Ezekiel 34:18

Ezekiel 34:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, 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?
• New International Version (NIV)Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet?

Context of Ezekiel 34:18

16“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bandage the crippled, and strengthen the weak and the sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hard-hearted and perverse]. I will feed them with judgment and punishment. 17“And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats [between the righteous and the unrighteous]. Is it too little a thing for you that you [unrighteous ones who are well-fed] feed in the best pasture, yet you must trample down with your feet [of wickedness] the rest of your pastures? Or that you drink clear [still] water, yet you must muddy with your feet [of wickedness] the rest [of the water]? 19As for My flock (the righteous), they must feed on what you trample with your feet and drink what you muddy with your feet!’ ” 20Therefore thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I Myself will judge between the [well-fed] fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Ezekiel 34:18 word by word

הַמְעַ֣ט מִכֶּ֗ם הַמִּרְעֶ֤ה הַטּוֹב֙ תִּרְע֔וּ וְיֶ֙תֶר֙ מִרְעֵיכֶ֔ם תִּרְמְס֖וּ בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֑ם וּמִשְׁקַע־מַ֣יִם תִּשְׁתּ֔וּ וְאֵת֙ הַנּ֣וֹתָרִ֔ים בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֖ם תִּרְפֹּשֽׂוּן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• a small thingמְעַטme‛aţ me‛âţ · littleH4592
• unto you to have eaten upרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
• the goodטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• pastureמִרְעֶהmir‛eh · pastureH4829
• but ye must tread downרָמַסrâmas · to trampleH7429
• with your feetרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
• the residueיֶ֫תֶרyether · remainderH3499
• and to have drunkשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354
• of the deepמִשְׁקָעmishqâ‛ · clarifiedH4950
• watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
• but ye must foulרָפַשׂrâphaώ · to foulH7515
• the residueיָתַרyâthar · to remainH3498

Cross-references for Ezekiel 34:18

• Ezekiel 16:20“Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me, and you destroyed them as sacrifices [to your man-made gods]. Were your gross immoralities so small a matter?
• Genesis 30:15But Leah answered, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Jacob shall sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
• Numbers 16:9does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
• 2 Samuel 7:19Yet this was very insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of Your servant’s house (royal dynasty) in the distant future. And this is the law and custom of man, O Lord God.
• Isaiah 7:13Then Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too small a thing for you to try the patience of men, but will you try the patience of my God as well?
• Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, the [spiritual] shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe (judgment is coming) to the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
• Micah 2:2They covet fields and seize them, And houses, and take them away. They oppress and rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.
• Ezekiel 32:2“Son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, ‘You have compared yourself to a young lion among the nations, But you are like a monster in the seas; You burst into your rivers And disturbed and muddied the waters with your feet And fouled their rivers [the source of their prosperity].’ ”
• Matthew 15:6he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].
• Matthew 23:13“But woe (judgment is coming) to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are [in the process of] entering to do so.
• Luke 11:52Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key to knowledge (scriptural truth). You yourselves did not enter, and you held back those who were entering [by your flawed interpretation of God’s word and your man-made tradition].”

Commentaries on Ezekiel 34:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Have eaten up the good pasture - Arrogate to yourselves all the promises of God, and will hardly permit the simple believer to claim or possess any token of God's favor. Ye must foul the residue with your feet? - Ye abuse God's mercies; you consume much upon yourselves, and ye spoil more, on which the poor would have been glad to feed. There are some who would rather give food to their sporting dogs than to the poor around them, who are ready to starve…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-31Verses 17-31 The whole nation seemed to be the Lord's flock, yet they were very different characters; but he knew how to distinguish between them. By good pastures and deep waters, are meant the pure word of God and the dispensing of justice. The latter verses, 23-31, prophesy of Christ, and of the most glorious times of his church on earth. Under Him, as the good Shepherd, the church would be a blessing to all around. Christ, though excellent in himself…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-19The goats were the powerful, unrighteous members of the community.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-1918-19. Not content with appropriating to their own use the goods of others, they from mere wantonness spoiled what they did not use, so as to be of no use to the owners. deep waters--that is, "limpid," as deep waters are generally clear. Grotius explains the image as referring to the usuries with which the rich ground the poor (Eze 22:12; Is 24:2).Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 34:18

• Minister, Christian
• Selfishness

In the dictionaries

• Cruelty
• Ezekiel, Book of
• Foul
• Require
• Seek
• Ezekiel
• Teach; Teacher; Teaching

Commentaries on Ezekiel 34

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings