I will feed, is subjoined, And I fed the flock. (George Hutcheson.)
The staves of Beauty and Bands broken
I. Unity from union with God is national beauty. It is the union of the members of the body with the head which gives to the entire frame its dignity and beauty. A headless trunk has no beauty, but when body and limbs are fitly framed together, that symmetry is attained which God intended. The beauty of a tree consists in the union of branches by union with the trunk. The unity of the Hebrew nation was destroyed by their wilful severance of them selves from their Divine Head. Lack of union with God brought discord into the nation and destroyed their national beauty (Psa 133:1-3.).
II. Men must have a soul shepherd, and when God is rejected they must have a bad one. If a road is known to one person only, any other man who offers to guide the traveller must be his enemy. If a man is deeply wounded, he must have help from some one outside himself, and the quack who undertakes to heal him, and is ignorant of the proper way to treat him, will be likely to be his murderer. There is but one Being who is acquainted with the souls needs; if He is rejected, any other must harm the soul. God claims to be the only Saviour. There is none beside Me (Isa 45:21). Christ warned Israel against false shepherds, yet, as a nation, they chose them and rejected Him, and as He only could really lead and feed them, their choice necessarily issued in their ruin.
III. Sin disinherits men and nations of their God-given portion. (Outlines by London Minister.)
Beauty and Bands the two staves of the Divine Shepherd
As long as sin will be in the world the oppressor and the oppressed are sure to be here; for it is in the nature of sin to make men hard, cruel, and oppressive. The exaltation of a man above his fellow men in wealth, honour, authority, and power is no reason whatever why he should despise and oppress them, but, on the contrary, it should be a reason for him to deal kindly towards them. The wealth of the rich man should be an inducement to him to remember the poor, and the strength of the strong should be an inducement to him to help the weak. For a consolation to the oppressed in their sufferings and a warning to the oppressor, the Bible teaches in a clear manner that God will surely visit the one in mercy and the other in judgment; the same hand that bestows favours graciously and tenderly upon the oppressed holds the sword of vengeance above the oppressor. In this chapter God said that He was going to visit the rulers of His people in judgment because they were oppressing them. Thus said the Lord my God: Feed the flock of slaughter; whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich and their own shepherds pity them not. How abominable this must have been in the sight of God! After accumulating wealth through cruelty and oppression they sanctimoniously praised God for prospering them. But while these unjust and oppressive rulers were thus justifying themselves, destruction overtook them. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord, etc. But when God visits the oppressor in judgment He does not forget the oppressed in their poverty, sufferings, and misery, for He said, So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. So in the text we have a striking and beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Great Shepherd of souls. It has been truly observed by an able commentator, that no image of Christ has so deeply impressed itself upon the mind of the Church as that of a shepherd, as is shown by Christian literature and art, and our hymns and prayers. The Eastern shepherd would never be seen without his staff or crook. But reference is made here to two staves, and David says of the Lord as his Shepherd, Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. In our text there are names given to the two staves; one is called Beauty, and the other Bands, which are to be taken emblematically to show that the Lord Jesus Christ the Divine Shepherd will lead, protect, beautify, and unite His people as one great and glorious flock.
I. The Lord Jesus Christ feeding His people, Lo, I fed the flock of the slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. When their own shepherds pity them not, the Divine Shepherd makes them to lie down in peace and security in the green pastures of spiritual blessings, and leads them beside the still waters of heavenly influences. He lives for the sake of His sheep, and so they find in Him their true Shepherd. Naturally the objects of our greatest care and anxiety will have the largest place in our affections, and it is not easy for us to conceive the tender affection and close attachment that would gradually grow between the Eastern shepherd and his sheep.
II. The Lord Jesus Christ protecting and guiding His people. With the staves the shepherd rules, protects, and guides his sheep. He uses the crook to prevent them from going astray, and to pull them back from dangerous places. Gods people, like sheep, are very prone to go astray. He very often draws them by His crook from temptations and dangers which they are not in the least aware of. Think of a promising young man, who has been brought up in a religious family, enticed by bad companions into the forbidden paths of sinful pleasures; but before he falls over the precipice of destruction, the Good Shepherd, through sickness, or the death of a companion or a near relation, mercifully draws him back by His crook. The apostle Peter wandered far astray, but Christ followed him faithfully, and gently brought him back. The Divine Shepherd dealt in a similar manner with Thomas, who had wandered far into the wilderness of doubt and unbelief. And we do not know from how many dangers and temptations we have been rescued by the Divine Shepherd with His crook.
