Tanach
Zecharyah 11:4-11 זכריה י״א:ד׳-י״א
Part of: Chapter 11
Reading: Hebrew · Simple EnglishHebrew · Faithful translationHebrew onlyHebrew · Simple EnglishHebrew · Faithful translationHebrew onlySimple English onlyFaithful translation onlySide by sideRashi
כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהָי רְעֵה אֶת־צֹאן הַהֲרֵגָֽה׃
Thus says the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter;
Thus says the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter;
Rashi
צאן ההרגה. ישראל שהרגום רועיהם ואכלום:
the flock of slaughter Israel, whose shepherds slew them and devoured them.
אֲשֶׁר קֹנֵיהֶן יַֽהַרְגֻן וְלֹא יֶאְשָׁמוּ וּמֹכְרֵיהֶן יֹאמַר בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה וַאעְשִׁר וְרֹעֵיהֶם לֹא יַחְמוֹל עֲלֵיהֶֽן׃
whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed is the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed is the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
Rashi
ולא יאשמו. הבבליים שאגלם לתוכם זה מוכרם והקונה הרוג ואין נותן ללבו שיהא לו אשמה בדבר ומוכרם מתהלל ברוך ה' שמסרם בידי והריני עשיר:
and not be guilty The kings of the nations among whom I will exile them; this one sells them, and the buyer slays them, without feeling (lit., “and he does not put to his heart”) that there should be guilt in the matter. The seller boasts: Blessed be the Lord Who delivered them into my hand, and behold! I am wealthy.
ואעשיר. והרי אני עשיר:
for I have become wealthy And behold! I am wealthy.
כִּי לֹא אֶחְמוֹל עוֹד עַל־יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה וְהִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מַמְצִיא אֶת־הָאָדָם אִישׁ בְּיַד־רֵעֵהוּ וּבְיַד מַלְכּוֹ וְכִתְּתוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וְלֹא אַצִּיל מִיָּדָֽם׃
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
וָֽאֶרְעֶה אֶת־צֹאן הַהֲרֵגָה לָכֵן עֲנִיֵּי הַצֹּאן וָאֶקַּֽח־לִי שְׁנֵי מַקְלוֹת לְאַחַד קָרָאתִֽי נֹעַם וּלְאַחַד קָרָאתִי חֹֽבְלִים וָֽאֶרְעֶה אֶת־הַצֹּֽאן׃
So I fed the flock of slaughter, indeed the poorest of the flock. And I took for myself two rods; the one I called Grace, and the other I called Severity; and I fed the flock.
So I fed the flock of slaughter, indeed the poorest of the flock. And I took for myself two rods; the one I called Grace, and the other I called Severity; and I fed the flock.
Rashi
וארעה את צאן ההרגה. כל אלה דברי הקב"ה לנביא ואני רעיתי אותם בימים הקדמונים:
And I tended the flock of slaughter All these are the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the prophet: And I tended them in the early days.
לכן עניי הצאן. אמת עניי הצאן היו כשהתחלתי לרעותם:
indeed, the poor of the flock Indeed, they were the poor of the flock when I began to tend them.
ואקח לי שני מקלות. לסוף ימים חלקתים לשתי ממלכו' בעוונם:
and I took for Myself two staffs At the end of a period of time, I divided them into two kingdoms because of their iniquity.
לאחד קראתי נועם. ירבעם אמר לנהלם לעט:
one I called Pleasantness Jeroboam promised to lead them gently.
ולאחד קראתי חובלים. רחבעם אמר להם ליסרם בעקרבים ולפי שדרך צאן לנהלן במקלו' קרא למושליהם מקלות:
and one I called Destoyers Rehoboam told [his kingdom] that he would flog them with scorpions (I Kings 12:11). [Zechariah] calls their rulers staffs because it is customary to lead flocks with staffs.
וָאַכְחִד אֶת־שְׁלֹשֶׁת הָרֹעִים בְּיֶרַח אֶחָד וַתִּקְצַר נַפְשִׁי בָּהֶם וְגַם־נַפְשָׁם בָּחֲלָה בִֽי׃
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and I became impatient with them, and their soul also abhorred me.
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and I became impatient with them, and their soul also abhorred me.
Rashi
ואכחיד את שלשת הרועים בירח אחד. והם השחיתו דרכיהם עד שמאסתים והרגתים בחדש א' כל שלשת הרועים שהרג והוא את כל בית אחאב ואת בית אחזיה מלך יהודה ואת אחיו ואת כל זרע מלכות דוד ועתליה איבדה את השאר זולתי יואש שנטמן (מלכים ב ט):
I cut off the three shepherds in one month They corrupted their ways until I rejected them, and I slew all three shepherds in one month. Jehu slew the entire house of Ahab, and the house of Ahaziah the king of Judah, and his brothers, and all the seed of the kingdom of David; and Athaliah slew the rest, save Joash, who hid (II Kings 10, 11).
