“I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back 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 in justice.” ’
Parallel Translations
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“I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back 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 in justice.” ’
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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.
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I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; and the fat and the strong I will destroy, I will feed them in justice.
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 34:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
- Ezekiel 34:4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed that which was sick. You haven’t bound up that which was broken. You haven’t brought back that which was driven away. You haven’t sought that which was lost, but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor.
- Ezekiel 34:11 “ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
- Isaiah 49:26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
- Luke 5:31-32 Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- Luke 15:4-7 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
- Micah 4:6-7 “In that day,” says Yahweh, “I will assemble that which is lame, and I will gather that which is driven away, and that which I have afflicted; and I will make that which was lame a remnant, and that which was cast far off a strong nation: and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion from then on, even forever.”
- Ezekiel 39:18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
- Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- Isaiah 5:17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
- Isaiah 10:16 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.
- Jeremiah 10:24 Yahweh, correct me, but gently; not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.
- Micah 7:14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell by themselves in a forest, in the middle of fertile pasture land, let them feed; in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
- Isaiah 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
- Jeremiah 9:15 Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
- Isaiah 61:1-3 The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
- Matthew 15:24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- Matthew 18:10-14 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost. “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray? If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
- Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore Yahweh of Armies says concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink poisoned water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
- Jeremiah 50:11 “Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;
- Amos 4:1-3 Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husbands, “Bring us drinks!” The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, “The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks. You will go out at the breaks in the wall, everyone straight before her; and you will cast yourselves into Harmon,” says Yahweh.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, such as lift up themselves above their brethren,…
Meaning, such as lift up themselves above their brethren, and think they have no need to be governed by me.
That is, by putting difference between the good and the bad, and so give to either as they deserve.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 34:16 I will seek that which was lost,…
Eze 34:16 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.
Ver. 16. I will seek that which was lost, &c.] As he did Peter, Paul, the good thief, Matthew, Zaccheus, the disciples after their shameful flight, Augustine, all us who, like sheep, were gone astray, &c.
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But I will destroy the fat.] Pinguem et petulcam; such as in whom fulness breedeth forgetfulness, as in Jeshurun. {Deu 32:15} Queen Elizabeth was told, in a sermon by Mr Deering, that once she was tanquam ovis, like a meek sheep, but now tanquam indomita iuvenca, as an untamed heifer; and therefore wished her to meet God by repentance. Here good Oecolampadius complaineth, and cause enough he had, of some of Christ’s fatter sheep who were too too haunty and troublesome to their fellows. The Lutherans of Suevia he might well mean, who, in their Syngramma, used him very coarsely; and Luther himself, in his book of private mass, set forth A.D. 1533, passeth a very uncharitable censure upon his disease and death.
And I will feed them with judgment.] Putting a difference, and dealing with them as it is fit.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In the former part of the 16th verse, God…
In the former part of the 16th verse, God promiseth to his people that he will do all the offices of a good, watchful, tender, and faithful shepherd, which those shepherds did neglect. See also Eze 34:4.
I will destroy; severely punish; which is threatened, and was fulfilled in the ruin of the rulers of this people.
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The fat; the powerful and rich, who by oppressing and devouring my people grew fat, proud, troublesome, and dangerous to the poor sheep.
The strong; by their authority I gave, and by the encroachments they have made to increase their power.
I will feed them with judgment: it is an irony; I will feed them, but with wormwood and gall, my sore but just judgments and displeasure, so some: but others refer judgment here to reason, decency, and fitness, the most convenient, beneficial, and safe way; as a wise shepherd will I feed these my sheep. And either may consist with the context.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And as for you, O my flock, thus saith…
And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God,.... Having done with the shepherds, and the complaint against them, the Lord proceeds to take notice of the flock, or the people themselves, and the evils that were among them; for in the Lord's own flock, in the nation and church of Israel, as now in the visible congregated churches of Christ, there were two sorts of persons, some good, others bad; some that behaved well, and others ill; some were sheep, and others goats:
behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats: between the smaller and weaker cattle, the sheep and the lambs; and the larger and stronger cattle, the rams and he goats; by which latter may he meant persons of superior power and authority, of greater wealth and riches, and of more wisdom and knowledge, at least in their own conceits; and who were oppressive and injurious to the poor and common people, and less knowing, at least as they thought; who may be intended by the former: now, the Lord, as he observed a difference between them, he would make this manifest, and take the part of the one against the other; even the part of the weaker against the stronger. The Targum is,
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"behold, judge between man and man, sinners and the ungodly.''