III. The Lord Jesus Christ beautifying His people. He will bring out to its highest perfection the beautiful individuality of each one of His followers. This is taught by the symbolic name of one of the two staves, which is called Beauty. God, under the old dispensation, through various means and ministrations, aimed at ennobling and beautifying His people; and notwithstanding all their faults, they looked beautiful compared to the idolatrous nations by which they were surrounded. In the Book of the prophet Jeremiah they are called a beautiful flock. Their God, who is called the Shepherd of Israel, had made them beautiful by saving, protecting, and guiding them, and richly bestowing His blessings upon them. So does the Lord Jesus Christ in a similar way sanctify and beautify His people; from His love, gentleness, care, faithfulness, and self-sacrificing Spirit there goes forth a mighty influence silently to purify their nature and ennoble and beautify their character. He washes them in His own blood, and beautifies and adorns them with His own heavenly Spirit. This is the beauty of holiness, And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. They are changed into the image of Christ from glory to glory by the influence of His Spirit dwelling in them. We can say that the Great Shepherd is perfectly impartial in the bestowal of His sanctifying and beautifying influences upon all Gods erring children, whom He strives to gather together into one beautiful flock. The sun is perfectly impartial in the distribution of its heat and light, which bring out the beauty of the flowers and the trees. One flower cannot say to another, The sun has taken more trouble to beautify and adorn you than me, for it shines equally the same for all. So Christ the Sun of Righteousness distributes its purifying and beautifying influences equally impartially to all
IV. The Lord Jesus Christ uniting His people. In the union of the human and the Divine in the person of the Good Shepherd all men are virtually united in Him, and He will not rest satisfied until all are actually made one in Him. This blessed truth is implied by the name of the other staff, which is called Bands, which teaches that the Divine Shepherd not only sanctifies and beautifies His people individually, but also unites them socially into one great and glorious company. As the shepherd carefully gathers his sheep together into the fold, so Goes Christ gather all men together. Moses, Socrates, Plato, Gautama, Zoroaster, John, Peter, Paul, Mohammed, Luther, Wesley, and others are all His under-shepherds, and ultimately He will bring all their flocks together. He has died for all, seeks all, and will save all. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw an men unto Myself. The shepherd feels restless and uneasy if one sheep is waning, in the fold. So Christ the Good Shepherd will not feel satisfied until the last erring sheep has been safely brought into the heavenly fold, and He will not leave the wilderness as long as there is one wandering sheep to be brought home. (Z. Mather.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. For I will no more pity] I have determined to deliver them into the hands of the Chaldeans.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For I will no more pity: their great sins have turned away Gods compassions from them, and men show no mercy where God withdraws his.
The inhabitants; the generality of the nation, the body of this sinful people.
I will deliver the men every one into his neighbours hand; leave to a turbulent, cruel, seditious, and fraudulent temper one against another, to make parties against each other, to rob, imprison, banish, or kill each other, as in the latter times of their state it is known they did.
Into the hand of his king; the Roman Caesar, called here the Jews king, for that they had chosen him to be so. Or else the head of the faction.
They shall smite the land; their king and his armies shall destroy the land: it may point to Vespasian and Titus, who sacked Jerusalem, burnt the temple, captivated ninety-seven thousand persons, and slew six hundred thousand at least, though Josephus reckons eleven hundred thousand.
Out of their hand I will not deliver them; they shall never more be by my hand delivered, or I will cast them off for ever; and so their captivity under the Romans continueth to this day.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. Jehovah, in vengeance fortheir rejection of Messiah, gave them over to intestine feuds andRoman rule. The Zealots and other factious Jews expelled and slew oneanother by turns at the last invasion by Rome.
