Ezekiel 34:19
in Ezekiel 34Why must My flock feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied?’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And as for my sheep, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
KJV
And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
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This verse in Ezekiel 34
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet,.... They are forced to do it, not being able to come at any thing else; being as sheep without a shepherd, or worse: and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet; which, as it cannot be agreeable and relishing, so neither wholesome; as the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees; the traditions of the elders; the false doctrines of false teachers, whose words eat as do a canker.
This site's exposition
between the rams and the goats
on Ezekiel 34:17-22
The judgment turns inward, distinguishing cattle and cattle within Israel itself: those who trampled the good pasture and fouled the clear water for the rest. The individual accountability pressed here runs alongside the argument chapter 18 made, that guilt and its judgment fall on the one who commits it.
This site's exposition
drink what your feet have muddied
The weak sheep are the LORD's flock, and He claims them as His own against the strong. Trampled food and muddied water are all they have left. Amos 4:1 brings the same charge against the women of Samaria who crushed the needy.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 17 onwards) But you, my flock (or sheep), this says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between the sheep, and between rams and goats. Was it not enough for you to graze on good pastures? Moreover, you trampled the remnants of your pastures with your feet, and when you drank the purest water, you disturbed the rest with your feet. And my sheep, which were trampled by your feet, were fed, and those feet of yours that disturbed, they drank.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Another promise that God would in the fulness of time send the Messiah, to be the great and good Shepherd of the sheep, who should redress all grievances and set every thing to rights with the flock,
And this seemed a small thing to them; they thought there was no harm in it, as if it were the privilege of their quality to be injurious to all their neighbours. Note, Many that live in pomp and at ease themselves care not what straits those about them are reduced to, so they may but have every thing to their mind.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְצֹאנִ֑י | vetzoni | and flock my | H6629 → | 274 times |
| מִרְמַ֤ס | mirmas | [the] trampling place of | H4823 → | |
| רַגְלֵיכֶם֙ | ragleikhem | feet your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| תִּרְעֶ֔ינָה | tireinah | they will graze | H7462 → | 177 times |
| וּמִרְפַּ֥שׂ | umirpas | and [the] befouled thing of | H4833 → | |
| רַגְלֵיכֶ֖ם | ragleikhem | feet your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| תִּשְׁתֶּֽינָה׃ ס | tishteinah | they will drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
וְצֹאנִ֑יand flock my
vetzoniH6629 →274 times
מִרְמַ֤ס[the] trampling place of
mirmasH4823 →
רַגְלֵיכֶם֙feet your
ragleikhemH7272 →247 times
תִּרְעֶ֔ינָהthey will graze
tireinahH7462 →177 times
וּמִרְפַּ֥שׂand [the] befouled thing of
umirpasH4833 →
רַגְלֵיכֶ֖םfeet your
ragleikhemH7272 →247 times
תִּשְׁתֶּֽינָה׃ סthey will drink
tishteinahH8354 →217 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
On this verse
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.