Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month - Taking this literally, some think the three shepherds mean the three Maccabees, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon; others, the three wicked high priests, Jason, Alcimus, and Menelaus; others, the three last princes of the Asmonean race, Alexander, Hyrcanus, and Antigonus.
Perhaps three orders may be intended:
1.The priesthood.
2.The dictatorship, including the Scribes, Pharisees, etc.
3.The magistracy, the great sanhedrin, and the smaller councils.
These were all annihilated by the Roman conquest.
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