Open. After prophesying about the future redemption, he saw in a vision what would occur during the Second Temple period, from which he understood that this redemption was not the future redemption. First, he saw that this Temple was destined to be destroyed, and he said to the Temple: “Open your doors, O Lebanon,” so that the Roman legions may enter, “and let fire consume your cedars,” destroying and burning the Temple.

Wail, O cypress. The cypress is also a species of cedar, but of a lower rank, while the oak is inferior to both. He says that the cypress shall wail “because the cedar has fallen,” the cedar being greater than it, and with it “the mighty have been devastated.” This represents the fall of the king, his deputy, and the courtiers admitted into the king’s presence. Afterward, “wail, O oaks of Bashan,” representing the officials, “for the fortified forest has come down,” meaning that the strong forest—the mighty warriors—has been brought down and has fallen.

The sound. Afterward, the sound of the shepherds’ wailing is heard, representing the Sanhedrin, “for their majesty and splendor have been devastated.” Then comes “the sound of young lions roaring,” representing the violent warriors who arose at that time and fought valiantly, but ultimately fell. “For the pride of the Jordan has been devastated,” namely, the place where lions dwelled. This symbolizes the conquest of all the fortified cities.

Thus says Hashem. After showing him the destruction of the Temple, He showed him what would befall the people throughout the period in which the Second Temple stood. “Shepherd the flock destined for slaughter.” That is, in his prophecy he was to depict their shepherds and the manner in which they would tend and govern them during the Second Temple period. He then explains why he calls them “the flock destined for slaughter”:

Whose buyers slaughter them. They are unlike sheep kept for shearing and breeding, which their owners are careful not to kill. These sheep are intended for slaughter, and therefore their buyers kill them without regarding it as a sin, since that is their designated purpose. “And those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Hashem, for I have become rich.’” A person becomes wealthy by retaining sheep kept for wool and offspring, whereas he profits from sheep destined for slaughter by selling them. “And their shepherds have no compassion upon them,” because they are intended to be slaughtered.

For. He explains the meaning of the metaphor: I will no longer have compassion upon the inhabitants of the land, and they will be destined for slaughter. “Behold, I will deliver each man into the hand of his neighbor.” Because of the baseless hatred among them, they stabbed one another. “And into the hand of his king.” The kings of the Second Temple period killed many of the people and brought about their destruction. “And they shall crush the land.” Through the various sects that arose at that time and through their cruel kings, the people were crushed, divided, and destroyed.

And I shepherded the flock destined for slaughter. I set forth how they would be tended and governed, and their governance was such that they became a flock destined for slaughter. “Therefore, the afflicted of the flock”—they became afflicted because they killed one another and there was no peace among them. “And I took for Myself two staffs.” He depicts the shepherd as possessing two staffs: “One was the staff called Pleasantness, and the other was the staff called Destroyers.” The identity of these two staffs was unclear, and the commentators struggled to explain them. However, the later statements, “I broke the staff called Pleasantness, to annul the covenant that I had made with all the nations,” and, “I broke my second staff, called Destroyers, to annul the brotherhood between Judah and Israel,” reveal that the purpose of the staff called Pleasantness was to establish a covenant with the nations, while the purpose of the staff called Destroyers was to establish brotherhood between Judah and Israel. This solves the riddle. The people had two forms of leadership: (1) the governor, prince, or king, who maintained a covenant with the nations that then ruled the land; and (2) the judge, High Priest, or head of the Sanhedrin, whose duty was to oversee the people of Israel, unite them in religion, justice, and government, and prevent them from dividing into conflicting sects and factions. Properly, the staff governing relations between Israel and the nations should have been the staff called Destroyers, meaning that Israel’s leaders should have fought them courageously, fiercely resisted them, and struck their enemies. The staff governing relations between Judah and Israel, however, should have been the staff called Pleasantness, guiding them gently, peacefully, and uprightly. He speaks disparagingly of the generation because the opposite occurred: the staff directed toward the nations was the staff called Pleasantness, for Israel remained submissive and subjugated to them, while the staff intended to establish brotherhood among the children of Israel was the staff called Destroyers, whose leaders ruled them harshly and oppressed them.

And I eliminated the three shepherds in one month. He means that as long as they remained under the rule of the Persian kings, they enjoyed tranquility, for the Persian kings were benevolent rulers. But the Persian Empire was suddenly overthrown by Alexander the Macedonian. Three Persian kings had treated Israel favorably—Cyrus, Artaxerxes, and Darius—granting the exiles permission to return and to rebuild the Temple and the wall of Jerusalem, as related in Ezra and Nehemiah. The benefits bestowed by these three shepherds disappeared in a single month with the death of the last Darius, for from then onward the Greek Empire gained power, and after Alexander’s death the Greeks treated Israel harshly. “The three shepherds” may also refer to the three governors appointed by the Persian king to administer the entire empire under his authority, which was divided into three regions: Babylon, Media, and Persia, as mentioned in Daniel, chapter 6. Corresponding to this, Daniel saw the Persian Empire with “three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.” All three were abolished within a single month upon the death of Darius. Then “My soul grew impatient with them,” because the Greeks began to mistreat Israel, “and their soul also loathed Me,” because many lawless people then arose among Israel and abandoned the faith.

