Ezekiel 34

Ezekiel 34:1-31 . REPROOF OF THE FALSE SHEPHERDS; PROMISE OF THE TRUE AND GOOD SHEPHERD.

Having in the thirty-third chapter laid down repentance as the necessary preliminary to happier times for the people, He now promises the removal of the false shepherds as preparatory to the raising up of the Good Shepherd.

2. Jeremiah 23:1 and Zechariah 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 ( Ezekiel 34:23 Ezekiel 34:24 ), was taken from being a shepherd ( 2 Samuel 5:2 , Psalms 78:70 Psalms 78:71 ); 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 Isaiah 44:28 , Jeremiah 2:8 , 3:15 , 10:21 , Jeremiah 23:1 Jeremiah 23:2 ).

3. fat--or, by differently pointing the Hebrew, "milk" [Septuagint]. Thus the repetition "fat" and "fed" is avoided: also the eating of "fat" would not probably be put before the "killing" of the sheep. The eating of sheep's or goats' milk as food ( Deuteronomy 32:14 , Proverbs 27:27 ) was unobjectionable, had not these shepherds milked them too often, and that without duly "feeding" them [BOCHART], ( Isaiah 56:11 ). The rulers levied exorbitant tributes.
kill . . . fed--kill the rich by false accusation so as to get possession of their property.
feed not . . . flock--take no care of the people ( John 10:12 ).

4. The diseased--rather, those weak from the effects of "disease," as "strengthened" (that is, with due nourishment) requires [GROTIUS].
broken--that is, fractures from wounds inflicted by the wolf.
brought again . . . driven away--( Exodus 23:4 ). Those "driven away" by the enemy into foreign lands through God's judgments are meant ( Jeremiah 23:3 ). A spiritual reformation of the state by the rulers would have turned away God's wrath, and "brought again" the exiles. The rulers are censured as chiefly guilty (though the people, too, were guilty), because they, who ought to have been foremost in checking the evil, promoted it.
neither . . . sought . . . lost--Contrast the Good Shepherd's love ( Luke 15:4 ).
with force . . . ruled--( Exodus 1:13 Exodus 1:14 ). With an Egyptian bondage. The very thing forbidden by the law they did ( Leviticus 25:43 ; compare 1 Peter 5:3 ).

5. scattered, because . . . no shepherd--that is, none worthy of the name, though there were some called shepherds ( 1 Kings 22:17 , Matthew 9:36 ). Compare Matthew 26:31 , where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd was smitten. God calls them "My sheep"; for they were not, as the shepherds treated them, their patrimony whereby to "feed themselves."
meat to all . . . beasts--They became a prey to the Syrians, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria.

6. every high hill--the scene of their idolatries sanctioned by the rulers.
search . . . seek--rather, "seek . . . search." The former is the part of the superior rulers to inquire after: to search out is the duty of the subordinate rulers [JUNIUS].