None shall choose even so much as to pass through the country, on account of its being infested with wild beasts through its desolateness, and because the air of it shall be rendered unwholesome, by means of the effluvia arising from dead and dying bodies, and the pestilential diseases which rage in the country, and sweep away its inhabitants. Then shall they know that I am the Lord-That I am their Lord, their righteous governor, and just judge. When I have laid the land most desolate, &c.— When I have brought these destructive calamities upon it, because of the sins and 'abominations of its inhabitants. Observe, reader, those are untractable and unteachable indeed, that are not made to know their dependance upon God when all their creature comforts fail them, and they are made desolate. Verse 27. Surely they that are in the wastes- the phrase may denote the beauty and glory of the They who continue to dwell among the desolations temple, which they looked upon as their chief of Jerusalem and Judea; shall fall by the sword-strength and protection; none shall pass through— This they accordingly did, both through the civil dissensions among them, in the conspiracy formed against Gedaliah, and likewise by the Chaldeans revenging his death. And him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts—He shall be a prey to lions and other ravenous beasts, that will multiply in the ruined country. And they that be in the forts and caves-Out of the reach of men and beasts; shall die of the pestilence-My hand shall reach them, and send among them those destructive disorders which shall sweep them away. These three judgments here mentioned, the sword, destructive beasts, and the pestilence, together with famine, are often threatened as the last and finishing strokes of divine vengeance upon the Jewish nation: see chap. v. 12, 17, and vi. 12, and xiv. 21; Jer. xv. 3. By the forts and caves here spoken of, are meant the strong holds formed by nature in the rocks, or cut out in the sides of the mountains. Many of them were so large that men might secure themselves, their families, and their goods in them. So David is said, 1 Sam. xxiii. 14, to abide in strong holds, and remain in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. Such was the cave of Adullam, where David had his residence for some time, and was there resorted to by his relations, (1 Sam. xxii. 1,) and at another time by his principal officers, 2 Sam. xxiii. 15. Verses 30-32. The children of thy people-Those of the captivity; still are talking against thee—Or rather, of thee, as the LXX. rightly render it; for with their mouths they showed much love, as it follows in the next verse. By the walls and in the doors of their houses-Both in their public places of concourse, and in their private meetings. And speak one to another, saying, Come, &c.-These were such as drew nigh to God with their mouths, but their hearts were far from him, as Isaiah describes their hypocrisy, chap. xxix. 13; and they come unto thee as the people cometh—Or, as disciples flock to their teachers: so the Chaldee paraphrase explains it. They make a profession of great regard to piety and virtue, and express a great esteem for thee, but at the same time they indulge themselves in sin and wickedness. And lo! thou art unto them as a very lovely song, &c.—They come to hear thee for their entertainment, not for their edification, in the spirit ers. a1 Sam. iii. 20. in which many go to hear noted and eloquent preachSt. Austin tells us, that he himself was such an auditor of St. Ambrose before he was converted, Confess., 1. v. c. 12; "I heard him diligently when he discoursed in the congregation, but not with that application of mind which I ought to have done; but I came rather out of curiosity, to know whether his eloquence was answerable to the opinion which the world had of him. I was very attentive to his style, and charmed with the sweetness of his delivery, but had little value or concern for the subjects he treated of." shepherds of Israel. B. C. 587. 33 a And when this cometh to pass, A. M. 3417. (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. b Chap. ii. 5. Verse 33. And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come)—Or, rather, lo, it is come; for so the same phrase is translated chap. vi. 2, 6, 10, the verb || being in the present tense; when they shall see thy prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem actually fulfilled, and all the events predicted by thee exactly brought to pass; then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them—Then shall they be convinced of the truth of thy mission, and of their own inexcusable crime in despising thy prophecies. The words of this verse are evidently spoken by the Lord to his prophet. CHAPTER XXXIV. In this chapter the shepherds of Israel, that is, their rulers, both in church and state, are called to an account, as having been very much accessory to the sin and ruin of Israel, by their neglect of the