Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 34:20-31

"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up unto them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. And they shall know that I, Jehovah, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah. And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Jehovah." — Ezekiel 34:20-31 (ASV)

Yahweh, having promised to be a Ruler of His people, the administration of the divine kingdom is now described as carried on by One King, the representative of David, whose dominion would fulfill all the promises originally made to the man after God’s own heart.

Ezekiel does not so much add to, as explain and develop, the original promise. Since the complete fulfillment of the spiritual blessings, which the prophets were guided to proclaim, was manifestly never realized in any temporal prosperity of the Jews, and never could and never can be realized in any earthly kingdom, we recognize throughout the Sacred Volume the one subject of all prophecy: the Righteous King, the Anointed Prince, the Son and the Lord of David.

One shepherd – One, as ruling over an undivided people, the distinction between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah having been abolished.

My servant David – David was a fit type of the True King because he was a true and faithful servant of Yahweh. That which David was partially and imperfectly, Christ is in full perfection (John 5:30; Hebrews 10:7). (Ezekiel 34:23)

The blessings foretold here are especially those of the old covenant. The wilderness (or pasture-country) and the woods, the places most exposed to beasts and birds of prey, become places of security. Under the new covenant, Zion and the hills around are representative of God’s Church, and temporal blessings are typical of the blessings showered down upon Christ’s Church by Him who has vanquished the powers of evil. (Ezekiel 34:26)

A plant – Equivalent to the “Branch,” under which name Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesy of the Messiah. The contrast in this verse to hunger seems to favor the idea that the “plant” was for food, i.e., spiritual food, and in this sense also, applicable to the Messiah .

The shame of the pagan – The shameful reproaches with which pagans assail them. (Ezekiel 34:29)

Translate: Ye are my flock, the flock of my pasture ; ye are men, and I am your God. (Ezekiel 34:31)