Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 11:11
And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it [was] the word of the LORD.
11. it was broken ] i.e. the covenant.
the poor of the flock ] “The rest were blinded: those who listened to God’s word, observed His prophet, waited on him and observed his words, knew from the fulfilment of the beginning, that the whole was God’s word.” Pusey.
waited upon me ] gave heed unto me, R. V.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And so the poor of the flock that waited upon Me knew – The rest were blinded; those who listened to Gods word, observed His prophet, waited on Him and observed His words, knew from the fulfillment of the beginning, that the whole was Gods word. Every darkening cloud around the devoted city was an earnest, that the storm, which should destroy it, was gathering upon it. So our Lord warned, When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is near. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart Luk 21:20-21. The little flock which waited upon the Good Shepherd, obeyed the warning, and, fleeing to Pella, escaped the horrible judgment which fell on those who remained. Osorius: They remembered that it had been predicted many centuries before, and that the Lord, by whose Spirit the prophet spake, foretold that in that city one stone should not be left upon another Mat 24:2.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. So the poor of the flock] The pious, who attended to my teaching, saw that this was the word – the design, of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It was broken; the covenant was abrogated by the Jews obstinate refusal of it, and the Mediator of it.
In that day: it is not to be wondered it was done in one day at last, for the unthankful, unbelieving Jew had been through many generations breaking it: now a day doth it, when it came to that,
Not this man, but Barabbas; and, We have no king but Caesar; and, Crucify, crucify him. The poor of the flock that waited upon me; who knew the Messiah, believed in him, and obeyed him, observed his doctrine, miracles, and life.
Knew that it was the word of the Lord; saw and owned God in all this; that he had justly cast off the nation of the Jews for their sins, their bloody murder of the Lord of life, and refusing his government: they saw God would by the Roman power punish the Jews, and lay waste their land, city, and temple for this and their other sins; all which was both according to his wise counsel and express word: these understood what among others this prophet had four hundred and ninety years before written of these things.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. poor . . . knewThehumble, godly remnant knew by the event the truth of the predictionand of Messiah’s mission. He had, thirty-seven years before the fallof Jerusalem, forewarned His disciples when they should see the citycompassed with armies, to “flee unto the mountains.”Accordingly, Cestius Gallus, when advancing on Jerusalem,unaccountably withdrew for a brief space, giving Christians theopportunity of obeying Christ’s words by fleeing to Pella.
waited upon melookedto the hand of God in all these calamities, not blindly shuttingtheir eyes to the true cause of the visitation, as most of the nationstill do, instead of referring it to their own rejection of Messiah.Isa 30:18-21 referssimilarly to the Lord’s return in mercy to the remnant that “waitfor Him” and “cry” to Him (Zep 3:12;Zep 3:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it was broken in that day,…. In right, the day Christ died; apparently, when the Gospel, the substance of it, was removed; and, in fact, at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction:
and so the poor of the flock; [See comments on Zec 11:7]:
that waited upon me; as servants on their masters; as clients on their patron; as beggars at the door for alms; as attendants on the worship of God, for the manifestations of himself, for the performance of promises, and for answers of prayer: or “observed me” h; what he said and did, his word, and his ordinances; what he abolished, and what he instituted:
knew that it [was] the word of the Lord; either that Christ the Shepherd was the essential Word of the Lord; or that the prophecies concerning the destruction of the Jews, their civil and ecclesiastical state, were the word and decree of God now fulfilled; or that the Gospel taken from them is the word of the Lord, which he is the author of; his grace is the matter and substance of; and which he speaks by his ministers; and may be known by the matter and efficacy of it; by the refreshment and comfort it gives; by its leading souls to Christ; and by the harmony, agreement, and uniformity of its doctrines.
h “qui observabant me”, Burkius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He concludes by saying, that in that day the covenant was broken. By which words he intimates that it was not by chance that the law was destroyed, and that the Jews departed from the just government of God, but that it was through the dreadful vengeance of God. In that day then: this is emphatical, as though the Prophet had said, “It ought not to be ascribed to chance that things have changed for the worse, for God has thus executed his judgment, after having with extreme patience borne with the wickedness of the people.” And hence he adds, that the poor of the flock saw that this was the word of Jehovah. Here the Prophet briefly points out two things — that this was not commonly known as God’s judgment, but that almost all with closed eyes overlooked what had happened; for the world contracts as it were hardness, and becomes wilfully obdurate under the scourges of God. All cry out that they are miserable, but no one regards the hand of the striker, as it is said elsewhere. (Isa 9:13.) So also Zechariah charges here the Jews with stupidity; for though the greater part saw all things in confusion, yet they did not consider, but regarded almost as nothing the dreadful judgment of God. It must then be that men are extremely refractory, when they perceive not that they are chastised by God; yet the Prophet charges the Jews with this sottishness; for they regarded not this as the word of Jehovah, they did not believe that this was God’s hand. But he says further, that the poor of the flock perceived this: and thus he shows, that while the body of the people followed the way to ruin, a few derived benefit from God’s scourges; and thus it never happens, that God chastises without some advantage. Though then the reprobate obstinately resist God, and hesitate not to tread under foot his judgments, and as far as they can, render them void, there are yet some few who receive benefit and acknowledge God’s hand so as to humble themselves and repent.
