Zechariah 11-12

The different prophecies in perek 11 have a common theme- the use of the shepherd and his flock in their imagery. The first part (1-3) describes the difficult sounds and visions of the fire and destruction. Afterward two symbolic acts are described, each one of them an unfavorable description of different types of shepherds. In the first act (4-14), God commands the prophet to herd the “flock of slaughter”, a flock which is intended for slaughter. The prophet herds the sheep and then abandons them; this is symbolized by the cutting off of the two shepherd’s crooks. In the end he receives his reward and throws it to the “keeper of the treasury”. In the second act the prophet is commanded to act as a “foolish shepherd” as a symbol of the corrupt rule. The prophecies in this perek and in the following perek are full of hints and obscure symbols. The commentators explained these hints in different ways, but even so it is difficult to understand their meaning.

Perek 12 describes the war of the nations on Jerusalem and Judah in the End of Days. In the first section the enemy’s failed attempt at placing a siege on Jerusalem is described (2-9). The second section describes the great mourning which will be in Jerusalem after the war (10-14). The perek is divided into sections which open with the words “On that day”, and which list the various events in the End of Days. The background to this prophecy is other prophecies of the End of Days – the rescue of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army in the days of Chizkiyahu, the vision of the war of Gog and Magog, and others.