Zechariah 11:17

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,who deserts the flock!May a sword strike his armand his right eye!May his arm be completely witheredand his right eye utterly blinded!””

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Zechariah 11:17 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,who deserts the flock!May a sword strike his armand his right eye!May his arm be completely witheredand his right eye utterly blinded!””

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“Woe <FI>to<Fi> the worthless shepherd, forsaking the flock, A sword <FI>is<Fi> on his arm, and on his right eye, His arm is utterly dried up, And his right eye is very dim!'”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Zechariah 11:17 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. 1 Samuel 2:31Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no older man will be left in your house.
  2. 1 Kings 13:4Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.
  3. Isaiah 6:9And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
  4. Isaiah 9:15The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
  5. Isaiah 29:10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
  6. Isaiah 42:19Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
  7. Isaiah 44:10Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?
  8. Jeremiah 22:1This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there,
  9. Jeremiah 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
  10. Jeremiah 23:32“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.
  11. Jeremiah 50:35A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.
  12. Ezekiel 13:3This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.
  13. Ezekiel 30:21“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. See, it has not been bound up for healing, or splinted for strength to hold the sword.
  14. Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?
  15. Hosea 4:5You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother—
  16. Amos 8:9And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
  17. Micah 3:6Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
  18. Matthew 23:13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
  19. Matthew 23:16Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
  20. Luke 11:42Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
  21. John 9:39Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
  22. John 10:12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.
  23. John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
  24. Romans 11:7What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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