The Meaning of Zechariah 7:11 Explained

Zechariah 7:11

KJV: But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

YLT: And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing.

Darby: But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear.

ASV: But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But they refused  to hearken,  and pulled away  the shoulder,  and stopped  their ears,  that they should not hear. 

What does Zechariah 7:11 Mean?

Context Summary

Zechariah 7:1-14 - The Penalty Of Injustice And Cruelty
During their captivity the Jews observed four feasts. That of the 10th month recalled the first enclosure of Jerusalem by the enemies' lines; of the 4th the capture of the city; of the 5th the destruction by fire of the Temple; of the 7th the murder of Gedaliah. The national life was depressed by this constant memory of disaster. It seemed incongruous to act thus, when the Holy City was rising from the dust. Surely the lamentations which were befitting in Babylon, were out of place now. A deputation was therefore sent to inquire the views of the leaders. Zechariah gave four separate answers to the request. In Zechariah 7:4-7 he suggests that as these fasts had been set up by themselves, they were at liberty to discontinue them, and the main question was whether they were pondering the teachings and warnings of the older prophets. In Zechariah 7:8-14 he implored them not to yield to the obtuseness and disobedience of their fathers, in order that no second catastrophe should cast them back to the disasters they had suffered. [source]

Chapter Summary: Zechariah 7

1  The captives enquire concerning the set fasts
4  Zechariah reproves the hypocrisy of their fasting
8  Sin the cause of their captivity

What do the individual words in Zechariah 7:11 mean?

But they refused to heed and shrugged their shoulders away and their ears stopped so that they couldnot hear
וַיְמָאֲנ֣וּ לְהַקְשִׁ֔יב וַיִּתְּנ֥וּ כָתֵ֖ף סֹרָ֑רֶת וְאָזְנֵיהֶ֖ם הִכְבִּ֥ידוּ מִשְּׁמֽוֹעַ

וַיְמָאֲנ֣וּ  But  they  refused 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: מָאַן  
Sense: (Piel) to refuse.
לְהַקְשִׁ֔יב  to  heed 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: קָשַׁב  
Sense: to hear, be attentive, heed, incline (of ears), attend (of ears), hearken, pay attention, listen.
וַיִּתְּנ֥וּ  and  shrugged 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
כָתֵ֖ף  their  shoulders 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: כָּתֵף  
Sense: shoulder, shoulder-blade, side, slope.
סֹרָ֑רֶת  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: סָרַר  
Sense: to rebel, be stubborn, be rebellious, be refractory.
וְאָזְנֵיהֶ֖ם  and  their  ears 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, fdc, third person masculine plural
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
הִכְבִּ֥ידוּ  stopped 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: כָּבֵד  
Sense: to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured.
מִשְּׁמֽוֹעַ  so  that  they  couldnot  hear 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.