Zechariah 11:4 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Feed the flock of the slaughter— Or the flock prepared for slaughter. That flock is so described in the next verse, as to make it evident that a flock not of sheep, but of men, is meant, and consequently an allegorical shepherd. Zechariah was not only of a priestly family, but one of the chief priests; supposing him to be, as it is most likely he was, the person mentioned Nehemiah 12:16. It belonged therefore to his station and office to take upon himself the guidance and instruction of the people. For, as his contemporary Malachi observes, ch. Zechariah 2:7. The priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth. Compare Deuteronomy 30:10; Deuteronomy 33:10. Jeremiah 18:18; Jeremiah 18:23. The people are denominated the flock of slaughter, because they were devoted to ruin by following the mischievous counsels of their false teachers.