Ezekiel 34:1 Komentář

The iniquities and calamities of God's Israel had been largely and pathetically lamented before, in this book. Now in this chapter the shepherds of Israel, their rulers both in church and state, are called to an account, as having been very much accessory to the sin and ruin of Israel, by their neglecting to do the duty of their place. Here is, I. A high charge exhibited against them for their negligence, their unskillfulness, and unfaithfulness in the management of public affairs (Eze 34:1-6 and Eze 34:8). II. Their discharge from their trust, for their insufficiency and treachery (Eze 34:7-10). III. A gracious promise that God would take care of his flock, though they did not, and that it should not always suffer as it had done by their mal-administrations (Eze 34:11-16). IV. Another charge exhibited against those of the flock that were fat and strong, for the injuries they did to those that were weak and feeble (Eze 34:17-22). V. Another promise that God would in the fulness of time send the Messiah, to be the great and good Shepherd of the sheep, who should redress all grievances and set every thing to rights with the flock (Eze 34:23-31).

The prophecy of this chapter is not dated, nor any of those that follow it, till ch. 40. 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 lower sphere, the kings especially, for there were two of them now captives in Babylon, who, as well as the people, must have their transgressions shown them, that they might repent, as Manasseh in his captivity. God has something to say to the shepherds, for they are but under-shepherds, accountable to him who is the great Shepherd of Israel, Psa 80:1. And that which he says is, Woe to the shepherds of Israel! Though they are shepherds, and shepherds of Israel, yet he must not spare them, must not flatter them. Note, If men's dignity and power do not, as they ought, keep them from sin, they will not serve to exempt them from reproof, to excuse their repentance, or to secure them from the judgments of God if they do not repent. We had a woe to the pastors, Jer 23:1. God will in a particular manner reckon with them if they be false to their trust. II. He is here directed what to charge the shepherds with, in God's name, as the ground of God's controversy with them; for it is not a causeless quarrel. Two things they are charged with: - 1. That all their care was to advance and enrich themselves and to make themselves great. Their business was to take care of those that were committed to their charge: Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? No doubt they should; they betray their trust if they do not. Not that they are to put the meat into their mouths, but to provide it for them and bring them to it. But these shepherds made this the least of their care; they fed themselves, contrived every thing to gratify and indulge their own appetite, and to make themselves rich and great, fat and easy. They made sure of the profits of their places; they did eat the fat, the cream (so some), for he that feeds a flock eats of the milk of it (Co1 9:7), and they made sure of the best of the milk. They made sure of the fleece, and clothed themselves with the wool, getting into their hands as much as they could of the estates of their subjects, yea, and killed those that were well fed, that what they had might be fed upon, as Naboth was put to death for his vineyard. Note, There is a woe to those who are in public trusts, but consult only their own private interest, and are more inquisitive about the benefice than about the office, what money is to be got than what good to be done. It is an old complaint, All seek their own, and too many more than their own. 2. That they took no care for the benefit and welfare of those that were committed to their charge: You feed not the flock. They neither knew how to do it, so ignorant were they, nor would they take any pains to do it, so lazy and slothful were they; nay, they never desired nor designed it, so treacherous and unfaithful were they. (1.) They did not do their duty to those of the flock that were distempered, did not strengthen them, nor heal them, nor bind them up, Eze 34:4. When any of the flock were sick or hurt, worried or wounded, it was all one to them whether they lived or died; they never looked after them. The princes and judges took no care to right those that suffered wrong or to shelter injured innocency. They took no care of the poor to see them provided for; they might starve, for them. The priests took no care to instruct the ignorant, to rectify the mistakes of those that were in error, to warn the unruly, or to comfort the feeble-minded. The ministers of state took no care to check the growing distempers of the kingdom, which threatened the vitals of it. Things were amiss, and out of course, every where, and nothing was done to rectify them. (2.) They did not do their duty to those of the flock that were dispersed, that were driven away by the enemies that invaded the country, and were forced to seek for shelter where they could find a place, or that wandered of choice upon the mountains and hills (Eze 34:6), where they were exposed to the beasts of prey and became meat to them, Eze 34:5. Every one is ready to seize a waif and stray. Some went abroad and begged, some went abroad and traded, and thus the country became