Evil pastors are reproved. Christ the true pastor shall come, and gather together his flock from all parts of the earth, and preserve it for ever.
Acommination to euil pastors: 11. and a prophecie of the coming of Christ, the true Pastor; who wil gather his flocke from al partes of the earth. 25. and conserue it for euer.
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:E il Signore parlommi, dicendo:AND the word of our Lord was made to me, saying:Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens: 2Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds?Figliuolo dell'uomo, profetizza intorno a' pastori d'Israele, profetizza, e di ai pastori: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Guai a' pastori d'Israele, i quali pascon se stessi: non son eglino i greggi, che son pasciuti dai pastori?Sonne of man prophecie of the pastours of Israel: prophecie, and thou shalt say to the pastours: Thus fayth our Lord God: Wo to the pastours of Israel, which fed themselues: are not the flockes fed of the pastours?Fili hominis, propheta de pastoribus Israël: propheta, et dices pastoribus: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Væ pastoribus Israël, qui pascebant semetipsos ! / nonne greges a pastoribus pascuntur ? 3You ate the milk, and you clothed yourselves with the wool, and you killed that which was fat: but my flock you did not feed.Voi mangiavate il latte; e delle lane vi facevate vestito, e le grasse pecore uccidevate, ma del gregge mio non avevate pensiero.You did eate the milke, and were couered with the wool, and that which was fatte ye killed: but my flocke you fed not.Lac comedebatis, / et lanis operiebamini, / et quod crassum erat occidebatis: / gregem autem meum non pascebatis. 4The weak you have not strengthened, and that which was sick you have not healed, that which was broken you have not bound up, and that which was driven away you have not brought again, neither have you sought that which was lost: but you ruled over them with rigour, and with a high hand.Non ristoraste il debole, non sanaste il malato, non fasciaste le membra rotte, e non sollevaste le (pecore) cadute, e non andaste in cerca delle traviate: ma governaste con rigore, e con crudeltà.That which was weake, you strengthened not: and that which was sicke, you healed not: that which was broken, you bound not vp: and that which was cast away, you brought not againe: and that which was lost, you sought not: but with austeritie you did rule ouer them, and with might.Quod infirmum fuit non consolidastis, / et quod ægrotum non sanastis: / quod confractum est non alligastis, / et quod abjectum est non reduxistis, / et quod perierat non quæsistis: / sed cum austeritate imperabatis eis, et cum potentia.
5And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd and they became the prey of all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.E le mie pecorelle si son disperse, perchè eran senza pastore: e sono state divorate da tutte le fiere del campo, e si sono disperse.And my sheepe were dispersed, because there was no pastour: and they came to be deuoured of al the beasts of the filde, and were dispersed.Et dispersæ sunt oves meæ, eo quod non esset pastor: / et factæ sunt in devorationem omnium bestiarum agri, / et dispersæ sunt. 6My sheep have wandered in every mountain, and in every high hill: and my flocks were scattered upon the face of the earth, and there was none that sought them, there was none, I say, that sought them.I miei greggi andaron errando per tutti i monti, e per tutte le alte colline, e si spersero le mie greggi per tutta quanta la terra, e non era chi andasse in traccia di esse, non era, dico, chi in traccia ne andasse.My flockes haue wandered in al mountaines, and in euerie high hil: and vpon al the face of the earth were my flockes dispersed, and there was none that sought them, there was none, I say, that sought them.Erraverunt greges mei in cunctis montibus, / et in universo colle excelso: / et super omnem faciem terræ dispersi sunt greges mei, / et non erat qui requireret: / non erat, inquam, qui requireret. 7Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:Per questo udite, o pastori, la parola del Signore:Therfore ye sheepheards heare the word of our Lord:Propterea, pastores, audite verbum Domini. 8As I live, saith the Lord God, forasmuch as my flocks have been made a spoil, and my sheep are become a prey to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd: for my shepherds did not seek after my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flocks:Io giuro, dice il Signore Dio, perchè i miei greggi sono stati esposti alle rapine, e le mie pecorelle ad essere divorate da tutte le bestie dei campi, perchè non vi era pastore: imperocché i miei pastori non badavano al mio gregge, ma pascevan se stessi, e non pascevano i miei greggi;Liue I, saith our Lord God: that for as much as my flockes haue bene made a spoile: & my sheepe to be deuoured of al the beasts of the filde, because there was no pastour (for my pastours did not seeke my flocke but the pastours fed themselues, & my flockes they fed not:)Vivo ego, dicit Dominus Deus, / quia pro eo quod facti sunt greges mei in rapinam, / et oves meæ in devorationem omnium bestiarum agro, / eo quod non esset pastor: / neque enim quæsierunt pastores mei gregem meum, / sed pascebant pastores semetipsos, / et greges meos non pascebant:
9Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:Per questo udite, o pastori, la parola del Signore:therfore ye pastours heare the word of our Lord:propterea, pastores, audite verbum Domini. 10Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself come upon the shepherds, I will require my flock at their hand, and I will cause them to cease from feeding the flock any more, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more: and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall no more be meat for them.Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Ecco, che io stesso ai pastori domanderò conto del mio gregge, a loro il domanderò, e farò fine di essi, affinchè più non pascano il gregge, e non pascano più se stessi i pastori, e il gregge mio libererò dalle loro fauci, e non sarà più loro cibo;Thus sayth our Lord God: Behold I my self vpon the shepheards, I wil require my flocke of their hand, and I wil make them cease, that they fede my flocke no more, and that the pastours feede no more themselues: and I wil deliuer my flocke out of their mouth, and it shal no more be meate for them.Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Ecce ego ipse super pastores: / requiram gregem meum de manu eorum, / et cessare faciam eos, / ut ultra non pascant gregem, / nec pascant amplius pastores semetipsos: / et liberabo gregem meum de ore eorum, / et non erit ultra eis in escam. 11For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them.Imperocché queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Ecco, che io stesso anderò in cerca di mie pecorelle, e le visiterò.Because thus saith our Lord God: Behold I my self wil seeke my sheepe, and wil visite them.Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Ecce ego ipse requiram oves meas, / et visitabo eas. 12As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.Come il pastore va rivedendo il suo gregge nel giorno, in cui trovasi in mezzo alle sue pecorelle, che si eran disperse, così visiterò io le mie pecorelle, e rimenerolle da tutti que' luoghi, pe' quali erano state disperse nel giorno di nuvolo, e di caligine.As the pastour visiteth his flocke in the day when he shal be in the middes of his sheepe which were scattered: so wil I visite my sheepe, and wil deliuer them out of al places, wherein they had bene dispersed in the day of the cloude and of darkenes.Sicut visitat pastor gregem suum, / in die quando fuerit in medio ovium suarum dissipatarum, / sic visitabo oves meas, / et liberabo eas de omnibus locis / in quibus dispersæ fuerant in die nubis et caliginis.
