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Ezekiel 34:2

in Ezekiel 34

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep?

KJV

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 shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

This verse in Ezekiel 34

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

But the word is directed to the shepherds of Israel, whom we must understand as either kings, or princes, scribes and Pharisees, and teachers of the Jewish people. Or certainly in the Gospel people, the bishops, presbyters, and deacons: or according to mystical understanding, the Angels of the individual Churches, to whom John wrote in his Apocalypse (Apoc. I), and whose Angels daily see the face of God (Matthew XV). And it is said first: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who, although they should feed the Lord's flock and provide for its salvation, hasten to satisfy their own luxury.

This site's exposition

the word of the LORD came to me

on Ezekiel 34:1-2

The oracle turns from the land to Israel's own leaders, addressed under the shepherd-and-flock image common across the ancient Near East and rooted in Israel's own history of shepherd kings from David down. The charge is set against the shepherds of Israel, the kings, princes and priests whose failure the book has been tracing toward the exile.

This site's exposition

Woe to the shepherds of Israel

The word woe belongs to the prophets' cry of mourning, and here it is pronounced over the living shepherds of Israel. The closing question sets the standard for the whole chapter. Shepherds exist to feed the flock.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Tertullian

ON PURITY 7 · Written before 220.

proposed

Quite clearly he states that they have caused the sheep to be lost and to be devoured by the beasts of the field; nor, if they are abandoned, could they avoid being lost in death and devoured. But he does not say that they should be restored after they have been lost in death and devoured.

A commentator

Aphrahat the Persian Sage

DEMONSTRATIONS 10:3 · Written before 345.

proposed

But when the great pastor, the chief of pastors, comes, he will call and visit his sheep and will take knowledge of his flock. And he will bring forward those pastors, and will extract an account from them and will condemn them for their deeds. And those who fed the sheep well, them the chief of pastors will cause to rejoice and to inherit life and rest.

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 34.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds (or to the shepherds) of Israel, prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves. (Or: O shepherds of Israel, do the shepherds not feed themselves?) Do not the flocks feed on the shepherds? (Or do the sheep not feed the shepherds?)

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

SERMON 46:2 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

You see, we whom the Lord has deigned, thanks to no merits of ours, to set in this high station (about which a very strict account indeed has to be rendered) have two things about us that must be clearly distinguished: one, that we are Christians, the other, that we are placed in charge. Being Christians is for our sake; being in charge is for yours. It is to our advantage that we are Christians, only to yours that we are in charge.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,....
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel - The shepherds include, first, the priests and Levites; secondly, the kings, princes, and magistrates. The flock means the whole of the people. The fat and the wool, the tithes and offerings, the taxes and imposts.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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 (Eze 34:23, 24), was taken from being a shepherd (2Sa 5:2;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Shepherds - Not priests or prophets, but rulers and kings (see the Jer 2:8 note). The most ancient title for “ruler” is a monogram which occurs on the oldest monuments discovered in the cuneiform character. In the Assyrian language it became riu (compare Hebrew רעה râ‛âh =shepherd). In the traditions of Berosus we find that Alorus, the first king in the world, received from the Divinity the title of Shepherd. The title, as well as the monogram, was preserved to the latest times of the Assyrian monarchy. While the distress and misery of the people daily in creased, the last kings of Judah exacted more and more from their subjects and lavished more and more on personal luxury and show.

The words behind it

25 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • בֶּן־O son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • אָדָ֕םhumankind

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • הִנָּבֵ֖אprophesy

    hinave'H5012 →115 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • רוֹעֵ֣י[the] shepherds of

    roeiH7462 →177 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • הִנָּבֵ֣אprophesy

    hinave'H5012 →115 times

  • וְאָמַרְתָּ֩and you will say

    veamartaH559 →5305 times

  • אֲלֵיהֶ֨םto them

    ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times

  • לָרֹעִ֜יםto the shepherds

    laroimH7462 →177 times

  • כֹּ֥הthus

    kohH3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֣ר׀he says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 times

  • ה֤וֹיwoe to!

    hoH1945 →51 times

  • רֹעֵֽי־[the] shepherds of

    roei-H7462 →177 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwho

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הָיוּ֙they have been

    hayuH1961 →3559 times

  • רֹעִ֣יםshepherding

    roimH7462 →177 times

  • אוֹתָ֔ם<obj.> themselves

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • הֲל֣וֹא¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • הַצֹּ֔אןthe flock

    hatzonH6629 →274 times

  • יִרְע֖וּwill they shepherd

    yiruH7462 →177 times

  • הָרֹעִֽים׃the shepherds

    haroimH7462 →177 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 3:15

    Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 34:23

      I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 23:4

      I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD.

    • Acts 20:28

      Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

    • Ephesians 4:11–12

      And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

  • Through

    Jeremiah 23:1

    “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 10:21

      For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.

    • Zechariah 11:15–17

      And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

  • Through

    Isaiah 40:11

    He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 7:17

      For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

    • Psalms 23:1–6

      The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Where this verse is studied

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATIONS 10:3; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 46:2; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, ON PURITY 7.