Ezekiel 34:2-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 34:1-6

The prophecy of this chapter is not dated, nor any of those that follow it, till Ezek. 40:1-49 It is most probable that it was delivered after the completing of Jerusalem's destruction, when it would be very seasonable to enquire into the causes of it. I. The prophet is ordered to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel?the princes and magistrates, the priests and Levites, the great Sanhedrim or council of state, or whoever they were that had the direction of public affairs in a higher or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 34:2

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel ,.... Or, "concerning" F16 על רועי "de pastoribus", V. L. Grotius; "super pastores", Pagninus, Montanus. them; the governors of them, as the Targum and Jarchi; their political governors, their kings, princes, and civil magistrates of every order and degree; so Kimchi interprets it of kings; and it was common with the eastern nations, and with the Greeks, to call kings shepherds; and one and the same word; in the Greek language,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 34:3

Ye eat the fat ,.... The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "the milk"; the words for fat and milk differ only in the points; and this was not unlawful, for who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? 1 Corinthians 9:7 , provided it was done with moderation, that they ate some, but not all; but these rulers milked their subjects too much, oppressed them with heavy taxes, and got their substance into their own hands. The Targum is, "ye eat... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 34:2

Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel - The shepherds include, first, the priests and Levites; secondly, the kings, princes, and magistrates. The flock means the whole of the people. The fat and the wool, the tithes and offerings, the taxes and imposts. The reprehensible feeding and clothing with these, as to the priests and Levites, the using these tithes and offerings, not to enable them the better to fulfill the work of the ministry, but to pamper their own bodies, and support them in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 34:3

Ye eat the fat - I think החלב hacheleb should be translated the milk, and so most of the Versions understand it. Or they lived on the fat sheep, and took the wool of all. "The priests," says Calmet, "ate the tithes, the first-fruits, and the offerings of the people; the princes received the tributes and imposts and instead of instructing and protecting them, the latter took away their lives by the cruelties they practiced against them: the former destroyed their souls by the poison of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 34:1-10

Shepherds denounced. I. THEIR RESPONSIBILITY . Ezekiel now turns from the people to their leaders. Theirs is the greatest guilt. They were placed in positions which led to much being expected of them. Their failure means a corresponding guilt. The princes and priests, the political leaders and the religious teachers, would be included under the designation "shepherds." The same two classes and other varieties may be seen today; i.e. political rulers, Christian ministers, leaders of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 34:1-10

The human shepherds of the flock. It is a comparison as old, yes, older than literature, this of the people to a flock of sheep, and of their rulers, leaders, and spiritual instructors to the shepherds whose vocation it is to protect, care for, and feed them. Both in the Old and New Testament Scriptures we meet with passages in which unfaithful, careless, selfish, and grasping religious teachers and leaders are denounced as hirelings who have nothing of the true shepherd's heart—no... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 34:1-10

The use and the abuse of office. It is generally agreed that by the shepherd of the text we are to understand primarily the king and princes of Israel, who should have guarded and nourished the people of Israel with the devotedness with which David (see Ezekiel 34:23 ) once tended his people; but the interpretation need not exclude the "ecclesiastical" officers of the land, those whose practice was to teach and warn the people—priest and Levite and prophet. These strong words of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 34:1-16

God's verdict upon self-serving rulers. The disasters that overtook the land and the people of Israel were largely due to the misdeeds of their rulers. The people in olden time were more easily led by their sovereign than they are now. The ability to read, combined with the free use of printed literature, has stimulated the power to think, and this has led to self-reliance, independence, and freedom. But in Ezekiel's day a dearth of literature made the people largely dependent on priests... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 34:2

Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel , etc. Our modern associations with the words, our use of terms like" the pastoral office," "the pastoral Epistles," lead us to think of the priests and prophets, the spiritual guides of the people, as being those whom the prophet has in view. In the language of the Old Testament, however, as in that of Homer, the shepherds of the people are always its kings and other civil rulers ( 1 Kings 22:17 ; Psalms 77:20 ; Psalms 78:71 ; Jeremiah 23:1-6 ... read more

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