Глава 34

Jehovah is the true shepherd in the new kingdom of Israel In ch. XXXIII shows what the people can and should do through their efforts for the coming of salvation and the kingdom of God on earth. Now begins the picture of what God will do for this (and He will do almost everything alone) and this picture opens with a description of the social structure of the new kingdom of Israel. The former shepherds (kings and other leaders of national life) of Israel showed themselves to be selfish shepherds and their bad rule brought destruction to the people (vv. 1-10). Therefore the Lord will take charge of his flock; He will return it first to its own land, where it will find abundant pasture (vv. 11-16), in order to remove the renewed oppression of the weak by the strong. God will separate the stubborn rams in the flock and protect the weak sheep from them (17–22). David's descendant will feed the flock in a fertile land, safe from enemies and wild beasts, in blessed faithfulness to God (22–31). The chapter is close to Jeremiah 23.1–8, but in it the work of salvation appears more than there as the work of God alone, as a result of which the image of the Messiah does not appear so prominently. Ezek.34:1. And the word of the Lord came to me: There is no date, therefore, the time must be placed between the 12th year (Ezek.33.21) and the 25th year (Ezek.40.1) of the resettlement; so for the entire series of speeches up to Chapter XI. Ezek.34:2. son of man! prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who fed themselves! Shouldn't shepherds feed the flock? The image of a shepherd for a king, a prophet and any leader of national life, which is understood here as a prophet (mainly in the last time of the Kingdom of Judah and the post-exilic period), although it is found already in Hosea 13.6; 1 Kings 22.17; Isaiah 40.11 and was even explained earlier by interpreters by the fact that David was a shepherd before his reign; it became used in prophetic literature from Jeremiah (Jer. 13 and many others. Zech 10.3 and others John 10.1) under the influence, perhaps, of the Assyro-Babylonian in cuneiform reutu, pey (cf. Heb. ditch), shepherd, written in a monogram and borrowed by the Assyrians must have been from the Akkadians, and perhaps even from their predecessors, - an ordinary name for any ruler (for example, Neriglissor is called this); the full royal title was reu kenu, faithful, intelligent shepherd (Sanh. I, 8. Del. Z. - Wort. 602); Berosus says that the first king in the world, Alorus, received from the Deity the title of shepherd (cf. Iliod. II, 243. Cyp. VIII, 2, 13). - “Grief”, glory. "ole", Greek ω, Vulg. vae. Wed. Matthew 23. “Shouldn’t shepherds feed the flock,” that’s why they exist. Ezek.34:3. You ate the fat and clothed yourself with the waves, you slaughtered the fatted sheep, but did not feed the flock. "Knock". LXX punctuate galav as gelev, “milk”, which is more appropriate, because about “fat”, which not all livestock can deliver, is discussed further (eg Zechariah 11.16). - “And they dressed in the waves.” Support yourself at the expense of the herd, receiving food from it (milk according to LXX) and clothing, but do not perform duties towards it. - “The fattened sheep were slaughtered.” Not content with legal rights (milk and wave), you stop at nothing for your own gain, including murder (perhaps executing the rich for the purpose of confiscation). “They did not feed the flock,” the next verse explains. Ezek.34:4. The weak were not strengthened, and the sick sheep were not healed, and the wounded were not bandaged, and the stolen ones were not returned, and the lost ones were not sought, but they were ruled with violence and cruelty. “And the stolen one was not returned and the lost one was not searched for.” LXX is more natural: “Neither do you turn back when you go astray, nor do you seek out the lost.” For a Bedouin living in the desert, a lost sheep was the same as a dead one. This is not what the Good Shepherd does, who “takes the lost peas on a frame and brings them to his father”; Wed Luke 15.4. – “And they ruled them with violence and cruelty” is better in LXX: “and they were greatly insulted by labor...” than the parallelism is well maintained (v. 16). Wed. Zechariah 11.16; 1 Pet 5.3. Ezek.34:5. And they were scattered without a shepherd, and being scattered, they became food for every beast of the field. As a result of the bad rule of the kings and the poor leadership of the people’s life by those called to this, the kingdom