duties of their station. We have here, (1,) A high charge exhibited against them for their negligence, their unskilfulness, and unfaithfulness in the management of public affairs, 1-6, 8. (2,) Their discharge from their trust, for their insufficiency and treachery, 7-10. (3,) A gracious promise that God would take care of his flock, though they did not, and that it should not always suffer as it had done, by their maladministrations, 11–16. (4,) Another charge is exhibited against those of the flock that were fat and strong, for the injuries they did to those who were weak and feeble, 17–22. (5,) Another promise that God would, in the fulness of time, send the Messiah to be the great and good Shepherd of the sheep, who should redress all grievances, and set every thing to rights with the flock, 23-31. A. M. 3417. AND b B. C. 587. ND the word of the LORD came || Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the A. M. 3417. a 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, a Chap. xxxiii. 24. b Jer. xxiii. 4; Zech. xi. 17. tings, comprehends both civil and ecclesiastical governors. See notes on Isa. lvi. 11; Jer. ii. 8. Other writers also use the same expression; princes being called shepherds of their people, as well as those who have the immediate care of their souls: see Psa. lxxviii. 71, 72. Thus Homer calls Agamemnon, Пoevahawv, the shepherd of the people. And as the threatenings here denounced extend to all sorts of Wo NOTES ON CHAPTER XXXIV. Verse 1. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying-It is probable that this prophecy immediately followed the preceding; and that at, or immediately after, the arrival of the news that Jerusalem was conquered, the prophet was commissioned to speak of the tyranny and carelessness of the governors and teachers, and to point out their negligence as a principal cause of the incredulity and wicked-governors, so the several sins of the princes, priests, ness of the people. Thus the transition appears to be natural, and the connection close, between this prophecy and the foregoing one, as also between the beginning of this prophecy and its conclusion. For considering that, in parts at least, the people suffered for the faults of the shepherds, mercy now urged the prophet to declare, from God, that he would judge between them, save the flock, and set up one shepherd over them, who should feed them, even his servant David. and prophets are reproved, chap. xxii. 25, &c. to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves— That regard their own profit and advantage, not the good of the people committed to their charge. The beauty of the original, Onix Dyni'n 28 1, may be expressed in Latin or Greek, though not in English:-pastoribus qui pascunt semet ipsoS: TOLC ROLμεσιν οι ποιμαινουσιν σαυτους. Plato, in tire first book of his Commonwealth, describing the office of a magistrate, saith, "He should look upon himself as susVerse 2. Prophesy against the shepherds of Is-taining the office of a shepherd, that makes it his rael-The word shepherd, in the prophetical wri- chief business to take care of his flock; not as if he The unfaithfulness of A. M. 3417. B. C. 587. 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe || tains, and upon every high hill: yea, A. M. 3417. you with the wool, dye kill them that my flock was scattered upon all the are fed but ye feed not the flock. face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. 4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye f sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. in order to cure them. Neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, &c.—Or, which was gone astray, as the word is translated, Deut. xxii. 1. Ye have not, by your instructions and exhortations, endeavoured to reduce those who had wandered from the way of truth, or to reclaim those who were ready to perish in their sins; but with force and cruelty have ye ruled them-Have endeavoured to reduce and govern them by the rough methods of compulsion and cruelty, and not by the gentle way of reason and argument, longsuffering, meekness, and love; and your government over them has been exercised by tyranny and oppression, instead of justice, kindness, and beneficence. Verses 3, 4. Ye eat the fat-Or, the milk, as the LXX. render it. The Hebrew words chalab, milk, and cheleb, fat, differ only in their points, so that the ancient versions take them promiscuously one for the other. These shepherds of the Lord's flock, these civil and ecclesiastical rulers of the people, used their power over them, and exercised their offices, merely for their temporal advantage and ⚫emolument. "They exacted their tribute and taxes, their tithes and perquisites, with great earnestness; and they oppressed, and even destroyed the people, to enrich themselves: but they bestowed no pains to provide for the welfare of the state, or of the souls of those intrusted to them."