The Prophet Zechariah

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: Allioli - Arndt Bibel ⭑

- Kapitel 11 -

Open your gates, Lebanon, and let fire consume your cedars.(a)

(b)

Howl, you fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the magnificent have been devastated. Howl, you oaks of Bashan, because the secure forest passage has been cut down.

The voice of the howling of the shepherds: for their magnificence has been devastated. The voice of the roaring of the lions: because the arrogance of the Jordan has been devastated.

Thus says the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter,

which those who possessed them cut down, and they did not feel sorrow, and they sold them, saying: “Blessed be the Lord; we have become wealthy. Even their shepherds did not spare them.”

And so, I will no longer spare the inhabitants upon the earth, says the Lord. Behold, I will deliver men, each one into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king. And they will cut down the land, and I will not rescue it from their hand.(c)

And I will pasture the flock of the slaughter, because of this, O poor of the flock. And I took to myself two staffs: the one I called Handsome, and the other I called Rope, and I pastured the flock.(d)

(e)

And I cut down three shepherds in one month. And my soul became contracted concerning them, just as their soul also varied concerning me.(f)

And I said: I will not pasture you. Whatever dies, let it die. And whatever is cut down, let it be cut down. And let the rest of them devour, each one the flesh of his neighbor.

Thirty Pieces of Silver

(Matthew 27:3–10)

And I took my staff, which was called Handsome, and I tore it apart, so as to invalidate my pact, which I had struck with all of the people.

And it became invalid in that day. And so they understood, just like the poor of the flock who stay close to me, that this is the word of the Lord.

And I said to them: If it is good in your eyes, bring me my wages. And if not, remain still. And they weighed for my wages thirty silver coins.

And the Lord said to me: Cast it towards the statuary, the handsome price at which I have been valued by them. And I took the thirty silver coins, and I cast them into the house of the Lord, towards the statuary.(g)

(h)

And I cut short my second staff, which was called Rope, so that I might dissolve the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.(i)

And the Lord said to me: Still they are to you the equipment of a foolish shepherd.(j)

For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish what remains standing, and he will consume the flesh of the fatted ones and break their hoofs.

O shepherd and idol, abandoning the flock, with a sword upon his arm and over his right eye: his arm will be withered by drought, and his right eye will be obscured by darkness.

Fußnoten

(a)11:1 O Libanus:So Jerusalem, and more particularly the temple, is called by the prophets, from its height, and from its being built of the cedars of Libanus.(Challoner)

(b)11:1 Thy cedars:Thy princes and chief men.(Challoner)

(c)11:6 Every one into his neighbour’s hand, etc:This alludes to the last siege of Jerusalem, in which the different factions of the Jews destroyed one another; and they that remained fell into the hands of their king, that is, of the Roman emperor, of whom they had said, John. 19:15, we have no king but Caesar.(Challoner)

(d)11:7 The word ‘Decorem’ is masculine, so the translation is ‘Handsome,’ rather than ‘Beautiful.’ The one staff is beautiful, and the other one, Rope (or String, or Line), is useful. Now perhaps the first staff was handsome or beautiful in soul. So, the two staffs represent the contemplative life and the active life among religious and clergy.(Conte)

(e)11:7 Two rods:Or shepherd’s staves, meaning the different ways of God’s dealing with his people; the one, by sweet means, called the rod of Beauty: the other, by bands and punishments, called the Cord. And where both these rods are made of no use or effect by the obstinacy of sinners, the rods are broken, and such sinners are given up to a reprobate sense, as the Jews were.(Challoner)

(f)11:8 Three shepherds in one month:That is, in a very short time. By these three shepherds probably are meant the latter princes and high priests of the Jews, whose reign was short.(Challoner)

(g)11:13 Some texts have the coins being tossed into a treasury, some towards a statuary. The spiritual meaning of this word may refer, not only to the price Judas Iscariot was paid to betray Christ, but to some future taxation by the administrative powers within the Church. God is angry at this event, but He directs the faithful to pay the tax. The treasury is the treasury of the Church; the statuary represents those leaders in the Church who are like statures, mere administrators or bureaucrats, lacking insight and compassion. Compare this to the story in the Gospels of the tax that Peter paid by catching a fish with a coin in its mouth.(Conte)

