Ezekiel 34:10

10 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am ¹against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them ²cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will ³deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.""'

Ezekiel 34:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 34:10

Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds,
&c.] His heart was against them; his hand was against them; his face was against them, to cut them off. The Targum is,

``behold, I will send my fury upon the governors;''

and there was good reason for it, they were against him and his glory, against his flock, his people, his cause, and interest; sad it is for any to have God against them, and to be against God; for none ever hardened themselves against him and prospered, ( Job 9:4 ) : and I will require my flock at their hand;
the full tale of them that have been committed to their care, and will punish them for the neglect of them; their blood, their life, and the loss of them, I will require at their hands; thus he punished Zedekiah and his princes, and the priests and prophets: and cause them to cease from feeding the flock;
take the kingdom from them, as he did from Zedekiah; abolish the ecclesiastical hierarchy among the Jews; cut off three shepherds in one month, the priests, prophets, and scribes of the people; and put the flock into other hands, the apostles and ministers of the Gospel: neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more;
enrich themselves with the substance of the people: for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat
for them;
who, instead of being shepherds to feed the flock, were no other than wolves in sheep's clothing, and ravenous lions and bears, which devoured the flock; but this they should do no longer.

Ezekiel 34:10 In-Context

8 "As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD :

10 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.""'

11 For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

12 "As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 21:13; Ezekiel 5:8; Ezekiel 13:8; Ezekiel 34:2; Zechariah 10:3
• 2. 1 Samuel 2:29, 30; Jeremiah 52:24-27
• 3. Psalms 72:12-14; Ezekiel 13:23

Footnotes

• [a] Or (a) "flock"
• [b] Lit "from their hand"
• [c] Or (a) "flock"
• [d] Lit "pasture," and so throughout the ch