-Scott. Ye kill them that are fed-Ye take away the lives of the wealthy and substantial by unjust means, in order to enrich || yourselves with their estates. But ye feed not the flock-Ye take no care for their benefit, temporal or spiritual. Ye are so ignorant that ye know not how to feed them, and ye are so indolent that ye will not take any pains to do it, and ye are so treacherous and unfaithful that ye never desired or designed it. The diseased-The weak and languishing; have ye not strengthened—With your help, counsel, or countenance. Ye have not applied proper remedies to the wants and necessities of those committed to your charge. The magistrates have not taken care to relieve the needy and defend the oppressed. The priests and the prophets have not been diligent in giving the people proper instructions, in rectifying the mistakes of those that were in error, in warning the unruly, or comforting the disconsolate. Neither have ye bound up that which was broken-Ye have Verse 10. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am not given relief to the afflicted and miserable: a against the shepherds-They have made me their metaphor taken from surgeons binding up wounds || enemy by their negligence and abuse of their pow || Verses 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. The gracious promise B. C. 587. EZEKIEL. A. M. 3417. against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. 11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12 2 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by er, and I will appear and act as such. They have been enemies to my sheep, though pretending to be their shepherds; I will be an open enemy to them; and will require my flock at their hands-I will require a severe account from their kings and princes, their priests and prophets, of the damage my people have sustained through their ill management; and I will deprive them of the honour, pre-eminence, and advantage of which they have made such an ill use. Verses 11-16. Behold, I, even I, will search my sheep--I myself will recall them from their wanderings into the right way; and will seek them out Hebrew, np, I will seek them early, or, seek them in the morning. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock-With the greatest care and diligence; as he gathers them together, counts them, brings them to the fold, observes what they have suffered, and, if lame or torn, binds up and heals them, and pro- | vides pasture for them; so will I seek out my sheep, &c.-Though magistrates and ministers fail in doing their part for the good of the church, yet God will not fail in doing his; he will take his flock into his own hands, rather than it should be deprived of any kindness he had designed for it. The under shepherds may prove careless, but the chief Shepherd neither slumbers nor sleeps. They may be false, but he abides faithful. And deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered-Will bring them home from their several dispersions, whither they have been driven; in the cloudy and dark day -Hebrew, or, in the day of clouds and darkness; in the dark and dismal time of the destruction of their country. And will bring them out of God to his flock. the rivers, and in all the inhabited A. M. 3417. places of the country. B. C. 587. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them * with judgment. 17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GoD; Behold, I judge between 3 cattle and cattle, between the rams and the hegoats, from the people-This prophecy primarily respected their restoration from captivity in Babylon, and was in part at least fulfilled when so many thousands of them returned to their own land under the conduct of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others. It seems, however, to look still further, even to the general restoration of the whole Jewish nation from their present wide dispersion over the whole world, which restoration most of the prophets foretel shall be effected in the latter days. But there is no need to confine this promise wholly to the Jews; when those, in any age or nation, that have gone astray from God into the paths of sin are brought back by repentance; when those that erred come to the acknowledgment of the truth; when God's outcasts are gathered and restored, and religious assemblies that were dispersed are again collected and united upon the ceasing of persecution; and when the churches have rest and liberty, then this prediction has a true accomplishment. I will feed them in a good pasture-I will supply all their wants, and make ample provision for the support both of their natural and spiritual life. Upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be-There shall they have fixed habitations upon their return, and there shall they rest in safety. There shall they lie in a good fold, &c.-These expressions denote both plenty and security. But I will destroy the fat and the strong--Those who oppress and tyrannise over the weak. I will feed them with judgment—I will judge, chastise, and punish them. Ver. 17, 19. As for you, O my flock—The prophet, having finished what he had to say to the shepherds, now delivers God's message to the flock. God had The spiritual David, A. M. 3417. B. C. 587. 