thin of inhabitants, and was weakened and impoverished, and wanted hands both in the fields of corn and in the fields of battle, both in harvest and in war: My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, Eze 34:6. And they were never enquired after, were never encouraged to return to their own country: None did search or seek after them. Nay, with force and cruelty they ruled them, which drove more away, and discouraged those that were driven away from all thoughts of returning. Their case is bad who have reason to expect better treatment among strangers than in their own country. It may be meant of those of the flock that went astray from God and their duty; and the priests, that should have taught the good knowledge of the Lord, used no means to convince and reclaim them, so that they became an easy prey to seducers. Thus were they scattered because there was no shepherd, Eze 34:5. There were those that called themselves shepherds, but really they were not. Note, Those that do not do the work of shepherds are unworthy of the name. And if those that undertake to be shepherds are foolish shepherds (Zac 11:15), if they are proud and above their business, idle and do not love their business, or faithless and unconcerned about it, the case of the flock is as bad as if it were without a shepherd. Better no shepherd than such shepherds. Christ complains that his flock were as sheep having no shepherd, when yet the scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat, Mat 9:36. It is ill with the patient when his physician is his worst disease, ill with the flock when the shepherds drive them away and disperse them, by ruling them with force.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 34 In the former chapter the prophet prophesies against the people of the Jews, both those of the captivity, and those who were not; and here against the shepherds of Israel. This he is bid to do, Eze 34:1, whose cruelty to the flock, negligence and unfaithfulness are exposed, Eze 34:3, for which reasons they are threatened to be deprived of their office, Eze 34:7, and the Lord promises to take the care of the flock upon himself, to seek out his sheep, and feed them, and do every kind office to them, Eze 34:11 and then the strong of the flock, that oppressed the weak, are threatened with punishment, Eze 34:17 and the promise of the Messiah, as the shepherd of the flock, is made, under whom all prosperity and happiness might be expected, Eze 34:23.

The word of the Lord came unto me,.... The date of this prophecy is not given; however, it seems to have been delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem; the causes of which are mentioned, the sins of the people and their governors, which the prophet is directed to expose: saying: as follows:

(Chapter 34.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds (or to the shepherds) of Israel, prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves. (Or: O shepherds of Israel, do the shepherds not feed themselves?) Do not the flocks feed on the shepherds? (Or do the sheep not feed the shepherds?) You have eaten the curds, and you have clothed yourselves with the wool, and you have slaughtered the fat animals, but you have not fed my flock. You did not strengthen what was weak (or comforted); and you did not heal what was sick; you did not bind up what was broken, and you did not bring back what was cast away (or wandering); you did not seek what was lost; but with severity you commanded them, and with power (or what happened to be, you afflicted them with labor). And my sheep were scattered because there was no shepherd (or shepherds), and they became a prey to all the beasts of the field, and they were scattered. My flocks (or sheep) had wandered upon all the mountains, and upon every high hill, and were scattered upon the face of the whole earth; and there was none to seek them, there was no one, I say, to seek (or bring back) them. Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, forasmuch as my flocks (or sheep) have been made a prey, and my sheep have been devoured by every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd (or shepherds), for my shepherds sought not after my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and did not feed my flocks. Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will require my flock from their hand, and I will make them cease to shepherd my flock any longer; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves (or the sheep) any longer, and I will deliver my flock (or sheep) from their mouth, and they shall no longer be food for them. I have often advised to mix both editions, in order to magnify the greatness of the books, in those parts only, which do not differ much from themselves in translation. After the capture of Jerusalem, after he announced in Babylon that he had fled, he spoke about those who dwelt in the ruined Jerusalem, and then about those who were placed in captivity but nevertheless persisted in evil, unwilling to hear the words of the prophets: now he directs his speech to the shepherds, that is, to the leaders, whose fault the sheep, that is, the people, were scattered. And this should be noted, that from the twelfth year, tenth month, fifth day of the month of transmigration, or captivity of Jechoniah, and those who were captured with