19. How many staffs did Zechariah take, how many shepherds did he efface in one month, and how did he show that he was breaking his covenant with the people?

¹⁹ “And I proceeded to shepherd the flock meant for the killing, in your behalf, O afflicted ones of the flock [or, possibly, ‘in behalf of the tradesmen of the flock,’ margin]. So I took for myself two staffs. The one I called Pleasantness, and the other I called Union [literally, Binders], and I went shepherding the flock.

Zechariah 11:7-11.

20. What was the use for the staffs, and what did Zechariah name the staffs respectively, and why?

²⁰ As a shepherd, Zechariah took as part of his equipment two staffs, the one for guiding the sheep and the other for protecting them. The former shepherd boy David makes reference to these in Psalm 23:1-4, saying: “Jehovah is my Shepherd. . . . Even though I walk in the valley of deep shadow, I fear nothing bad, for you are with me; your rod and your staff are the things that comfort me.” The one staff, evidently the one for guiding the sheep, Zechariah called Pleasantness, this referring to the favor that was shown to the sheep. The other staff, evidently the rod for beating off attackers of the sheep, he called Union (literally, Binders, for keeping a unity). It was a favor from Zechariah’s God, Jehovah of armies, toward the sheep that Jehovah assigned Zechariah to act as shepherd of the sheep. So one staff was named Pleasantness.