Zechariah 11 · Verse 1

Zechariah 11:1

Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
Zechariah 11:1, King James Version

Zechariah 11:1 in other translations

BSBOpen your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!
WEBOpen your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.
ASVOpen thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
YLTOpen, O Lebanon, thy doors, And fire doth devour among thy cedars.
DARBYOpen thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
BBELet your doors be open, O Lebanon, so that fire may be burning among your cedars.
WebsterOpen thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

What does Zechariah 11:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Zec 11:1-17. Destruction of the Second Temple and Jewish Polity for the Rejection of Messiah.

1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon--that is, the temple so called, as being constructed of cedars of Lebanon, or as being lofty and conspicuous like that mountain (compare Eze 17:3; Ha 2:17). Forty years before the destruction of the temple, the tract called "Massecheth Joma" states, its doors of their own accord opened, and Rabbi Johanan in alarm said, I know that thy desolation is impending according to Zechariah's prophecy. Calvin supposes Lebanon to refer to Judea, described by its north boundary: "Lebanon," the route by which the Romans, according to Josephus, gradually advanced towards Jerusalem. Moore, from Hengstenberg, refers the passage to the civil war which caused the calling in of the Romans, who, like a storm sweeping through the land from Lebanon, deprived Judea of its independence. Thus the passage forms a fit introduction to the prediction as to Messiah born when Judea became a Roman province. But the weight of authority is for the former view.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

The commencement of this chapter relates to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity, probably by the Babylonians; at least in the first instance, as the fourth verse speaks of the people thus threatened as the prophet's charge, Zac 11:1-6. The prophet then gives an account of the manner in which he discharged his office, and the little value that was put on his labors. And this he does by symbolical actions, a common mode of instruction with the ancient prophets, Zac 11:7-14. After the prophet, on account of the unsuccessfulness of his labors, had broken the two crooks which were the true badges of his pastoral office, (to denote the annulling of God's covenant with them, and their consequent divisions and dispersions), he is directed to take instruments calculated to hurt and destroy, perhaps an iron crook, scrip, and stones, to express by these symbols the judgments which God was about to inflict on them by wicked rulers and guides, who should first destroy the flock, and in the end be destroyed themselves, Zac 11:15-17. Let us now view this prophecy in another light, as we are authorized to do by Scripture, Mat 27:7. In this view the prophet, in the person of the Messiah, sets forth the ungrateful returns made to him by the Jews, when he undertook the office of shepherd in guiding and governing them; how they rejected him, and valued him and his labors at the mean and contemptible price of thirty pieces of silver, the paltry sum for which Judas betrayed him. Upon which he threatens to destroy their city and temple; and to give them up to the hands of such guides and governors as should have no regard to their welfare. Verse 1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon - I will give Mr. Joseph Mede's note upon this verse: - "That which moveth me more than the rest, is in chap. 11, which contains a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and a description of the wickedness of the inhabitants, for which God would give them to the sword, and have no more pity upon them. It is expounded of the destruction by Titus; but methinks such a prophecy was nothing seasonable for Zachary's time, (when the city yet for a great part lay in her ruins, and the temple had not yet recovered hers), nor agreeable to the scope. Zachary's commission, who, together with his colleague Haggai, was sent to encourage the people, lately returned from captivity, to build their temple, and to instaurate their commonwealth. Was this a fit time to foretell the destruction of both, while they were yet but a-building? And by Zachary too, who was to encourage them? Would not this better befit the desolation by Nebuchadnezzar?" I really think so. See Mr. J. Mede's 61. Epistle. Lebanon signifies the temple, because built of materials principally brought from that place.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Zechariah 11:1-3
In figurative expressions, that destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish church and nation, is foretold, which our Lord Jesus, when the time was at hand, prophesied plainly and expressly. How can the fir trees stand, if the cedars fall? The falls of the wise and good into sin, and the falls of the rich and great into trouble, are loud alarms to those every way their inferiors. It is sad with a people, when those who should be as shepherds to them, are as young lions. The pride of Jordan was the thickets on the banks; and when the river overflowed the banks, the lions came up from them roaring. Thus the doom of Jerusalem may alarm other churches.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Zechariah 11:1 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

פְּתַ֥חpe.TachopenH6605
לְבָנ֖וֹןle.va.NonO LebanonH3844
דְּלָתֶ֑יךָde.la.Tei.khadoors yourH1817
וְתֹאכַ֥לve.to.Khalso it may consumeH398
אֵ֖שׁ'eshfireH784
בַּאֲרָזֶֽיךָ\׃ba.'a.ra.Zei.kha<in> cedars yourH730

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Zechariah 11:1

  • Jeremiah 22:23

    O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

  • Jeremiah 22:6-7

    For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

  • Luke 21:23-24

    But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

  • Deuteronomy 32:22

    For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

  • Habakkuk 2:8

    Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

  • Haggai 1:8

    Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.

  • Matthew 24:1-2

    And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

  • Luke 19:41-44

    And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

  • Zechariah 10:10

    I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.

  • Habakkuk 2:17

    For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

  • Zechariah 14:1-2

    Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

  • Ezekiel 31:3

    Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1 The destruction of Jerusalem.
3 The elect being cared for, the rest are rejected.
10 The staves of Beauty and Bands broken by the rejection of Christ.
15 The type and curse of a foolish shepherd.

O Lebanon.
10:10; Jer 22:6,7,23; Hab 2:8,17; Hag 1:8
that.
14:1,2; De 32:22; Mt 24:1,2; Lu 19:41-44; 21:23,24

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Zechariah 11:1

    Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

  • Zechariah 11:2

    Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

Read all of Zechariah 11

Zechariah 11:1 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		OH Líbano, abre tus puertas, y queme fuego tus cedros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		*Liban, ouvre tes portes, et que le feu dévore tes cèdres!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Tue auf, Libanon, deine Tore, und Feuer verzehre deine Cedern!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Aperi, Libane, portas tuas, et comedat ignis cedros tuas.