fell, the people were scattered in captivity (“ruined” no in LXX and Pesh.) and became prey to the pagans (“every beast of the field”). Ezek.34:6. My sheep wander on all the mountains and on every high hill, and My sheep are scattered over all the face of the earth, and no one spies for them, and no one seeks them. “My sheep,” God’s, which further intensifies the guilt of the shepherds. However, the whole place is more permeated with deep sorrow for the sheep than with indignation at the shepherds, who have already partially suffered punishment. - “Over all the mountains and over every high hill.” The idea of ​​idolatry on high is brought to light. – “They were scattered over all the face of the earth” – prophetic past tense. Ezek.34:7. Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Up to 10 tbsp. judgment is announced to the shepherds, to which the verse serves as an introduction. Ezek.34:8. I live! says the Lord God; because My sheep were left to be spoiled, and without a shepherd, My sheep became food for every beast of the field, and My shepherds did not seek My sheep, and the shepherds fed themselves, but did not feed My sheep, - Before announcing the judgment, the prophet, as usual, summarizes the guilt of the shepherds. - “My Shepherds”. LXX doesn't have "mine". Ezek.34:9. Therefore, shepherds, listen to the word of the Lord. The literal repetition of v. 7, caused by the sidestepping in v. 8. Ezek.34:10. Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My sheep out of their hand, and I will not let them feed the sheep any more, and the shepherds will no longer feed themselves, and I will pluck My sheep out of their jaws, and they will not be their food. Judgment consists only of removing shepherds from their duties (softness). - “I will seek My sheep out of their hand.” I will demand an account for them (cf. Heb 13:17) and take them away, as from the careless. - “And I will pluck My sheep out of their jaws.” In Art. 8 only predatory animals are named as destroyers of sheep; here the shepherds themselves are indicated as such, who, therefore, for the sheep are no better than wild beasts. – One might think, based on the words of the prophet, that the people even in captivity are under the care of the former shepherds, but the prophet only says that the previous conditions of existence will not be repeated during the restoration of Israel. Ezek.34:11. For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will seek out my sheep and examine them. “Here, I will find it myself” - lit. “Here am I, and I will require it.” Jehovah himself now acts as a shepherd, and this appearance of Him is indicated by a brief and energetic “behold, I”, cf. Art. 20. – “I will seek out My sheep and examine them” – glor.: “As a shepherd attends (Vulg. visitabo) his flock... I will seek My sheep.” I will make sure that they are all there and where they are scattered. Wed. the saying of the Savior: “I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15.24, etc.); also Isa 40.11; Zechariah 10.3. Ezek.34:12. As a shepherd looks after his flock on the day when he is among his scattered flock, so I will look over My sheep and release them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. “On that day” – glory. adds: “when there is clouded and dim” - a doublet of the end of the verse. – “Abstracted” – transl. according to Vulg. euro a word meaning "separated." – “On a cloudy and gloomy day” see explanation of Ezek.30.3. The verse, like the following ones, points mainly to the liberation of the Jews from Babylonian captivity, in a further sense - to the spiritual Israel, and in the eschatological sense to the final fate of Israel, when it will be “all saved” according to Ap. Pavel. Ezek.34:13. And I will bring them out from among the nations, and gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, and by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. “And I will bring them out from among the nations,” as I once did from Egypt. – “With the floods” – also Hebrew. the word afik, which is translated “dells” in Ezek. 6.3, see explanation there; glory "wild" Ezek.34:14. