Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their souls also abhorred me.
All Commentaries on Zechariah 11:8 Go To Zechariah 11
Jerome
AD 420
We may understand this historically of Moses and Aaron. Moses—and Aaron also—was conducted to but not inducted into the Promised Land. Jesus took Moses’ place. Be sure you grasp the significance of what is written. Moses died in a desert; Aaron died; Mary died; and hear now what is written in the prophet: “In a single month I did away with three shepherds.” They died, for they could not enter the Promised Land. They merely looked over toward the land of promise, but enter it they could not. The Jews beheld the Promised Land but could not enter it. They died in the desert, and their dead bodies lie in the wilderness, the corpses of those who died in the desert. We, their children, under the leadership of Jesus, have come to the Jordan and have entered the Promised Land; we have come to Gilgal and have been circumcised with spiritual circumcision and have been cleansed of the reproach of Egypt. Even now Jesus himself, our leader, holds the sword and always goes before us and fights for us and conquers our adversaries. For seven days, we march around the city of Jericho, in other words, this world. We sound the priestly trumpets and march around Jericho, this world, and the walls fall, and we enter and consider ourselves victors. Next we conquer the city Ai; then go to Jebus, to Azor, to other cities; we conquer the enemies that we were unable to vanquish under Moses.
