זכריה, פרק י״א, פסוק ט״ז

God announces the rise of a cruel and terrible leader, painting a vivid picture of a shepherd who completely abandons his duty. Instead of protecting the vulnerable, this leader not only neglects his flock but actively exploits and harms them. Some identify this prophecy as a specific warning about the wicked reign of the Herodian dynasty [מצודת דוד].

The primary approach among commentators is that the prophecy details the shepherd's specific failures toward the various types of sheep that desperately need his care. For the lost and straying sheep, the shepherd will not bother to count them, remember them, or bring them back to the fold. On a national level, this represents a complete lack of concern for the people who are lost in exile [מלבי״ם]. When it comes to the young or vulnerable, the shepherd will not seek them out. Most understand this as a reference to the soft, young lambs that walk slowly and fall behind, though another perspective views them as foolish sheep that simply do not know how to return home [רש״י].

Furthermore, if a sheep suffers a broken limb, the shepherd makes no effort to heal it. Even for the weak and sick sheep that can barely stand in place and cannot go out to graze on their own, he offers no support. He will not bring food to them or carry them in his arms, a condition another view associates with sheep suffering from a swollen, sick belly [רש״י].

Moving beyond mere neglect, the shepherd turns to active cruelty. He slaughters the fat, healthy sheep to consume them for his own personal desires. This serves as a metaphor for the wealthy members of the nation, whom the wicked leader will rob and strip of all their wealth [רש״י, מלבי״ם]. Finally, in an act of ultimate malice, the shepherd strikes the animals with his staff, breaking their hooves so they cannot walk at all. This brutal abuse symbolizes a cruel tyranny that leads to the absolute destruction and breaking of those who are already weak and exhausted [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, רש״י].