Verse 1. This prophecy Christians cannot but consider impenetrable, and
must be satisfied to break off a few fragments, which may serve to cement
their religion; for in whatever manner they expound the import of the two
staves, they must still be incompetent to link its various parts together,
so as to shew that it refers to what they think it necessarily must,
namely, the selling of the Messiah; an interpretation which an impartial
examiner must find inconsistent with that passage even if disjoined from
all the rest, since there, wages, or reward (not price) is spoken of; this
being desired, or required of Israel, while with him who was sold it was
quite the reverse; so far was he from wishing to be betrayed, that he
tried and prayed to escape it. The Jew, however, considering the tenour of
the whole, contends that this was no more than what had been already
fulfilled at the time when it was delivered, the allusion here being
historical and not prophetic.
It commences with predicting to other nations (who are compared to fir,
and oak trees,) destruction inevitable, since the shepherds of Judah also
(who are compared to the lions by the Jordan, to the vine and the cedar,)
howl for having been spoiled of their glory. The prophet then goes on, in
calling to the minds of his brethren the causes that brought them so low
from their former exalted station, in order that this may serve them as a
warning no more to deviate from the way in which they were instructed to
walk: he also reminds them with what particular and providential care they
had been continually led on by their God, in one or other of the different
ways stated, the pleasant, or the painful, as by a tender shepherd, whose
sole intent is to lead his flock to rich pastures, and good watering
places. In this manner did God tend his flock, Israel, to accomplish their
happiness, indulging them when obedient to his will, but chastising them,
when otherwise, as an indulgent father would his children, in order to
reclaim them. And when we consider the circumstances and condition of our
fathers during the first temple, we may easily trace out both the times
when they enjoyed uninterrupted peace and comfort, and those, when they
were exposed to troubles and afflictions, which God in his wisdom saw fit
to visit upon them. To these does the prophet refer, representing them by
this beautiful metaphor of the two staves.
Ver. 5. The cruel shepherds denote the tyrants into whose hands Israel was
delivered, who disdained to nourish that poor flock, but sold some to
slavery, and gave up others to be slaughtered.
Ver. 6. And such as escaped the fury of their own kings were ravaged by
their conquerors.
Ver. 7. _I fed the flock._—i. e. Since I have chosen them to me out of
Egypt.
Ver. 8. _When I had cut off three shepherds._—The number three as well as
seven is well known to be made use of in Scripture, instead of an
indefinite number; this apparently refers to what is related in 2 Kings,
ch. x. v. 32, that in those days the Lord began to be weary of Israel; it
was after the kings of Judah and Israel were killed, the family of the one
exterminated, and that of the other nearly so.
Ver. 10. _A covenant made for them with all the nations_; that is, that
these nations should not disturb Israel, nor invade their land, but leave
them to dwell there in safety, as was repeatedly promised to them. Exod.
xxxiv. 24; Lev. xxvi. 5; Deut. xxviii. 10. But when under the divine
displeasure, that covenant was suspended, and not only the land of the ten
tribes, but also that of Judah was frequently invaded, and both were
harassed by their enemies.
Ver. 12. The reward which God required of his people means, that for the
many blessings he had conferred on them, they should be obedient to his
commandments. Yet he left it to their choice, to forbear if disinclined,
agreeably to the message sent to them by Ezek. ch. iii. v. 27; and
accordingly some few remained faithful to him, and these answer to the
thirty pieces of silver. Thirty as well as ten sometimes imply an
indefinite number. See Dan, i. 20; Gen. xxxi. 7. They are named silver
(כסף (or ףסכ)) as this originally meant desirable.
Ver. 13. They are to be cast into the treasury—יוצר (or רצוי), though
translated the potter, stands for אוצר (רצוא), the treasury. And again,
בית יהוה אל היוצר (or רצויה לא הוהי תיב) is the same as אל בית האוצר (or
רצואה תיב לא) (Mal. iii. 10), or the storehouse of the Lord, viz. the
temple. The frequent interchange of the אהרי (or יוחא) letters is well
known to the Hebrew scholar. The temple is here indicated as the place
where the pure ones, separated from the dross, should fix their eyes on
the Most High, and with prayers appease his wrath, that he might yet avert
the approaching calamities. יקרתי (or יתרקי) signifies _I have withdrawn_,
not _I was prized at_. See Proverbs xxv. 17, where it means _withdraw thy
foot_.
Ver. 14. _Cut asunder the other staff._ While the two kings lived in peace
and harmony, the one was corrupted by the wickedness of the other, and
therefore the chastening rod was applied for the purpose of breaking their
brotherhood; but that staff was dispensed with, when by the dissolution of
one of these kings, the cause for it ceased.
Ver. 16. _I will raise up a shepherd, &c._ Judah has likewise to lament to
this day having been governed by foolish shepherds during both the first
and second temple, who did neither remember the missed, nor heal the
broken, and instead of feeding them that stood still, they fed upon them,
and tore their hoofs asunder. Yet as the survivors stand to this day a
living monument of the literal accomplishment of this prophecy from verse
15, it serves them as a sure pledge of the fulfilment of that which
follows.