Ezekiel 34:3

3 You eat the choice meat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the best of the herd; but you don't feed the sheep!

Ezekiel 34:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 34:3

Ye eat the fat
The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "the milk"; the words for fat and milk differ only in the points; and this was not unlawful, for who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
( 1 Corinthians 9:7 ) , provided it was done with moderation, that they ate some, but not all; but these rulers milked their subjects too much, oppressed them with heavy taxes, and got their substance into their own hands. The Targum is,

``ye eat the good;''

they got possessed of the best of their substance; as did also their ecclesiastical rulers, who were greedy shepherds, that could never have enough; they looked for their gain from their quarter, and even devoured widows' houses, ( Isaiah 56:11 ) ( Matthew 23:14 ) : ye clothe you with the wool:
the pure wool, as the Targum, the finest of it; they fleeced the flock, and stripped the people of their riches; and minded nothing but their own backs and bellies: ye kill them that are fed;
or, that "are fat" ^F17; the richest of the people they brought accusations and charges against for capital crimes; and so put them to death under a colour of justice, that they, might get their estates into their hands: but ye feed not the flock;
did not govern the people well, by doing justice and judgment among men, as became civil magistrates; did not deliver out words of faith and sound doctrine, to feed the souls of men with, which is the duty of those that preside in the church of God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (hayrbh) "quod pingue est", Vatablus, Bochartus; "pinguem", Cocceius, Starckius. So Ben Melech.

Ezekiel 34:3 In-Context

1 The word of ADONAI came to me:

2 "Human being, prophesy against the shepherds of Isra'el. Prophesy! Tell them, the shepherds, that Adonai ELOHIM says this: 'Woe to the shepherds of Isra'el who feed themselves! Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?

3 You eat the choice meat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the best of the herd; but you don't feed the sheep!

4 You don't strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bandage the broken, bring back the outcasts or seek the lost; on the contrary, you tyrannize them with crushing force.

5 So they were scattered, without a shepherd, and became food for every wild animal - they were scattered.