The Price of the Shepherd Text: Zechariah 11:7-14
Introduction: A Prophetic Lawsuit
The prophets of the Old Testament were not simply fortune-tellers with a flair for the dramatic. They were covenant lawyers, sent by God to prosecute His case against a rebellious and stiff-necked people. When God entered into covenant with Israel, He laid out the terms, the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. And when Israel inevitably strayed, God did not just bring the hammer down silently. He sent men like Zechariah to serve the papers, to read the indictment in open court before the judgment fell. This is what we have here in Zechariah 11. It is a prophetic lawsuit, a dramatic, acted-out parable that is breathtaking in its scope and terrifying in its implications.
Zechariah is commanded to play the part of two shepherds. First, he is to be the true shepherd, the good shepherd, representing God's own care for His people. But this is a flock, we are told, that is "doomed to slaughter." They are sheep who have rejected their shepherd, and the consequences are about to unfold. This entire chapter is a preview, a dress rehearsal for the ultimate rejection. It is a prophecy that finds its final, bloody fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. What Zechariah acts out in symbol, the leaders of Israel would later carry out in substance. They would take the Good Shepherd, the Son of God, and put a price on His head.
We live in a time that is allergic to the idea of judgment. We want a God who is all grace and no government, all mercy and no majesty. But the God of the Bible is the God of Zechariah. He is a God who takes His covenant seriously. And when His grace is spurned, when His appointed shepherd is rejected, that grace is withdrawn, and the consequences are catastrophic. This passage is a stark warning, but it is also a glorious confirmation of the sovereignty of God. For even in the midst of Israel's ugliest rebellion, God was working out His perfect plan of redemption, turning the price of a slave into the price of our salvation.
The Text
So I shepherded the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union; so I shepherded the flock. Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me. Then I said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who remain consume one another’s flesh.” And I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had cut with all the peoples. So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of Yahweh. And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that valuable price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of Yahweh. Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
(Zechariah 11:7-14 LSB)
The Shepherd and His Staffs (v. 7)
Zechariah begins to act out his assigned role.
"So I shepherded the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union; so I shepherded the flock." (Zechariah 11:7)
The prophet becomes a shepherd to a flock that is already under a sentence of death. This is a grim assignment. These are not healthy sheep in green pastures; they are the "afflicted of the flock," oppressed and exploited by their own leaders. Zechariah represents the Lord's final, gracious attempt to care for His people before the judgment falls. Into this mess, he brings two staffs, and their names are pregnant with meaning. A shepherd's staff was a tool for guidance and protection. These two staffs represent the twin blessings of God's covenant with Israel.
The first staff is called "Favor," or in some translations, "Grace" or "Beauty." This represents God's special, protective covenant with His people. It was this favor that set Israel apart from all the other nations. It was the hedge of protection that kept their enemies at bay. This was the undeserved kindness of God, His gracious disposition toward them.
The second staff is "Union," or "Bonds." This represents the internal harmony and brotherhood that was supposed to characterize the people of God. It was the social cohesion, the national solidarity between Judah and Israel, that was a direct result of their shared covenant with Yahweh. When a people are rightly related to God, they will be rightly related to one another. So, these two staffs, Favor and Union, are the essence of God's blessing: peace with God, which brings peace with one another.
Rejection and Annihilation (v. 8-9)
The shepherd's work is met with immediate hostility, not from foreign powers, but from within.
"Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me. Then I said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who remain consume one another’s flesh.”" (Zechariah 11:8-9)
The good shepherd immediately comes into conflict with the corrupt leadership. Who are these "three shepherds"? Commentators have spilled much ink on this, trying to identify them with specific historical figures. But it is more likely that they represent the three corrupt offices of leadership in Israel: the prophets, priests, and kings. These were the men who were supposed to care for the flock but were instead fleecing them. The true shepherd, representing God, swiftly removes them. His work is decisive and quick. But notice the mutual animosity: "my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me." True, biblical righteousness is always offensive to a corrupt establishment.
Because the people, following their corrupt leaders, reject the true shepherd, he pronounces a terrifying judgment. He resigns. "I will not shepherd you." This is one of the most fearful things God can say. He withdraws His protective care and gives them over to the consequences of their own rebellion. The result is utter chaos and self-destruction. "What is to die, let it die... let those who remain consume one another’s flesh." This is a graphic depiction of societal collapse. When God's order is removed, men become cannibals. This was fulfilled literally during the horrific Roman siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, where Josephus records scenes of starvation and cannibalism. When a nation rejects God's shepherd, they get ravenous wolves.
The Covenant Broken (v. 10-11)
The resignation of the shepherd is now symbolized by a formal act of covenant lawsuit.