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The fat - The powerful and rich. I will…
The fat - The powerful and rich. I will feed - I will judge and punish them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. I will destroy the fat and the…
Verse 16. I will destroy the fat and the strong] I will destroy those cruel and imperious shepherds who abuse their authority, and tyrannize over the flock.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain With judgment - It is characteristic of Yahweh as…
With judgment - It is characteristic of Yahweh as a shepherd that He judges between sheep and sheep, rejecting the proud and accepting the penitent and broken-hearted.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Preserve, (Septuagint, Syriac) which seems more natural than Hebrew…
Preserve, (Septuagint, Syriac) which seems more natural than Hebrew and Chaldean, "destroy." I will not eat them, like bad shepherds, ver. 3. (Calmet) --- God and those whom he sends, will take care of the flock, Ephesians iv. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain In contrast to the unfaithful shepherds (Eze 34:4). The…
In contrast to the unfaithful shepherds (Eze 34:4). The several duties neglected by them I will faithfully discharge.
fat . . . strong--that is, those rendered wanton by prosperity (Deu 32:15; Jer 5:28), who use their strength to oppress the weak. Compare Eze 34:20, "the fat cattle" (Isa 10:16). The image is from fat cattle that wax refractory.
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with judgment--that is, justice and equity, as contrasted with the "force" and "cruelty" with which the unfaithful shepherds ruled the flock (Eze 34:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. The Lord’s treatment of his flock will be…
16. The Lord’s treatment of his flock will be in all things the reverse of the treatment given them by the evil shepherds.
with judgment] i.e. just judgment; in rectitude and justice. Cf. such demands as those in Isa_1:17; Isa_3:15; Isa_5:8; Mic_2:1-2; Mic_3:1-4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) The fat and the strong.—While fatness is in…
(16) The fat and the strong.—While fatness is in general an emblem of prosperity, it is frequently used in Scripture, as here, for that prosperity which begets hardness of heart and forgetfulness of God. (See Deu_32:15; Act_28:27, &c.)
With judgment.—This does not mean, as the ambiguous sense of the English word might make it possible to suppose, with wisdom, but with righteousness and authority, as is plainly seen from the connection with the following verses.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I will destroy the fat and the strong. What…
I will destroy the fat and the strong. What follows introduces another feature into the parable, and is hardly less than an anticipation of the great scene of judgment in Mat_25:32. The "fat and the strong," as contrasted with the "broken" and the "sick," are, when we interpret the Darable, the noble and wealthy who, under the kings of Judah, had been allowed to work their evil will upon the people. Of these he says that he will feed them with (better, in) judgment, that for them there must be the discipline of punishment. They too are his sheep, but they require a different treatment from the others.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain I will seek that which was lost, and bring…
Eze_34:16
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away.
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The good shepherd
In reading this verse hastily we are apt to overlook the new and very interesting idea introduced in each succeeding clause of it. Our feeling is that each clause is just meant to teach the idea of the former one in different terms. A little attention will satisfy us that this is far from doing justice to the verse.
I. The first class suggested to our notice comprehends the lost, of whom it is said that the Saviour will seek them. The language, every Gospel-hearer is familiar with, as descriptive, on the one hand, of mans natural state of spiritual stupidity and danger, and on the other, of the tender compassion of Christ, the great Shepherd, in redeeming and reclaiming him.
