Zechariah 10:2
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For idols speak deceitand diviners see illusions;they tell false dreamsand offer empty comfort.Therefore the people wander like sheep,oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Complete Redemption of the People of God. - This chapter contains no new promise, but simply a further expansion of the previous section, the condition on which salvation is to be obtained being mentioned in the introduction (Zac 10:1 and Zac 10:2); whilst subsequently, more especially from Zac 10:6 onwards, the participation of Ephraim in the salvation in prospect is more elaborately treated of. The question in dispute among the commentators, viz., whether Zac 10:1 and Zac 10:2 are to be connected with the previous chapter, so as to form the conclusion, or whether they form the commencement of a new address, or new turn in the address, is to be answered thus: The prayer for rain (Zac 10:1) is indeed occasioned by the concluding thought in Zac 9:17, but it is not to be connected with the preceding chapter as though it were an integral part of it, inasmuch as the second hemistich of Zac 10:2 can only be separated with violence from Zac 10:3. The close connection between Zac 10:2 and Zac 10:3 shows that Zac 10:1 commences a new train of thought, for which preparation is made, however, by Zac 9:17.
Open source ↗The scope of this chapter is much the same with that of the foregoing chapter - to encourage the Jews that had returned with hopes that though they had been under divine rebukes for their negligence in rebuilding the temple, and were now surrounded with enemies and dangers, yet God would do them good, and make them prosperous at home and victorious abroad. Now, I. They are here directed to eye the great God in all events that concerned them, and, both in the evils they suffered and in the comforts they desired, to acknowledge his hand (Zac 10:1-4). II. They are encouraged to expect strength and success from him in all their struggles with the enemies of their church and state, and to hope that the issue would be glorious at last (Zac 10:5-12).
Open source ↗10:2 Household gods might refer to ancestor statues used in rituals of necromancy (conjuring up the spirits of the dead); consultation with the dead was a widespread practice in the ancient world, but God’s law made it taboo for the Hebrews (see Lev 20:27; Deut 18:10-11).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it— or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead,
They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
while they offer false visions for you and lying divinations about you— to be placed on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.