Ezekiel 34:5
in Ezekiel 34They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.
KJV
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
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This verse in Ezekiel 34
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd they were scattered - There was no discipline kept up; and the flock, the Church, became disorganized, and separated from each other, both in affection and fellowship. And the consequence was, the grievous wolves, false and worldly interested teachers, seized on and made a prey of them. Of the communion of saints such shepherds know nothing, farther than that it makes a part of the common creed.
This site's exposition
You eat the fat, wear the wool
on Ezekiel 34:3-6
The indictment is specific and material. The shepherds took the flock's wool and meat while leaving the sick unhealed, the broken unbound, the strayed unsought and the lost unfound. The consequence is named plainly, “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd”, laying the exile itself at the leaders' door.
This site's exposition
scattered for lack of a shepherd
The wild beasts stand for the surrounding nations that preyed on the scattered sheep once Israel's shepherds failed, Babylon above all. Moses prayed at Numbers 27:17 that Israel would never be like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus saw the crowds that way at Matthew 9:36.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let us struggle, my beloved, during these six days of the Passover, for they are given to us each year for the redemption of our souls, that we may spend them in the works of God.… He sent to us the great Shepherd of the …
(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?)
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Every one is ready to seize a waif and stray. Some went abroad and begged, some went abroad and traded, and thus the country became thin of inhabitants, and was weakened and impoverished, and wanted hands both in the fields of corn and in the fields of battle, both in harvest and in war: My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth,
15 ), if they are proud and above their business, idle and do not love their business, or faithless and unconcerned about it, the case of the flock is as bad as if it were without a shepherd. Better no shepherd than such shepherds. Christ complains that his flock were as sheep having no shepherd, when yet the scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat, Matt. ix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
And they were scattered because there is no shepherd,....
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
scattered, because . . . no shepherd--that is, none worthy of the name, though there were some called shepherds (1Ki 22:17; Compare Mt 26:31, where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd was smitten.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתְּפוּצֶ֖ינָה | vatefutzeinah | and they have been scattered | H6327 → | 67 times |
| מִבְּלִ֣י | mibeli | because not | H1097 → | |
| רֹעֶ֑ה | roeh | a shepherd | H7462 → | 177 times |
| וַתִּהְיֶ֧ינָה | vatihyeinah | and they have become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְאָכְלָ֛ה | leokhlah | <into> food | H402 → | 18 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | for every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חַיַּ֥ת | chaiyat | <the> animal of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| וַתְּפוּצֶֽינָה׃ | vatefutzeinah | and they have been scattered | H6327 → | 67 times |
וַתְּפוּצֶ֖ינָהand they have been scattered
vatefutzeinahH6327 →67 times
מִבְּלִ֣יbecause not
mibeliH1097 →
רֹעֶ֑הa shepherd
roehH7462 →177 times
וַתִּהְיֶ֧ינָהand they have become
vatihyeinahH1961 →3559 times
לְאָכְלָ֛ה<into> food
leokhlahH402 →18 times
לְכָל־for every
lekholH3605 →5413 times
חַיַּ֥ת<the> animal of
chaiyatH2416 →498 times
הַשָּׂדֶ֖הthe field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
וַתְּפוּצֶֽינָה׃and they have been scattered
vatefutzeinahH6327 →67 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
Matthew 9:36When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
it leads to
- Numbers 27:17
who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 6:34
When Jesus stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 50:6
My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
- Ezekiel 34:3–6
You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.
- Matthew 14:14
When He stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.
- Numbers 27:17
Through
2 Chronicles 18:16So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 34:5–6
They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 34:5–6
Through
Jeremiah 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold,…
it leads to
- Micah 7:4
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time…
- Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire…
- Micah 7:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
On this verse
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Pachomius the Great, INSTRUCTIONS 2:1-2.