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?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Son	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
man	אָדָ֕ם 'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
prophesy	הִנָּבֵ֖א hi.na.Ve'	H5012	to prophesy · verb, niphal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
shepherds	רוֹעֵ֣י ro.'Ei	H7462	to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
prophesy	הִנָּבֵ֣א hi.na.Ve'	H5012	to prophesy · verb, niphal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
say	וְאָמַרְתָּ֩ ve.'a.mar.Ta	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
saith	אָמַ֣ר 'a.Mar	H559	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	יְהוִ֗ה Yah.weh	H3069	YHWH · proper noun, a title
shepherds	לָרֹעִ֜ים la.ro.'Im	H7462	to tend a flock · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Woe	ה֤וֹי Ho	H1945	oh! · interjection
shepherds	רֹעֵֽי ro.'ei-	H7462	to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
feed	רֹעִ֣ים ro.'Im	H7462	to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
shepherds	יִרְע֖וּ yir.'U	H7462	to tend a flock · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
feed	הָרֹעִֽים ha.ro.'Im	H7462	to tend a flock · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
flocks	הַצֹּ֔אן ha.Tzon	H6629	a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute

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

Jeremiah 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those th…
Ezekiel 34:8-10 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there wa…
Luke 20:46-47 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and t…
Jeremiah 10:21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their d…
Psalms 78:71-72 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 34:1-6

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 captivi…

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Adam Clarke on 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 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 mai…

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John Gill on Ezekiel 34:2

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 Psalm 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…

The Church Fathers

Quite clearly he states that they have caused the sheep to be lost and to be devoured by the beasts of the field; nor, if they are abandoned, could they avoid being lost in death and devoured. But he does not say that they should be restored after they have been lost in death and devoured.
— Tertullian, ON PURITY 7

But when the great pastor, the chief of pastors, comes, he will call and visit his sheep and will take knowledge of his flock. And he will bring forward those pastors, and will extract an account from them and will condemn them for their deeds. And those who fed the sheep well, them the chief of pastors will cause to rejoice and to inherit life and rest.
— Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATIONS 10:3

You see, we whom the Lord has deigned, thanks to no merits of ours, to set in this high station (about which a very strict account indeed has to be rendered) have two things about us that must be clearly distinguished: one, that we are Christians, the other, that we are placed in charge. Being Christians is for our sake; being in charge is for yours. It is to our advantage that we are Christians, only to yours that we are in charge.
— Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 46:2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Shepherds · Illustrative: (Ignorant and foolish,) of bad ministers — Illustrative: (Ignorant and foolish,) of bad ministers

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ezekiel 34:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 34:1-6

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 34:2

John Gill on Ezekiel 34:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezekiel 34:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 34:1-6

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 34:2

John Gill on Ezekiel 34:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 34:1-10

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezekiel 34:2-6

Rashi on Ezekiel 34:2