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold will be on the high mountains of Israel; there they will rest in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. Ezek.34:15. I will feed my sheep and I will give them rest, says the Lord God. Ezek.34:16. I will find the lost, and return the stolen, and bandage the wounded, and strengthen the sick, and destroy the fat and violent; I will shepherd them with righteousness. The Lord himself will do for the flock what He demanded of the shepherds: v. 4; see explanation there; here it is added: “but I will destroy the fat and violent one,” for which and why it is explained in Art. 18 and 19. LXX, Pesh. and Vulg. they read instead of eshmor, I will destroy, ashmid, amulet, glory: “I will supply” (“and the violent one” LXX is omitted, Vulg. fortem.); This reading is defended by the consideration: it would be a strange way to feed a flock by exterminating unsuccessful sheep; but they object to this consideration: God is not an ordinary shepherd; thought heb. t. serves as a good transition to the next. verses and fits in with the following. remark: “I will shepherd them in righteousness,” glory. more precisely: “I will save you with judgment,” which, see Art. 20. Ezek.34:17. But you, my sheep,” thus says the Lord God, “behold, I will judge between sheep and sheep, between the ram and the goat. “Until now, bad shepherds have been opposed to the Good. Now that the Shepherd is good, there is a contrast between the sheep themselves. It has not yet been considered because bad shepherds did not distinguish between obedient and obstinate animals” (Bert.). Only the Good Shepherd, Jehovah, will judge between them. The comparison with Matthew 25.32 suggests itself. – “A ram and a goat” is the closest definition to “a sheep and a sheep.” Ezek.34:18. Is it not enough for you that you graze in good pasture, and yet trample the rest of your pasture with your feet, drink clean water, and muddy the rest with your feet? Ezek.34:19. so shall My sheep eat what is trampled under your feet, and drink what is disturbed by your feet? Just as kings, princes and other leaders of national life deal with the people, so in the people themselves, following the example set from above, the strongest treat the weakest. Strong sheep are not content with the fact that, being able to get to pasture and water earlier, they use the best grass and unclouded water ("drink clean water"; more precisely: "settled water pivast"), they, having had enough and drinking, remain in the pasture and watering hole and trample them. Ezek.34:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. The initial opposition between the quiet and the obstinate sheep here turns into the opposition between the fat and the lean, just as Judaism, like Christianity, was the enemy of wealth in itself, regardless of the method of acquiring it (“mammon of unrighteousness”, “blessed beggars” without “spirit” in Luke in a certain code). A social issue is raised. Ezek.34:21. Since you push with your side and shoulder, and gore all the weak with your horns until you push them out, Ezek.34:22. then I will save My sheep, and they will no longer be spoiled, and I will judge between sheep and sheep. The herd, it seems, is no longer taken to a watering place, but in its stable and stall. - “Until you push them out.” An indication of the captivity, the culprits of which, i.e., the death of the kingdom, the prophet thus considers the upper strata of society. Ezek.34:23. And I will appoint over them one shepherd, who will feed them, my servant David; he will shepherd them and he will be their shepherd. Since God is one, in return for the two hitherto former kings in Israel and in return for the many bad shepherds, he will give them one shepherd who will be a faithful executor of the will and plans of God (“My servant”; this is what is called, besides David and Nebuchadnezzar in a different sense, of course; Jer 25.9, etc.), namely David, not resurrected (Hebrew, for example, the verb kum - to get up, to raise) the forefather (Gitz. and a few others), and David in the sense given to this word already Hos. 3.5 (Ezek. 2.2; cf. Mal 3.2-3), that descendant of David with whom his family will reach the pinnacle, greatness, in which will be to the greatest extent everything that was partial and imperfect in David, i.e. the Messiah; Ezekiel may have been referring to Jeremiah 23. Thus, having previously promised (v. 15) to feed the sheep himself, God now determines more closely how this His immediate feeding will take place: through David, the Messiah, whose government of Israel is thus not different from the government of God (the divinity of the Messiah). Ezek.34:24. