1And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. 5So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. 6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. 7Therefore, you shepherds, hear the Word of Jehovah: 8As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; 9therefore, O shepherds, hear the Word of Jehovah! 10Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them. 11For thus says the Lord Jehovah: Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the lands, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the dwelling places of the land. 14I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down, declares the Lord Jehovah. 16I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them with judgment. 17And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he goats. 18Is it a small thing for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? 19And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet. 20Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, thrust at all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, 22therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23I will raise up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them; My servant David. He shall feed them and be their Shepherd. 24And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My Servant David a prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken. 25I will make a covenant of peace with them, and remove the evil beasts out of the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the wooded forests. 26And I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. 29I will raise up for them a notable plantation, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the nations any more. 30Thus they shall know that I, Jehovah their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people, declares the Lord Jehovah. 31And you men, the flock of My pasture, are My flock; and I am your God, declares the Lord Jehovah.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 REPROOF OF THE FALSE SHEPHERDS; PROMISE OF THE TRUE AND GOOD SHEPHERD. (Eze. 34:1-31)
Иер 23:1 and
Зах 11:17 similarly make the removal of the false shepherds the preliminary to the interposition of Messiah the Good Shepherd in behalf of His people Israel. The "shepherds" are not prophets or priests, but rulers who sought in their government their own selfish ends, not the good of the people ruled. The term was appropriate, as David, the first king and the type of the true David (
Иез 34:23-
Иез 34:24), was taken from being a shepherd (
2Цар 5:2;
Псал 78:70-
Псал 78:71); and the office, like that of a shepherd for his flock, is to guard and provide for his people. The choice of a shepherd for the first king was therefore designed to suggest this thought, just as Jesus' selection of fishermen for apostles was designed to remind them of their spiritual office of catching men (compare
Ис 44:28;
Иер 2:8;
Иер 3:15;
Иер 10:21;
Иер 23:1-
Иер 23:2).
3 fat--or, by differently pointing the Hebrew, "milk" [Septuagint]. Thus the repetition "fat" and "fed" is avoided: also the eating of "fat" would not probably be put before the "killing" of the sheep. The eating of sheep's or goats' milk as food (
Втор 32:14;
Прит 27:27) was unobjectionable, had not these shepherds milked them too often, and that without duly "feeding" them [BOCHART], (
Ис 56:11). The rulers levied exorbitant tributes.
kill . . . fed--kill the rich by false accusation so as to get possession of their property.
feed not . . . flock--take no care of the people (
Ин 10:12).
4 The diseased--rather, those weak from the effects of "disease," as "strengthened" (that is, with due nourishment) requires [GROTIUS].
broken--that is, fractures from wounds inflicted by the wolf.
brought again . . . driven away-- (
Исх 23:4). Those "driven away" by the enemy into foreign lands through God's judgments are meant (
Иер 23:3). A spiritual reformation of the state by the rulers would have turned away God's wrath, and "brought again" the exiles. The rulers are censured as chiefly guilty (though the people, too, were guilty), because they, who ought to have been foremost in checking the evil, promoted it.
neither . . . sought . . . lost--Contrast the Good Shepherd's love (
Лк 15:4).
with force . . . ruled-- (
Исх 1:13-
Исх 1:14). With an Egyptian bondage. The very thing forbidden by the law they did (
Лев 25:43; compare
1Пет 5:3).
5 scattered, because . . . no shepherd--that is, none worthy of the name, though there were some called shepherds (
3Цар 22:17;
Мф 9:36). Compare
Мф 26:31, where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd was smitten. God calls them "My sheep"; for they were not, as the shepherds treated them, their patrimony whereby to "feed themselves."
meat to all . . . beasts--They became a prey to the Syrians, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria.
6 every high hill--the scene of their idolatries sanctioned by the rulers.
search . . . seek--rather, "seek . . . search." The former is the part of the superior rulers to inquire after: to search out is the duty of the subordinate rulers [JUNIUS].
10 I will require my flock-- (
Евр 13:17), rather, "I require," &c., for God already had begun to do so, punishing Zedekiah and the other princes severely (
Иер 52:10).
11 I . . . will . . . search--doing that which the so-called shepherds had failed to do, I being the rightful owner of the flock.
12 in the day that he is among--in the midst of (Hebrew) His sheep that had been scattered. Referring to Messiah's second advent, when He shall be "the glory in the midst of Israel" (
Зах 2:5).
in the cloudy . . . day--the day of the nation's calamity (
Иоил 2:2).
13 And I will bring them out from the people, &c.-- (
Иез 28:25;
Иез 36:24;
Иез 37:21-
Иез 37:22;
Ис 65:9-
Ис 65:10;
Иер 23:3).
14 good pasture-- (
Псал 23:2).
high mountains of Israel--In
Иез 17:23;
Иез 20:40, the phrase is "the mountain of the height of Israel" in the singular number. The reason for the difference is: there Ezekiel spoke of the central seat of the kingdom, Mount Zion, where the people met for the worship of Jehovah; here he speaks of the kingdom of Israel at large, all the parts of which are regarded as possessing a moral elevation.
16 In contrast to the unfaithful shepherds (
Иез 34:4). The several duties neglected by them I will faithfully discharge.
fat . . . strong--that is, those rendered wanton by prosperity (
Втор 32:15;
Иер 5:28), who use their strength to oppress the weak. Compare
Иез 34:20, "the fat cattle" (
Ис 10:16). The image is from fat cattle that wax refractory.
with judgment--that is, justice and equity, as contrasted with the "force" and "cruelty" with which the unfaithful shepherds ruled the flock (
Иез 34:4).
