Zechariah 13, Strike the Shepherd!

Zechariah continues to describe a future Day, in which Israel is victorious over all evil. This message continues that of chapter 12, which ended with people weeping in remorse.

Zechariah 13:1-2a, A fountain of cleansing

On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

"On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more," 

declares the LORD Almighty.

 

The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be cleansed in a fountain. All idols will disappear. 

Zechariah sees a fountain that opens up in Jerusalem; Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47:1-10) sees a river flowing out of the city. Zechariah will describe a similar river in the next chapter, in 14:8.

Zechariah 13:2b-3, False prophets removed

"I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, `You must die, because you have told lies in the LORD's name.' When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him.

On that future Day, both (false) prophets and impurities will disappear. Prophets will be attacked because they are telling lies. (Throughout the rest of this chapter, the word "prophet" implies a false prophet)

Zechariah 13:4-6, Ashamed of visions

"On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet's garment of hair in order to deceive. 

He will say, `I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.'

If someone asks him, `What are these wounds on your body?' he will answer, `The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.'

On that future Day, (false) prophets will deny their role. They will instead claim to be farmers and deny their past involvement in prophecy. Some false prophets would have mutilated themselves as they prophesied. (This is forbidden, for example, in Leviticus 19:28, Deuteronomy 14:1, and practiced in 1 Kings 18:18.) Those who have done this will make up excuses for their bruises and scars.

Zechariah 13:7-8, Strike the One close to God

"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, 

against the man who is close to me!" declares the LORD Almighty. 

"Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, 

and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

    In the whole land," declares the LORD, 

"two-thirds will be struck down and perish; 

yet one-third will be left in it.

A calamity will come upon the land. The people will be scattered and two-thirds of them will be struck down. Barker (p. 686) sees verse 7 as a going back to a time before the final days, when One close to YHWH, that is the Messiah, is struck down and afterwards the people are scattered. Then verses 8 and 9 (below) jump forward to a future remnant, to a time before verses 1-6.

Once again, the shepherd metaphors in our prophetic writings. In the New Testament, Jesus identifies himself as the shepherd struck down; verse 7 is quoted in Matthew 26:31-32, Mark 14:27-28. Forty years later, in 70 AD, Rome sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Second Temple and the Jews were scattered.

Zechariah 13:9, Remnant third

This third I will bring into the fire; 

I will refine them like silver 

and test them like gold. 

They will call on my name 

and I will answer them;

I will say, `They are my people,'

and they will say, `The LORD is our God.'"

Note the chiasmus:

They will call on me

I will answer them

I will say "they are mine"

They will say "This is our God."

The remnant third will be refined and dedicated to YHWH. (Isaiah sees a remnant tenth in Isaiah 6:13.)

First published December 24, 2025; updated December 24, 2025