his kingVespasian orTitus: they themselves (Joh 19:15)had said, unconsciously realizing Zechariah’s words, identifyingRome’s king with Judah’s (“his”) king, “We have noking but Csar.” God took them at their word, and gave them theRoman king, who “smote (literally, ‘dashed in pieces’) theirland,” breaking up their polity, when they rejected their trueKing who would have saved them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord,…. Or spare them; but cause his wrath to come upon them to the uttermost, as it did at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction by the Romans;
but, lo, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbour’s hand; this seems to refer to the factions and divisions among themselves during the siege of Jerusalem, when multitudes fell into the hands of the zealots, and heads of parties, and perished by them:
and into the hand of his king; Vespasian the Roman emperor; the Jews having declared, long before this time, that they had no king but Caesar, Joh 19:15 and now into his hands they were delivered up:
and they shall smite the land; that is, the Romans shall lay waste the land of Judea:
and out of their hand I will not deliver [them]; as formerly out of the hands of their neighbours, the Philistines, Ammonites, c. and out of the captivity of Babylon. It denotes that their destruction would be an utter one nor have they been delivered yet, though it has been over 1900 years ago.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He then adds, And he who fed then has not spared them. The meaning is, that the people, according to the opinions commonly entertained, were not worthy of mercy and kindness. Hence, as I have said, the wonderful goodness of God shines forth more clearly; for he condescended to take the care of a flock that was wholly despised. (134) Then he says, I will not spare the inhabitants of the land; behold I will deliver, etc. To some it appears that there is here a reason given; for the Jews would have never been thus stripped, had not God been angry with them; as though he had said, that God’s vengeance was just, inasmuch as they were thus exposed to such atrocious wrongs. But according to my judgment God simply confirms what we have stated, — that his future vengeance on the Jews would be most just, because he had in feeding them so carefully labored wholly in vain. For though the Prophet has not as yet expressed what we shall hereafter see respecting their ingratitude, he yet does not break off his discourse without reason, for indignation has ever some warmth in it; he then in the middle of his argument exclaims here, I will not spare; for God had spared the Jews, when yet all men exercised cruelty towards them with impunity; and when they were contemptible in the sight of all, he still had regarded their safety. As then they had been so ungrateful for so many acts of kindness, ought not God to have been angry with them? This is then the reason why the Prophet introduces here in God’s name this threatening, Surely I will not spare them; that is, “I have hitherto deferred my vengeance, and have surpassed all men in kindness and mercy; but I have misplaced my goodness, and now there is no reason why I should longer suspend my judgment.” I will spare then no longer the inhabitants of this land
I will give, or deliver, he says, every man into the hand of his friend; as though he had said, “They are no longer sheep, for they will not bear to be ruled by my hand, though they have found me to be the best of shepherds. They shall now tear and devour one another; and thus a horrible dispersion will follow.” Now the Jews ought to have dreaded nothing so much, as to be given up to destroy themselves by mutual slaughter, and thus to rage cruelly against one another and to perish without any external enemy: but yet God declares that this would be the case, and for this reason, because he could not succeed with them, though willing to feed them as his sheep and ready to perform the office of shepherd in ruling them. (135)
He concludes by saying, They shall smite the land, and I will not deliver from their hand. He intimates in the last place that ruin without any remedy was nigh; for he alone was the only deliverer of the people; but now he testifies that their safety would not be the object of his care; for should he see them perishing a hundred times, he would not be moved with pity, nor turn to bring them help, inasmuch as they had precluded all compassion. It now follows —
(134) There are in this verse, the fifth, several anomalies. The verbs, except one, are in the singular, and the nouns, “possessors,” “sellers,” and “shepherds,” are in the plural number, and the pronoun affixed to “shepherds” is masculine, while that which is affixed to each of the two preceding words is feminine, referring to the antecedent, “sheep.” There are MSS. and early versions in which these anomalies are rectified; and it is but reasonable to adopt such corrections. The meaning of the verse is evident; and it may be that some of these anomalies are idiomatic. A plural noun in Welsh has commonly a verb in the singular number when placed after it, which is often the case. — Ed.
(135) There is one phrase omitted, “and unto the hand of his king;” that is “Antiochus,” says Grotius, —”Herod,” says Drusius, —”Caesar,” says Henderson. But no particular king seems intended, but a state of things is set forth, signifying the tyranny and oppression of the ruling power, which was verified in the condition of the Jews during a considerable period, until at last they were destroyed by one of the Caesars, the emperor of Rome. Inward discord, and the tyranny of those who ruled over them, characterised their history from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes until they were demolished as a nation by Titus and Vespasian. This seems to be the import of this prophecy. The singular number is used poetically: and this appears evident from the words which follow, “And they shall smite,” or rather pound to pieces, “the land.” The “king” is spoken of here as many — “they,” so that a succession of tyrants is meant. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Of the land.Better, of the world.
