Ezekiel 34

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Ezekiel 34
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Bab voc fragment 1.jpg
The Hebrew text of Book of Ezekiel 34:23ff with Babylonia vocalization in a geniza fragment from Bodley Library, University of Oxford (shelfmark Ms. heb. d. 64).
Book Book of Ezekiel
Hebrew Bible part Nevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part7
Category Latter Prophets
Christian Bible part Old Testament
Order in the Christian part26

Ezekiel 34 is the thirty-fourth chapter of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet/priest Ezekiel, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. [1] In this chapter, Ezekiel prophesies against the "irresponsible shepherds" of Israel and states that God will instead seek out God's sheep and become their "true shepherd". [2] The Jerusalem Bible notes the continuity of this theme, occurring in Jeremiah 23:1–6, here in Ezekiel, and later resumed in Zechariah 11:4–17, as well as in the New Testament. [3]

Contents

Text

The original text was written in the Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 31 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). [4]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century). [5] [a]

Verse 2

"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them,
Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds:
"Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves!
Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?" (NKJV) [7]

Verse 3

You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. [13]

"You eat the milk" in the Septuagint - the consonants are the same. [11]

Verse 5

So they were scattered because there was no shepherd;
and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. (NKJV) [14]

Cross reference: Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; 2 Chronicles 18:16; Isaiah 13:14; Jeremiah 50:6; Zechariah 10:2; Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34; Acts 20:29

Verse 6

My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.” [15]

The final words, "for them", are added in most English translations, as they are not in the original text. Robert Young's Literal Translation ends "and there is none inquiring, and none seeking". [16] The sheep are scattered, "first on to 'every high hill' as idolaters, and then 'over the face of the earth' in exile". [17]

Verse 16

“I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.” [18]

This verse "clearly anticipates a return from exile to the land of Israel". [17]

Verse 23

I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them — My servant David.
He shall feed them and be their shepherd. (NKJV) [19]

Cross reference: 2 Samuel 5:2; 2 Samuel 7:8; 1 Chronicles 11:2; Psalm 78:71; Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 3:15; John 10:1–16; John 21:15–17; 1 Peter 5:2–4; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2–4; Acts 20:28

Verse 24

And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken. (NKJV) [20]

Cross reference: Ezekiel 34:11–16, Ezekiel 37:24–25

In Ezekiel 34, God first proclaims that He Himself will shepherd His people alone because of the bad shepherds ( [21] ). Yet, immediately afterward, He specifies that He will appoint His servant David as their shepherd and prince ( [22] ). This promise is mirrored again in Ezekiel 37:24–25, where David is explicitly named as king, forming an intentional literary inclusio around the intervening chapters ( [23] ). Scholars such as Daniel I. Block and Christopher J. H. Wright recognize this deliberate literary framing. Block highlights the thematic significance of Ezekiel’s dual shepherd imagery, emphasizing the unified role of divine shepherding and Davidic kingship ( [24] ). Wright similarly notes how the blending of divine and Davidic shepherd imagery points to a cohesive Messianic expectation centered on both God’s sovereignty and Davidic lineage ( [25] [26] ). In between the two statements of I will make David as shepherd-prince and I will make David as king is the promise of a new covenant with a new heart and the resurrection of the dry bones vision.

Verse 25

Artwork describing Ezekiel 34:25 by an unknown Italian artist; illustration of The Bible and its Story Taught by One Thousand Picture Lessons, edited by Charles F. Horne and Julius A. Bewer, published by Francis R. Niglutsch, New York, in 1908. vol. 8. Julius Schnorr-Ezekiel 34-25.jpg
Artwork describing Ezekiel 34:25 by an unknown Italian artist; illustration of The Bible and its Story Taught by One Thousand Picture Lessons, edited by Charles F. Horne and Julius A. Bewer, published by Francis R. Niglutsch, New York, in 1908. vol. 8.
“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.” (NKJV) [27] [28]

Cross reference: Leviticus 26:6; Hosea 2:20; Jeremiah 31:31

Isaiah 54:10 also promises a covenant of peace, an eternal one as described by Benson is his commentary [29]

Verse 31

“You are My flock, the flock of My pasture;
you are men, and I am your God,”
says the Lord God. (NKJV) [30]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Ezekiel is missing from the extant Codex Sinaiticus. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Theodore Hiebert, et al. 1996. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume VI. Nashville: Abingdon.
  2. ↑ Sub-titles to Ezekiel 34 in the New King James Version
  3. ↑ Jerusalem Bible (1966), footnote a at Ezekiel 34:1
  4. ↑ Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
  5. ↑ Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  6. ↑ Shepherd, Michael (2018). A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets. Kregel Exegetical Library. Kregel Academic. p. 13. ISBN   978-0825444593.
  7. ↑ Ezekiel 34:2
  8. ↑ Bromiley 1995, p. 574.
  9. ↑ Brown, Briggs & Driver 1994 "רָעָה"
  10. ↑ Gesenius 1979 "רָעָה"
  11. 1 2 Davidson, A. B. (1893), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Ezekiel 34, accessed 26 December 2019
  12. ↑ The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Editors. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2007. pp. 1229-1230 Hebrew Bible. ISBN   978-0195288810
  13. ↑ Ezekiel 34:3
  14. ↑ Ezekiel 34:5
  15. ↑ Ezekiel 34:6: NKJV
  16. ↑ Ezekiel 34:6: YLT
  17. 1 2 Galambush, S., Ezekiel in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine , p. 556
  18. ↑ Ezekiel 34:16
  19. ↑ Ezekiel 34:23
  20. ↑ Ezekiel 34:24
  21. ↑ Ezekiel 34:11–16, ESV
  22. ↑ Ezekiel 34:23–24, ESV
  23. ↑ Ezekiel 37:24–25, ESV
  24. ↑ Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998, pp. 296–298
  25. ↑ Wright, Christopher J. H. The Message of Ezekiel: A New Heart and a New Spirit.
  26. ↑ The Bible Speaks Today. Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 2001, pp. 278–280
  27. ↑ Ezekiel 34:25
  28. ↑ Isaiah 54:10
  29. ↑ Benson, Joseph. Commentary on the Old and New Testaments. London: T. Cordeux, 1811- 1818. Commentary on Leviticus 16:13
  30. ↑ Ezekiel 34:31

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