Zechariah 11:4 Meaning and Explanation

Here the prophet receives a strange and sorrowful charge. Speaking for the Lord his God, he is told to tend a flock already destined for the butcher. This begins an enacted parable in which the prophet takes on the role of a shepherd over a people who have been mistreated and abandoned by their leaders.

To shepherd a flock marked for slaughter is to pour care into those whom others have given up. The command reveals the heart of God, who does not abandon even a doomed people but sends a shepherd to feed them. It foreshadows the tenderness of the Good Shepherd, who comes to those without hope and lays down His life for the sheep.