Zechariah 11:8

“Three shepherds also I cut off in one month, etc.] Not Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, as is suggested in the Talmudf246; nor David, Adonijah, and Joab, who died in the space of a month; nor the three kings, Jehoash, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, who died by the hand of their enemies in a very little time; which is the sense of some, as Abendana observes; nor the three last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, according to Aben Ezra; nor the three Maccabees, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, as Abarbinel; rather the three sects among the Jews, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, instead of which last some put the Herodians; and others the Scribes; though some are of opinion that the three sanhedrim…”

“Three shepherds . . . I cut off--literally, "to cause to disappear," to destroy so as not to leave a vestige of them. The three shepherds whom Messiah removes are John, Simon, and Eleazar, three leaders of factions in the Jewish war [DRUSIUS]. Or, as Messiah, the Antitype, was at once prophet, priest, and king, so He by the destruction of the Jewish polity destroyed these three orders for the unbelief of both the rulers and people [MOORE]. If they had accepted Messiah, they would have had all three combined in Him, and would have been themselves spiritually prophets, priests, and kings to God. Refusing Him, they lost all three, in every sense. one month--a brief and fixed space of time (Hos…”

“And I cut off three shepherds in one month - Jerome: “I have read in some one’s commentary, that the shepherds, cut off in the indignation of the Lord, are to be understood of priests and false prophets and kings of the Jews, who, after the passion of Christ, were all cut off in one time, of whom Jeremiah speaketh, “The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew Me not; the pastors also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things which do not profit” Jeremiah 2:8, and again, “As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests and their prophets”…”

“11:8 The enigmatic historical reference to three evil shepherds has prompted more than forty different attempts to identify them. None of these explanations is effective. Three symbolizes completeness. God raises up good shepherds to remove evil shepherds for the well-being of his people.”

“in: Hos 5:7; Mat 23:34-36, Mat 24:50, Mat 24:51 and my: Lev 26:11, Lev 26:30, Lev 26:44; Deu 32:19; Psa 5:5, Psa 78:9, Psa 106:40; Jer 12:8, Jer 14:21; Hos 9:15; Heb 10:38 loathed them: Heb. was straitened for them, Isa 49:7; Luk 12:50, Luk 19:14; Joh 7:7, Joh 15:18, Joh 15:23-25 Zechariah 11:9”