(h)11:13 The statuary:The Hebrew word signifies also a potter.(Challoner)

(i)11:14 The word ‘germanitatem’ is feminine, so a translation of ‘sisterhood’ might be justifiable. However, Judah and Israel are two groups symbolically represented with the names of two men, so the translation is ‘brotherhood.’ Notice that the first staff was cut down, but the second was merely shortened.(Conte)

(j)11:15 A foolish shepherd:This was to represent the foolish, that is, the wicked princes and priests that should rule the people, before their utter desolation.(Challoner)

Verwüstung Israels

Öffne, Libanon! deine Pforten und Feuer verzehre deine Zedern!

Wehklage, Tanne, denn die Zeder ist gefallen, die Herrlichsten sind ausgerottet; wehklaget, ihr Eichen Basans! denn die hohe Waldburg wird umgehauen.

Horch! Wehklage der Hirten, denn verwüstet liegt ihre Herrlichkeit; horch! Gebrüll der Löwen, denn verwüstet ist die Pracht des Jordans.

Prophezeiung der Hirten

So spricht der Herr, mein Gott: Weide die zur Schlachtung bestimmten Schafe,

die ihre Besitzer, ohne Schlimmes zu erleiden, schlachten und verkaufen und sagen: Gepriesen sei der Herr, wir werden reich! Und ihre Hirten schonen ihrer nicht.

Darum will auch ich ferner nicht mehr der Bewohner des Landes schonen, spricht der Herr; siehe, ich will die Menschen preisgeben, einen jeden in die Hand seines Nächsten und in die Hand seines Königs; diese werden das Land verderben und ich werde sie nicht aus ihrer Hand retten.

Und darum werde ich die Schafe der Schlachtung weiden, o ihr Ärmsten der Herde! Da nahm ich mir zwei Stäbe: den einen nannte ich Wohlgefallen und den andern nannte ich Band und so weidete ich die Herde.

Und ich schaffte die drei Hirten hinweg in einem Monate und meine Seele wandte sich von ihnen ab, weil auch ihr Sinn sich gegen mich geändert.

Und ich sprach: Ich mag euch nicht mehr hüten! Was sterben soll, sterbe; was ausgerottet werden soll, werde ausgerottet; und die dann noch übrig bleiben, mögen einer des andern Fleisch verzehren.

(Matthäus 27,3-10)

Und ich ergriff meinen Stab, der Wohlfallen hieß, und zerbrach ihn, um meinen Bund aufzulösen, den ich mit allen Völkern geschlossen.

Und er ward an jenem Tage aufgelöst und so erkannten die elendsten Schafe, die auf mich achteten, dass es des Herrn Wort war.

Darauf sprach ich zu ihnen: Scheint es gut in euren Augen, so gebet mir meinen Lohn; wo nicht, so lasset es sein! Da wogen sie als meinen Lohn dreißig Silberlinge dar.

Der Herr aber sprach zu mir: Wirf ihn dem Töpfer hin, den herrlichen Preis, dessen ich von ihnen wert geachtet bin! Da nahm ich die dreißig Silberlinge und warf sie in das Haus des Herrn dem Töpfer zu.

Dann zerbrach ich meinen zweiten Stab, Band genannt, um so die Bruderschaft zwischen Juda und Israel aufzulösen.

Hierauf sprach der Herr zu mir: Nimm dir noch das Gerät eines törichten Hirten!

Denn siehe, ich werde einen Hirten im Lande erstehen lassen, welcher die Verlassenen nicht beachtet, das Versprengte nicht aufsucht, das Verwundete nicht heilt, und das, was noch aufrecht steht, nicht pflegt, sondern das Fleisch der Fetten isst und ihre Klauen zerbricht.

O Hirt und Götzenbild, welcher die Herde verlässt; auf, Schwert, über seinen Arm und sein rechtes Auge! Sein Arm soll vertrocknen und verdorren und sein rechtes Auge sich verfinstern und erblinden!