him, until the twenty-fifth year, when the temple is built on the mountain of the city, and the incredible sacraments of the Church are revealed, there is no middle year, and no specific time is mentioned; but it is simply said: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to those and to them, that we may understand everything that is read in thirteen years, at different times; and yet certain intervals of time are not specified among them. But the word is directed to the shepherds of Israel, whom we must understand as either kings, or princes, scribes and Pharisees, and teachers of the Jewish people. Or certainly in the Gospel people, the bishops, presbyters, and deacons: or according to mystical understanding, the Angels of the individual Churches, to whom John wrote in his Apocalypse (Apoc. I), and whose Angels daily see the face of God (Matthew XV). And it is said first: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who, although they should feed the Lord's flock and provide for its salvation, hasten to satisfy their own luxury. Therefore, great caution must be taken, and those precepts must be observed: Do not seek to become a judge, lest you may not be able to remove injustices (Eccli. VII, 6). And again: The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself, and in the sight of the Lord you will find favor (Ibid. III, 29). And again: They have made you a leader, do not be exalted, but be among them as one of them (Eccli. XXXII, 1). Thus the Apostle says that he is like a little child and a nursing infant among the disciples (I Cor. III). And that which follows: You were eating milk, and were clothed with wool, speaks metaphorically of the shepherds to the princes, of whom it is written elsewhere: Who devour my people like bread (Ps. LII, 5). Understand all food in milk: in wool, the various variety of garments. But when it is said: And you killed the fat, it speaks of the rich in the people, whom the wicked princes are said to slay in the churches, while they preach to them, and dare not rebuke their vices. Concerning whom the prophet also says: 'My people, who call you blessed, deceive you and undermine the path of your feet' (Isaiah 3:12). Concerning whom also James speaks (James 2:3), that when they enter, they are honored with precious clothing and a gold ring, and to the holy poor it is said: 'But you, sit on a stool, or on the ground, or stand.' They do not strengthen or consolidate what is weak. And Paul also speaks: Receive the weak (Rom. XIV, 1). And: receive the weak in faith. And: Many among you are weak and sick. To whom divine speech is sent, about which it is written in the Psalms: He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions (Ps. CV, 10). And he says that what is broken is not bound: not considering mortal wounds in the people, such as adultery, murder, sacrilege. And they do not bring back what has been rejected or what they have seen to be in error, allowing them to be deceived by heretics. And they do not seek what has been lost, not desiring to save those who are perishing, but rather to devour those who are in the Churches: but they command them with severity and with power, which properly belongs to the superciliousness of the bishops, namely, those who disgrace the dignity of their name by their actions and assume pride in humility, so that they consider themselves to have gained honor, not burden: and they strive to oppress anyone in the Church whom they see as powerful and as having the word of God. Where in the Septuagint it is written: And what was by chance, you afflicted with labor. And the people of God was dispersed, either by vices or by the error of heretics: because there was no good shepherd who would lay down his life for the sheep: but all were mercenaries, who only considered their own profit from the flocks, and when they saw a wolf, they fled. By their negligence, the flock of the Lord is devoured by the beasts of the field, of which it is written: You have set darkness, and it became night: in it all the beasts of the field shall pass, the lion's whelps roaring, that they may snatch and seek food from God (Ps. 103:20-21). And they are scattered and wander on all the mountains, which rise up against the knowledge of God, and on every lofty hill, which through heretical pride despise the simplicity of the Church. And they are scattered over the whole face of the earth, seeking earthly things, not heavenly. And there was no one who would seek or lead them back, because they are occupied with pleasures and do not care for the losses of the Lord's flock. Therefore, the word of the Lord is addressed to the wicked shepherds, because they have done these things that I have explained above, and which are enumerated a second time: Behold, I myself will come to the shepherds and seek my flock from their hand, for it is expedient that the millstone of the donkey be tied around their neck (Matthew 18), rather than they cause the least scandal to my people. And this will be their punishment or rather the greatest punishment, that they shall no longer pasture my flock: lest under the excuse of feeding the sheep they feed on themselves, and gather riches: And I will deliver my people from their mouth. I will require, says the Lord, from their hand, and I will deliver from their mouth what is devoured by greedy jaws.

