Zechariah 11:15-17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Zechariah 11:15-17
Woe to the Worthless Shepherd
The worthless shepherd is known by four neglected duties and by appetite
Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. The LORD will raise up a shepherd in the land who shall not visit those that be cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still, but he shall eat the flesh of the fat and tear their claws in pieces. Missing, young, injured, standing or healthy: the flock's vulnerable and remaining members are all refused. The healthy are consumed.
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. KJV idol shepherd means worthless or useless shepherd, not necessarily a man worshiping an idol. The woe removes capacity and sight from the one who abandons.
A care list, not a curse kit and not a partisan ID
Ezekiel 34 already measured shepherds by wounded sheep. This unit closes the first burden with the same ethic. The historical referent may be a foreign ruler, a local leader, a collective office, or a literary foil. The text does not name a later pope, president, pastor, or ethnic group.
The woe does not authorize injuring, blinding, disabling, or cursing failed leaders. Disability in arm or eye does not make disabled people foolish or unfit. Jesus' good-shepherd teaching offers an ethical contrast. Readers still may not seize the physical woe as their own to pronounce.
How this should shape us
Make search for the missing, care for the young, healing access, nourishment, and leader removal measurable. A title and equipment do not cover predatory neglect. Do not proof-text a rival, and do not harm a body because this woe names an arm and an eye.
Teach it back
Explain Zechariah 11:15-17 in your own words. Include its place in Zechariah's return-to-holiness movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Historical identity and the precise force of each neglected-sheep term remain debated; predatory neglect is explicit.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Zechariah 11:15-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker changes, repeated formulas, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Zech.xml, 11:15-17
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and canonical-reception notes.
NET Bible Zechariah PDF, printed pp. 1797-1798, translation and notes on 11:15-17
Supports: Whole-book movement, Persian and later horizons, literary boundaries, composition, and material alternatives.
Mason, 'Zechariah,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 614, discussion of 11:15-17
Supports: Compositional development, fast-to-feast movement, leadership expectations, messianism, and the book's role within the Twelve.
Boda, Exploring Zechariah, Volume 1, printed pp. 59-88, chapter 4 on royal, priestly, prophetic, and messianic expectations
Supports: Inner-biblical allusion, vision traditions, Persian and Babylon imagery, leadership, burden headings, and shepherd units.
Boda, Exploring Zechariah, Volume 2, printed pp. 153-182, chapters 9-10 on Zechariah 11 and the shepherd units
Supports: The relation between Zechariah 1-8 and 9-14, later conflict horizons, compositional alternatives, and limits on historical reconstruction.
Gonzalez, 'Zechariah 9-14,' JHS 13.9 (2013), journal pp. 26-32 on the shepherd critique and proposed Ptolemaic administration setting
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Zechariah 11:15-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Zechariah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker changes, repeated formulas, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Zech.xml, 11:15-17
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Zechariah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and canonical-reception notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Zechariah PDF, printed pp. 1797-1798, translation and notes on 11:15-17
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Zechariah
Rex Mason
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, Persian and later horizons, literary boundaries, composition, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Mason, 'Zechariah,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 614, discussion of 11:15-17
Open source ↗open access scholarly monograph
Exploring Zechariah, Volume 1: The Development of Zechariah and Its Role within the Twelve
Mark J. Boda
SBL Press, Ancient Near East Monographs 16, 2017
Supports: Compositional development, fast-to-feast movement, leadership expectations, messianism, and the book's role within the Twelve.
Exact location: Boda, Exploring Zechariah, Volume 1, printed pp. 59-88, chapter 4 on royal, priestly, prophetic, and messianic expectations
Open source ↗open access scholarly monograph
Exploring Zechariah, Volume 2: The Development and Role of Biblical Traditions in Zechariah
Mark J. Boda
SBL Press, Ancient Near East Monographs 17, 2017
Supports: Inner-biblical allusion, vision traditions, Persian and Babylon imagery, leadership, burden headings, and shepherd units.
Exact location: Boda, Exploring Zechariah, Volume 2, printed pp. 153-182, chapters 9-10 on Zechariah 11 and the shepherd units
Open source ↗peer reviewed journal article
Zechariah 9-14 and the Continuation of Zechariah during the Ptolemaic Period
Hervé Gonzalez
Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 13, article 9, 2013
Supports: The relation between Zechariah 1-8 and 9-14, later conflict horizons, compositional alternatives, and limits on historical reconstruction.
Exact location: Gonzalez, 'Zechariah 9-14,' JHS 13.9 (2013), journal pp. 26-32 on the shepherd critique and proposed Ptolemaic administration setting
Open source ↗