Zechariah 13

This chapter belongs to the second oracle (chapters 12–14) in the latter part of Zechariah. Zechariah 12 closes with the people mourning as they look upon the one they pierced; this chapter opens with "in that day" and goes on to describe the cleansing and judgment that follow that repentance.

Outline

• Verse 1 A fountain is opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
• Verses 2–6 The LORD removes the names of the idols, the false prophets, and the unclean spirit from the land. If anyone still prophesies, the father and mother who begat him will thrust him through. The prophets, ashamed of their visions, no longer wear the rough garment; each says, "I am an husbandman," and explains away the wounds on his body as ones received in the house of his friends.
• Verses 7–9 When the sword strikes the LORD's shepherd, "the man that is my fellow," the sheep are scattered. In all the land two-thirds are cut off and one-third is left. The survivors are refined in the fire like silver and gold; the LORD says, "It is my people," and they confess, "The LORD is my God."

Key Verses

• Zechariah 13:1 "a fountain opened ... for sin and for uncleanness" — the verse that introduces the chapter's theme of cleansing.
• Zechariah 13:7 "smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered" — the verse Jesus quoted when foretelling that his disciples would be scattered.
• Zechariah 13:9 "will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried" — the conclusion, in which the remnant passes through trial and its covenant relationship with God is restored.

People and Places

• The shepherd — the one the LORD calls "the man that is my fellow"; the text does not name him.
• False prophets — prophets who speak lies while invoking the name of the LORD.
• The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem — those for whom the fountain of cleansing is opened.

Points for Reflection

• The "wounds between the arms" in verse 6 (KJV: "wounds in thine hands") have at times been applied in Christian tradition to the wounds of Christ. In context, however, many interpreters see them as the marks of false prophets who cut themselves in idolatrous rites (compare 1 Kings 18). The rough garment likewise refers to the attire worn by prophets.
• The statement in verse 3 that parents will thrust through their own child is read against the background of the Deuteronomic laws requiring the punishment of false prophets (Deuteronomy 13 and 18).
• Jesus quotes verse 7 in Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14:27, and for this reason Christians have read this shepherd as Christ. Some scholars also connect verses 7–9 with the shepherd narrative of chapter 11.
• The refining imagery of verse 9 is often read alongside Malachi 3:3 and 1 Peter 1:7.

In the Korean Church

• The "fountain" of verse 1 is frequently used in sermons on the theme of the blood of Christ. William Cowper's hymn "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood" (known in Korean hymnals as "Saemmulgwa Gateun Bohyeoreun") is also said to have been inspired by this verse.
• Verse 7 is often treated in Holy Week sermons together with Matthew's Gethsemane passage.