The former selfish shepherds of the flock, and the future good shepherd The past history of the people and their future is presented under the common allegory of a flock. The shepherds are the rulers. (1) Ezekiel 34:1. The evil shepherds of Israel fed themselves and not the flock. And thus the she... [ Continue Reading ]
_the shepherds_ i.e. the rulers. The term is chiefly used in later writings (Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 3:15); it occurs, however, in Zechariah 9-11, the date of which is disputed. On Zedekiah cf. ch. 17, and on his immediate predecessors, Jeremiah 22:10-30. In general, Jeremiah 23; Jeremiah 25:32 _seq_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye eat the fat_ LXX. the _milk_(the consonants are the same). Cf. Isaiah 7:22; Zechariah 11:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
Five classes are here mentioned, in Ezekiel 34:16 only four, the "diseased" being wanting, and "strengthen" used here of the diseased is said there of the sick. The "broken" is the hurt or bruised; the "lost" that which has wandered away of itself, in distinction from that "driven away" by violence.... [ Continue Reading ]
The allegory is simple enough. Owing to the evil and selfish government of the rulers the people became the prey of all the nations round about them. The figure of the flock indicates, however, the affection of Jehovah for his people and his compassion over their sufferings.... [ Continue Reading ]
_search my sheep_ i.e. search for, or, search out.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah himself will undertake the care of his flock... [ Continue Reading ]
Read PEOPLES as usual.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah first seeks out his sheep (Ezekiel 34:11), then he delivers them out of the places where they are scattered (Ezekiel 34:12), then he leads them into their own land (Ezekiel 34:13), where he feeds them upon the mountain heights of Israel (Ezekiel 34:14).... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord's treatment of his flock will be in all things the reverse of the treatment given them by the evil shepherds. _with judgment_ i.e. just judgment; _in rectitude and justice_. Cf. such demands as those in Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 3:15; Isaiah 5:8; Micah 2:1-2; Micah 3:1-4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Not only shall the cruel shepherds be removed and the flock delivered out of their hands and fed by the Lord himself, the injuries inflicted by members of the flock on each other shall no more prevail. The strong shall no more push the weak or drive them from the good pasture. _between cattle and ca... [ Continue Reading ]
The words are addressed to the rams and he-goats the magnates and ruling classes. _deep waters_ CLEAR (lit. settled) waters, cf. Ezekiel 32:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_my servant David_ The meaning cannot be that David would in person revive and reappear. It is more doubtful whether the prophet means that the line or family of David would again occupy the throne or that a single person would be king. It is possible that this question was not strictly before his m... [ Continue Reading ]
Instead of the many worthless shepherds of old there shall in the future be one good shepherd, even David, and Jehovah shall in truth be God of Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I the Lord … their God_ This is the goal towards which all movements strive; when this is reached perfection is attained and the covenant with its aims fully realized, cf. Ezekiel 37:27; Jeremiah 31:31; Exodus 29:45. The meaning of the words is very profound, implying closer fellowship and deeper f... [ Continue Reading ]
_a covenant of peace_ a covenant securing everlasting peace and therefore implying the removal of all that would injure or disturb them. In Hosea 2:20 the sense is somewhat different: Jehovah makes a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, that they shall not hurt. In Hos. "beasts" is used l... [ Continue Reading ]
_make them … a blessing_ i.e. altogether blessed, Genesis 12:2; Isaiah 19:24, as the last words of the verse imply. Cf. construction Ezekiel 16:38; Ezekiel 27:36; Ezekiel 28:19; Ezekiel 33:28. The language of the clause is not very natural; LXX. reads: and I will set them round about my hill (the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_hands of their yoke_ i.e. the yoke bound upon them, Leviticus 26:13; Jeremiah 2:20, where read "thou hast broken.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a plant of renown_ a _plantation_of renown, lit. for a name, i.e. a plantation which shall be (or, so as to be) renowned; cf. for the phrase Ezekiel 39:13; Isaiah 55:13. The ref. is not to the person of the Messiah, but to the luxuriant fertility and vegetation of the earth in the Messianic age. Co... [ Continue Reading ]
am _with them_ LXX. omits _with them_, reading: that I the Lord am their God, and they … my people the usual antithesis. The people's consciousness of salvation shall be, so to speak, a double one, that Jehovah is their God and that they are his people. The two things might seem identical, but the s... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye my flock … are men_ Omit "are men" with LXX. and read: _and ye are my flock … pasture, and I am your God_.... [ Continue Reading ]