Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 23:1 (NA 2018)
Article: Zechariah 11 And The Eschatological Shepherds
Author: Kyle C. Dunham

DBSJ 23 (2018) p. 3

Zechariah 11 And The Eschatological Shepherds

Kyle C. Dunham1

Interpreters commonly regard Zechariah 11 as the most difficult chapter of the book and, often, as one of the most difficult of the OT.2 The prophet’s commissioned portrayal of two opposing shepherds and their fraught relationship to the flock poses several interpretative challenges. First, the chapter’s focus on rival shepherds appears at first oddly out of place with the prominent themes of Zechariah 9–14, including the triumphant advent and accession of YHWH (9:1–10; 14:1–11), the deliverance of Jerusalem (9:11–17; 12:1–9; 14:12–15), and the redemption and re-gathering of Israel (10:6–12; 12:10–14). Second, the absence of historical clues renders uncertain whether the shepherds represent past, present, or future leaders. Third, the revelatory vehicle of the prophecy is unclear, whether allegory, vision, or prophetic sign-act. Fourth, the role of the prophet is cryptic, especially his actions toward the three shepherds destroyed in one month (v. 8), his alternation between divine and human agency (vv. 7–8, 10), his receipt and refusal of thirty pieces of silver as payment (vv. 12–13), and his apparent failure to execute parts of the shepherd portrayals (vv. 8, 15–17). Finally, the identification of several referents within the chapter remains puzzling, including the three annihilated shepherds, the buyers and sellers of the flock, and the two rival shepherds themselves.

The purpose of this essay is to re-examine the literary context of Zechariah 11 in order to discern its function in the book along with its

DBSJ 23 (2018) p. 4

theological and prophetic implications.3 The author proposes that Zechariah 11 serves as the pivot of a chiastic literary structure in