Zechariah 11:17

17. The present hopeless condition is not to continue forever; Jehovah has sent it as a judgment for the rejection of the good shepherd, but he will again have mercy; the foolish shepherd will be removed.

Woe to the idol shepherd Better, R.V., “worthless shepherd.” He is doomed.

That leaveth the flock To destruction (compare John 10:12). The succeeding words should be translated as an imprecatory clause, “A sword upon his arm and upon his right eye!” May the arm which should have guarded and protected the flock be cut off, and may the eyes which should have selected good pasture and should have watched against danger be destroyed. That this will happen is affirmed in the rest of the verse. The arm will wither and the eye will lose its sight. The forms of judgment prayed for and threatened in the two clauses do not seem to harmonize. If a sword were used against the arm the result would hardly be a withering of the same. In view of this fact some commentators read, with a slight change in the vocalization of a single consonant, drought drying up, withering instead of sword. This change, “drought upon his arm and upon his right eye,” would bring the two clauses into perfect accord. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the two different kinds of punishment are placed together so as to emphasize the “greatness and terrible nature of the judgment.” If Zechariah 13:7-9, is the original continuation of Zechariah 11:17 (see introductory remarks on Zechariah 13:7-9), the present reading, “sword,” is to be retained ( compare Zechariah 13:7).