Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 34:8
[As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because [there was] no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
See Eze 34:2,3,5,6.
My shepherds: government governors are by Gods appointment, and here he owns the careless, worst of rulers as his shepherds.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
As I live, saith the Lord,…. It is an oath, and which he swore in his wrath, being provoked with the shepherds for their misadministration:
surely, because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd; a prey to all the kingdoms of the people, being without a governor, as the Targum; or to false teachers, there being no spiritual pastors to take care of them:
neither did my shepherds search for my flock; that was scattered, and carried captive, and became a prey to others; even those that were of God’s appointing, as the kings of Israel, their priests and prophets; for both their civil polity and ecclesiastical hierarchy were of God, though the ends thereof were not answered, or the persons put into office did not do their duty:
but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock:
[See comments on Eze 34:2],
[See comments on Eze 34:3].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Eze 34:8 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because [there was] no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
Ver. 8. As I live, saith the Lord, surely because, ] a God here seemeth to be in a great heat, in a perturbation of spirit, causing a kind of impediment in his speech, so thoroughly was he moved against these lewd shepherds, whose faults he rippeth up again to make better way to their sentence.
Because my flock became a prey.
Because there was no shepherd.
a Hyperbaton aetiologicum.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
As I live. Figure of speech Deisis. App-6.
saith the Lord God = [is] Adonai Jehovah’s oracle.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
prey: Eze 34:5, Eze 34:6, Eze 34:31
the shepherds: Eze 34:2, Eze 34:3, Eze 34:10, Eze 34:18, Act 20:33, 1Co 9:15, 2Pe 2:13, Jud 1:12
Reciprocal: 2Ch 18:16 – as sheep Psa 74:1 – the sheep Eze 34:28 – they shall Eze 39:18 – eat Zec 10:2 – General Mat 10:6 – lost Luk 2:8 – abiding Luk 12:45 – to eat Luk 15:4 – having Rev 3:2 – watchful
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CARELESS SHEPHERDS
My flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd.
Eze 34:8
I. I am a shepherd.Whether I will or no, I am a shepherd; I cannot avoid the solemn responsibility; there are some who are following my leading and obeying my voice. It is a momentous thought.
For it is terribly easy to be a false shepherd. Through carelessness, through the neglect of my duty, through easy-going indifference, as well as by actually doing spiritual harm to others and deliberately leading them into sin, I may be marring and ruining a precious human life. It does not need me to be flagrantly wicked; it simply needs that I should be unthinking and selfish.
Perhaps my Lord has entrusted me to the care of some other soulsthe souls of the children in the home or in the school. What a heavenly privilege it is, and what a stupendous responsibility!
II. Above all things I must dread lest I should be a hireling shepherd.Am I sufficiently alive to the infinite hazards which beset the children, the daily risks they run, the enemies they are ever encountering? Am I impressed profoundly enough with the unmeasurable possibilities which lie latent and slumbering in those young hearts, and which it should be my care to educe and develop and guide in the right way? Am I filled as I should be with a wise, patient, overcoming, invincible lovea love which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things? These are questions which pierce deep and demand much. Yet I ought to press them home, and to make sure that I can answer them in Gods way. I would not have Him say to meI will require My sheep at your hand, and will cause you to cease from feeding the sheep. There is an intolerable loss, a penetrating anguish, in such a word as that.
Illustration
The shepherds of this chapter are not the religious leaders of the people, but rulers, who sought in their government, not the good of the people, but their own selfish ends. But the statements made by the prophet may be rightly applied to rapacious priests, who care more for the fleece than for the flock. Pastors are required to feed the flock of God, not for fifthy lucre, but as ensamples for the sheep (1Pe 5:2-3). It is their duty also to strengthen the spiritually diseased, heal the sick, bind up the broken in heart, and seek the lost.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Eze 34:8. As I live is a phrase that occurs numerous times in the Bible, and means that the thing about to be stated is as sure and true as the existence of God. It is a form of oath along the line of Heb 6:13. Under such an oath the Lord charged the selfish shepherds of Israel with partaking of the food intended for the flock.