The Prophet, then, after having complained that the chief men, even those who were in honor and in wealth among the Jews, heedlessly despised God’s dreadful judgment, makes this addition, that there were a few very poor and humble men, who regarded this judgment as not having come by chance, but through God, who became a just avenger, because his favor had been wantonly despised: The poor then of the flock knew this to be the word of Jehovah
As this happened in the time of the Prophet, it is no wonder that at this day, even when God thunders from heaven and makes known his judgments by manifest proofs, the world should yet rush headlong into perdition, and become as it were stupefied in their calamities. In the meantime we ought to strive to connect ourselves with the miserable poor, who are deemed as the offscourings of the world, and so attentively to consider God’s vengeance, that we may seriously fear and not provoke his extreme judgments, and thus perish with the wicked.
We must observe also the expression which Zechariah introduced before the last words, Who attend to me. He mentions it as a singular and a rare thing, that even a few deigned to consider the works of God. The chief wisdom of men, we know, is attentively to consider the hand of God; but almost all seem to be immersed in a state of stupor: when the Lord smites them, they stand as it were amazed, and never, as we have already said, regard the hand of the smiter; and when the Lord freely and kindly cherishes them, they exult in their own wantonness. Thus under every kind of treatment, they are untractable; for they attend not to God, but close their eyes, harden their hearts, and cover themselves with many veils; in short, we find the blindness of the world ever connected with perverseness, so that they in vain pretend ignorance, for they attend not to God, but on the contrary turn their backs on him and darken the clear light by their wickedness.
We now then see why this sentence is introduced, that the poor of the flock understand, because they apply their minds and devote their attention for the purpose of considering the works of God. It hence follows that the bulls, who with their horns fearlessly assail God, and that he-goats, who by their stench fill the air, continue in their brutishness, and derive no benefit from God’s judgments, because they are wilfully and through their own wickedness wholly blind. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Zec 11:11. 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 and teachers of the law, whose business it was to watch over their religion: each of these, not long after the ascension of Christ, knew that this was the word of the Lord, that the staff was broken wherewith God had hitherto fed his people, and that the ruin both of the Jewish religion and polity was at hand. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Zec 11:11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it [was] the word of the LORD.
Ver. 11. And it was broken in that day ] When they filled up the measure of their fathers’ sins, and added this to all their other evils, that they crucified the Lord of glory, the Mediator of the new covenant, Heb 12:24 . Now they were, by an irrevocable decree, to bear their iniquities, and to know God’s breach of promise, as once was threatened to their faithless fathers, Num 14:24 .
And so the poor of the flock
That waited upon me
Knew that it was the word of the Lord
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the poor of the flock = the sheep-traflickers; as Zec 11:7.
waited upon = were watching me (1Sa 1:12; 1Sa 19:11. Psa 59, title).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
poor
The “poor of the flock”: i.e. the “remnant according to the election of grace” Rom 11:5 those Jews who did not wait for the manifestation of Christ in glory, but believed on Him at His first coming, and since. Of them it is said that they “waited upon Me,” and “knew.” Neither the Gentiles nor the Gentile church, corporately, are in view: only the believers out of Israel during this age. The church, corporately, is not in O.T. prophecy Eph 3:8-10.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
so: etc. or, the poor of the flock, etc. certainly knew, poor. Zec 11:7, Psa 69:33, Psa 72:12-14, Isa 14:32, Zep 3:12, Luk 7:22, Luk 19:48, Jam 2:5, Jam 2:6
that waited: Isa 8:17, Isa 26:8, Isa 26:9, Isa 40:31, Lam 3:25, Lam 3:26, Mic 7:7, Luk 2:25, Luk 2:38, Luk 23:51, Act 1:21, Act 1:22
knew: Zec 11:6, Lev 26:38-46, Deu 28:49-68, Deu 31:21, Deu 31:29, Deu 32:21-42, Luk 24:49-53, Rom 11:7-12, Jam 5:1-6
Reciprocal: Exo 32:19 – brake them Psa 72:4 – He shall judge Jer 14:21 – remember Jer 32:8 – Then I Zec 12:7 – save Zec 13:7 – I will turn Mar 1:37 – All Luk 4:18 – to preach Luk 6:20 – Blessed Luk 12:51 – General Luk 14:21 – Go Rom 15:26 – the poor
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 11:11. After the old law was canceled, the common Jews finally learned that they would no longer be dependent on the self-righteous leaders for spiritual guidance.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
11:11 And it was broken in that day: and so the {o} poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it [was] the word of the LORD.
(o) He shows that the least always profit by God’s judgments.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The faithful Israelites who were listening to Zechariah, the afflicted of God’s flock (cf. Zec 11:7), realized that what he had done in breaking the staff was in harmony with the word of the Lord. Another view is that the afflicted were a group within Zechariah’s society, not the whole postexilic community. [Note: McComiskey, p. 1194.] God had promised in the Mosaic Law that if His people apostatized He would cast them off, temporarily, and allow the nations to punish them (cf. Mat 23:13; Mat 23:23-24; Mat 23:33-39).
"The ’poor of the flock’ i.e. the ’remnant according to the election of grace’ (Rom 11:5), are those Jews who did not wait for the manifestation of Christ in glory but believed on Him at His first coming and subsequently. Of them it is said that they ’waited upon me,’ and ’knew.’" [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 973.]