The men.Better, mankind. God would punish the nations for their cruelty to His people (comp. Zec. 1:15). He would cause the world to be smitten or broken up with wars and civil tumults.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Zec 11:6. 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 numberless instances might be given: from the beginning of this verse, till the prophet takes his staff, he represents, and speaks in the person of, the Messiah, whose conduct is here figuratively described. Into his neighbour’s hand, refers to the civil wars, and his king to the Roman emperor. These things happened together in the last siege of Jerusalem, when the Jews mutually destroyed and murdered each other, while the Romans besieged their city. See Sharpe’s Second Argument, p. 351 and Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Zec 11:6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver [them].
Ver. 6. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land ] Or, surely I will no mere, &c. A fearful sentence, written in blood, and breathing out nothing but utter destruction. David knew what he did when he chose rather to fall into the hand of the Lord than of men. For his mercies are many, and it soon repents him concerning his servants; “but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel,” Pro 12:10 . Those shepherds in the former verse were grievous wolves, Act 20:29 ; what wonder therefore that they spared not the flock? But yet while God pitied them there was “hope in Israel concerning this thing,” as he said, Ezr 10:2 ; whereas now that God’s soul is disjointed from them, and his bowels shut up, desolation must needs be at next door, by Jer 6:8 “Be not thou a terror unto me, O Lord,” said that prophet, Jer 17:17 , and then I care not though all the world frown upon me and set against me. But woe be to Loruamah, the people of God’s wrath and of his curse. I have noted before, out of Jer 16:13 , that God’s I will show you no favour was worse than I will cast you out of this land.
I will deliver the men
Every one into his neighbour’s hand] As into the hangman’s hand. This was fulfilled, especially during the siege by the seditious within the walls of Jerusalem, one man proving a wolf, nay, a devil to another.
And into the hand of his king
And I will smite the land
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah’s oracle.
men, Hebrew. ‘adam. App-14.
every one. Hebrew. ‘ish, App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will no: Zec 11:5, Isa 27:11, Eze 8:18, Eze 9:10, Hos 1:6, Mat 18:33-35, Mat 22:7, Mat 23:35-38, Luk 19:43, Luk 19:44, Luk 21:22-24, 1Th 2:16, Heb 10:26-31, Jam 2:13
deliver: Heb. make to be found, Zec 11:9, Zec 11:14, Zec 8:10, Isa 3:5, Isa 9:19-21, Jer 13:14, Mic 7:2-7, Hag 2:22, Mat 10:21, Mat 10:34-36, Mat 24:10, Luk 12:52, Luk 12:53, Luk 21:16, Luk 21:17
into the: Dan 9:26, Dan 9:27, Mat 22:7, Joh 19:15
they shall: Mal 4:6
and out: Psa 50:22, Hos 2:10, Mic 5:8, Mic 6:14, Heb 2:3, Heb 10:26, Heb 10:27
Reciprocal: Lam 2:2 – swallowed Lam 2:21 – thou hast killed Lam 5:8 – there Eze 5:11 – neither shall Eze 7:4 – mine Zec 11:11 – knew Zec 13:8 – two Mat 23:38 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 11:6. This verse predicts that God would plunge the entire Jewish nation into confusion and revolution. The common people were to suffer along with the leaders because they did not resist the corrupt prophets and priests. (See Jer 5:31.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Zec 11:6. I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land I will no more spare them than their shepherds do. The inhabitants of the land are to be distinguished from the poor of the flock in the next verse. By the former are meant those who in their respective stations were as wicked as the rulers, chief priests, and others, termed their shepherds, Zec 11:5; by the latter, those who were oppressed and were piously disposed. But I will deliver the men every one into his neighbours hand This verse assigns the reason for calling the people, the flock of slaughter. Nor can words more aptly describe the calamities which befell the Jews in the war which ended in the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans; when the people, having first, by their intestine broils, destroyed one another, as is set forth at large by Josephus, at length fell into the hand of him whom they had owned for their sovereign, (we have no king but Cesar, Joh 19:15,) and who completely desolated the land for their rebellion against him. Blayney.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
11:6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, {h} I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his {i} king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver [them].
(h) I will cause one to destroy another.
(i) Their governors will execute cruelty over them.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord’s displeasure was the real reason for the Israelites’ misery. He would no longer take pity on them. He would cause the men of Israel to become dependent on one another and on a human king, evidently a foreign despot. This king and his followers would strike the land, but Yahweh would not deliver His people from them.
"History demonstrates that these conditions did take place after Israel’s rejection of their Messiah." [Note: Ibid., p. 204.]
The ruler in view was Caesar, and the striking took place in A.D. 70.