The prophet is commanded to declare the dreadful judgments of God against the covetous shepherds of Israel, who feed themselves, and not their flocks; by which emblem the priests and Levites are intended, who in Ezekiel's time were very corrupt, and the chief cause of Israel's apostasy and ruin, Eze 34:1-10. From this gloomy subject the prophet passes to the blessedness of the true Israel of God under the reign of David, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ being named after this prince by a figure exceedingly frequent in the sacred oracles, of putting the type for the antitype, vv. 11-31.

REPROOF OF THE FALSE SHEPHERDS; PROMISE OF THE TRUE AND GOOD SHEPHERD. (Eze. 34:1-31) Jer 23:1 and Zac 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 (Eze 34:23-24), was taken from being a shepherd (Sa2 5:2; Psa 78:70-71); 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 Isa 44:28; Jer 2:8; Jer 3:15; Jer 10:21; Jer 23:1-2).

Woe to the Bad Shepherds Eze 34:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 34:2. Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who fed themselves; should not the shepherds feed the flock? Eze 34:3. Ye eat the fat, and clothe yourselves whit the wool; ye slay the fattened; the flock ye do not feed. Eze 34:4. The weak ones ye do not strengthen, and that which is sick ye do not cure, the wounded one ye bind not up, the scattered ye bring not back, and the lost one ye do not seek; and ye rule over them with violence and with severity. Eze 34:5. Therefore they were scattered, because without shepherd, and became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. Eze 34:6. My sheep wander about on all the mountains, and on every high hill; and over all the land have my sheep been scattered, and there is no one who asks for them, and no one who seeks them. Eze 34:7. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear ye the word of Jehovah: Eze 34:8. As I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, because my sheep become a prey, and my sheep become food to all the beasts of the field, because there is no shepherd, and my shepherds do not inquire after my sheep, and the shepherds feed themselves, but do not feed the sheep, Eze 34:9. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear ye the word of Jehovah, Eze 34:10. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with the shepherds, and will demand my sheep from their hand, and cause them to cease to feed my flock, that they may feed themselves no more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may be food to them no more. - In Eze 34:2 לרעים is an explanatory apposition to אליהם, and is not to be taken in connection with כּה אמר יי, in opposition to the constant use of this formula, as Kliefoth maintains. The reason for the woe pronounced is given in the apposition, who fed themselves, whereas they ought to have fed the flock; and the charge that they only care for themselves is still further explained by a description of their conduct (Eze 34:3 and Eze 34:4), and of the dispersion of the flock occasioned thereby (Eze 34:5 and Eze 34:6). Observe the periphrastic preterite היוּ רעים, they were feeding, which shows that the woe had relation chiefly to the former shepherds or rulers of the nation. אותם is reflective, se ipsos (cf. Gesen. 124. 1b). The disgracefulness of their feeding themselves is brought out by the question, "Ought not the shepherds to feed the flock?" Eze 34:3 shows how they fed themselves, and Eze 34:4 how they neglected the flock. חלב, the fat, which Bochart and Hitzig propose to alter into החלב, the milk, after the Septuagint and Vulgate, is not open to any objection. The fat, as the best portion of the flesh, which was laid upon the altar, for example, in the case of the sacrifices, as being the flower of all the flesh, is mentioned here as pars melior pro toto. Hvernick has very properly pointed, in vindication of the reading in the text, to Zac 11:16, where the two clauses, ye eat the fat, and slay the fattened, are joined together in the one clause, "the flesh of the fattened one will he eat." There is no force in the objection raised by Hitzig, that "the slaughtering of the fat beasts, which ought to be mentioned first, is not introduced till afterwards;" for this clause contains a heightening of the thought that they use the flock to feed themselves: they do not even kill the leaner beasts, but those that are well fattened; and it follows very suitably after the general statement, that they make use of both the flesh and the wool of the sheep for their own advantage. They care nothing for the wellbeing of the flock: this is stated in the last clause of Eze 34:3, which is explained in detail in Eze 34:4. נהלות is the Niphal participle of חלה, and is a contracted form of נחלות, like נחלה in Isa 17:11. The distinction between נהלות and חולה is determined by the respective predicates חזּק and רפא. According to these, נחלה signifies that which is weak in