Zechariah’s name means “one whom Jehovah remembers.”  Zechariah, like Haggai, was a prophet to the remnant that returned after the 70 years of captivity in Babylon.   He worked together with Haggai in furthering the building of the second temple (Ezra 5:1).  Like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Zechariah was a priest as well as a prophet.  The book of Zechariah begins with a dire warning.  We read in Zechariah 1:1-4, “In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.” 

The book of Zechariah is a fascinating and full book of prophesy.  I encourage you to prayerfully read this book and consider its teachings, especially those concerning the coming of the Messiah to the earth and the rejection of the Messiah.  However, let’s consider the question you have asked concerning the three shepherds mentioned in 11:8.

Zechariah, chapter 11 depicts a dark prophetic picture. We read in the preceding chapters the blessings and mercies in store for the Israel of the future. The visions and prophecies showed their national and spiritual restoration, the overthrow of their enemies, the destruction of the world-powers, the establishment of the theocracy, and the blessings of the kingdom. What happens before this coming glory is here more fully revealed, and the rejection of the Shepherd of Israel is predicted. The first six verses concern the judgment as the result of that rejection.

Let’s read Zechariah 11:8, “And I cut off the three shepherds in one month, and my soul is grieved with them, and also their soul hath abhorred me.” (NLT).  Of course, a shepherd is a leader and caretaker, so we can rightly assume these shepherds represent leaders of their day.  Let’s consider the words of Jeremiah 2:8 which says, “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the Law did not know Me; The rulers also revolted against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that were of no benefit.” (NASB). We see in this instance particularly that the lawyers, the rulers, and the prophets are here mentioned of those who rebelled against the Lord.  Most of the writers seem to agree that this portion refers to these leaders.  We can understand the Lord’s anger towards these who were in position to lead the Lord’s people, yet they had no desire to even seek the Lord. 

We read further in Jeremiah 23:13-15, “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.”

We might also consider in a later day, the words of the Lord Jesus towards the leaders of their day.  We read in Matthew 23:13, “But woe unto you, SCRIBES and PHARISEES, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”  We also read in Luke 11:52, “Woe unto you, LAWYERS! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.”  In the Lord’s day on the earth, we also find “three shepherds” (Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers) that the Lord pronounced judgment upon because of the harm they brought upon the Israelites by their words and actions.  How it grieved the Lord that He was hated by those who stood in the position of spiritual leaders.  Today, we still see that all around us.  May we be wise to discern true leaders from false by learning our Bibles so that we can see clearly from the Word of God.  (CC)  (627.4)