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the Lord, have said this. Only under such management and leadership as that of David, that is, the Messiah, who cannot stand, like the previous kings, in enmity with God, God will reveal himself to Israel in all His being and will be honored “in spirit and in truth” (“I will be their God”). – “Prince”, nasi, not a king, melek, as in Ezek.37.22, perhaps to contrast the Messiah with ordinary kings, to indicate the spirituality and freedom of his power; however, in Ezekiel these words are almost homonyms. Ezek.34:25. And I will make a covenant of peace with them and remove fierce beasts from the land, so that they will live safely in the steppe and sleep in the forests. Ezekiel must be referring to Hosea 2.18ff. - "With them" . LXX: “Davidovi.” – “Covenant of Peace” – peace with God, and through him with all nature. - “I will remove fierce beasts from the earth.” The prophet, perhaps, most closely means his comparison of Israel with a flock, which, under the true shepherd, will not be harmed by wild beasts, that is, by the surrounding pagan peoples (cf. v. 28). But by analogy with Isaiah 11.6, 65.25; Zechariah 3.10 may refer to the change in the instincts of the wildest animals that was promised in messianic times, but has not yet occurred. - “In the steppe” and “in the forests” - the usual havens of wild animals. Ezek.34:26. I will bestow blessings on them and on the surroundings of My hill, and I will send down rain in due time; these will be showers of blessing. The new relationship between God and Israel will also affect soulless (not animate only, as in v. 25: animals) nature, giving it extraordinary fertility; since the latter in Palestine depended entirely on rain, that is what we are talking about immediately. - “My Hill”, i.e. Zion, common - Jerusalem with its church, which, according to Chapter XLVII. will in some mysterious way (see explanation there) determine the fertility of the future (mysterious) promised land by the river emanating from it. Ezek.34:27. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its produce; and they will be safe in their land, and they will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bonds of their yoke and free them from the hand of their enslavers. Wed. Lion. 25:18–19, 26:3–4. – “Safe” – glory. "with the hope of peace". - “I will break the ties of their yoke.” Israel is thought of as a beast under the jugular. The yoke consisted, as it does now, of two parts connected by a transverse log. - “I will free them from the hands of their enslavers.” The immediate outcome is liberation from the Chaldean yoke. Ezek.34:28. They shall no longer be prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the field devour them; they will live in safety, and no one will frighten them. Ezek.34:29. And I will bring forth a glorious planting among them, and they will no longer perish from hunger in the land or suffer shame from the nations. "Beasts of the field" may be a synonym for "nations". - “Glorious planting.” This may mean all the vegetation of the earth, which, according to Ezekiel 36.35, will become a real paradise. But the expression also resembles the frequent presentation of the Messiah by the prophets (Isa. 11.1; Jer. 23.5; cf. Ezek. 17.22) as a branch; This understanding is favored by the verb used here, more precisely translated not “I will produce,” but as in the LXX: “I will restore,” and the reading of the LXX: “the garden is peaceful” (read shalom, peace, instead of leshem, in the name, glorious). “And they will not be small in number on earth” - only in glory. Bible. - “They will no longer die of hunger on earth,” especially frequent during the constant devastating wars between Jews and their neighbors (confirmation for “peaceful” LXX); In general, Canaan was distinguished by its fertility. - “Shame” for poverty, reaching the point of famine. Ezek.34:30. And they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord God, God will reveal himself as the God of Israel. If the earth itself will be so blessed by Him, then how much more so will the people. Ezek.34:31. and that you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture; You are men, and I am your God, says the Lord God. The speech returns to the main idea of ​​the chapter - the image of the shepherd, abandoned for a while. – “The sheep of my pasture” sounds warmer than the former “my sheep” (v. 6, etc.). – “You are human” can only convey the idea that everything promised, of course, cannot be realized by human forces, but God promises, and this is the guarantee for implementation. But such a thought disrupts the flow of speech in the verse and therefore LXX must be right in not reading it. You might be interested in: