Zechariah 10:2

2 The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

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Zechariah 10:2 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)

2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

English Standard Version (ESV)

2 For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 Household gods give worthless advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd.

The Message Bible (MSG)

2 "Store-bought gods babble gibberish. Religious experts spout rubbish. They pontificate hot air. Their prescriptions are nothing but smoke. And so the people wander like lost sheep, poor lost sheep without a shepherd.

American Standard Version (ASV)

2 For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams, they comfort in vain: therefore they go their way like sheep, they are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)

2 The idols speak lies. The fortunetellers see false visions. They speak about false dreams. They give useless comfort. That is why people wander around like sheep. They are troubled because there is no shepherd.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

2 For the idols speak falsehood, and the diviners see illusions; they relate empty dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore [the people] wander like sheep; they suffer affliction because there is no shepherd.

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

2 Other gods tell lies. Those who practice magic see visions that aren't true. They tell dreams that fool people. They give comfort that doesn't do any good. So the people wander around like sheep. They are crushed because they don't have a shepherd.

Zechariah 10:2 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 10:2

For the idols have spoken vanity
The vanities of the Gentiles cannot give rain; if they promise it, they speak vain things; God only can give it, and therefore it must, be asked of him, ( Jeremiah 14:22 ) . The word for idols is "teraphim", the same as in ( Genesis 31:19 ) ( Hosea 3:4 ) and here signifies worshippers of idols, as the Targum interprets it; and may be understood of the idolatrous Papists who worship idols of gold, silver, brass, and wood, ( Revelation 9:20 Revelation 9:21 ) and who speak lies in hypocrisy, great swelling words of vanity, and even blasphemy against God, his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven, ( 1 Timothy 4:1 1 Timothy 4:2 ) ( Revelation 13:6 ) . Jarchi on ( 2 Kings 23:24 ) , says, the teraphim are images that speak by sorcerers or sorceries; and to such evils the followers of the man of sin are addicted, ( Revelation 9:21 ) ( 18:23 ) and the Jews ^F12 have a notion that those images were so formed, that they were capable of speaking and talking with men; see ( Hosea 3:4 ) they seem to confound them with the "talisman": and the diviners have seen a lie;
delivered it out, and others believed it, being given up to judicial blindness, because they received not the love of the truth, ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10 2 Thessalonians 2:11 ) . The Targum is,

``the diviners prophesy falsehood;''

or preach false doctrine, as the Romish clergy do, who are meant by the diviners: and have told false dreams;
about transubstantiation, purgatory, &c. which are visionary things; false doctrines are compared to dreams, ( Jeremiah 23:25 Jeremiah 23:27 Jeremiah 23:28 Jeremiah 23:32 ) : they comfort in vain;
by works of supererogation, by selling pardons, and praying souls out of purgatory: therefore they went their way as a flock;
as a flock of sheep straying from the fold. The Targum is,

``they are scattered as sheep are scattered;''

that is, the Jews, being hardened against the Christian religion, by the idolatry, lies, and dreams of the Papists, wander about in their mistakes and errors concerning the Messiah; which is their case to this day, and will be until the man of sin is destroyed: they were troubled, because [there was] no shepherd;
or, "no king", as the Targum paraphrases it; that is, the King Messiah, according to them, is not yet come; which is their affliction and trouble, that they are as sheep without a shepherd: or, "they answered", that there "is no shepherd" ^F13; they replied to the diviners, the tellers of false dreams and idolaters, and affirmed that the Messiah is not come, and that the pope of Rome is not the shepherd and bishop of souls.

FOOTNOTES:

F12 Targum Jon. in Gen. xxxi. 19. R. Eliezer Pirke, c. 36. fol. 40. 1.
F13 (her Nya yk wney) "testificati sunt nullum fuisse pastorem", Junius & Tremellius, Heb.; "responderunt", Piscator; "respondebunt quod non sit pastor", Burkius.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Zechariah 10:2 In-Context

1 Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime; it is the LORD who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.

2 The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

3 “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.

4 From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler.

5 Together they will be like warriors in battle trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.

Cross References 5

1. Ezekiel 21:21
2. S Isaiah 44:25
3. Jeremiah 23:16
4. S Isaiah 40:19
5. S Numbers 27:17; S Jeremiah 23:1; Ezekiel 34:5; S Hosea 3:4; S Matthew 9:36