13And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land: and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land.E trarrolle di mezzo ai popoli, e le radunerò dalle varie regioni, e condurrolle nella loro terra, e pascerolle sui monti d'Israele, e presso ai rivi, e in tutti i luoghi di essa terra.And I wil bring them out of the peoples, and wil gather them out of the landes, and wil bring them into their owne land: and I wil feede them in the mountaines of Israel, in the riuers, and in al the seates of the land.Et educam eas de populis, / et congregabo eas de terris, / et inducam eas in terram suam, / et pascam eas in montibus Israël, / in rivis, et in cunctis sedibus terræ. 14I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel: there shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed in fat pastures upon the mountains of Israel.Le menerò in abbondantissimi pascoli, e sui monti eccelsi d'Israele saranno i pascoli loro: ivi riposeranno sulle erbette verdeggianti, e alle grasse pasture si satolleranno sui monti d'Israele.In the most plentiful pastures wil I feede them, and in the high mountaines of Israel shal be their pastures: there shal they rest on the greene grasse, and in fatte pastures they shal be fed vpon the mountaines of Israel.In pascuis uberrimis pascam eas, / et in montibus excelsis Israël erunt pascua earum: / ibi requiescent in herbis virentibus, / et in pascuis pinguibus pascentur super montes Israël. 15I will feed my sheep: and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.Io pascerò le mie pecorelle, ed io le farò riposare, dice il Signore Dio.I wil fede my sheepe: & I wil make them lie, saith our Lord God.Ego pascam oves meas, et ego eas accubare faciam, / dicit Dominus Deus. 16I will seek that which was lost: and that which was driven away, I will bring again: and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve, and I will feed them in judgment.Anderò in cerca di quelle, che erano smarrite, e solleverò quelle, che eran cadute, e fascerò le piaghe di quelle, che avran sofferta frattura, e ristorerò le deboli, ed avrò l'occhio a quelle, che son grasse, e robuste, e ognuna di esse pascerò con saggezza.That which was lost, I wil seke: & that which was cast away, I wil bring againe: and that which was broken I wil binde vp: and that which was weake, I wil strengthen: and that which was fatte & strong, I wil kepe: & wil feede them in iudgment.Quod perierat requiram, / et quod abjectum erat reducam, / et quod confractum fuerat alligabo, / et quod infirmum fuerat consolidabo, / et quod pingue et forte custodiam: / et pascam illas in judicio.
17And as for you, O my flocks, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, of rams and of he goats.Ma a voi, greggi miei, queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Ecco, che io fo giudizio tra pecore, e pecore, tra arieti, e montoni.And you my flockes, thus saith our Lord God: Behold I iudge betwen beast and beast, of rammes, and of bucke goates.Vos autem, greges mei, hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Ecce ego judico inter pecus et pecus, / arietum et hircorum. 18Was it not enough for you to feed upon good pastures? but you must also tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures: and when you drank the clearest water, you troubled the rest with your feet.Non bastava egli a voi di consumare i buoni pascoli? Voi di più gli avanzi di vostra pastura avete ancor pestati co' vostri piedi, e bevuto avendo acqua purissima, quella, che ne lasciaste, la intorbidaste co' vostri piedi,Was it not ynough for you to feede vpon good pastures? you haue besides also troden downe with your fete the residue of your pastures: and when you dranke most pure water, the rest you trubled with your feete.Nonne satis vobis erat pascua bona depasci ? / insuper et reliquias pascuarum vestrarum conculcastis pedibus vestris: / et cum purissimam aquam biberetis, / reliquam pedibus vestris turbabatis: 19And my sheep were fed with that which you had trodden with your feet: and they drank what your feet had troubled.E le mie pecorelle di quello pascevansi, che avevate voi pestato co' piedi vostri, e l'acqua beveano intorbidata da' vostri piedi.And my sheepe were fed with those thinges, which were troden with your feete: and what your feete had trubled, that did they drinke.et oves meæ his quæ conculcata pedibus vestris fuerant, pascebantur: / et quæ pedes vestri turbaverant, hæc bibebant. 20Therefore thus saith the Lord God to you: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat cattle and the lean.Per questo così dice a voi il Signore Dio: Ecco, che io fo giudizio trai pingue bestiame, e il magro;Therfore thus saith our Lord God to you: Behold, I myself doe iudge betwen the fat beast and the leane.Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus ad vos: / Ecce ego ipse judico inter pecus pingue et macilentum: 21Because you thrusted with sides and shoulders, and struck all the weak cattle with your horns, till they were scattered abroad:Perocché voi urtavate co' fianchi, e cogli omeri vostri le deboli pecorelle, colle vostre corna le gettavate per aria, fino a tanto che fosser cacciate fuora, e disperse;For that you with sides and shoulders did thrust, and with your hornes stroke al the weake beastes, til they were dispersed abrode:pro eo quod lateribus et humeris impingebatis, / et cornibus vestris ventilabatis omnia infirma pecora, / donec dispergerentur foras,
22I will save my flock, and it shall be no more a spoil, and I will judge between cattle and cattle.Io salverò il mio gregge, ed ei non sarà più depredato: ed io farò giudizio tra bestiame, e bestiame,I wil saue my flocke, & it shal be no more into spoile, & I wil iudge betwen beast and beast.salvabo gregem meum, / et non erit ultra in rapinam, / et judicabo inter pecus et pecus. 23And 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.E susciterò ad esse l'unico Pastore, che le governi, Davidde mio servo: egli le pascerà, ed ei sarà il loro pastore.AND I WIL RAISE VP OVER THEM ONE PASTOVR: who shal fede them, my seruant Dauid: he shal fede them, and he shal be their Pastour.Et suscitabo super eas pastorem unum qui pascat eas, / servum meum David: / ipse pascet eas, / et ipse erit eis in pastorem. 24And I the Lord will be their God: and my servant David the prince in the midst of them: I the Lord have spoken it.Ed io il Signore sarò loro Dio, e il mio servo Davidde sarà principe in mezzo di esse: io il Signore ho parlato.And I the Lord wil be their God: & my seruant Dauid the prince in the middes of them: I the Lord haue spoken.Ego autem Dominus ero eis in Deum, / et servus meus David princeps in medio eorum: / ego Dominus locutus sum. 25And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they that dwell in the wilderness shall sleep secure in the forests.E con esse farò alleanza di pace, e sterminerò dalla lor terra le fiere crudeli, e quegli, che abitano nel deserto, dormiranno quietamente pei boschi.And I wil make a couenant of peace with them, and wil make the most cruel beastes to cease out of the land: and they that dwel in the desert, shal sleepe secure in the forrests.Et faciam cum eis pactum pacis, / et cessare faciam bestias pessimas de terra: / et qui habitant in deserto, / securi dormient in saltibus. 26And I will make them a blessing round about my hill: and I will send down the rain in its season, there shall be showers of blessing.E li farò benedizione intorno al mio monte, e manderò a suo tempo la pioggia: le pioggie saran di benedizione,And I wil put them round about my hil a blessing: and I wil bring downe the showere in his time, there shal be raynes of blessing.Et ponam eos in circuitu collis mei benedictionem, / et deducam imbrem in tempore suo: / pluviæ benedictionis erunt.