17 you, . . . my flock--passing from the rulers to the people.
cattle and cattle--rather, "sheep and sheep"; Margin, "small cattle," or "flocks of lambs and kids," that is, I judge between one class of citizens and another, so as to award what is right to each. He then defines the class about to be punitively "judged," namely, "the rams and he-goats," or "great he-goats" (compare
Ис 14:9, Margin;
Зах 10:3;
Мф 25:32-
Мф 25:33). They answer to "the fat and strong," as opposed to the "sick" (
Иез 34:16). The rich and ungodly of the people are meant, who imitated the bad rulers in oppressing their poorer brethren, as if it enhanced their own joys to trample on others' rights (
Иез 34:18).
18 Not content with appropriating to their own use the goods of others, they from mere wantonness spoiled what they did not use, so as to be of no use to the owners.
deep waters--that is, "limpid," as deep waters are generally clear. GROTIUS explains the image as referring to the usuries with which the rich ground the poor (
Иез 22:12;
Ис 24:2).
19 they eat--scantily.
they drink--sorrowfully.
20 fat . . . lean--the rich oppressors . . . the humble poor.
21 scattered them abroad--down to the time of the carrying away to Babylon [GROTIUS].
22 After the restoration from Babylon, the Jews were delivered in some degree from the oppression, not only of foreigners, but also of their own great people (Neh. 5:1-19). The full and final fulfilment of this prophecy is future.
23 set up--that is, raise up by divine appointment; alluding to the declaration of God to David, "I will set up thy seed after thee" (
2Цар 7:12); and, "Yet have I set My king on My holy hill of Zion" (
Псал 2:6; compare
Деян 2:30;
Деян 13:23).
one shepherd--literally, "a Shepherd, one": singularly and pre-eminently one: the only one of His kind, to whom none is comparable (
Песн 5:10). The Lord Jesus refers to this prophecy (
Ин 10:14), "I am THE Good Shepherd." Also "one" as uniting in one the heretofore divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and also "gathering together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth" (
Еф 1:10); thus healing worse breaches than that between Israel and Judah (
Кол 1:20). "God by Him reconciling all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or in heaven."
David--the antitypical David, Messiah, of the seed of David, which no other king after the captivity was: who was fully, what David was only in a degree, "the man after God's own heart." Also, David means beloved: Messiah was truly God's beloved Son (
Ис 42:1;
Мф 3:17). Shepherd means King, rather than religious instructor; in this pre-eminently He was the true David, who was the Shepherd King (
Лк 1:32-
Лк 1:33). Messiah is called "David" in
Ис 55:3-
Ис 55:4;
Иер 30:9;
Ос 3:5.
24 my servant--implying fitness for ruling in the name of God, not pursuing a self-chosen course, as other kings, but acting as the faithful administrator of the will of God; Messiah realized fully this character (
Псал 40:7-
Псал 40:8;
Ис 42:1;
Ис 49:3,
Ис 49:6;
Ис 53:11;
Фил 2:7), which David typically and partially represented (
Деян 13:36); so He is the fittest person to wield the world scepter, abused by all the world kings (
Дан 2:34-
Дан 2:35,
Дан 2:44-
Дан 2:45).
25 covenant of peace . . . evil beasts . . . to cease . . . dwell safely--The original promise of the law (
Лев 26:6) shall be realized for the first time fully under Messiah (
Ис 11:6-
Ис 11:9;
Ис 35:9;
Ос 2:18).
26 them and the places round about my hill--The Jews, and Zion, God's hill (
Псал 2:6), are to be sources of blessing, not merely to themselves, but to the surrounding heathen (
Ис 19:24;
Ис 56:6-
Ис 56:7;
Ис 60:3;
Мих 5:7;
Зах 8:13). The literal fulfilment is, however, the primary one, though the spiritual also is designed. In correspondence with the settled reign of righteousness internally, all is to be prosperity externally, fertilizing showers (according to the promise of the ancient covenant,
Лев 26:4;
Псал 68:9;
Мал 3:10), and productive trees and lands (
Иез 34:27). Thus shall they realize the image of
Иез 34:14; namely, a flock richly pastured by God Himself.
27 served themselves of them--availed themselves of their services, as if the Jews were their slaves (
Иер 22:13;
Иер 25:14; compare
Быт 15:13;
Исх 1:14).
28 dwell safely-- (
Иер 23:6).
29 plant of renown--Messiah, the "Rod" and "Branch" (
Ис 11:1), the "righteous Branch" (
Иер 23:5), who shall obtain for them "renown." FAIRBAIRN less probably translates, "A plantation for a name," that is, a flourishing condition, represented as a garden (alluding to Eden,
Быт 2:8-
Быт 2:11, with its various trees, good for food and pleasant to the sight), the planting of the Lord (
Ис 60:21;
Ис 61:3), and an object of "renown" among the heathen.
31 ye my flock . . . are men--not merely an explanation of the image, as JEROME represents. But as God had promised many things which mere "men" could not expect to realize, He shows that it is not from man's might their realization is to be looked for, but from GOD, who would perform them for His covenant-people, "His flock" [ROSENMULLER]. When we realize most our weakness and God's power and faithfulness to His covenant, we are in the fittest state for receiving His blessings.
Another feature of Israel's prosperity; those who exulted over Israel's humiliation, shall themselves be a "prey." Already stated in
Иез 25:12-
Иез 25:14; properly repeated here in full detail, as a commentary on
Иез 34:28. The Israelites "shall be no more a prey"; but Edom, the type of their most bitter foes, shall be destroyed irrecoverably.