consequence of sickness, and חלה that which is weak in itself. נשׁבּרת, literally, that which is broken, an animal with a leg or some other member injured. נדּח, scattered, as in Deu 22:1. In the last clause of Eze 34:4, the neglect of the flock is summed up in the positive expression, to rule over them with violence and severity. רדה בפרך is taken from Lev 25:43, Lev 25:46; but there as well as here it points back to Exo 1:13-14, where בפרך is applied to the tyrannical measures adopted by Pharaoh for the oppression of the Israelites. The result of this (Eze 34:5, Eze 34:6) was, that the sheep were scattered, and became food to the beasts of prey. מבּלי, on account of there not being a shepherd, i.e., because there was no shepherd worthy of the name. This took place when Israel was carried away into exile, where it became a prey to the heathen nations. When we find this mournful fate of the people described as brought about by the bad shepherds, and attributable to faults of theirs, we must not regard the words as applying merely to the mistaken policy of the kings with regard to external affairs (Hitzig); for this was in itself simply a consequence of their neglect of their theocratic calling, and of their falling away from the Lord into idolatry. It is true that the people had also made themselves guilty of this sin, so that it was obliged to atone not only for the sins of its shepherds, but for its own sin also; but this is passed by here, in accordance with the design of this prophecy. And it could very properly be kept out of sight, inasmuch as the rulers had also occasioned the idolatry of the people, partly by their neglect of their duty, and partly by their bad example. ותּפוּצינה is repeated with emphasis at the close of Eze 34:5; and the thought is still further expanded in Eze 34:6. The wandering upon all the mountains and hills must not be understood as signifying the straying of the people to the worship on high places, as Theodoret and Kliefoth suppose. The fallacy of this explanation is clearly shown by the passage on which this figurative description rests (Kg1 22:17), where the people are represented as scattered upon the mountains in consequence of the fall of the king in battle, like a flock that had no shepherd. The words in the next clause, corresponding to the mountains and hills, are כּל־פּני הארץ, the whole face of the land, not "of the earth" (Kliefoth). For although the dispersion of the flock actually consisted in the carrying away of the people into heathen lands, the actual meaning of the figure is kept in the background here, as is evident from the fact that Ezekiel constantly uses the expression הארצות (plural) when speaking of the dispersion among the heathen (cf. Ezekiel 13). The distinction between דּרשׁ and בּקּשׁ is, that דרשׁ taht , signifies rather to ask, inquire for a thing, to trouble oneself about it, whereas בקשׁ means to seek for that which has strayed or is lost. In Eze 34:7-10, the punishment for their unfaithfulness is announced to the shepherds themselves; but at the same time, as is constantly the case with Ezekiel, their guilt is once more recapitulated as an explanation of the threatening of punishment, and the earnest appeal to listen is repeated in Eze 34:9. The Lord will demand His sheep of them; and because sheep have been lost through their fault, He will dispose them from the office of shepherd, and so deliver the poor flock from their violence. If we compare with this Jer 23:2 : "Behold, I will visit upon you the wickedness of your doings," the threat in Ezekiel has a much milder sound. There is nothing said about the punishment of the shepherd, but simply that the task of keeping the sheep shall be taken from them, so that they shall feed themselves no more. This distinction is to be explained from the design of our prophecy, which is not so much to foretell the punishment of the shepherds, as the deliverance from destruction of the sheep that have been plunged into misery. The repetition of צאני, my flock (Eze 34:8 and Eze 34:10, as before in Eze 34:6), is also connected with this. The rescue of the sheep out of the hand of the bad shepherds had already commenced with the overthrow of the monarchy on the destruction of Jerusalem. If, then it is here described as only to take place in the future, justice is not done to these words by explaining them, as Hitzig does, as signifying that what has already actually taken place is now to be made final, and not to be reversed. For although this is implied, the words clearly affirm that the deliverance of the sheep out of the hand of the shepherds has not yet taken place, but still remains to be effected, so that the people are regarded as being at the time in the power of bad shepherds, and their rescue is predicted as still in the future. How and when it will be accomplished, by the removal of the bad shepherds, is shown in the announcement, commencing with Eze 34:11, of what the Lord will do for His flock.