Ezekiel 34

2 prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. The rulers and kings are meant. See note on Jer. ii. 8. (Cp. Jer. xxiii. 1-8.)

6. My sheep. The emphasis is to be noted. Jehovah expressly claims the flock as His own: see 11, 12.

16 the fat and the strong. The rich and powerful, who, under the misgovernment of the rulers, had greatly oppressed the poor.

17 as for you, O My flock. The “judgement”

is not only for the “shepherds,” but for different portions of the flock.

18 ye must foul the residue with your feet. A reproach most applicable to those who oppress the poor in civil matters; or who, in religious, would debar them from pure instruction in Divine truth, and set before them mere human traditions.

24. My servant David. “A Messianic prediction in the fullest sense of the word” (Skinner). For the employment of David’s name to designate the royal line in its spiritual aspect, and so pointing to the Messiah, cp. xxxvii. 24; Jer. xxx. 9; Hos. iii. 5.

29 a plant of renown. Some refer this to the Messiah, comparing xvii. 22 and Isa. xi. 1, on which see note. The word, however, more properly means a plantation (so R.V.), i.e., a place richly planted; “a right fertile soil” (Moffatt), so that “they shall be no more consumed with hunger.”

31 ye My flock, the flock of My pasture. The contrast is between the flock and the Shepherd: “men” and God.