Isaiah 56:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 56:11
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
a dog · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
can
יָֽדְעוּ֙ya.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
have
יָדְע֖וּya.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
enough
שָׂבְעָ֔הsa.ve.'Ah
H7654
satiety · noun, common feminine singular absolute
shepherds
רֹעִ֔יםro.'Im
H7462
to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
understand
הָבִ֑יןha.Vin
H995
to separate mentally (or distinguish) · verb, hiphil infinitive construct
look
פָּנ֔וּpa.Nu
H6437
to turn · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
way
לְדַרְכָּ֣םle.dar.Kam
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
one
אִ֥ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
gain
לְבִצְע֖וֹle.vitz.'O
H1215
plunder · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
quarter
מִקָּצֵֽהוּmi.ka.Tze.hu
H7097
an extremity · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Ezekiel 34:2-3 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…
Ezekiel 13:19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save th…
Micah 3:11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean up…
John 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Isaiah 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isaiah 57:17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
Micah 3:5-6 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not int…
Zechariah 11:15-17 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 56:9–end
From words of comfort the prophet here, by a very sudden change of his style, passes to words of reproof and conviction, and goes on in that strain, for the most part, in the three following chapters; and therefore some here begin a new sermon. He had assured the people that in due time God would deliver them out of captivity, which was designed for the comfort of those that should live when God would do this. Now here he shows what their sins and provocations were, for which God would send them into captivity, and this was designed for the conviction of those that lived in his own time, nearly a hundred years before the captivity, who were now filling up the measure of the nation's sin, and…
greedy--literally, "strong" (that is, insatiable) in appetite (Eze 34:2-3; Mic 3:11).
cannot understand--unable to comprehend the wants of the people, spiritually: so Isa 56:10, "cannot bark."
look to . . . own way--that is, their own selfish interests; not to the spiritual welfare of the people (Jer 6:13; Eze 22:27).
from his quarter--rather, "from the highest to the lowest" [LOWTH]. "From his quarter"; that is, from one end to the other of them, one and all (Gen 19:4).
Adam Clarke on Isaiah 56:11
Greedy dogs - Insatiably feeding themselves with the fat, and clothing themselves with the wool, while the flock is scattered, ravaged, and starved! O what an abundance of these dumb and greedy dogs are there found hanging on and prowling about the flock of Christ! How can any careless, avaricious, hireling minister read this without agitation and dismay?
John Gill on Isaiah 56:11
Yea, they are greedy dogs,.... Or "strong of soul" (y); of great appetites, and are never satisfied: or "strong of body"; the soul is sometimes put for the body; large bodied, fat bellied men, such as the priests, monks, and friars, that live upon the fat of the land; gluttons, epicures, men of a canine appetite, like dogs,
which can never have enough; know not fulness (z), or what it is to be filled to satisfaction, always craving more. Though some think this denotes their insatiable avarice, their greedy desire of money, not being satisfied with what they have, in order to support their voluptuous way of living.
And they are shepherds that cannot understand; or, "and they are", or "are t…
The Church Fathers
For often improvident rulers, fearing to lose human favour, shrink timidly from speaking freely the things that are right; and, according to the voice of the Truth, serve unto the custody of the flock by no means with the zeal of shepherds, but in the way of hirelings; since they fly when the wolf cometh if they hide themselves under silence. For hence it is that the Lord through the prophet upbraids them, saying, "Dumb dogs, that cannot bark." Hence again He complains, saying, "Ye have not gone up against the enemy, neither opposed a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord."
