Beauty And Bands

Beauty and Bands are the names given to the two staves taken up by the prophet in the sign-act of shepherding the flock of slaughter.

The Two Staves

In the prophet's enacted parable of caring for a doomed flock, two named instruments mark the shepherd's work: "So I shepherded the flock of slaughter, and the sheep-dealers. And I took to me two poles; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I shepherded the flock" (Zec 11:7). Beauty and Bands name the paired staves with which the prophet undertakes his shepherding charge over the flock destined for slaughter; their later breaking carries the weight of the oracle's reversal.