27And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be in their land without fear: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have broken the bonds of their yoke, and shall have delivered them out of the hand of those that rule over them.E gli alberi della campagna produrranno il lor frutto, e la terra i suoi germi, e nella terra loro staranno senza timore, e conosceran, ch'io sono il Signore, quando avrò spezzate le catene del giogo loro, e gli avrò sottratti al poter di coloro, che li dominavano.And the tree of the filde shal geue his fruite, and the earth shal geue her spring, and they shal be in their land without feare: and they shal know that I am the Lord, when I shal haue broken the cheynes of their yoke, and shal haue deliuered them out of the hand of those that rule ouer them.Et dabit lignum agri fructum suum, / et terra dabit germen suum, / et erunt in terra sua absque timore: / et scient quia ego Dominus, / cum contrivero catenas jugi eorum, / et eruero eos de manu imperantium sibi. 28And they shall be no more for a spoil to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them: but they shall dwell securely without, any terror.E non saran più preda delle nazioni, né li divoreranno le bestie della terra; ma riposeranno tranquillamente senza verun timore.And they shal be no more for a spoile in the Gentiles, neither shal the beastes of the earth deuoure them: but they shal dwel confidently without any terrour.Et non erunt ultra in rapinam in gentibus, / neque bestiæ terræ devorabunt eos: / sed habitabunt confidenter absque ullo terrore. 29And I will raise up for them a bud of renown: and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither shall they bear any more the reproach of the Gentiles.E farò nascer per essi il germe rinomato, e non saran più consunti dalla fame nella lor terra, e più non porteranno l'obbrobrio delle nazioni.And I wil raise vp vnto them a bud of name: and they shal be no more diminished for famine in the land, neither shal they beare anie more the reproch of the Gentiles.Et suscitabo eis germen nominatum, / et non erunt ultra imminuti fame in terra, / neque portabunt ultra opprobrium gentium. 30And they shall know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they are my people the house of Israel: saith the Lord God.E conosceranno, che io il Signore Dio loro sarò con essi, ed eglino, casa d'Israele, saran mio popolo, dice il Signore Dio.And they shal know that I the Lord their God with them, and they my people the house of Israel: saith our Lord God.Et scient quia ego Dominus Deus eorum cum eis, / et ipsi populus meus domus Israël, / ait Dominus Deus.
31And you my flocks, the flocks of my pasture are men: and I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.E voi, o uomini, voi siete i miei greggi, greggi pasciuti da me, ed io il Signore Dio vostro, dice il Signore Dio.And you my flockes, the flockes of my pasture are men: and I the Lord your God, saith our Lord God.Vos autem, greges mei, greges pascuæ meæ, / homines estis: / et ego Dominus Deus vester, / dicit Dominus Deus.
34:2
Challoner
Shepherds. That is, princes, magistrates, chief priests, and scribes. (Challoner)
Worthington
Shepherds may lawfully take milk, (1 Corinthians 9:7.) but the sheep and its wool belong to the master. (Worthington)
Calmet
Excellent instructions are here given for all in authority. (Calmet)
34:3
Fat. Pastors often disguise the truth to flatter the rich, or the more just souls are ruined by their negligence.
34:4
Healed. God alone can restore to life. But pastors will not be excused by ignorance if they know not the maladies and the remedies of their flock.
34:5
Calmet
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)
34:8
34:10
Cease. Both the leaders and the people were led into captivity.
34:12
Day, in persecution. I will count my sheep, lest any be lost.
34:13
Land. All this cannot be understood of the synagogue alone.
34:16
Calmet
Preserve, (Septuagint, Syriac) which seems more natural than Hebrew and Chaldean, "destroy." I will not eat them, like bad shepherds, ver. 3. (Calmet)
Worthington
God and those whom he sends, will take care of the flock, Ephesians 4:(Worthington)
34:17
Calmet
Cattle. The crimes of the pastors do not excuse the flock. In it there are people of different dispositions. The rich often destroy, and these are brought to an account, ver. 24. (Calmet)
34:23
Calmet
David; Christ, who is of the house of David. (Calmet)
Worthington
That king had been dead long before, so that no Jew or heretic can deny but that the Messias is here meant, as [in] Ezechiel 37:24., etc. (Worthington)
He possessed eminently all the virtues of David, and was of his seed. Zorobabel, etc., cannot be understood, as we have no proof that the governors after the captivity were chosen from the tribe of Juda, Ezechiel 21:27.
34:25
34:26
Haydock
Make. Literally, "place." (Haydock)
Calmet
Septuagint read not a blessing, which seems superfluous. (Calmet)
Haydock
Yet Chaldean has it, and the idea is more complete. (Haydock)
34:29
Challoner
A bud of renown, (germen nominatum.) He speaks of Christ, our Lord, the illustrious bud of the house of David, renowned over all the earth. See Jeremias 33:15. (Challoner)
Calmet
Septuagint, Syriac, "a plant of peace." Chaldean, "established." (Calmet)
34:31
Men. What has been said of sheep (Menochius) relates to you.
Haydock
Am the Lord. This is not in Hebrew or Protestants. (Haydock)
Kennicott
But it is found in one Hebrew manuscript and Septuagint, as this version is thus frequently confirmed. (Kennicott, Dis. ii.)
34:2
Shepherds.... That is, princes, magistrates, chief priests, and scribes.
34:23
34:29
A bud of renown.... Germen nominatum. He speaks of Christ our Lord, the illustrious bud of the house of David, renowned over all the earth. See Jer. 33.15.
34:2
Pastors do lawfully eate of the milke of their flock. 1. Cor. 9. v. 7. but they ought not to take the wool, nor flesh to themselues, which belong to their master.
34:5
He that hath spiritual charge of soules, and seeketh his owne temporal profite, not the spiritual good of his flocke, is in dede no pastor, but a hyreling, or if he also teach false doctrine, he is a woolf. Ioan. 1•.
34:16
Not only Christ himself but also others shal doe these right Offices of true pastors in the new Testament. as S. Paul conformably teacheth. Ephe. 4. that God geueth Apostles, Prophets Euangelistes, Pastors and doctors to the consummation: of Sainctes, tilvve mete al into the vnitie of faith &c.
34:23
Concordance I••. 1•.
No Iewe is so obstinate; nor heretike so blind, but al confesse that Messias, Christ is here called by the name of Dauid. For king Dauid was now dead long before this prophet liued. See the same ch. 17. v. 24. 25. and in manie places of holie Scripture.
34:1
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 7
… “Shepherds, behold, ye devour the milk, and clothe you with the fleeces: what is strong ye have slain; what is weak ye have not tended; what is shattered ye have not bound; what has been driven out ye have not brought back; what has perished ye have not re-sought.”
