Zechariah 13 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Zechariah 13

13:1 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

Idolatry Cut Off

2 “And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. 3 And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, 5 but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’¹ 6 And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’² he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Struck

7   “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
    against the man who stands next to me,”
      declares the LORD of hosts.
  “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
    I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8   In the whole land, declares the LORD,
    two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
    and one third shall be left alive.
9   And I will put this third into the fire,
    and refine them as one refines silver,
    and test them as gold is tested.
  They will call upon my name,
    and I will answer them.
  I will say, ‘They are my people’;
    and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

Footnotes

[1] 13:5 Or for the land has been my possession since my youth
[2] 13:6 Or on your chest; Hebrew wounds between your hands

Commentary

v1-6: Cleansing for the house of David, following the mourning of 12.11-14. The people will forsake idolatry; prophecy will cease, for there will be no more warnings of judgment to come; Jer 31.34, "all shall know me."

Prophetic ministry, from Elijah and Elisha, to John Baptist, was for a specific time and purpose. The message of God is now proclaimed through the church of Jesus Christ, by which the Jews are provoked to jealousy, Rom 11.11,14. In the restored millennial kingdom, there will be no prophets, for Christ Himself will dwell amongst His people.

v7: See Mark 14.27; these words point us to Christ, for He was wounded by His own people; and He is the shepherd of the sheep, who is struck by God's sword. A proverb from Uganda speaks similarly; “when death strikes the cock, it leaves the hens in confusion.”

v8-9: Israel being restored, but 2/3rds killed, and only 1/3rd surviving; they are tested and refined, to become the people of God. For not all Israel are truly Israel.