Ezekiel 34:5

Eze 34:5 And they were scattered, because [there is] no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

Ver. 5. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd.] None but an idol shepherd, {Zec 11:17} a foolish shepherd; {Eze 34:1-5} and the sheep, being a foolish creature, even to a proverb, {a} and apt to wander into harm’s way, will never return to the fold, if not fetched back, but stick in the thorns, or die in a ditch, or run into the wolf’s mouth.

{a} προβατων ηθος; and προβατιου βιον ζην.

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.

Eze 34:5-6. 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For lack of good government and doctrine they perished.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

scattered, because . . . no shepherd--that is, none worthy of the name, though there were some called shepherds (Kg1 22:17; Mat 9:36). Compare Mat 26:31, where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd was smitten. God calls them "My sheep"; for they were not, as the shepherds treated them, their patrimony whereby to "feed themselves."

meat to all . . . beasts--They became a prey to the Syrians, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. And they were scattered] There was no discipline kept up; and the flock, the Church, became disorganized, and separated from each other, both in affection and fellowship. And the consequence was, the grievous wolves, false and worldly interested teachers, seized on and made a prey of them. Of the communion of saints such shepherds know nothing, farther than that it makes a part of the common creed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) They were scattered, because. . . .—The calamities of the people are attributed to the fault of the rulers, not because the people themselves were free from sin—the contrary has already been abundantly asserted in this book—but because the people’s sins were largely due to the evil example, the idolatries, the oppressions, and the disobedience of their rulers.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. The allegory is simple enough. Owing to the evil and selfish government of the rulers the people became the prey of all the nations round about them. The figure of the flock indicates, however, the affection of Jehovah for his people and his compassion over their sufferings.

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.

And they were scattered because there is no shepherd,.... No good one; there were shepherds, but they were idol shepherds, good for nothing, and it was all one as if there were none: so, in Christ's time, there were the Scribes and Pharisees; yet, since these did not feed the people with wholesome doctrine, they are said to be as sheep without a shepherd, and scattered abroad, as here from the fold, and from one another; dispersed here and there, seeking food, and none, which moved his compassion, Mat 9:36, in the political sense it may refer to their captivity, and their dispersion among the nations, having no king: So the Targum,

"and they were scattered without a governor.''

And they became meat to all beasts of the field when they were scattered; the Targum is,

"and they were delivered to all the kingdoms of the people to be consumed;''

such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Ammonites, Moabites, and others; and may be applied to false teachers, those grievous wolves, which spare not the flock, into whose hands members of churches, professors of religion, fall, when neglected by their shepherds.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Field. The people being neglected, followed false prophets and idols. Their teachers were so far from striving to reclaim them, that they perhaps shewed them the example. (Calmet)

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).

They, my neglected sheep, were scattered, by the inroads and invasions of their enemies, that broke in like devouring beasts.

No shepherd; no vigilant, faithful, good shepherd that loved the flock, and of love studied its welfare.

Became meat; were made a prey of, and devoured by Syrians, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, &c., all their neighbours might the devour them.

The beasts, signify men, troops of robbers, and spoilers.

When they were scattered; as sheep scattered are easily devoured by every hungry wolf or fox.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And they were scattered. The words are an echo of 1Ki_22:17, and are, in their turn, echoed by Mat_9:36. The words that follow paint the sufferings of the exiles who left their homes and were scattered among the heathen in the days of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. Of these the kings took no heed, and shut themselves up in the luxurious seclusion of their palace.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No shepherd - No vigilant, faithful shepherd. Became meat - Were made a prey of, and devoured by all their neighbours.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.