Ezekiel 34
Prophecy Against Israel's False Shepherds 1–10
The Lord the Good Shepherd 11–16
Judgment Among the Flock 17–22
The Promise of the Davidic Shepherd 23–31
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · 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).