John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 34

The word of the Lord came to me
The date of this prophecy is not given; however, it seems to have been delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem; the causes of which are mentioned, the sins of the people and their governors, which the prophet is directed to expose: saying :
as follows:

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel
Or, "concerning"^F16 them; the governors of them, as the Targum and Jarchi; their political governors, their kings, princes, and civil magistrates of every order and degree; so Kimchi interprets it of kings; and it was common with the eastern nations, and with the Greeks, to call kings shepherds; and one and the same word; in the Greek language, signifies to feed sheep, and to govern people; see (Psalms 78:72) (Isaiah 44:28) , also their ecclesiastical governors are intended, prophets, priests, Levites, scribes, and Pharisees; these were bad shepherds, or they would not have been prophesied against; and though they were shepherds of Israel, this must be done:

prophesy, and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God unto the
shepherds : that the message to them might be the more regarded, it is ordered to be delivered in the name of the Lord; otherwise they would have been apt to have despised it, and charged the prophet with impertinence and rudeness:

woe be to the shepherds of Israel, that do feed themselves ! that is, themselves only, and not the flock: had they fed the flock, as well as themselves, they would not have been blamed; but they took no care of the people over whom they were set only minded their own affairs, to get riches and honour, but neglected the good of the people, yea, cruelly oppressed them:

should not the shepherds feed the flocks ? undoubtedly they should; it is their duty, the business of their office, so to do; kings to rule over their subjects, defend their persons and property, and secure their privileges and liberties to them; and ecclesiastical rulers, ministers of the word, should feed the flock or church of God committed to them with knowledge and understanding; see (Jeremiah 3:15) (John 21:15John 21:16) (Acts 20:2) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: (yewr le) "de pastoribus", V. L. Grotius; "super pastores", Pagninus, Montanus.

You eat the fat
The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "the milk"; the words for fat and milk differ only in the points; and this was not unlawful, for who feeds a flock, and eats not of the milk of the flock ?
(1 Corinthians 9:7) , provided it was done with moderation, that they ate some, but not all; but these rulers milked their subjects too much, oppressed them with heavy taxes, and got their substance into their own hands.

The Targum is, ``you eat the good;'' they got possessed of the best of their substance; as did also their ecclesiastical rulers, who were greedy shepherds, that could never have enough; they looked for their gain from their quarter, and even devoured widows' houses, (Isaiah 56:11) (Matthew 23:14) :

You clothe you with the wool :
the pure wool, as the Targum, the finest of it; they fleeced the flock, and stripped the people of their riches; and minded nothing but their own backs and bellies:

You kill them that are fed ;
or, that "are fat" ^F17 ; the richest of the people they brought accusations and charges against for capital crimes; and so put them to death under a colour of justice, that they, might get their estates into their hands: but you feed not the flock ;
did not govern the people well, by doing justice and judgment among men, as became civil magistrates; did not deliver out words of faith and sound doctrine, to feed the souls of men with, which is the duty of those that preside in the church of God.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: hayrbh "quod pingue est", Vatablus, Bochartus; "pinguem", Cocceius, Starckius. So Ben Melech.

The diseased have you not strengthened
Such, in the civil polity, who were poor, and in necessitous circumstances, were not relieved; such who were injured and oppressed by others were not vindicated; and such as were forced to flee to other countries, or were carried captive, no care was taken, or methods used, to ransom them, and, bring them back; all which may be meant by this and the following metaphors, taken from the evil things that befall a flock of sheep: and such who were weak through spiritual diseases, their prophets and teachers took no care to cure them of their diseases, and to strengthen these feeble minded ones with divine cordials and spiritual food, and confirm them in the faith:

neither have you healed that which was sick ;
by directing them to the great Physician of souls, and to his precious blood for healing and pardon of sin:

neither have you bound up that which was broken ;
whose consciences were wounded, and hearts broken, with a sense of sin; or who had fallen to the breaking of their bones, and should be restored in a spirit of meekness and dealt gently with, as surgeons do in setting and binding up broken bones:

neither have you brought again that which was driven away ;
or, "was gone astray" ^F18 ; being seduced by false teachers; and yet, though it was known they were, no care nor pains were taken to reclaim and restore them:

neither have you sought that which was lost ;
that wandered of their own accord, and perished for want of knowledge, and were lost for lack of a guide to direct them, and no one would do this good office to them:

but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them ;
in an arbitrary and tyrannical way, lording it over God, s heritage, (1 Peter 5:3) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (txdnh) "vagam aut errantem", Bochartus, and some in Vatablus.

No good one; there were shepherds, but they were idol shepherds, good for nothing, and it was all one as if there were none: so, in Christ's time, there were the Scribes and Pharisees; yet, since these did not feed the people with wholesome doctrine, they are said to be as sheep without a shepherd, and scattered abroad, as here from the fold, and from one another; dispersed here and there, seeking food, and none, which moved his compassion, (Matthew 9:36) .

In the political sense it may refer to their captivity, and their dispersion among the nations, having no king: So the Targum, ``and they were scattered without a governor.''

The Targum is, ``and they were delivered to all the kingdoms of the people to be consumed;'' such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Ammonites, Moabites, and others.

And may be applied to false teachers, those grievous wolves, which spare not the flock, into whose hands members of churches, professors of religion, fall, when neglected by their shepherds.