Ezekiel 34:1
Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
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Other translations
The LORD’s word came to me, saying,
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Original Hebrew
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Study notes
Whole chapterOn Ezekiel 34:1–24
This chapter includes both judgment and salvation. God would judge the shepherds, that is, the former kings of Judah. They failed to care for their flock, meaning the people of Judah.
The Lord would also judge the fattened sheep. These were the strong and selfish people who harmed others. Yet God would act as a good shepherd. He would care for the rest of the flock and provide for them.
The image of the shepherd shows both the strength and kindness of God's actions with His people. In the ancient Near East, a shepherd was a common symbol for a king. People saw the earthly king as a representative of the divine shepherd who appointed him.
Shepherds had to protect their flocks from wild animals like lions and bears. They also needed to know their sheep by name and gently lead them to good pasture and calm waters. They faced cold, heat, wind, rain, and snow while caring for their flocks.
Good kings who led their people wisely and strongly were like shepherds. The New Testament uses the same image to describe pastors and elders, who should oversee their flock without being domineering (1 Peter 5:2–4). Jesus perfectly combines strength and kindness as the “great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20).
On Ezekiel 34:1–37.28
These chapters describe the blessings that would come when the Lord returned to his people.
He would be their shepherd. He would give them good and faithful leadership (Ezekiel 34).
He would make the land fruitful again. In this way, he would show that his name is honored and holy (Ezekiel 35–36).
He would bring his people back to life and make them one nation again (Ezekiel 37).
On this section Ezekiel 33:1–37:28
After God appointed Ezekiel to be a prophet, he stopped Ezekiel from being able to talk. Ezekiel was only to speak when sharing messages from God. God would allow Ezekiel to be able to talk normally again after important news reached him. That news came seven years later. It was the news that Jerusalem had been destroyed by Babylon.
During those seven years Ezekiel had faithfully shared God’s messages with the Jews in Babylon. He had tried to get them to change their ways. The Jews had finally recognised that they had sinned against God. But they didn’t put into practice what Ezekiel taught them. They talked about loving God. But their actions showed that they didn’t serve God with their whole heart. God described this as treating God’s name as if it were not holy.
It was clear that God’s people weren’t going to be faithful to his covenant with them. So God explained the new covenant that he had announced in Ezekiel chapter 16. God would make this new covenant for the honour of his holy name. He wanted all people everywhere to know that he is the holy Lord and King. God chose to make this clear to all nations by making a new covenant with Israel.
The new covenant was based on God’s Spirit being inside his people. This would change their hearts. They would no longer be stubborn but would want to obey God. God promised to save his people from all their uncleanness. He would make them pure from all their sins. This meant that he would save them from the power that sin had over them. He would forgive them and make them able to choose to obey him.
The new covenant included covenant blessings. These were even greater than the covenant blessings of the Mount Sinai covenant. They included more than peace, food, land and safety. They included a leader from the family line of David. This person would be a good and faithful shepherd. He would rule over the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom as one nation again. God himself would live with his people and would make Israel holy. This would last for ever.
The Spirit being breathed into the dry bones was a picture of new life. It showed that God’s people would live in their land again after the exile. It was also a picture of the new life they would have in the new covenant. God’s people would have new life because God’s Spirit would be in them. Some of the promises in these messages were fulfilled after the Jews returned from exile. Jews came to understand that some of Ezekiel’s prophecies would come true in the future. That would happen when the messiah came. New Testament writers showed that Jesus is the Messiah. He put the new covenant into effect.
Tyndale Open Study Notes (adapted by Mission Mutual) and Biblica Study Notes, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.