34:2
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 10.3
3. But those pastors who did not care for the sheep, those were hirelings who used to feed themselves alone. On this account the Prophet
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Apology to the Emperor. (Apologia Ad Constantium.) 26
… Such a complaint was made by Ezekiel against the Pastors of old
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 49
… And before you had received the grace of the episcopate, no one knew you; but after you became one, the laity expect you to bring them food, namely instruction from the Scriptures. When then they expect, and suffer hunger, and you are feeding yourself
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.66
… feed themselves, devour the milk, clothe themselves with the wool, kill them that are fat, but feed not the flock, strengthen not the diseased, nor bind up that which is broken, nor bring again that which is driven away, nor seek that which is lost, nor keep watch over that which is strong, but oppress them with rigour, and destroy them with their pressure;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 3
… no, it is only to carp at him that they bring up the mention of fellow-bishops, of presbyters. Sweet, says the proverb, is war to the inexperienced; but it may rather be said now, that even after one has come out of it, people in general have seen nothing of it: for in their eyes it is not war, but like those shepherds in Ezekiel, we slay and devour. (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 29
… iv. 15 .) On this ground too it is, that God charges the teachers of the Jews above all things with this, saying, “Oh shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves? do they not feed the flock?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 2 Thessalonians 4
… I am greatly in need of your prayers. Let no one, as I have said, from an excessive humility deprive me of this alliance and succor. If our part be well approved, your own also will be more honorable. If our teaching flow abundantly, the riches will redound to you. Hear the prophet saying, “Do the shepherds feed themselves?” (From
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 60
… By the first, pointing to Theudas and those like him; by the second, exposing the teachers of the Jews, who neither cared for nor thought about the sheep entrusted to them. On which account Ezekiel of old rebuked them, and said, “Woe, ye shepherds of Israel! Do the shepherds feed themselves? Do not the shepherds feed the sheep?” (
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 78
… Who does not fear and tremble when he hears the word of God spoken through Ezekiel? “I judge between shepherd and sheep because ye eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool and ye feed not the flocks.”
34:3
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 2.1
… if we be found neglectful, it will be said to us, as it was said to our predecessors also, who in such wise negligent had been placed in charge, that “we have not sought for that which was lost, and have not corrected the wanderer, and have not bound up that which was broken, but have eaten their milk, and been clothed with their wool;”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 53.4
… and there was none who sought after them, nor brought them back. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep of their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding my sheep; neither shall they feed them any more: and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, and I will feed them with judgment.”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 51.15
15. If we reject the repentance of those who have some confidence in a conscience that may be tolerated; at once with their wife, with their children, whom they had kept safe, they are hurried by the devil’s invitation into heresy or schism; and it will be attributed to us in the day of judgment, that we have not cared for the wounded sheep,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 66.4
… Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hands, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall they feed them any more: for I will deliver them from their mouth, and I will feed them with judgment.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 60
… Do not the shepherds feed the sheep?” ( Ezek. xxxiv. 2 , LXX.) But they did the contrary, which is the worst kind of wickedness, and the cause of all the rest. Wherefore It saith, “They have not turned back the strayed, nor sought the lost, nor bound up the broken, nor healed the sick, because they fed themselves and not the sheep.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 173.3
… For which reason Solomon also says: “Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” If a bad will ought always to be left to its own freedom, why are negligent pastors reproved? and why is it said to them, “Ye have not brought back the wandering sheep, ye have not sought the perishing”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Correction of the Donatists 7
… because they have not the knowledge to make them understand what feelings and love we continue to have towards them, and how we are anxious, in accordance with the injunction of the Lord, given to His pastors by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, to bring again that which was driven away, and to seek that which was lost.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 45.11
… Hear, then, what it is that moves me. By the Prophet Ezekiel the Lord rebukes the shepherds, and among other things says of the sheep, “The wandering sheep have ye not recalled.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.6
… iv. 17, 18 ). For on this account it is said to him by the divine voice, Thou hast honoured thy sons more than Me ( Ibid. ii. 29 ). Hence, too, He upbraids the shepherds through the prophet, saying, That which was broken ye have not bound up, and that which was cast away ye have not brought back (
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 1
… knowing your Shepherd well, and being known by him; and following when he calls you as a Shepherd frankly through the door; but not following a stranger climbing up into the fold like a robber and a traitor; nor listening to a strange voice when such would take you away by stealth and scatter you from the truth on mountains,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 42.2
… over which we also lamented, so long as our lot was worthy of lamentation. For in very deed we also were thrust out and cast off, and scattered upon every mountain and hill, from the need of a shepherd:
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.66
… so that, because there was no shepherd, the sheep were scattered over every plain and mountain, and became meat for all the fowls and beasts, because there was no one to seek for them and bring them back. What is the consequence? As I live, saith the Lord, because these things are so, and My flock became a prey,
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.15
In Ezekiel: “Wherefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am above the shepherds; and I will require my sheep from their hands, and I will turn them away from feeding my sheep; and they shall feed them no more, and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, and I will feed them with judgment.”
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.117
… the dunghill, Who chose David His servant and took him away from the sheepfolds, though he was the least and youngest of the sons of Jesse, Who gave the word to those who preach the gospel with great power for the perfection of the gospel,—may He Himself hold me by my right hand, and guide me with His counsel, and receive me with glory, Who is a Shepherd
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Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 10.3
… therefore, behold I will make blind thy right eye and I will wither up thy right arm. Thy eye which regarded a bribe shall be blinded, and thy hand which did not rule in righteousness shall waste away. And as for you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, ye are men; but I am the Lord your God. Behold henceforth will feed you in a good and rich pasture.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.2
… His flock is desolate and downcast, filled, as you see, with despondency and dejection, no longer reposing in the green pasture, and reared up by the water of comfort, but seeking precipices, deserts and pits, in which it will be scattered and perish;
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood 6.11
… and very reasonably; for the mischief does not merely involve himself, but it destroys the souls of the weaker brethren and of them who look up to him, and Ezekiel, writing to show this, distinguishes from one another the judgment of the rams and of the sheep.
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 127.9
… indeed so great was the fury into which it lashed itself that it spared neither itself nor anything that was good. And as if it were too little to have disturbed everything here, it introduced a ship freighted with blasphemies into the port of Rome itself. The dish soon found itself a cover; and the muddy feet of heretics fouled the clear waters
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 1.2
… Hence it is that the Lord through the prophet complains of the contemptible knowledge of shepherds, saying, When ye yourselves had drunk most pure water, ye fouled the residue with your feet; and My sheep fed on that which had been trodden by your feet, and drank that which your feet had fouled (
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 1.23
… “That the saying might be fulfilled, He shall not strive nor cry,” etc. David also is called Christ, as where Ezekiel in his prophecy to the shepherds adds as from the mouth of God:
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.8
… “Give Thy strength to Thy servant, and to the Son of Thy handmaid;” and, elsewhere, that is, in Ezekiel: “And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall rule them, even My Servant David. He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My Servant David a prince among them.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 2
… and that because this last was more in the recollection of all, both on account of the time, as I have already said, and because of his royalty. On this principle again all the kings whom they had in honor after his time were named from him, both by the people themselves and by God. For both Ezekiel
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.34
… He says, “And I will set up over my sheep one Shepherd, who will feed them, even my servant David; and He shall feed them, and He shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince in the midst of them. I the Lord have spoken.”
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Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 10.3
… therefore, behold I will make blind thy right eye and I will wither up thy right arm. Thy eye which regarded a bribe shall be blinded, and thy hand which did not rule in righteousness shall waste away. And as for you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, ye are men; but I am the Lord your God.
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I. You who are a pastor, feed the flock willingly. II. Let the pastor think that the flock is not his own, but God's. III. Let pastors seek not gain, but souls. IV. Let pastors not invade another's flock, nor lord it over their own: let them obey those who are obedient; let them cut off the rebellious. For, as the Poet says: All things must first be tried, but an incurable wound must be cut away with the sword, lest the sound part be dragged down. V. Let pastors govern the Church by the word and by the examples of a holy life. VI. Let pastors continually set before themselves the image of the true pastor Christ, and the crown promised by him. Those who do not think of these things, nor care about them, and yet wish to be pastors and to rule others, drive both themselves and their own to ruin and eternal destruction. The gentiles represented this in history, or rather in the fable of Phaethon, who, being eager to rule, asked of the Sun, his father, beyond his strength for the reins and governance of the solar chariot; the Sun his father answered him: "Son, you ask punishment for a gift." But when the son persisted in urging, at last he yielded and granted him the governance of his chariot. But when Phaethon could not and was unable to govern it, he, being fiery, not only burned the earth, but also himself was consumed, as Ovid describes graphically in book II of the Metamorphoses. Thus those who desire to rule and to dominate, yet do not have the gifts and strength necessary for it, lose themselves and theirs, and precipitate them into destruction. This is what Christ answered to James and John, who were seeking the first places in his kingdom: "You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I am to drink?" Namely, honor is a burden, and the chair of feeding is a chalice of suffering. Fourth, Nazianzen, in oration 21 in praise of St. Athanasius, exhibits in him an illustrious image of a pastor: "Athanasius," he says, "first, was sublime in life, yet humble in spirit; second, was endowed with such virtue that no one could aspire to it; third, with such courtesy that access to his company was easy for all; fourth, was gentle and free from anger; fifth, inclined to compassion; sixth, pleasant in speech, more pleasant in manners; seventh, angelic in face, more angelic in spirit; eighth, mild in rebuking, powerful in teaching; thus tempering both, so that rebuke obtained paternal charity, and praise obtained the gravity worthy of authority; nor was there either dissolved softness or rigid and gloomy severity; but rather the former had the name of gentleness and benignity, the latter of prudence, and both indeed obtained the praise of prudence. Finally, ninth, so conducting himself that neither did he greatly need speech, since his manners were abundantly sufficient for instruction; nor again, on account of the force and faculty of speaking, did he greatly need the rod: and still less on account of the rod striking immoderately. Fifth, St. Gregory the Pontiff wrote a book On Pastoral Care divided into three parts, worthy to be often read by the pastors of the Church, in which among other things he says: "The art of arts is the governance of souls. The pastor therefore, first, should be clean in thought; second, outstanding in action; third, discreet in silence; fourth, useful in word; fifth, compassionate toward each one; sixth, suspended above all in contemplation; seventh, a companion to those doing well through humility; eighth, raised up against the vices of those doing wrong through zeal for justice; ninth, not diminishing care for internal things in the occupation of external matters, and not neglecting the providence of external things in solicitude for internal ones; tenth, let him not seek to please men by his zeal; but nevertheless let him intend to what he ought to please: let him prudently discern hypocrites; eleventh, in him there should be discretion of correction, dissimulation, fervor and gentleness; twelfth, let him be especially intent on meditations of sacred law; thirteenth, in the application of the word of God toward the sheep committed to him, let him be wholly present; fourteenth, let him know that men are to be admonished otherwise than women; youths otherwise than the elderly; the rich otherwise than the poor; the joyful otherwise than the sorrowful; subjects otherwise than prelates; servants otherwise than masters; fifteenth, let him especially pursue the graver vices; sixteenth, let him not propose abstruse things to weak minds; seventeenth, and especially, let him contain the flock in faith, hope and charity not by voice alone, but also by deed." Sixth, St. Bernard in the Life of St. Malachy proposes him as a true exemplar of pastors; where among other things he says of him: "From the first day of his conversion to the end of his life, first, he lived without property of his own, even in the episcopate, and thus he did not have his own house; second, he unceasingly went around all the parishes, serving the Gospel, and living from the Gospel; third, more frequently putting forth the Gospel itself without expense, he lived from his labors and those of others; fourth, if sometimes he had to rest, he did this in holy places, conforming himself to their customs and observances, content with common life and table; fifth, when he went out to preach, with feet on the ground, he himself went as bishop and legate." Then comparing him with false pastors and mercenaries of his own and this age: "Those, he says, first, lord it over the clergy: he, while free from all, made himself servant of all. Second, those either do not evangelize and eat, or evangelize in order to eat: Malachy imitating Paul eats in order to evangelize. Third, those esteem pomp and gain as piety: Malachy claims for himself an inheritance of work and burden. Fourth, those believe themselves happy if they have enlarged their borders: Malachy glories in enlarging charity. Fifth, those gather into barns and fill vats, whence they burden tables: Malachy gathers in deserts and solitudes, whence he may fill the heavens. Sixth, those when they receive tithes, first fruits and offerings, moreover also from Caesar's benefice tolls and tributes, and other infinite revenues, are nevertheless anxious what they may eat and drink: Malachy having none of these things, yet enriches many from the storehouse of faith. For those there is no end of greed or anxiety: Malachy, desiring nothing, yet does not know how to think about tomorrow. Seventh, those exact from the poor what they give to the rich: he solicits the rich for sustaining the poor. Eighth, those empty the purses of their subjects: he for their sins heaps up altars with vows and peaceful sacrifices. Ninth, those erect lofty palaces, raise towers and walls to the heavens: Malachy has nowhere to lay his head, and meanwhile does the work of an evangelist. Tenth, those mount horses with a crowd of men eating bread for nothing, and not their own: Malachy surrounded by the college of holy Brethren goes on foot, bearing the bread of angels, with which he may satisfy hungry souls. Eleventh, those do not even know their peoples: he instructs them. Twelfth, those honor the powerful and tyrants: he punishes them." Finally St. Bernard in the Sentences: "A pastor, he says, has three necessities: goodness, discipline, knowledge. Goodness attracts, discipline corrects, knowledge feeds. Goodness makes him lovable, discipline makes him imitable, knowledge makes him teachable." The same, epistle 245: "You preside, he says, that you may benefit by word, example, prayer; but more by prayer, not by applause, but by lamentation." So also St. Jordanes, second General of the Fathers Preachers, when asked what was the office of his order, replied that it was threefold, and that it was enumerated by the Psalmist in Psalm 118 with three words, when he says: "Teach me goodness, and discipline, and knowledge." Therefore in a pastor above all is required the probity of life, by which he may shine forth to his own by the example of virtue. This is the dogma and counsel of St. Eucherius in his paraenetic epistle: "I commend, he says, to your mind the care of your soul." And St. Gregory, book IV epistle 15: "Know that we have undertaken the name of pastor, not for rest, but for labor. Let us therefore exhibit in deed what we are marked by in name." And Gregory Nazianzen, oration 21, most unsuitable for government he considers them to be, "who purge others before they themselves have been purged. For they sin in one of two ways: either, because they themselves need forgiveness, they forgive others excessively, so that the vice is not only not restrained, but is even taught; or, because they conceal their vices by the harshness of authority, so that not morals give credence to dignity, but dignity to morals, in a most perverse order." Tertullian, in the book On Patience: "Words, he says, failing in deeds, blush." St. Jerome, epistle 2: "Let not your works confound your speech, lest, when you speak, anyone silently respond: Why then do you not yourself do these things which you say?" And in the epistle to Princip.: "Even the most excellent doctrine blushes, which one's own conscience reproves." Again St. Gregory Nazianzen, oration 33: "Why, he says, do we arm the tongue with bound hands? For he who is wise in speech is not wise to me; but he who speaks few words indeed about virtues, yet through the things he does demonstrates much: and he gains faith and authority for his speech through his life. For in my judgment that beauty which is perceived by the eyes is superior to that which is painted in speech; and wisdom, which is demonstrated through works, than that which shines and gleams in oration." Again St. Gregory, book XXI of the Morals, chapter VIII, speaking of the harlot who while sleeping had overlain her son, whom while awake she had nursed, III Kings III: "Teachers, he says, waking indeed in knowledge, but sleeping in life, kill their hearers, whom they nourish through the vigils of preaching, when they neglect to do what they say, by the sleep of torpor, and by neglecting oppress those whom they seemed to nourish with the milk of words." St. Paulinus, epistle to Jovius, advises him: "Be learned not so much by tongue, he says, as by life: do not so much discourse great things as do them." For although it must be observed by subjects that precept of Christ: "All things whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do:" and that instruction of Eucherius in the parenetic epistle already cited: "I beseech you, regard the fault of another (even if he be superior) always as a reproach, never as an example;" yet human weakness teaches that most true is what Abbas Chæremon says in Cassian, Collation XI, chapter IV: "The authority of the teacher will never be effective unless he has fixed it in the heart of the hearer by the effect of his work." Wherefore of St. Athanasius Nazianzen writes, oration 21: "So conducting himself, that he had not great need of speech, on account of his morals being abundantly sufficient for instruction." And of St. Basil the same says in oration 20: "Having little need of speech for the healing of souls." Why? He adds the reason: "Accomplishing very much through work." Hence "his thunder was his oration, because his life was lightning."
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2. WOE, — that is, eternal destruction is intended for them: "Prelates, says St. Gregory, are worthy of as many deaths as they send examples of perdition to their subjects." TO THE PASTORS, — both to laymen, such as kings, princes, magistrates; and to the sacred, such as in the Old Testament were the high priests, scribes and priests: now they are bishops and parish priests (1). WHO FED THEMSELVES — with the milk and flesh of my flock, that is, who sought their own, not the flock's, advantages and gains; when it is the duty of a good pastor to feed the flock committed to him, not himself. Whence explaining further he adds: First, the Prophet in this chapter exaggerates and punishes those who, although they arrogate to themselves the name of pastor, do nothing pastoral, or think less than what the pastoral office demands, first, by accusing the neglected care of subjects by them, but the promoted care of their own advantages, 1-4; second, by exhibiting the damage thence following to the commonwealth, 5, 6; third, by representing this manner of acting as a fault, 7, 8; subjecting, as punishment of the fault, the removal from office and abolition of these magistrates, 9, 10. Second, he makes a promise in the name of God, first, concerning the people of Israel, by visiting, gathering, and leading back, 11-16; feeding, guarding and repairing, discriminating, separating the bad and harmful from the good and innocent, 17-22; second, concerning Christ, as the shepherd and leader of the people to be sent, 23, 24; third, concerning the privileges to be granted at the same time, of which kind are peace and security, 25; abundance, freedom and tranquility, 26-29; the glory of God redounding to the esteem of the people, 30, 31.
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3. YOU ATE MILK, AND WERE CLOTHED WITH WOOL. — By milk and wool he understands the fruits and riches of the subjects, which false and feigned, indeed painted shepherds were exhausting. Our translation and the Septuagint, reading חלב chalab, render it milk; already the Hebrews reading with other points חלב cheleb, render it fat, or fatness, as if to say, You devoured the fattest of the flock. But our translation reads better chalab, that is milk: for a flock is accustomed to provide these three things to a shepherd, namely milk, wool, and meat. By milk Maldonatus aptly understands the stipend of shepherds; for a shepherd by his right feeds on the milk of the flock, as the Apostle says in I Corinthians IX, 7 (1). Wool is whatever beyond their own salaries they were taking by despoiling the people. For wool is either of the sheep, or of the master and owner of them, not of the shepherd. Therefore the shepherd, when shearing, either despoils the sheep or the master of his own property. Meat is the inheritances which they were seizing through frauds, unjust judgments and murders. Whence he adds: "And that which was fat you killed," etc. Hear St. Augustine, tract. On the Shepherd, vol. IX, cap. II and III: "Let shepherds receive," he says, "the sustenance of necessity from the people, the reward of dispensation from the Lord. For the people is not fit to render reward to those who serve them in the charity of the Gospel: let them not expect reward except from whence these also receive salvation. What then are these rebuked for, of what are they accused? because when they took milk, and covered themselves with wool, they neglected the sheep. He who provides milk provides food; he who provides wool provides honor. These are the two things which those seek from peoples who feed themselves." AND THAT WHICH WAS FAT YOU KILLED, — you inflicted death on the rich, so that you might seize their riches. Let those ecclesiastics hear these threats of the Prophet, those shepherds and prelates who, burning with desire for gain from the revenues of benefices, seek the riches of coffers, not of souls; who, accumulating benefices with benefices, pensions with pensions, are rather traffickers than beneficiaries. Do not these shear the sheep, and leaving them shorn and naked for others wretched to feed, who resign pastorates, canonicates, episcopates to others, and reserve almost all the fruits for themselves; so that, if a benefice yields a thousand gold pieces annually, they themselves resign two or three hundred with it, but reserve eight hundred others for themselves under the pretext of a pension? Does not God strike and pierce these directly with his arrow here, saying: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: you ate milk, and were clothed with wool, and that which was fat you killed, but my flock you did not feed?" Does not Jeremiah thunder against these, cap. VI, 13: "From the least even to the greatest all are given to covetousness, and from the prophet even to the priest all deal deceitfully?" And Isaiah, cap. LVI, 11: "The shepherds themselves have not known understanding, all have turned aside into their own way, each one to his avarice." The ancient sanction of the Church is: "A benefice is given on account of an office." How then do these seize the advantages and profits of a benefice, when they do not perform