II. The driven away, whom the Saviour tells us He will bring again. It implies, no doubt, like the former, that the sheep is gone out of the fold, and cannot, therefore, for the present be in a situation of comfort or safety. But does it not imply that the sheep has left the fold reluctantly? It has not escaped of its own accord. It has been driven away by some enemy; and, wandering now in want and fear, it longs to return to the green pastures where it had hitherto fed in plenty and safety. What could be more descriptive than this of the case of the backsliding Christian? Was it not thus that, by the violence of temptation, David was for a time driven away into sin, so that he lost his previous consciousness of the saving care and countenance of his God? Was it not so, too, with Peter, whom the fear of man so far overcame in a moment of weakness that he denied his Lord, and so was for a season visibly separated from the fold of Christ? Even now, is not the voice of our great Shepherd lifted up amongst us, at once rebuking our wanderings and encouraging our return?
III. The broken, whom He graciously promises to bind up. Solemn pledges forgotten, broken through, trampled on,--mercies of every description slighted and abused,--the cause of Christ dishonoured,--perhaps, through their unaccountable folly, some neighbour, some companion, if not some relative or child, hardened against the Gospel, and led away to ruin! Oh! the very thought of such aggravated sin is heart rending, and the appalled backslider can only cry out in vexation and trembling, Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me. Or, in another way still, may the heart of a backsliding Christian be broken. Think of the deep wounds of adversity to which Jesus has found it necessary to subject him, as the means of putting an end to his wanderings. Now by these and similar measures Jesus may have checked the believers wanderings, and won back his heart. He has recovered His straying sheep, and brought it home to His fold. But oh! is it not broken, suffering bitterly under the consequences of its wanderings, and therefore needing greatly the attention and sympathy of its Shepherd? Wounded and bleeding, it must now become the object of His tenderest care, and with skilful hand must He now apply the healing balm of His blood and grace. And He does so.
IV. I will strengthen that which was sick. This description refers to those more secret, insidious diseases by which the shepherds flock is liable to be infected, and which, if allowed to take their course, may prove as fatal as any of the seemingly more alarming casualties to which the wandering sheep may be subjected. The seat of this spiritual sickness is the heart; and it will be in operation there for months, perhaps, before the symptoms of it appear outwardly, or assume a serious aspect. It may receive a check at any stage of its progress, or it may be suffered to take its course, till at last it prostrates its victim before some gross temptation, so that his case becomes an astonishment to the world, and a grief to all who respect the honour of the Gospel. This is certain, it will receive a check, sooner or later, in the case of every true Christian. I will strengthen that which was sick. True, it may often seem to our narrow view as if He delayed the communication of spiritual strength long after it has become every way needful. Such delay, however, undoubtedly accords with His own sovereign and, wise plan, though we cannot understand it; and so far from indicating a want of interest in the individual, or a want of power or of determination eventually to restore his soul, it would be seen, if we rightly comprehended the case, to indicate the contrary; just as Lazaruss death, which could easily have been prevented, is allowed to take place, in order that the Saviours power and love may be the more signally displayed in His resurrection. (P. Hannay.)
Will strengthen that which was sick.
Sickness a strengthener
I. Sickness makes us contented to perform all the God-assigned tasks of life, severe as these tasks may be. When I hear people complaining of the burdens of life, and expressing a longing to die, I say to myself: They are only talking, and their words are empty words. A visitation of sickness would change their tone. A square look at death would make them satisfied to live, and to live right in the midst of the toils against which they speak. The ancients were fond of relating this tale which falls into the line of my thought. A discontented man heavily burdened was called to the task of carrying his burden to a town on the other side of a steep hill. Murmuringly he began the toil of ascent. The burden was heavy before, but it grew still heavier as he climbed. At last his discontent knew no bounds, and, disgusted and dissatisfied with his lot, he threw the burden from him and cast himself upon the ground, crying, O death, come and deliver me! O death, come and deliver me! Death heard the cry of the man and responded, and came to take him at his word. In the dim distance the discontented man saw the awful form coming into sight. There was a great gaunt figure, a skeleton form, sweeping toward him with tremendous gigantic strides. Instantly he leaped to his feet and laid hold of his burden and endeavoured to shoulder it. With a sepulchral voice Death greeted him: I believe you called me; now here I am. What do you want of me? With the look of the sweetest innocence the man replied: It was my voice that you heard, no doubt. My burden fell off my shoulder, and I was only calling for someone to come help me restore it to its place again. The sight and voice were enough. They were an inspiration to the man. Of his own strength he lifted his old burden, and with a positive pleasure carried it to the town over the hill. That story, whether it be fact or fiction, is true to life. We leave the sickroom, where we have looked death in the face, willing to take up the toils of life, and we find the heaviest task within the compass of our abilities a delight. Willing workers, satisfied workers, enthusiastic workers, bright-faced workers, mastering and performing the duties of life, and carrying forward the great enterprises of the age--these are the product of the sickroom. These are what the world needs. They carry in them a spirit that is contagious, and that generates faithfulness to duty in all whom they touch.
