Ezekiel 34:24
in Ezekiel 34I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
KJV
And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.
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This verse in Ezekiel 34
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI the Lord will be their God, and my Servant David a Prince - Here we find God and his Christ are all in all in his Church, and Jesus is still Prince among them; and to him the call and qualifications of all genuine pastors belong, and from him they must be derived. And he has blotted out what is called uninterrupted succession, that every Christian minister may seek and receive credentials from himself. Here is the grand reason why the uninterrupted succession cannot be made out.
This site's exposition
I will appoint over them one shepherd
on Ezekiel 34:23-24
The promise culminates in a single figure, my servant David. The Jewish and Christian reading takes David as the coming Messiah of David's line, the reading the church has carried into John 10's good shepherd. A minority reading has looked for a literal, raised David reigning in the restored land.
This site's exposition
a prince among them
Ezekiel calls David a prince, Hebrew nasi, the title he also gives the ruler of the restored land in chapters 44 to 48. The LORD is God and David is prince. At 37:24 to 25 the same David is called both king and prince forever.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verses 23-24) And I will raise up over them (here and elsewhere) (or over them) one shepherd who will feed them (or him), my servant David: he will feed them (or him): and he will be their shepherd. But I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Pay close attention, brothers. Note the unity of the godhead, and yet the distribution of persons, in case we should say that he who is the Father is the Son, or that he who is the Son is the Father.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And I the Lord will be their God,....
Concerning the privileges of those that are the faithful subjects of this kingdom of the Messiah and interested in the covenant of peace. These are here set forth figuratively, as the blessings of the flock.
The prophecy of this chapter is not dated, nor any of those that follow it, till ch. xl. It is most probable that it was delivered after the completing of Jerusalem's destruction, when it would be very seasonable to enquire into the causes of it.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
my servant--implying fitness for ruling in the name of God, not pursuing a self-chosen course, as other kings, but acting as the faithful administrator of the will of God; Messiah realized fully this character (Ps 40:7, 8;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲנִ֣י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶהְיֶ֤ה | ʾehyeh | I will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָהֶם֙ | lahem | for them | ||
| לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים | lelohim | <into> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְעַבְדִּ֥י | veavdi | and servant my | H5650 → | 799 times |
| דָוִ֖ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| נָשִׂ֣יא | nasi' | [will be] prince | H5387 → | 134 times |
| בְתוֹכָ֑ם | vetokham | in midst of them | H8432 → | 418 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דִּבַּֽרְתִּי׃ | dibarti | I have spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
וַאֲנִ֣יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶהְיֶ֤הI will become
ʾehyehH1961 →3559 times
לָהֶם֙for them
lahem
לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים<into> God
lelohimH430 →2601 times
וְעַבְדִּ֥יand servant my
veavdiH5650 →799 times
דָוִ֖דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
נָשִׂ֣יא[will be] prince
nasi'H5387 →134 times
בְתוֹכָ֑םin midst of them
vetokhamH8432 →418 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
דִּבַּֽרְתִּי׃I have spoken
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
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
Jeremiah 31:33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 3:3
It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on…
- Hebrews 10:16
“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
- Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And…
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their…
- 2 Corinthians 3:3
Through
Revelation 21:3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:27
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 26:11–12
And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and…
- Ezekiel 37:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 47:21; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: 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; Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel and Patrick Fairbairn, Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy.