Ezekiel 34:2

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? WOE BE TO THE SHEPHERDS OF ISRAEL THAT DO FEED THEMSELVES! ; Jeremiah 23:5 ("Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ... Behold ... I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign ... THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"), and ("Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock;" cf. Zechariah 12:7, "The Lord also shall save the tents of Jud...

1-6 The people became as sheep without a shepherd, were given up as a prey to their enemies, and the land was utterly desolated. No rank or office can exempt from the reproofs of God's word, men who neglect their duty, and abuse the trust reposed in them....

Verse 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 fulfil the work of the _ministry_, but to pamper their own bodies, and support them in an idle voluptuous life; and in reference to the _state_, the employing the _taxes_ and _imposts_, not for the support and administration of _justice_ and good _government_, but to subsidize heathen powers, and maintain their...

SHEPHERDS - Not priests or prophets, but rulers and kings (see the Jeremiah 2:8 note). The most ancient title for “ruler” is a monogram which occurs on the oldest monuments discovered in the cuneiform character. In the Assyrian language it became riu (compare Hebrew רעה _râ‛âh_ =shepherd). In the traditions of Berosus we find that Alorus, the first king in the world, received from the Divinity the title of Shepherd. The title, as well as the monogram, was preserved to the latest times of the Assyrian monarchy. While the distress and misery of the people daily in creased, the last kings of Judah exacted more and more from their subjects and lavished more and more on personal luxury and show....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 34:1 AND THE WORD OF THE LORD, etc. As no date is given, we may infer that what follows came as an almost immediate sequel to that which precedes it. The kernel of the chapter is found in the Messianic prophecies of Ezekiel 34:23, Ezekiel 34:24, as the first stage in the restoration of Israel which is beginning to open to the prophet's gaze. We can hardly avoid seeing in it the deliberate expression of words that had been spoken by Ezekiel's master (Jeremiah 23:1), and which in his case also were followed by a directly Messianic announcement. In...

SON OF MAN, PROPHESY AGAINST THE SHEPHERDS OF ISRAEL,.... Or, "concerning" p 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, signifies to feed sheep, and to govern people; see Psalms 78:72, also their ecclesiastical governors are intended, prophets, priests, Levites, scribes, and Pharisees; these were bad shepherds, or they would not have been prophesied against; and though they were shepherds of Israel, this must be done: PROPHESY, AND SAY UNTO THEM, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD UNTO THE SHEPHERDS: that the message to them might be the more regarded, it is ordered to be delivered in the name of the Lor

Ezekiel 34:1. The shepherds of Israel were the kings and princes and all who had authority over them. The prophet Jeremiah had received a similar message Jeremiah 23:1. These shepherds of Israel were responsible for the deplorable condition of the flock. Utterly selfish, they cared not for the sheep of His pasture; they feared not God nor did they have a heart for God's people. The flock was scattered and spoiled. Such was the sad condition of the people Israel. And when the Lord Jesus appeared in their midst to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He found them as sheep without a shepherd, and He had compassion upon them Mark 6:34. But they rejected Him and the Shepherd was smitten. Zechariah's prophecy was fulfilled

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. But besides moral excellence on the part of its citizens (Ezekiel 33) a state needs good government. This chapter is a very severe indictment of the rulers or kings of Israel in the past, who are compared to shepherds and the figure is maintained throughout the chapter that have neglected or abused the flock. Governors should govern in the interests of the governed; but those shepherds had used their power to feed themselves and not the flock they are even compared in Ezekiel 34:10 to ravenous beasts (notice mouth). It was this misgovernment that in part accounted for the miseries, the defeats, the exile of Israel....

SON OF MAN. See note on Ezekiel 2:1. SHEPHERDS. rulers. THE LORD GOD. Hebrew Adonai Jehovah. See note on Ezekiel 2:4....

_the shepherds_ i.e. the rulers. The term is chiefly used in later writings (Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 3:15); it occurs, however, in Zechariah 9-11, the date of which is disputed. On Zedekiah cf. ch. 17, and on his immediate predecessors, Jeremiah 22:10-30. In general, Jeremiah 23; Jeremiah 25:32 _seq_. _unto the shepherds_ Possibly this is a marginal heading which has crept into the text, cf. Jeremiah 23:9, and the reading may be, thus saith t