18 Seemeth it a small thing unto || with your horns, till ye have scat- A. M. 3417. you to have eaten up the good pas-tered them abroad; ture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. 21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased z Verse 17.- Verse 17.b Isa. xl. 11; Jer. xxiii. 4, 5; John x. 11; Heb. xiii. 20; 1 Pet. ii. 25; v. 4.- - Jer. xxx. 9; Chap. xxxvii. 24, 25; Hos. iii. 5. 22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and "I will judge between cattle and cattle. 23 And I will set up one b Shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. 25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell h d Verse 30; Exodus xxix. 45; Chap. xxxvii. 27.— Chap. xxxvii. 22; Luke i. 32, 33.—f Ch. xxxvii. 26.- - Lev. xxvi. 6; Isa. xi. 6-9; xxxv. 9; Hos. ii. 18. Ver. 28; Jer. xxiii. 6. Verses 23-25. And I will set up one ShepherdThat is, the Messiah, "the true Shepherd, who hath given himself this name both in the prophets and in the gospel, and who hath perfectly fulfilled all the duties, the characters whereof have been before described. He is called David, because he sprung from David according to the flesh; because he possessed eminently and really all those qualities which the Scriptures give to David as the type of the Messiah; and because he was the person in whom all the promises made to David were fulfilled. Though this prophecy was in a great measure completed when Christ, by the preaching of the gospel, gathered into one the children of God, among whom were many of the lost sheep of Israel, yet it will receive a further completion at the general conversion of the Jews."-Calmet. I the Lord will be their God before ordered him to speak tenderly to them, and to assure them of the mercy which he had in store for them. But now he is ordered to make a difference between some and others of them, to separate between the precious and the vile, and then to give them a promise of the Messiah, by whom this distinction would be effectually made; partly at his first coming, when for judgment he should come into this world, John ix. 39; but completely at his second coming, when he shall, as it is here said, judge between cattle as a shepherd divides between the sheep and the goats, and shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left, Matt. xxv. 32, 33. Between the rams and the he-goats-The Hebrew, it seems, may be better rendered, Between the small cattle, and the cattle of rams and of he-goats, between the weak and the strong cattle; that is, between the rich and the poor, as the Chaldee Paraphrase explains-I will renew my covenant with them, and receive the sense upon verse 20. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture? &c.This reproof may be fitly applied to those of the rich and great, who take no care that the poor may enjoy the benefit of their superfluities, but will rather let them be thrown away and lost, than they will || take the trouble of seeing them disposed of for the relief of those that stand in need. As for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden, &c.—They are compelled to live upon the relics of what you have spoiled and destroyed. Verses 21, 22. Because ye have thrust with side and shoulder, &c.-Have molested and vexed the poor and weak by your unjust and violent dealings; therefore will I save my flock—I will interpose, and rescue the poor of my people from violence and oppression. The reader will easily observe that the metaphors used in these verses are taken from two sorts of cattle, the one of the larger and stronger kind, the other of the smaller and weaker sort, which the larger ones are wont to thrust aside and push at with their horns. them again into my protection. I will be a God allsufficient for them, and they shall not, as formerly, have recourse to any other. And my servant David a prince among them-To reduce them to their allegiance, to receive their homage, and to reign over them, in them, and for them. Observe, reader, those, and those only, that have the Lord Jesus for their Prince, have the Lord Jehovah for their God. And I will make with them a covenant of peaceThe covenant of grace is this covenant of peace ; in it God is at peace with penitent and obedient believers, speaks peace to them, and assures them of peace with him, and of all good, even all the good they need to make them happy. This peace is through Jesus Christ, who hath procured it for us by his merits, and imparts it to us by his Spirit. He is the peace predicted by Micah, chap. v. 5. Peace to men was announced at his birth; his gospel is the gospel of peace, and he himself is the God and King of peace: in short, he it is who pacifieth all things and reconciles and unites in one Jews and Gentiles, God and man, heaven and earth. And I will cause |