to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִ֑הYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
search
וְדָרַשְׁתִּ֥יve.da.rash.Ti
H1875
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
sheep
צֹאנִ֖יtzo.Ni
H6629
a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix
out
וּבִקַּרְתִּֽיםu.vi.kar.Tim
H1239
properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and o…
Isaiah 40:10-11 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
Jeremiah 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and the…
Jeremiah 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the wo…
Psalms 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
Isaiah 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
Isaiah 56:8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 34:7-16
Upon reading the foregoing articles of impeachment drawn up, in God's name, against the shepherds of Israel, we cannot but look upon the shepherds with a just indignation, and upon the flock with a tender compassion. God, by the prophet, here expresses both in a high degree; and the shepherds are called upon (Eze 34:7, Eze 34:9) to hear the word of the Lord, to hear this word. Let them hear how little he regards them, who made much of themselves, and how much he regards the flock, which they made nothing of; both will be humbling to them. Those that will not hear the word of the Lord giving them their direction shall be made to hear the word of the Lord reading them their doom. Now see here,…
I . . . will . . . search--doing that which the so-called shepherds had failed to do, I being the rightful owner of the flock.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 34:10
I will - cause them to cease from feeding the flock - God, in this country, unpriested a whole hierarchy who fed not the flock, but ruled them with force and cruelty; and he raised up a new set of shepherds better qualified, both by sound doctrine and learning, to feed the flock. Let these be faithful, lest God cause them to cease, and raise up other feeders.
John Gill on Ezekiel 34:11
For thus saith the Lord God,.... Since the shepherds are so negligent, careless, and cruel:
behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out; as he did the Jews, in all countries where they were, so his elect in all places where they are: he is the omniscient God, and knows them that are his, and can call his own sheep by name; he knows the places where they are; for he has fixed the bounds of their habitation, and was delighting himself in the habitable parts of the earth, where he knew they would be, even before the world was; he knows the time of finding them, which he himself has fixed, and which is a time of love, and a time of life; and he can distinguish them, notwiths…
The Church Fathers
Rain and fog, the errors of this world; a great darkness arising from human lusts, a thick fog covering the earth. And it is difficult for the sheep not to go astray in this fog. But the shepherd does not desert them. He seeks them, his piercing gaze penetrates the fog, the thick darkness of the clouds does not prevent him.
(Verse 11 onwards) For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his dispersed sheep (or when there is darkness and clouds among his separated sheep), so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them (whether female or male) from the peoples (or from the nations), and I will gather them (whether female or male) from the lands (or from the regions), and I will bring them (whether female or male) into their own land, and I will feed them (whether female or male) on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the inhabited places of the land. In the most fertile pastures I will feed them (whether female or male), and they will be grazing their (or their sheep's) pastures on the high mountains of Israel: there they will rest in green grass, and in rich pastures they will graze on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my sheep, and I will make them lie down (or rest), says the Lord God. I will seek what was lost, and I will bring back what was cast away (or wandered): and I will bind up what was broken, and I will strengthen (or comfort) what was weak: and I will watch over the fat and strong ones, and I will feed them with judgment (or justice). But when He shall require the sheep, He will visit them as if they were sick and emaciated, and scattered by the negligence of the shepherds: and He will deliver from all places in the day of the cloud and darkness, of which also Joel speaks: The day of the Lord is near, and it is the day of darkness and gloom, and the day of clouds and mist (Joel. II, 1, 2). Then they shall be brought out from the lands, to be brought into their own land, which is the land of the living: and he himself shall feed them in the mountains of Israel, of which David speaks: I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence shall come my help (Ps. CXX, 1). And not only in the mountains, but in the rivers, and in all the seats of the earth, in fertile pastures, and on the high mountain, of which Isaiah and Micah prophesy more fully (Isa. II; Mic. IV, VII): or in the high mountains of Israel. There they will rest in green pastures, and they will say: The Lord feeds me, and nothing will be lacking to me; he has placed me there in…
Jehovah Himself will seek His flock, gather it together from the dispersion, lead it to good pasture, and sift it by the destruction of the bad sheep. - Eze 34:11. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I myself, I will inquire after my flock, and take charge thereof. Eze 34:12. As a shepherd taketh charge of his flock in the day when he is in the midst of his scattered sheep, so will I take charge of my flock, and deliver them out of all the places whither they have been scattered in the day of cloud and cloudy night. Eze 34:13. And I will bring them out from the nations, and gather them together out of the lands, and bring them into their land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel,…
The Lord vowed to hold the self-serving shepherds responsible for the consequences of their actions. He would remove them from their pastoral office and rescue his flock from their clutches so that they were no longer their prey. The Lord would go looking for his scattered flock (34:12) and bring them home.
Rashi on Ezekiel 34:11
and I shall seek them out [Heb. וּבִקַרְתִּים,] in the sense of visiting (בִּיקוּר) the sick.
