Ezekiel 37:24

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וְחֻקֹּתַ֥י

chuqqâh

H2708

“and · statutes · my”

Conjunction + Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Singular

Appears 105× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 26:5

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H2706

TWOT: 728b

statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed - statute

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

14: words
14: distinct lemmas
Prophets: section

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
6 nouns
1 adjective
1 preposition
1 particle

Verb forms

וְרוֹעֶ֥ה Qal · Participle Active
יִהְיֶ֣ה Qal · Imperfect
יֵלֵ֔כוּ Qal · Imperfect
יִשְׁמְר֖וּ Qal · Imperfect
וְעָשׂ֥וּ Qal · Sequential Perfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 29 words from the Hebrew and 35 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Ezekiel 37:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Ezekiel 34:23–24 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
Hosea 3:5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.
Jeremiah 30:9 but they shall serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.
Ezekiel 37:25 They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Ezekiel 36:27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
Luke 1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David,

Titus 2:11–13 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
Deuteronomy 30:6 Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
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, [and] will gently lead those who have their young.
Jeremiah 32:39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
Psalms 78:71–72 From following the ewes that have their young, He brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, And Israel, his inheritance.
Psalms 80:1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock, You who sit above the cherubim, shine forth.
Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

Isaiah 55:3–4 Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Being small among the clans of Judah, Out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
Micah 5:4 He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, In the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God: And they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.
Zechariah 13:7 "Awake, sword, against my shepherd, And against the man who is close to me," says Yahweh of Hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; And I will turn my hand against the little ones.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:14–16 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I'm known by my own;
1 Corinthians 11:2 Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 4:4–6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;
Philippians 2:12–13 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Titus 3:3–8 For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Ezekiel 37:22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;
1 Peter 5:4 When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn't fade away.
1 John 2:6 he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Ezekiel 37:24 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְעַבְדִּ֤י דָוִד֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וְרוֹעֶ֥ה אֶחָ֖ד יִהְיֶ֣ה לְכֻלָּ֑ם וּבְמִשְׁפָּטַ֣י יֵלֵ֔כוּ וְחֻקֹּתַ֥י יִשְׁמְר֖וּ וְעָשׂ֥וּ אוֹתָֽם

My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Ezekiel 37:24 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ὁ δοῦλος ἐγώ δαυίδ ἄρχων ἐν μέσος αὐτός καί ποιμήν εἷς εἰμί πᾶς ὅτι ἐν ὁ πρόσταγμα ἐγώ πορεύομαι καί ὁ κρίμα ἐγώ φυλάσσω καί ποιέω αὐτός

And my servant David shall be a prince in the midst of them: there shall be one shepherd of them all; for they shall walk in my ordinances, and keep my judgments, and do them.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וְעַבְדִי דָוִד מַלְכָּא עֲלֵיהוֹן וּפַרְנָס חַד יְהֵי לְכוּלְהוֹן וּבְדִינַי יְהָכוּן וּקְיָמַי יִטְרוּן וְיַעְבְּדוּן יַתְהוֹן:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Ezekiel 37:24 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Eze 37:24 And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Ver. 24. And David my servant,] i.e., Christ, who came to do the will of his Father in the shape of a servant. {Php 2:7 Isa 42:1}

And they shall all have one shepherd.] Even David their king is for his clemency here called a shepherd, saith Jerome, tending and tendering his people. See Eze 34:23-24

They shall also walk in my judgments.] All Christ’s subjects can say, as those primitive Christians did, Nos non eloquimur magna, sed vivimus. Athenagoras in his apology saith, No Christian is a bad man, ει μη υποκρινηται τον λογον, unless he be a counterfeit.

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

David--Messiah (See on Eze 34:23-24).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 24. And David my servant shall be King] That this refers to Jesus Christ, see proved, Eze 34:23.

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24) David my servant.—Here, as in Eze_34:23-24, David personally is described as their one king and shepherd. (See the Note there.)

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

24. David my servant] Cf. Eze_34:23-24. Here the term “king” is applied to the ruler of the future (Eze_37:22); in other places “prince.” The words seem used indifferently, cf. Eze_19:1, Eze_22:25. Cf. Eze_36:27.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And David my servant shall be king over them,.... The King Messiah, as Kimchi interprets it; and so Abarbinel (i) and others; being of the seed of David, and of whom David was an eminent type; and who, as Mediator, is the Lord's servant, and as man appeared in the form of one: this shows that this prophecy looks further than the times of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity:

and they all shall have one shepherd: or king, the same as before: kings are called shepherds; see Eze 34:23,

and they shall also walk in my judgments, and keep my statutes, and do them; not the statutes and ordinances of the ceremonial law, which are abolished; and which the Jews, when converted, shall have no regard unto; but rather the precepts of the moral law, and chiefly the evangelic ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper; which ordinances they shall walk in, and attend unto with constancy and pleasure; and which statutes they shall keep, as they have been delivered, impartially, without delay, in faith and love, and with a view to the glory of God; see Eze 36:27.

