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REJECTION OF THE TRUE SHEPHERD 379
But whether literal or figurative, the passage announces
- . judgment which would embrace, as already stated, the
and and the people, and not stop short of the holy city, >r sanctuary.
In the next and longest section of the chapter (vers. [ 1 4), the prophet proceeds to set forth the causes and the nanner of the judgment which in the first three verses had Deen announced in general terms.
Let us first take the briefest possible glimpse at the main contents of this paragraph : " Israel, prophetically viewed as given over to judgment, is called ""^"iLJL 1 i&& (tson ha-haregah), " sheep of slaughter," or, " of slaughtering."
As a manifestation of God s mercy, however, an effort is to be made to save them. The prophet, representing the Lord as the True Shepherd of Israel, is commanded to feed them, and he, in obedience to the command, takes upon himself the office of the shepherd and endeavours to rescue them from the wicked shepherds who are leading them to certain destruction. The obstinacy of the majority of those whom he seeks to save, however, compels him to give up the office and leave the flock to their utter misery and ruin. Then (in order to make manifest the ingratitude, as well as the wickedness, of those on whom such care had in vain been bestowed) the shepherd asks for his wages, and they in mockery offer him thirty pieces of silver the sum which, according to the law, was to be paid in compensa tion for a slave who had been killed (Ex. xxi. 22). This j money the prophet, by God s command, throws down con- i temptuously in the Temple, in the presence of all the people, " to the potter," after which he breaks the last emblem of his relation to them as shepherd.
This is the briefest outline which we shall endeavour to fill in when we come to the exposition, but before doing this one or two further preliminary remarks are still necessary.
Because it makes white the sins of Israel. Rav. Zutra, the son of Tobiah, says: Why is the Temple called " forest " (Zech. xi. 2)? Answer: Because it is written, The house of the forest of Lebanon (l Kings vii. 2), etc."