"And I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had cut with all the peoples. So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of Yahweh." (Zechariah 11:10-11)
The first staff is broken. "Favor" is shattered. This is a dramatic and public declaration that God is revoking His special protection over Israel. The "covenant which I had cut with all the peoples" refers to God's restraint of the Gentile nations from utterly destroying Israel. That divine hedge is now being removed. The wolves will be let in. This is not God being arbitrary; it is the direct consequence of their rejection of His shepherding. Grace despised is grace removed.
And notice who understands this. It is the "afflicted of the flock," the remnant of the faithful, who recognize this as the "word of Yahweh." The corrupt leadership is blind, but the humble sheep, those who were looking for the true shepherd, see the writing on the wall. They understand that history is not random. They see God's hand at work, even in judgment. This is always the case. The wise see the storm coming and take refuge, but the simple pass on and are punished.
The Price of Contempt (v. 12-13)
Now we come to the heart of the prophecy, the chilling moment that echoes down the centuries into the pages of the New Testament.
"And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that valuable price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of Yahweh." (Zechariah 11:12-13)
The rejected shepherd asks for his wages. This is dripping with covenantal irony. He is not asking for payment for services rendered; he is demanding a severance package. He is asking them to put a value on his work, and by extension, on God Himself. Their response is an act of supreme contempt. They weigh out thirty shekels of silver.
Under the Mosaic Law (Exodus 21:32), thirty shekels of silver was the compensation price for a gored slave. A slave. They looked at the shepherd of Israel, the stand-in for Yahweh Himself, and they valued him at the price of a slave. This is the ultimate insult. And five centuries later, the chief priests, the corrupt shepherds of their day, would weigh out this very same amount to Judas Iscariot for the betrayal of the Son of God (Matthew 26:15).
God's response is one of searing, holy sarcasm. "Throw it to the potter, that valuable price at which I was valued by them." The word translated "valuable" here is majestic, glorious. It is divine mockery. This magnificent, princely sum. God commands that this insulting price be thrown to the potter in the house of the Lord. The potter worked with common clay, making and breaking vessels. This money was fit only for the place of broken things. And again, the fulfillment is precise. After his betrayal, a guilt-ridden Judas throws the thirty pieces of silver back into the temple, and the chief priests, in their hypocrisy, refuse to put it in the treasury because it is "blood money." So what do they do? They buy the potter's field with it, a place to bury strangers (Matthew 27:3-10). The price of the rejected Shepherd buys a boneyard.
The Brotherhood Broken (v. 14)
The final act of this tragic play is the breaking of the second staff.
"Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel." (Zechariah 11:14)
First, Favor was broken, signifying the end of God's external protection. Now, Union is broken, signifying the end of internal cohesion. When a people's vertical relationship with God is severed, their horizontal relationships with each other inevitably disintegrate. The nation will be torn apart by internal strife, factionalism, and civil war. This was fulfilled in the decades leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem, which were marked by bloody infighting between various Jewish factions. They were so busy killing each other that they made the Romans' job that much easier.
When the true center, God Himself, is rejected, everything falls apart. The rejection of the Good Shepherd leads directly to the loss of divine favor and the loss of human unity. The result is a flock scattered, slaughtered, and cannibalized.
The Gospel in the Potter's Field
This is a dark and sobering passage. But we must not miss the glorious light of the gospel shining through the cracks of this judgment. This is not just about Zechariah, and it is not just about the fall of Jerusalem. It is about the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the true Shepherd who came to His own, and His own received Him not (John 1:11). He came to the flock of Israel, a people afflicted and doomed to slaughter under the weight of their sin and the corruption of their leaders. He was the embodiment of God's Favor and the only hope for true Union.
And what was their response? They were weary of Him. They hated His righteousness. And in the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy, they valued Him at thirty pieces of silver. They looked at the Lord of Glory and priced Him as a slave. That contemptible sum, thrown into the temple and used to buy a potter's field, is the measure of man's rebellion. It is our rebellion. We are the ones who, in our sin, despise the Shepherd and place little value on His grace.
But God, in His infinite wisdom, takes the very price of our contempt and turns it into the instrument of our salvation. That rejection was not a surprise to Him; it was the plan. The Shepherd was "struck," as Zechariah would later prophesy, so that the sheep might be saved (Zechariah 13:7). God took the ugliest act in human history, the betrayal and murder of His only Son, and used it to purchase a people for Himself. The price of a slave became the price of redemption. That money, fit only for a potter's field, a place of broken clay and dead strangers, points to the one who was broken for us. On the cross, Jesus Christ purchased a field, His church, a people made up of broken vessels and former strangers, and He is making us into a holy temple for His dwelling. The covenant of Favor and Union, broken by Israel, is re-established in Christ, not just for Jews, but for all peoples who will call upon His name.