And the most shameless dogs knew not satisfaction: the shepherds themselves ignored understanding: all turned aside unto their own way, each to his own greed, from the highest even unto the lowest. LXX: And impudent dogs have ignored satisfaction. And they are evil, not understanding intelligence: they have followed all their own ways. Each together from its summit. And they are not satisfied with this, those who slept in the care of the flock of the Lord, and could not bark, and loved the bed, which indicates the pleasure of the body; but among themselves, they did not know the shamelessness of their souls, who are never satisfied with their own error. Those who devour the people of the Lord like the bread, and the houses of widows: and serve their gluttony and lust. For they cannot say: The commandment of the Lord enlightens the eyes (Ps. 18:9), nor know what is written: The wisdom of a man enlightens his face (Prov. 17:24). And they are mute dogs against enemies, of whom it is written: Do not give what is holy to dogs (Matt. 7:6). And they are sleeping dogs, who do not know the commandment: Do not give sleep to your eyes, and slumber to your eyelids (Ps. 131); and again: Watch, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come (Matt. 24:42). And for this reason, giving a place to the devil, they are shameless dogs, who are never satisfied. For they vomit what they have eaten, and they return to their vomit (Prov. XXVI). Of whom Peter the Apostle also speaks: That true proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire (II Pet. II, 22). The following discourse shows that these spies and dogs are the same as the shepherds: The shepherds themselves have neglected understanding. For the Hebrew word 'Roim' (also spelled 'Rom') which is written with four letters, 'resh' and 'ayin' and 'yod' and 'mem', if it is read as 'roim', it means shepherds; if it is read as 'raim', it sounds like the worst. We have said this to show the reasons for the various interpretations. For everyone has sought their own things, and not the things that are of God, nor have they walked in the way of the Lord (Philippians 2), of which it is written: Seek what the good way is, and walk in it (Jeremiah 6:16). But according to what is read in the Book of Judges: There was no king in Israel; everyone did…
Dictionary and topics
Covetousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dog (Sodomite?) · Dumb and sleeping — Dumb and sleeping
Dog, The · Illustrative: Of covetous ministers — Illustrative: Of covetous ministers
Ignorance Of God · Exemplified: False prophets — Exemplified: False prophets
Ministers · When unfaithful: Described — When unfaithful: Described
Selfishness · Exhibited in: Seeking after gain — Exhibited in: Seeking after gain
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).
And those dogs strong of appetite. The third vice which he remarks in wicked pastors is insatiable avarice. Though they are lazy in all that relates to good government, yet they have a strong and ravenous appetite for food. Some view the Prophet's words as still more extensive, and as meaning that they rule tyrannically. Ezekiel expressly reproves them for this vice; for false prophets are commonly fierce, and act cruelly and barbarously towards the people of God. (Ezekiel 34:4) But if any person examine the matter carefully, he will perceive that the Prophet speaks of their insatiable avarice, which he afterwards describes by a variety of expressions.
They look to their ways. That is, "The…
The prophet now proceeds with צפו (צפיו): the suffix refers to Israel, which was also the object to לאכל. "His watchmen are blind: they (are) all ignorant, they (are) all dumb dogs that cannot bark; raving, lying down, loving to slumber. And the dogs are mightily greedy, they know no satiety; and such are shepherds! They know no understanding; they have all turned to their own ways, every one for his own gain throughout his border." The "watchmen" are the prophets here, as everywhere else (Isa 52:8, cf., Isa 21:6, Hab 2:1; Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17). The prophet is like a watchman (tsōpheh) stationed upon his watch-tower (specula), whose duty it is, when he sees the sword come upon the land, to bl…
ignorant shepherds: Israel’s leaders did not know how to rule in a godly way (see also Ezek 34:1-6). By contrast, the Lord is the faithful Shepherd of his people (Isa 40:11). • all following their own path: They had no concern for God or his standards of godly leadership (see also 53:6). • personal gain: Cp. 33:15.
Rashi on Isaiah 56:11
And the dogs are of greedy disposition wanting to fill their stomachs [engrote talent in O.F.], sick with hunger.
and they are shepherds Just as the dogs know no satiety, neither do the shepherds know to understand what will occur at the end of days.
they all turned to the way of their benefit, each one to his gain, to rob the rest of the people over whom they are appointed.
every last one Heb. מִקָּצֵהוּ, [lit. from its end.] Comp. (Gen. 19:4) “all the people from the end (מִקָּצֶה),” from one end of their number until its other end, they all behave in this manner.
