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Ezekiel 34

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Prophecy Against Israel's False Shepherds 1–10

1
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep? ​
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Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill the fatlings; but ye feed not the sheep. ​
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The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought back that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have ye ruled over them. ​
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And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.
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My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek after them.
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Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:
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As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my sheep;
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therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:
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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them. ​

The Lord the Good Shepherd 11–16

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For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ​
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As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. ​
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And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ​
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I will feed them with good pasture; and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
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I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah.
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I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice. ​

Judgment Among the Flock 17–22

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And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the he-goats. ​
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Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have fed upon the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? ​
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And as for my sheep, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
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Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
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Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;
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therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

The Promise of the Davidic Shepherd 23–31

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And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. ​
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And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it. ​
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And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. ​
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And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. ​
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And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them.
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And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.
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And I will raise up unto them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. ​
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And they shall know that I, Jehovah, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah.
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And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 34

Verse 2

the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves — 'Shepherd' and 'feed' are one Hebrew root, ra'ah: the shepherd is the one who feeds. David was told, 'Thou shalt feed my people Israel' (2 Sam 5:2). Jeremiah opens his word against the rulers the same way: 'Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture' (Jer 23:1).

Verse 3

Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool — A shepherd has a right to the flock's produce: 'who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?' (1 Cor 9:7). The fault is taking all and feeding none: 'ye feed not the flock'. Zechariah foretells a shepherd who 'shall eat the flesh of the fat' (Zech 11:16).

Verse 4

with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them — Five failures are listed: the diseased, the sick, the broken, the driven away and the lost. 'Cruelty' is perek, rigour, used of the Egyptians' bondage of Israel (Ex 1:13) and forbidden toward a fellow Israelite (Lev 25:43). Matthew describes the people as 'sheep having no shepherd' (Matt 9:36).

Verse 10

I will require my flock at their hand — 'Require' is darash, the verb of 33:6, where the watchman's neglect brings the blood 'at the watchman's hand'. 'I am against' is the word used of Tyrus (26:3) and of Pharaoh (29:3), here turned on the shepherds of Israel. The flock is delivered 'from their mouth', no longer 'meat for them'.

Verse 11

I, even I, will both search my sheep — 'Search' is darash, the verb that v.6 says was never done: 'none did search or seek after them'. What the shepherds omitted the LORD takes up himself. Christ states it as his own work: 'the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:10).

Verse 12

the cloudy and dark day — The 'cloudy' day (anan) is the same word as in 30:3, where it falls on Egypt; here it is the day of Israel's scattering. The shepherd is 'among his sheep that are scattered' to seek them out. Christ says, 'I am the good shepherd' (John 10:11), and tells of the shepherd who leaves ninety and nine to find one (Luke 15:4).

Verse 13

gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land — The promise of 11:17, 'I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered'. 'Their own land' is adamah. They are fed 'upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers' (aphiqim, stream channels) and 'in all the inhabited places of the country'.

Verse 16

I will seek that which was lost — The LORD does four of the five things the shepherds omitted in v.4: seek the lost, bring again the driven away, bind up the broken, strengthen the sick. 'The fat and the strong' he 'will destroy', and the flock is fed 'with judgment' (mishpat), justice. Christ says, 'They that are whole need not a physician' (Luke 5:31).

Verse 17

I judge between cattle and cattle — 'Cattle' is seh, one of a flock, a sheep or goat. The verse turns from the shepherds to the flock itself, 'between the rams and the he goats'. Christ uses the picture of the last judgment: 'as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats' (Matt 25:32).

Verse 18

Seemeth it a small thing unto you — The reproach in this form is also made in Num 16:9 and Isa 7:13. 'Foul' is rapas, the verb used in 32:2 of the monster that 'fouledst their rivers'. Having eaten the good pasture, the strong tread down the remainder, and the 'deep waters' they drink are fouled for the rest.

Verse 23

one shepherd over them… my servant David — The many shepherds of v.2 give way to 'one shepherd', named four times in this verse by the root ra'ah. 37:24 repeats it: 'David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd'. Christ says, 'one fold, and one shepherd' (John 10:16); the angel, 'the throne of his father David' (Luke 1:32).

Verse 24

my servant David a prince among them — 'Prince' (nasi) is Ezekiel's word for the leader, as in 37:25, 'my servant David shall be their prince for ever'. He is 'among them' (tavek), in their midst. 'I the LORD will be their God' is the covenant formula of Ex 29:45 and Jer 31:33, which Revelation sees fulfilled: 'be their God' (Rev 21:3).

Verse 25

a covenant of peace — Berith shalom, the covenant given to Phinehas (Num 25:12), called 'the covenant of my peace' in Isa 54:10, and 'an everlasting covenant' in 37:26. The 'evil beasts' cease out of the land as in Lev 26:6, 'I will rid evil beasts out of the land'. The flock sleeps safe even 'in the wilderness' and 'in the woods'.

Verse 26

showers of blessing — 'The shower to come down in his season' is the covenant rain of Lev 26:4, 'rain in due season', and Deut 28:12. 'Blessing' is berakah: the people and the places round about the LORD's hill become a blessing, as Abraham was told, 'thou shalt be a blessing' (Gen 12:2). The 'shower' (geshem) is named twice.

Verse 29

a plant of renown — 'Plant' is matta', a planting, and 'renown' is shem, name. Isaiah calls the people 'the branch of my planting, the work of my hands' (Isa 60:21). In v.29 the planting accompanies the end of hunger and of 'the shame of the heathen', which 36:15 promises in like words.

Verse 31

ye my flock… are men — The metaphor is explained: the flock is adam, human beings. 'We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture' (Ps 100:3) is the same confession. The charge to the shepherds is carried into the New Testament: 'Feed the flock of God which is among you' (1 Pet 5:2), until 'the chief Shepherd shall appear' (1 Pet 5:4).