Ezekiel 34:11
in Ezekiel 34For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
KJV
For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
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This verse in Ezekiel 34
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Yahweh is the shepherd of His people. He will do all which the shepherds should have done and did not. These promises - partially fulfilled in the return from Babylon, and in the subsequent prosperity under the Maccabees - point to the ingathering of all nations in the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd. Compare Mat 18:11: John 10:1-18; Rom 9:25-33.
This site's exposition
I Myself will search for My flock
on Ezekiel 34:11-16
What the shepherds failed to do, God announces He will do Himself, in the terms the indictment used. He will seek the scattered, bind the broken, strengthen the weak, and feed them in good pasture restored to the land. The unit ends on a harder note the pastoral language can obscure, “the sleek and strong I will destroy”, naming that some within the flock had grown strong by preying on the weak.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Rain and fog, the errors of this world; a great darkness arising from human lusts, a thick fog covering the earth. And it is difficult for the sheep not to go astray in this fog. But the shepherd does not desert them. He seeks them, his piercing gaze penetrates the fog, the thick darkness of the clouds does not prevent him.
(Verse 11 onwards) For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his dispersed sheep (or when there is darkness and clouds among his separated sheep), so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For thus saith the Lord God,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and the shepherds will no longer shepherd themselves [Heb. אוֹתָם,] themselves.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
separated when they are scattered, and he walks among them and gathers them back together.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| הִנְנִי־ | hini- | here [am] I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| אָ֕נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| וְדָרַשְׁתִּ֥י | vedarashti | and I will search for | H1875 → | 164 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צֹאנִ֖י | tzoni | flock my | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וּבִקַּרְתִּֽים׃ | uvikartim | and I will seek them | H1239 → |
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
הִנְנִי־here [am] I
hini-H2005 →316 times
אָ֕נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
וְדָרַשְׁתִּ֥יand I will search for
vedarashtiH1875 →164 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צֹאנִ֖יflock my
tzoniH6629 →274 times
וּבִקַּרְתִּֽים׃and I will seek them
uvikartimH1239 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 19:10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 34:16
I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 1:21
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- 1 Timothy 1:13–16
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.
- Luke 5:31–32
Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- Luke 15:4–7
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds…
- Ezekiel 34:16
Through
Jeremiah 23:3Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and…
it leads to
- Amos 9:14–15
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Jeremiah 32:37
I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them…
- Isaiah 43:5–6
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
- Amos 9:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 46:23; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.