Zechariah 11:2

"Wail, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the goodly ones are destroyed: wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is come down. A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! for the pride of the Jordan is laid waste."

Zechariah 11:3 "explains Zechariah 11:2. The cedars, firs, and oaks are the false shepherds of Israel, "the goodly ones" who possessed the wealth and glory of Israel and whom Jesus himself spoke of in the parable as "rich, clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day" (Luke 16:19). None of the secular kings of surrounding nations appears here in any sense.

These verses have the effect of introducing, not merely the certainty of Israel's destruction, but also the reason for it, namely, their evil "shepherds" or leaders. "Thus Zechariah builds up in picture form the vision of total irresistible catastrophe."[9] These verses (Zechariah 11:1-3) are actually a prelude to the entire judgment revealed in Zechariah 11. The theme is that of disaster falling upon the false shepherds of Israel. We may forget about some alleged picture of the destruction of Syria and Egypt (Mitchell), the fall of leaders of the nations that had oppressed the Jews (Gailey). "The prophet is looking to the complete destruction of the Jewish economy."[10] "Thus the devastation of Lebanon is a figurative representation of the destruction of the Israelitish kingdom."[11]

The theme of the dramatic judgment having been announced, the prophet himself is instructed to act out the part of the Good Shepherd in the tale of horrors leading up to the catastrophe. "He is to feed the flock whose buyers slay them and hold themselves guiltless."[12] The prophet goes forward here, not performing those actions for himself but for Another, doing things, which in truth, "Neither Zechariah nor any other prophet ever did, but only God through his Son."[13]