II. Sickness gives us a new appreciation of the Divine things in our lives. I knew a man who for years spent his Sabbaths in the machine shop, repairing engines, without a single desire toward the house of God. I begged him many a time to give up his irreligious life and worship with his family on the Sabbath; but to no purpose. The time came when he was imprisoned in the sickroom, and then his lament was that he had neglected the sanctuary. That man spent the first returning strength of convalescence in travelling three miles to my house, and for what purpose? That I might kneel with him at the Throne of Grace and offer prayer of thanksgiving for him. Not only is the Throne of Grace made appreciable by sickness; the Book of God also is made appreciable. The Bible of the invalid is a well-used book. It is thumb-marked--at the writings of Job; at the 23rd Psalm; at the 14th chapter of John; at the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians; at the 21st and 22nd chapters of Revelation. These closing chapters of the Divine volume are studied until the geography of the heavenly land is as well known as that of the land in which we live.
III. Sickness teaches us the value of health and the duty of looking after the condition of the body.
IV. Sickness cuts up by the roots our conceit and pride and selfishness and develops in the places of these humility and sympathy. If this be true, then physical pains bring spiritual gains. Humility and sympathy help in the making of grand men. Humanity should be willing to pay a great price for the eradication of such evils as pride and selfishness, for they are social curses and social disorganisers. Humanity should count nothing too dear to pay as a purchase of humility and sympathy. Humility and sympathy were two of the virtues that made the Christ of history the Man who inaugurated the highest civilisation of the world. That which has the power of making men Christ-men is a most desirable factor in this world. It is easily seen why man is unsympathetic. The sense of power generates independence; the sense of independence closes the avenues of sympathy. Where there is no sympathy, where there is no recognition of the mutual dependence of man upon his brother man, man becomes selfish and proud and hard. The sense of dependence is the basis of sympathy. Sickness brings the sense of dependence. A man who has to be lifted and turned by his nurse, a man who has to be fed by a spoon in the hand of another, cannot look down and despise his fellow men. There, in the hour of weakness, he learns his indebtedness to man, and his duty to make a return for benefits received by willingly giving service and kindness and interest and care and his very life. These things he is constantly receiving from others, and these things make him what he is. These things it is his duty to pass on. At a railroad station a benevolent man found a schoolboy crying because he had not quite enough to pay his fare home. He remembered suddenly how years before he had been in the same plight, and had been helped by an unknown friend who enjoined upon him that some day he should pass that kindness on. Now he saw that the opportunity spoken of had come. He took the weeping boy aside, heard his story, and paid his fare, and asked him in turn to pass the kindness on. As the train moved off from the station the lad waved his hand to his benefactor and cried cheerily, I will pass it on, sir. That act of thoughtful love is being passed on through our globe, nor will it stay until its ripples have belted the globe and met again. To every man who has received kindness and sympathy in the hour of his sickness and trial God is saying, Pass these on. Remember there are hearts to be bound like thine; there are tears to be dried like thine; there are lives to be illumined like thine. Light up the lives of others. (D. Gregg, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.