And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
And - rather, Accordingly: implying the motive cause which led Messiah to assume the office-namely, the will of the Father (Zechariah 11:4-5), who pitied the sheep who were without any true shepherd, and who therefore said to the Son, "Feed the flock."
I will feed the flock of slaughter - or else х 'er`eh (H7462)], 'I fed,' which comes to the same thing, as the past tense is often used by the prophets in speaking of the future, so certain, as if it were past, is everything that God saith. Calvin makes the words here to be those of THE FATHER, 'I fed the flock.' It was not my fault, Yahweh implies, that these sheep were not fed; the fault rests solely with you, because ye rejected the grace of God. But they are plainly the words of YAHWEH-MESSIAH, who undertook the office delegated to Him by the Father (Zechariah 11:4).
Even you, O poor of the flock - rather, 'in order that (I might feed, i:e., save) the poor (humble; cf. Zechariah 11:11; Zephaniah 3:12; Matthew 5:3) of the flock х laakeen (H3651)]: literally (not "you" [which would be laakem (H3807a), or laake... (H3807a)], but) 'inasmuch as,' or 'therefore (I will feed'), etc. (Moore.) See margin, 'Verily, the poor.' Messiah virtually saith, 'According to the Father's will (Zechariah 11:4; Psalms 40:8) I will feed the flock which is destined to the slaughter, inasmuch as I desire to feed the poor of the flock' - i:e., the humble, who are looked down upon by the world. It is for the sake of the believing remnant that Messiah took charge of the flock, though He would have saved all, if they would have come to Him. They, would not come; therefore, as a nation, they are "the flock of (i:e., doomed to) slaughter." The "remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5), are "the poor of the flock," whom Messiah did actually "feed."
And I took unto me two staves - i:e., two shepherd's staves or rods (Psalms 23:4). Symbolizing His assumption of the pastor's office. Whereas other shepherds are content with one staff for each, Messiah took two, to imply the more than ordinary solicitude He had for His flock (Calvin).
The one I called Beauty, х No`am (H5278)] - Grace, Pleasantness; the gift of God's free favour. The Jews' special excellency above other nations (Deuteronomy 4:7), in having God so nigh in His special manifestation to them; also in the glory of the temple ("the beauty of holiness," Psalms 29:2: cf. Psalms 27:4, "the beauty of the Lord" revealed in His temple); and (Psalms 90:17; 2 Chronicles 20:21), the "pleasantness" of their land (Genesis 49:15; Daniel 8:9; Daniel 11:16). "the glorious land."
And the other I called Bands - Ties х Chobªliym (H2256)], implying the bond of 'brotherhood,' which originally subsisted between Judah and Israel. "Bands," in Psalms 119:61 (margin), are used for confederate companies. The Easterns in making a confederacy, often tie a cord or band, as a symbol of it, and untie it when they dissolve the confederacy (Ludovicus de Dieu). The bond of brotherhood was renewed by the Jews and Israelites who returned from Babylon (Nehemiah 10:29, "They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath to walk in God's law"). Messiah would have joined Judah and Israel in the bonds of a common faith and common laws (Zechariah 11:14), but they would not; therefore, in just retribution, He broke "His covenant, which He had made with all the people" (Zechariah 11:10). Alexander, Antiochus Epiphanes, and Pompey, were all kept from marring utterly the distinctive "beauty" and 'brotherhood' of Judah and Israel, which subsisted more or less so long as the temple stood. But when Yahweh brake the staves, not even Titus could save the temple from his own Roman soldiery, nor was Julian able to restore it.