Zechariah 13:5-6

Zechariah 13:5-6 indicate with what vehemence everyone will deny that he is a prophet

He shall say The subject is not everyone of Zechariah 13:4, but the indefinite one, “one shall say”=it shall be said (G.-K., 144d), not necessarily by one who has been a prophet, for in such a case the statement would be an untruth, but by anyone who is suspected of claiming (compare Zechariah 13:6) to be a prophet.

I am no prophet Compare Amos 7:14, but here the denial is made for another reason; the speaker disclaims any and all connection with the prophetic office.

Man taught me to keep cattle from my youth Better, R.V., “I have been made a bondman from my youth.” This answer need not be considered an untruth; and yet it receives additional force if we suppose that the prophet means to teach that in that day a person would rather assume the most despicable position, that of a slave, than be suspected of being a prophet. The reply proves unsatisfactory, and in Zechariah 13:6 the inquirer is represented as continuing the questioning.

What are these wounds in thine hands? R.V., “between thine arms.” The suspicion seems to have been aroused in this case by the presence of wounds on the body of the suspect. The last three words have been variously interpreted, as referring to wounds on the palms of the hands, or on the arms, or between the arms, that is, on the breast. The last seems the most probable (compare 2 Kings 9:24); but the place of the wound is not essential. The nature of the wounds is not certain; they cannot be connected with Zechariah 13:3; the questioner, connecting them, apparently, with the custom described in 1 Kings 18:28 (compare Deuteronomy 14:1; Jeremiah 16:6), seems to consider them marks of devotion, self-inflicted in the pursuit of the prophetic office, perhaps in order to create prophetic ecstasy; but this does not imply that he considered the person addressed a heathen or a false prophet, as distinguished from a true prophet. In reply the suspect insists that the wounds have nothing whatever to do with the prophetic office.

I was wounded in the house of my friends The last word, literally, lovers, or paramours, is often used of idols (compare Hosea 2:7; Hosea 2:10), and some give to it that meaning in this passage. If this is correct the reply contains an admission that at one time the speaker had taken part in idolatrous practices; but even then the form of the verb excludes the idea of self-mutilation. The context favors another interpretation, namely, to take lovers or friends literally, but not of the speaker’s parents, for in Zechariah 13:5 he states that he has been a bondman from his youth, and the word here is used only of fresh wounds, so that the reference cannot be to punishment received in childhood. He means rather that he received the wounds in a “common brawl” in the house of his friends. The willingness with which he makes the admission indicates how anxious he is to remove all suspicion that he is in any way connected with the prophetic office.