Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 34:5
And they were scattered, because [there is] no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
5. The allegory is simple enough. Owing to the evil and selfish government of the rulers the people became the prey of all the nations round about them. The figure of the flock indicates, however, the affection of Jehovah for his people and his compassion over their sufferings.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 5. And they were scattered] There was no discipline kept up; and the flock, the Church, became disorganized, and separated from each other, both in affection and fellowship. And the consequence was, the grievous wolves, false and worldly interested teachers, seized on and made a prey of them. Of the communion of saints such shepherds know nothing, farther than that it makes a part of the common creed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They, my neglected sheep, were scattered, by the inroads and invasions of their enemies, that broke in like devouring beasts.
No shepherd; no vigilant, faithful, good shepherd that loved the flock, and of love studied its welfare.
Became meat; were made a prey of, and devoured by Syrians, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, &c., all their neighbours might the devour them.
The beasts, signify men, troops of robbers, and spoilers.
When they were scattered; as sheep scattered are easily devoured by every hungry wolf or fox.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. scattered, because . . . noshepherdthat is, none worthy of the name, though there weresome called shepherds (1Ki 22:17;Mat 9:36). Compare Mt26:31, where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd wassmitten. God calls them “My sheep”; for they werenot, as the shepherds treated them, their patrimony whereby to”feed themselves.”
meat to all . . . beastsTheybecame a prey to the Syrians, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they were scattered because there is no shepherd,…. 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, Mt 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.”
And they became meat to all beasts of the field when they were scattered; 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) They were scattered, because. . . .The calamities of the people are attributed to the fault of the rulers, not because the people themselves were free from sinthe contrary has already been abundantly asserted in this bookbut because the peoples sins were largely due to the evil example, the idolatries, the oppressions, and the disobedience of their rulers.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“And they were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became meat to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.”
This has definite reference to the past. They had had no true and worthy shepherd. That is why they were now scattered. Their kings, their official leaders, their official teachers and their official watchmen, had failed them and thus they had become meat for the hunters and scavengers round about. But not only had they been failed in the past, their shepherds were still failing them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 34:5. Because there is no shepherd For want of a shepherd.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 34:5 And they were scattered, because [there is] no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
Ver. 5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd. ] None but an idol shepherd, Zec 11:17 a foolish shepherd; Eze 34:1-5 and the sheep, being a foolish creature, even to a proverb, a and apt to wander into harm’s way, will never return to the fold, if not fetched back, but stick in the thorns, or die in a ditch, or run into the wolf’s mouth.
a ; and .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
because there is no shepherd: or, without a shepherd.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
they were: Eze 34:6, Eze 33:21, Eze 33:28, 1Ki 22:17, 2Ch 18:16, Jer 23:2, Jer 50:6, Jer 50:17, Zec 13:7, Mat 9:36
because there is no shepherd: or, without a shepherd, and so Eze 34:8, Zec 10:2, Zec 10:3
and they became: Eze 34:8, Isa 56:9, Jer 12:9-12, Joh 10:2, Act 20:29-31
Reciprocal: Num 27:17 – as sheep Jer 10:21 – their Mat 15:24 – I am not Mat 26:31 – and the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 34:5. It is a duty of a shepherd to protect his flock against wolves and other wild beasts. These selfish shepherds of Israel neglected their obligation and allowed the people to be exposed to the beasts (idolatrous nations) around them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 34:5-6. And they were scattered, &c. Driven into other parts of the land, or into other countries, by the severity, exactions, and oppressions of their rulers. Because there is no shepherd No one worthy of the name of a shepherd; none that cared for or properly watched over and fed the flock. And they became meat to all the beasts of the field They were made a prey to, and were spoiled by, their enemies, temporal and spiritual. My sheep wandered through all the mountains As silly sheep, when there is no one to look after them, wander from one mountain and hill to another; so my thoughtless and infatuated people, disregarded and neglected, or treated with cruelty by those that should have protected and guided them, have manifested their ignorance and folly in following various species of idolatry, and in forming to themselves religions after their own imaginations, full of superstition and impiety. And none did search or seek after them Their priests and princes were so far from calling them back from these wanderings, that they were the first to follow them; nay, and even to go before, and set them the example.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
34:5 And they were scattered, because [there is] no shepherd: and they {d} became food to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
(d) For lack of good government and doctrine they perished.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Third, the rulers allowed the people to scatter over the earth instead of keeping them safely together; they were negligent. The Israelites scattered because they lacked leadership and became prey for the enemies of God’s flock. They wandered everywhere, but there was no one to seek them out (cf. Mat 9:36; Joh 10:12-13).