Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Zechariah
Chapter 13: A Fountain Opened for Sin
Following the look at the pierced One and the mourning of chapter 12, Zechariah 13 opens with the answer to that mourning: 'In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.' A cleansing fountain for guilt, opened by the very piercing that caused the grief. God then purges the land of idols and false prophets, and gives a mysterious line about One 'wounded in the house of my friends.' Then comes the great Shepherd prophecy Jesus applied to Himself the night He was betrayed: 'Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.' The chapter ends with a refined remnant, brought through the fire, who call on God's name, 'The LORD is my God.' From the pierced Saviour flows a fountain, and through the smitten Shepherd comes a purified people.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Zechariah chapter 13, the cleansing fountain and the smitten Shepherd. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This chapter holds the fountain for sin and the prophecy of the struck Shepherd that Jesus applied to Himself. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Opened for Sin
A cleansing spring for guilt and uncleanness.
Idols and False Prophets
God cleansing the land of falsehood.
In the House of My Friends
The Shepherd wounded by His own.
Smite the Shepherd
The struck Shepherd and the refined remnant.
A Fountain Opened for Sin and for Uncleanness (Zechariah 13:1-6)
A cleansing fountain is opened for the sin of God's people; He purges the land of idols and false prophets, so that lying prophecy is disowned even by families, and a mysterious word is given of One wounded in the house of His friends.
Wounded in the House of My Friends
"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."
Hebrew Study
"a fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness." The mourning over the pierced One in chapter 12 is answered here by a "fountain" opened "for sin and for uncleanness." Not a basin of standing water but a living spring, an endless, flowing source of cleansing for guilt. This fountain is opened by the very piercing that caused the grief: from the pierced side of Christ "came there out blood and water" (John 19:34), and His blood is the fountain that cleanses. "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). The hymn-writer caught it exactly: "There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins." God does not leave the mourning sinner in his grief; He opens a fountain, freely flowing, that washes away both "sin" (guilt) and "uncleanness" (defilement). Come and be washed.
"What are these wounds in thine hands? ... wounded in the house of my friends." In the immediate context these verses describe the purging of false prophets, so ashamed they deny their calling and explain their self-inflicted prophetic scars as ordinary wounds. Yet the striking phrase "wounded in the house of my friends" has long been seen by Christians as pointing beyond, to the wounded Shepherd of the very next verses, the Messiah wounded by His own people. Jesus was pierced with wounds in His hands (Psalm 22:16; John 20:25-27), and He was "wounded in the house of my friends", betrayed and crucified by His own nation, "he came unto his own, and his own received him not." Whether or not the verse directly prophesies this, it beautifully frames the mystery the chapter is unfolding: the Shepherd of Israel wounded by those He came to save.
Explanation
"In that day", the day of mourning over the pierced One, "there shall be a fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness." The grief of chapter 12 is met with cleansing: a living spring for guilt and defilement. Then God purges the land of two forms of falsehood. First, idolatry: "I will cut off the names of the idols... and they shall no more be remembered." Second, false prophecy: "I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land." So thorough will this purging be that a lying prophet's own "father and mother" will disown and even execute him for speaking "lies in the name of the LORD."
False prophets, once exposed, will be ashamed of their "vision," lay aside the "rough garment" they wore "to deceive," and deny their trade, "I am no prophet, I am an husbandman." And if anyone notices the scars they cut in themselves in pagan frenzy, "What are these wounds in thine hands?", they will lie and say they got them "in the house of my friends." In its context this is a false prophet's excuse; but the phrase, and the wounds, hang in the air, pointing forward to the true Shepherd whose wounds were real and who was indeed struck in the house of His friends, the subject of the next verses.
Gospel Focus
"A fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness" is one of the most precious promises in the Bible for guilty sinners. After the mourning over the pierced One comes not more condemnation but a fountain, a living, flowing spring that washes away sin and uncleanness. And that fountain is opened by the piercing itself: from the wounded side of Christ flowed blood and water, and "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." However deep your guilt or defilement, there is a fountain open, and it never runs dry. You do not have to stay in your mourning; you may come to the fountain and be washed clean. "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7).
And notice what the fountain and the cleansing produce: a purged people, free of idols and lies. Where God's cleansing comes, the idols are "cut off" and "no more remembered," and falsehood is driven out. Cleansing and holiness go together; the fountain that washes away guilt also washes away the love of idols and lies. The gospel does not merely forgive; it purifies, "who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14). Come to the fountain opened for your sin, be washed, and let the same grace cleanse your life of every idol. And as you come, look at the wounds, for the fountain flows from a Shepherd "wounded in the house of my friends," wounded by us, for us.
Smite the Shepherd, and the Sheep Shall Be Scattered (Zechariah 13:7-9)
God calls the sword against His own Shepherd, the man who is His fellow; when the Shepherd is struck the sheep scatter, and through fiery refining a remnant is purified who call on God's name and are owned as His people.
They Shall Call on My Name, and I Will Hear Them
"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."
Hebrew Study
"smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered," and "the man that is my fellow." God calls the sword against "my shepherd", His own appointed Shepherd, "the man that is my fellow" (amiti, my associate, my equal, one united to Me). This astonishing phrase, that the Shepherd is God's "fellow," His equal, points to the divine dignity of the Messiah, who is one with God. And He is struck by God's own command: "smite the shepherd." The Lord Jesus applied this verse directly to Himself on the night He was betrayed: "for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad" (Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27). At the cross, God smote His own Shepherd, "it pleased the LORD to bruise him" (Isaiah 53:10), and the disciples, the sheep, were scattered. That the Shepherd who is God's "fellow," His equal, should be smitten for the flock is the very heart of the gospel: the one God, in the person of Jesus, was struck for our sins.
"I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them... they shall call on my name." After the Shepherd is struck and the sheep scattered, a remnant, "the third part", is not destroyed but "brought through the fire" and refined "as silver" and "as gold." God's fire does not consume His people; it purifies them. And the result is the restored covenant relationship in its fullest form: "they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." The refining fire produces a people who pray ("call on my name"), whom God hears and owns ("It is my people"), and who confess Him as their own ("The LORD is my God"). This is the goal of all God's dealings, even His fiery trials, "the trial of your faith... though it be tried with fire" (1 Peter 1:7), a purified people belonging wholly to God.
Explanation
God issues a startling command: "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow." The Shepherd struck is God's own, His "fellow", His equal. And the striking is by God's will: "smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Jesus quoted this the night of His betrayal, applying it to His own death and the scattering of the disciples. The cross was no accident; God smote His Shepherd, and the flock scattered, just as foretold.
But the striking is not the end. God turns His hand "upon the little ones", to care for them, and works through the judgment to preserve and purify a remnant. "Two parts" perish, but "the third" is "brought through the fire" and refined "as silver... as gold." The fire purifies rather than destroys, and produces the deepest covenant bond: "they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." The smiting of the Shepherd, through scattering and refining, yields at last a purified people who belong wholly to God and He to them.
Gospel Focus
"Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered" is a prophecy Jesus claimed as His own on the eve of the cross, and it reveals the mystery of His death. The Shepherd struck is "the man that is my fellow", God's equal, one with Him, and yet God says, "smite" Him. At Calvary God smote His own Shepherd, His Son who is one with Him, for the sins of the flock; "it pleased the LORD to bruise him." This is the gospel's deepest wonder: God did not spare His Shepherd but delivered Him up for us all. And the scattering of the sheep, fulfilled when the disciples fled, reminds us how weak we are apart from Him, and how, after His resurrection, He gathered His scattered sheep again.
And take hope from the refining fire. After the Shepherd is struck, God does not abandon the flock; He brings a remnant "through the fire" and refines them "as silver" and "as gold." God's fiery trials are not meant to destroy His people but to purify them, "that the trial of your faith... might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7). And the goal is the sweetest words in the Bible: "they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." That is salvation's summit, a people who pray and are heard, whom God owns as His own, and who confess Him as their God. If you are in the fire, it is refining you, not consuming you; and its aim is that you would call on His name, and hear Him say over you, "It is my people," and answer with all your heart, "The LORD is my God."
Chapter 13 in Review
Zechariah 13 answers the mourning over the pierced One with a fountain: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness," a living spring of cleansing flowing from the pierced Saviour. God purges the land of idols and false prophets, and gives the haunting phrase of One "wounded in the house of my friends." Then comes the great Shepherd prophecy Jesus claimed the night He was betrayed: "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow... smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Through the smiting and the scattering, God brings a remnant "through the fire," refined as silver and gold, who "call on my name" and are owned, "It is my people," and confess, "The LORD is my God."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is rich with the cross and its fruit. The fountain opened "for sin and for uncleanness" is the cleansing blood of Christ, flowing from His pierced side, that washes away all sin. The smitten Shepherd, "the man that is my fellow", God's equal, struck by God's own command, is Jesus, whom "it pleased the LORD to bruise" for us, the one God struck in the flesh for the sins of the flock. And the refining fire that follows produces the covenant's deepest goal: a purified people who pray, are heard, are owned by God, and own Him as their God. From the pierced Saviour flows a fountain; through the smitten Shepherd comes a purified people. Come to the fountain, trust the smitten Shepherd, and be brought through the fire to say, "The LORD is my God."
- A "fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness" is the cleansing blood of Christ (13:1; John 19:34; 1 John 1:7).
- God's cleansing purges idols and lies; the gospel purifies as well as forgives (13:2; Titus 2:14).
- The smitten Shepherd is "the man that is my fellow," God's equal, one with Him (13:7).
- God smote His own Shepherd for the flock; Jesus claimed this at His betrayal (13:7; Matthew 26:31; Isaiah 53:10).
- God's fire refines His people rather than destroying them (13:9; 1 Peter 1:7).
- The goal: a people who call on God's name, whom He owns, and who confess "The LORD is my God" (13:9).
Questions for Reflection
- Have you come to the fountain opened for sin, and been washed clean?
- Does the gospel's cleansing show in a life purged of idols and falsehood?
- Do you marvel that God smote His own Shepherd, His equal, for you?
- If you are in the refining fire, can you trust it is purifying, not consuming, you?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Key terms: "fountain" (a living spring, verse 1); amiti ("my fellow," my associate/equal, verse 7). The cleansing fountain, fulfilled in Christ's blood: John 19:34; 1 John 1:7; Hebrews 9:14; 10:22; Revelation 1:5; 7:14; Psalm 51:1-2, 7; Ezekiel 36:25. God purging idols and false prophets: Deuteronomy 13:1-11; 18:20; Jeremiah 23:9-40; Micah 5:12-13; 1 John 4:1. The gospel purifying as well as forgiving: Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:3. The smitten Shepherd, God's fellow, applied by Christ: Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27; John 16:32; Isaiah 53:4-10; Acts 2:23; John 10:30; 14:9. The refining fire of trial: Isaiah 1:25; 48:10; Malachi 3:2-3; 1 Corinthians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 4:12-13. The covenant formula "they shall call on my name... The LORD is my God": Hosea 2:23; Jeremiah 31:33; Zechariah 8:8; Romans 10:12-13; Revelation 21:3. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The fountain opened for sin, the purging of idols and false prophets, the wounds: Zechariah 13:1-6; John 19:34; 1 John 1:7.
- The smitten Shepherd and the refined remnant who say "The LORD is my God": Zechariah 13:7-9; Matthew 26:31; 1 Peter 1:7.