ותקצר נפשי בהם. מאסתים וכל ל' קוצר נפש הוא דבר צרה או דבר מיאוס שאין הדעת סובלתו וקצר הלב והמעים מלהכיל כמו שאליהו אמר הציקתני רוח בטני (איוב ל״ב:י״ח):
I could not tolerate them “My soul was short with them” I rejected them. And every expression of shortness of soul denotes a distressful or disgusting matter, that a person’s thoughts cannot tolerate. His heart and his reigns are too short to contain it, as Elihu said (Job 32:18), “The spirit of my innards constrains me.”
גם נפשם בחלה בי. זכרונם היה רב במעי וממלא את רוחי ומציק את בטני ובחלה פי' רבותינו לשון גודל במס' נדה משל משלו חכמים באשה פגה בוחל וצמל פגה עודה תינוקת בוחל אלו ימי הנעורים שכבר היא גדול' והביאו מקרא זה ראיה לדבריהם:
moreover, they were too much for Me Their memory was too big for My innards, and it filled My spirit and constrained My reins. The word בָּחֲלָה was explained by our Sages in tractate Niddah (47a) as an expression of largeness. The Sages depicted the development of a woman with a metaphor: פַּגָּה, unripe figs; בֹּחַל, larger figs, and צֶמֶל, completely ripe figs. She is compared to unripe figs when she is still a child; she is compared to larger figs in the days of her youth, when she is already bigger. They brought this verse as proof of their words.
וָאֹמַר לֹא אֶרְעֶה אֶתְכֶם הַמֵּתָה תָמוּת וְהַנִּכְחֶדֶת תִּכָּחֵד וְהַנִּשְׁאָרוֹת תֹּאכַלְנָה אִשָּׁה אֶת־בְּשַׂר רְעוּתָֽהּ׃
Then I said, I will not be your shepherd: that which dies let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat the flesh of one another.
Then I said, I will not be your shepherd: that which dies let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat the flesh of one another.
Rashi
ואומר לא ארעה אתכם. אמרתי באותן הימים אשליכם מעל פני ויהיו הפקר ולבז:
And I said, “I will not tend you...” I said in those days, “I will cast them from before Me,” and they shall be free and subject to spoil.
וָאֶקַּח אֶת־מַקְלִי אֶת־נֹעַם וָאֶגְדַּע אֹתוֹ לְהָפֵיר אֶת־בְּרִיתִי אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אֶת־כׇּל־הָעַמִּֽים׃
And I took my rod, Grace, and snapped it, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
And I took my rod, Grace, and snapped it, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
Rashi
ואקח את מקלי את נועם. שברתי את כח מלכי ישראל בימי יהואחז בן יהוא עד כי אבדם מלך ארם וישימם כעפר לדוש (מלכים ב י״ג:ז׳) ובימי הושע בן אלה שמסרתים ביד סנחרב והגלהו (שם יז):
And I took My [first] staff, [called] Pleasantness I broke the power of the kings of Israel in the days of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu - to the extent that the king of Aram destroyed them and made them like dust to trample (II Kings 13:7) - and in the days of Hoshea the son of Elah, when I delivered them into the hands of Sennacherib and he exiled them (ibid. 17:6).
להפר את בריתי אשר כרתי את כל העמים. להראותם שבשביל שבגדו בי הפרתי את בריתי אשר כרתי עם כל העמים עליה' שלא יזיקום שע"מ כן נתתי להם את התורה שאם ישמרוה שיהיו חירות מן המלכיו' שלא תהא אומה ולשון שולטת בהם ואל תתמ' אם דבר המקר' תשועתם מיד שונא בלשון כריתת ברית את השונא שהרי מצינו מקרא דוגמתו וכרתי להם ברית ביום ההוא עם חית השדה וגומר:
to nullify My covenant that I [had] formed with all the peoples To show them that because they betrayed Me, I nullified My covenant that I formed with all the peoples concerning them, that the [peoples] not harm them. For, on that condition I gave them the Torah, that if they keep it, they will be free from the kingdoms; that no nation or tongue shall rule over them. And do not be surprised if Scripture speaks of their salvation from the hands of the enemy as forming a covenant with the enemy, for we find a similar verse (Hosea 2:20): “And I will make a covenant for them on that day with the beasts of the field, etc.”
וַתֻּפַר בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וַיֵּדְעוּ כֵן עֲנִיֵּי הַצֹּאן הַשֹּׁמְרִים אֹתִי כִּי דְבַר־יְהֹוָה הֽוּא׃ {ס}
And it was broken on that day: and so the poorest of the flock who paid heed to me knew that it was the word of the Lord.
And it was broken on that day: and so the poorest of the flock who paid heed to me knew that it was the word of the Lord.
Rashi
וידעו. כן הבינו הצדיקים שבהם השומרים את חוקי:
knew this The righteous among them who kept My statute understood.
כי דבר ה' הוא. גזירה זו כבר דיבר לנו הקב"ה ע"י משה יוליך ה' אותך ואת מלכך:
that it was the word of the Lord This decree the Holy One, blessed be He, already spoke to us through Moses (Deut. 28: 36): “The Lord shall drive you and your king.”
רעה את צאן ההרגה. הכן להם רועים כלומר הנבא על פרנסיהם העתידים לרעותם מעתה:
Tend the flock of slaughter Prepare shepherds for them; i.e., prophesy concerning their leaders who are destined to lead them from now on.