(i) Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 47. 4. Vid. Sepher Ikkarim, l. 2. c. 28.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

David; Christ, the one shepherd, (John x.) over all nations. (Worthington) --- This cannot refer to Zorobabel, who was never king, nor perhaps even governor; as Sasabasar, who seems to have been a Persian, was appointed by Cyrus, 1 Esdras i. 8. --- Shepherd. David have been one. (Calmet) --- This title is more modest than that of king. (St. Jerome)

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).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

David: see Eze 34:23,24. It is the Son of David, who was also his Lord, that is here intended. My servant: the Messiah, in his mediatory office, is God’s servant and our Saviour.

Over them; over their hearts, and rule there in spiritual manner.

One shepherd; this King shall be a Shepherd, that feeds, not fleeceth, the flock; there is but one chief Shepherd, others that feed and rule the flock are so by commission from him.

They shall also walk, & c.: it is both declaratory of duty, predictive of the event, and promissory of ability and assistance to keep the holy commandments of God. Christ’s kingdom is that which by law and precept commandeth righteousness, and which by grace and power strengthens its subjects to this, and so the event is sure, and freest grace makes holiest lives.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

Vers. 24, 25. Christ the King.

I THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS A GLORIOUS FACT. In Ezekiel it is only predicted. To Christians it is an accomplished fact. Christ has come and has realized the ideal of ancient prophecy.

1. He is of the line of David. He was welcomed as the Son of David. (Luk_18:38) He gathers up the old traditions of Israel"s golden age, and lifts their promises to a higher fulfillment.

1. He is a Shepherd. Aristotle quoted Homer to show that the true king should be a shepherd. Christ rules tenderly and with regard to the welfare of his people, not like the cruel, selfish, despotic monarchs of heathen empires.

2. He is God"s Servant. Therefore it is God"s will that we should have Christ as our King, and Christ rules according to the will of God.

II THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS A CENTER OF UNITY. "And they all shall have one Shepherd." Judah and Israel are to have but one King, and are to be united under the reign of this new David. "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart," etc.. (Isa_11:13) The supreme advantage of the institution of a monarchy is that it cements the people under it into a consolidated unity. Christ is the Head of the body, and as such he harmonizes the movements of all the limbs. It is strange that Christendom should be broken up into innumerable mutually antagonistic factions. But Christ is not responsible for those divisions. On the contrary, it is just the loss of Christ in the Churches that leads to their severance.

III THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS AN INSPIRATION FOR OBEDIENCE. "They shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes to do them." It is more difficult to obey an abstract law than to serve a living person. Christianity by no means gives us a dispensation from the obligation of obedience. Our Lord expects his disciples to "exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees", (Mat_5:20) and it is possible to do this by his new method. No longer painfully toiling along the dreary road of formal legalism, Christians are inspired by an enthusiasm for their Master which fires their love and zeal to do or suffer on his behalf; and this glorious, loving service of Christ is just the obedience and righteousness transformed into a new and attractive shape.

IV THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS A FOUNDATION OF SOLID PROSPERITY. Under the new David the people will live at peace in the possession of their land. The service of Christ introduces all Christians to a splendid inheritance. The Christian life is not a wild knight-errantry. It is the enjoyment of a happy and peaceful kingdom. When Christ"s reign is universal, society will be happy and prosperous. Even now inward peace and rich treasures of Divine grace are the portion of his people on earth, while they are cheered with the prospect of entering into a wonderful "inheritance of the saints in light" when the present life is over.

V THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS TO BE ETERNAL. "My Servant David shall be their Prince forever." The reign of Christ was never so widespread as it is in this nineteenth century. His sun dawned nearly two thousand years ago. It is still climbing to its meridian. Sunset Christ shall never have. The Light of the world is the light of the ages Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever". (Heb_13:8)

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

David - The son of David. One shepherd - This king shall be their one chief shepherd, others that feed and rule the flock, are so by commission from him.

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to Ezekiel.

David my servant

Yahweh said "David" to refer to a descendant of David. See how you translated "my servant David" in Ezekiel 34:23. AT: "A descendant of my servant David" (See: Metonymy)

one shepherd over them

This speaks of a king ruling a people as if he were a shepherd leading sheep. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 34:23. (See: Metaphor)

over them

"over the people of Israel"

will walk according to my decrees

This speaks of acting or behaving in a certain way as if it were a person walking. AT: "will live as I have commanded" (See: Metaphor)

had stayed

"had lived"

translationWords

David

servant

shepherd

walk

decree

statute

obey

Jacob

ancestor

eternity

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Ezekiel, in the Prophets, opens this verse with 14 words (14 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is chuqqâh (“statute”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word chuqqâh carries the sense “statute.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Ezekiel 34:23–24, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«וְרוֹעֶ֥ה» is a Qal Participle Active verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 13 words in this verse.
14 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 14 words in this verse.