And I said, “I will not shepherd you.” At that time, My protection departed from them, and they were delivered into the hands of the wicked Antiochus. The daily offering was abolished, and he established the desolating abomination. “Let that which is dying die, and let that which is disappearing”—whether through exile or religious conversion—“disappear; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh,” for the lawless people voraciously devoured the Pharisees without restraint.

And I took My staff, Pleasantness, and broke it. From that time onward, the covenant that I had made with the nations—that they should not harm Israel—was annulled, for the nations then began to oppress, destroy, and annihilate them.

And it was annulled on that day. Although they subsequently renewed the covenant from time to time—with the Greeks during the Hasmonean period and later with the Romans in the days of Herod—the covenant was nevertheless annulled on that day. From then onward, no permanent covenant existed, for it was repeatedly broken. “And the afflicted of the flock who observed Me knew this.” That is, the sages and those endowed with Divine inspiration among them, who faithfully observed Hashem’s charge, then understood “that it was the word of Hashem.” They recognized that this had come from Hashem and that the prophets Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel had already foretold it when they envisioned the four empires that would arise to oppress Israel.

And I said to them, “If it is good in your eyes, give Me My wages.” The parable depicts Hashem as asking them for payment in return for guarding them, so that the Temple would not be destroyed and their enemies would not annihilate them. That is, He wanted them to possess some merit that could plead on their behalf before Hashem. “And if not, forbear.” If you do not give Me My wages and possess no merit, you will cease to exist as a people. “And they weighed out My wages: thirty pieces of silver.” Our Sages explained that there is no generation without thirty righteous people. The thirty righteous individuals then living among them sacrificed themselves for the sanctification of God’s name. This merit was given to Hashem as His wages, so that He would again shepherd and protect His flock.

And Hashem said to me, “Cast it to the minter.” In the parable, Hashem commanded him to take the silver and cast it to the craftsman who forms an image in the silver and stamps it as a coin. That is, the image of the thirty pieces of silver—the thirty righteous people who were killed for the sanctification of His name—would be engraved before His Throne of Glory. For it is “a magnificent treasure,” formed from the souls of those who were killed; and from this precious silver, representing their yearning for God, Hashem would fashion for Himself a glorious mantle, “which I took from them.” I took this precious treasure from among them, for “the death of His faithful ones is precious in the eyes of Hashem.” He took the precious souls of the righteous and clothed Himself in them as a garment of splendor. “And I cast it into the House of Hashem, to the minter.” He cast this silver into the Temple, for through this merit the Temple endured and was not destroyed in the days of Antiochus. This was due to the merit of the holy martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the honor of Hashem. The minter formed an image from the silver, so that the image of these holy ones became for Hashem a glorious mantle and a garment of praise.

And I broke. Afterward, the second staff was also broken because the Sadducees had multiplied among them. Internal peace was thereby abolished, and the second staff—the staff called Destroyers—was broken. Its purpose had been to guide them in their religious and civil affairs, but the Sadducean and Pharisaic factions devoured one another, while the kings were pressured by both groups, as is well known from the history of the Second Temple period. In this way, “the brotherhood between Judah and Israel was annulled.” He designates the Torah scholars as “Judah” and the common people as “Israel,” corresponding to the distinction between these two names during the First Temple period, when the people of Judah served Hashem, in contrast to Israel, the Ten Tribes. During the Second Temple period, there had initially been peace between them, with no breach in faith and no departure from religion. Now this brotherhood was annulled, and breach followed upon breach.

And Hashem said to me, “Take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd.” That is, the shepherd who now arises will be foolish and will possess no staff with which to guide the flock—neither the staff called Pleasantness nor the staff called Destroyers. He will possess only the shepherd’s utensils in which he cooks the flesh of the sheep, devouring and destroying them. Such were the final kings who ruled during the Second Temple period.

For behold, I am raising up a shepherd in the land. He will not tend the flock, for “he will not attend to those who are disappearing,” meaning that he will pay no attention to those members of the nation being driven into exile. “He will not seek the young,” the newly born and youthful sheep, to gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom. That is, he will not care for their children and young people. “He will not heal the injured,” and even “the one standing,” the sheep that is not injured and still stands upon its feet, “he will not sustain” with food. But “the healthy” and fattened sheep “he will devour, even tearing apart their hooves.” That is, he will plunder the wealthy among them and rob them of their possessions.

Woe to the worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! A sword shall be upon his arm, meaning that his strength and might will fall, “and his right eye shall grow utterly dim,” meaning that his wisdom will become foolishness. He will thus be punished both physically and spiritually. Abarbanel explains this as referring to Agrippa, the final king, who fell by the sword in Rome, together with his son, a good man who was killed alongside him and who is represented by the shepherd’s right eye.