the office, but transfer it to another? Was this the mind of the founders of Churches, to support men doing nothing and idle in it? Would they not, if they returned to us, protest (indeed already dwelling in heaven, or in Purgatory they do protest) that their legacies and wills are overturned, that they bequeathed their goods to the Church to support shepherds and ministers who would truly by themselves teach, feed, and govern the faithful of Christ, not so that others, who contribute nothing to their Church, would enjoy and waste them? Would they not implore the faith of God and men, so that these might be restored to those to whom they themselves bequeathed them? This is indeed a great iniquity, first against God and Christ: for the patrimony of Christ, appointed for those ministering to Christ's Church, is turned away by these, and transferred to strangers, not ministering. Second, against each particular Church, which is despoiled of these its revenues; and therefore it cannot obtain learned and distinguished shepherds and ministers; but poor, wretched ones, indeed ignorant and unfit, who accept any small stipend, so that they may live. But if it sometimes obtains a more worthy one, he cannot administer the office according to his dignity, indeed cannot even live. Third, against the people and the faithful, who cannot be thus instructed, corrected, formed and directed in Christian life by these wretched ones, as they would be instructed and directed by learned and prudent ones. Wherefore the salvation of many is in peril, indeed in fact many perish and are damned through the ignorance, inexperience, and negligence of the Church's ministers; who would have been saved, if they had obtained worthy ministers, such as the Church's resources demanded. Will not Christ require these souls from these traffickers on the day of judgment? Fourth, against the very founders themselves, whose last will, and indeed their bequests and donations are overturned, as I have said. For they themselves, if asked, would say that their intention was altogether different, that they never consented to these pensions, indeed to these lacerations and dispersals of their offerings, and never would consent. Fifth, against all the ancient Canons, which forbid these pensions, and ordain that they be assigned only for just and grave cause, especially to those who have deserved well of the Church and have retired from service, and that, as common custom has it, in such proportion that they do not exceed the third part of the fruits of the benefice. Sixth, against the universal Church, to which scandal is thereby given. Heretics laugh and mock, wherever they see these dealings of avarice in the prelates of the Church. The faithful groan. Clerics imitate, so as to follow the examples of pastors and prelates, and hunger after similar pensions. Seventh, against all the Bishops and Fathers of old and holy men, whose sanctions, life and examples are violated. These gains, these pensions they did not pursue, and they do not serve the altar, let them not eat from it, let them not live from it; nor let those serving defraud themselves of the stipends constituted for them, and transfer them to themselves. The Apostles, whose successors these are, say confidently to Christ, Matt. XIX: "Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee." How do these leave not all things, but their own, who hunger after the things of others? Acts III, 6, St. Peter says to the lame man asking for alms: "Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee." And by this he merited that which St. Augustine says in Psalm CIII: "Truly Peter left the whole world entirely, and Peter received the whole world: as having nothing, and possessing all things." How shall the followers and disciples of St. Peter say these things, who immoderately accumulate gold to gold, pension to pension, benefice to benefice, and as it were land to land? With good reason St. Boniface, apostle of Germany, and martyr in Frisia in the year of Christ 755, complained of these men, and thereafter the Council of Tribur, cap. XVIII, and it is found De consecr. dist. 1, cap. Vasa quibus: "Once, he says, priests of gold celebrated in wooden vessels, now priests of wood celebrate in golden vessels." And St. Gregory, hom. 17 in Evang.: "Consider, he says, brethren, how great a damnation it is to receive the reward of labour without labour: how great a crime to accept the price of sins, and to say nothing against sin by preaching." St. Jerome in that passage of Ezech. XXII: "Her princes in the midst of her, as wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood," not of bodies, he says, but of souls; so that they pursue gains avariciously, never content with that: those who serve the altar, let them live from the altar; but after they have come to the ministry of God, they gather together the riches of Croesus. St. Bernard, serm. 10 in Cant., inveighs sharply against those who, since they are of the patrimony of the Crucified One, are excessively fattened, gorged, and enlarged, esteem the salvation or ruin of souls as nothing: "Those, he says, who conflate all the reproaches, spittings, scourges, nails, lance, cross and death of Christ in the furnace of avarice, and squander them in the acquisition of base gain, and hasten to enclose the price of the universe in their purses." See the same, epist. 2, where among other things he says of these: "Whatever beyond necessary food and simple clothing you retain from the altar, is not yours, it is rapine, it is sacrilege." St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Apolog. 1: "The end of all spiritual office, he says, is, neglecting private advantage, to serve the convenience of others." This, to pass over others, St. Our Lord Gregory XIII accomplished in this age, who expended the riches of the Church for the utility of the Church and the salvation of souls: he established and endowed Colleges to the number of twenty; he nourished so many thousands of the poor within the city and without, that Cardinal Baronius, tom. II, year of Christ 172, relates that a statue was erected to him by the Romans in the Capitol, with this inscription: "Eight hundred million sesterces, distributed with singular beneficence to the needy," that is, two thousand hundred thousands of gold pieces. Alexander V, who was raised from the order of St. Francis to the Pontificate, was so liberal and lavish toward the poor that he said "he had been a rich Bishop, a poor Cardinal, a beggar Pontiff." See St. Chrysostom, homil. 38 in S. Matt. Finally, concerning pensions, the Council of Trent sanctions thus, sess. XXIV, cap. XIII: "All cathedral churches whose revenues do not exceed the sum of a thousand ducats; and parish churches which do not exceed the sum of one hundred ducats, shall not be burdened with any pensions or reservations of fruits." From this, by parity or similarity, gather the rest: and the Lateran Council under Innocent III, cap. XXXII, gravely sanctions that to all who serve the Church, even vicars, a suitable portion of fruits be assigned, from which they may live honestly according to their station. O eternal truth, true holiness, holy happiness! illuminate our darkness, open the eyes of our mind, that no vanity of avarice may seduce us, defile us, or condemn us. Come, let thy day and light shine forth, that the shadows may decline. Pour into our heart justice, that what belongs to the Church we render to the Church; what belongs to God we render to God. Pour in continence, that content with little (for but little provision is needed for the brief journey of this life), with modest food and clothing, we may live soberly, justly and piously in this age, awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of the glory of the great God. Pour in religion and piety, that we serve not the unjust Mammon, but thee, our Lord, in holiness and justice all our days. Pour in charity, that we love the soul more than the field, that we love the poor and needy more than gold and riches. Pour in wisdom, that we seek and gather true riches, which shall remain with us in the heavens, not vain and soon to perish on earth. Grant us so to pass through temporal goods that we lose not eternal ones. Grant that we build houses, name and family not among men who shall soon die, but with thee and thy holy Angels, blessed and glorious, which shall endure and be eternal for all ages. Grant that we be the salt of the earth and the light of the world: that by example more than by word we draw all to thee, and teach them in deed to despise earthly things and love heavenly ones, that on that great day of judgment of the world we may deserve to hear from thee, the judge: Well done, good servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter into the joy of thy Lord. Amen. the kingdom of heaven, which Christ and the Apostles preached, namely that men be called away from flesh and earth to spirit and heaven, that men be led from pride, gluttony, avarice to humility, temperance, contempt of riches. Now how shall they preach heavenly riches, who are wholly intent upon earthly things? How shall they oppose avarice, who study nothing but the accumulation of pensions? How shall they inculcate eternity and eternal goods, who pursue nothing but temporal and perishable things? St. Hilary, Can. IV in Matthew, explaining that saying of Christ: You are the salt of the earth, says that the Apostles and their successors are "preachers of heavenly things, and as it were sowers of eternity, conferring immortality upon all bodies upon which their word has been sprinkled. They are therefore rightly called the salt of the earth, by the virtue of their doctrine preserving bodies for eternity in a manner of seasoning." But how shall they be "sowers of eternity," who are wholly reapers of temporal things? How shall they be the salt of the earth, who, as it were, having become insipid salt turned to earth and earthly things? Who, as St. Hilary adds, "having lost the sense of their savour, cannot vivify the corrupt, and cast out from the storehouses of the Church, are trampled underfoot by those whom they had seasoned." Finally, against these the Holy Scripture and the Fathers inveigh gravely. Zacharias cries out, cap. XI, 17: "O shepherd and idol, forsaking the flock!" that is to say, Thou seemest to be the shepherd of the people, but in truth thou art an idol and a phantom of a shepherd: thou art feigned and painted, not a living and true shepherd, who forsakest the flock and feedest thyself. "Feeding themselves" St. Jude blames. The law of the Apostle is: "They that work in the holy place eat of the things of the holy place; and they that serve the altar, are partakers with the altar," I Cor. IX, 13. Whoever therefore serves the holy place is, nay, in none of his own did St. Augustine admit, who, as Possidius testifies, in his episcopate sought not riches but souls, and therefore distributed his riches to the poor. Not St. Gregory, whose liberality and almsdeeds the Roman Church praises. Not St. Ambrose, not St. Chrysostom, not Basil, not Gregory of Nazianzus, not Athanasius. the Fathers inveigh against them as against crimes, nay sacrileges, and accuse those who aspire to them of sacrilege, both because they plunder the patrimony of Christ; and because they render themselves unworthy and unfit for their degree, dignity and office. For their office is to say by word and more by life: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup," he is "who shall restore my inheritance to me." For a cleric is named from κλῆρος, that is, a lot; namely that he should not seek a lot on earth, but that, like the Levites and priests of the Old Testament, his lot should be the Lord, from whom he expects his inheritance in heaven. A cleric therefore professes that he seeks not riches on earth, but in heaven, that he has his heart fixed on God. Now if anyone studies earthly gains, he professes the contrary: for in deed he cries out that his heart is not in the ether, but in the air; his lot is not God, but mammon. Again, their office is to preach the kingdom of heaven,
34:4
4. THAT WHICH WAS INFIRM, — in Hebrew all these are neuter feminine, namely infirm, sick, broken, cast down, wandering you did not bring back: for sheep are understood. CAST DOWN, — in Hebrew נדחת niddachat, that is thrust out, or cast down, for example into a pit, or into remote and pathless places: he understands a lost and wandering sheep. Whence the Chaldean and the Septuagint, wandering you did not bring back. See St. Gregory explaining these things, II part. Pastor. cap. VI, at the end, where he thus says: "The cast down is brought back, when anyone fallen in fault is recalled to the state of justice by the vigor of pastoral solicitude. But a fracture is bound by a ligament, WITH POWER — cruelty, that is to say Tyrannically (1). 6. MY FLOCKS HAVE WANDERED IN ALL MOUNTAINS. — both by fleeing to idols in the mountains; both by fleeing the cruelty of princes; both because by the sloth and malice of shepherds they were delivered to the enemies the Chaldeans, by whom they were partly led away, partly scattered, fleeing and wandering through forests and mountains.
34:10
10. BEHOLD I MYSELF OVER THE SHEPHERDS (Chaldean: Over the governors I will send my fury, or over the shepherds, that is from the shepherds) I WILL REQUIRE MY FLOCK (I will require, I say) FROM THEIR HAND, — that is to say I will demand an account why the flock is lost and scattered, and I will exact its death and damages from the shepherds. THAT THEY FEED NO MORE. — Namely through Esdras, Nehemiah, etc., but more through Christ and through the Apostles, God deprived the old scribes and priests of the office of feeding. IT SHALL NOT BE TO THEM ANY MORE FOR FOOD, — that they may devour my flock.
34:11
11. BEHOLD I, etc., I WILL VISIT (in Hebrew בקרתים biccartim, that is I will seek) THEM, — namely the sheep, truly the Jews wandering and erring in the Babylonian captivity like sheep, through Zorobabel, Esdras, Nehemiah and others I will bring back into Judea, that there they may feed and rule them according to the law of Moses. Allegorically, the faithful, as my sheep, I will feed through Christ. For the Prophet gradually rises to Christ. Whence in verse 23 he speaks of him literally. Note I will visit. For the Wise man admonishes the shepherd and master, Prov. XXVII, 23, saying: "Know diligently the face of thy cattle, and consider thy flocks." Aristotle relates, lib. I Œconom., that a Persian being asked what most fattened a horse, answered: "The master's eye." But an African being asked what was the best dung in a field, answered: "The master's footsteps," that is the walking and presence in the field. Thus to fatten rational sheep, and to make fruitful the field of the Church, the shepherd's footsteps and eye avail much, that is knowledge and presence. This is signified by the very name of pastor and Bishop. For Pastor is derived from feeding; ἐπίσκοπος is the same as overseer. "Bishop," says Chrysostom, hom. I in ad Timoth., "is so called because he inspects all, and observes all things." Such a Bishop and overseer in this age was St. Charles Borromaeus, who most diligently visited and inspected all his parishes and peoples, even through the hidden places of rocks and mountains, in winter and summer, dealing with each, teaching, instructing and directing each one in the way of salvation. Truly said a wise man: "That the prelate may preside and benefit his own, he must not be absent from them." Thus the moon, though it be almost the smallest of the stars, yet influences all things on earth and moderates them, because it is near and close to the earth.
34:12
12. IN THE DAY OF CLOUD AND DARKNESS, — that is in the time of calamity and captivity (1). 13. I WILL BRING THEM OUT FROM THE PEOPLES, — from the Babylonian captivity; likewise from Ammon, Idumea, Egypt, Persia, Media, whither fleeing they were scattered, I will bring them back through Esdras to the grassy, pleasant and fruitful places of Judea; and much more all nations from the gentiles and gentilism, through the Apostles of Christ I will bring to the pastures of the Church.
34:16
16. WHAT WAS BROKEN I WILL BIND UP. — Note here and in verse 26, all the duties of a true shepherd: first, to feed the flock; second, to make it lie down; third, to strengthen the infirm; fourth, to heal the sick; fifth, to bind up the broken; sixth, to bring back the cast down and wandering; seventh, to seek what was lost; eighth, to rule them gently; ninth, to feed the flock in judgment; tenth, to keep the fat and strong. All which are reduced to this one principle, namely: "Let the shepherd first feed the flock, not himself." Thus Adrian the Emperor, as Spartianus testifies, often said in an assembly, that he would so manage the commonwealth as to know it to be the people's, not his own. For a king is the shepherd of peoples, says Homer. He ought therefore to feed them, not himself (2). I WILL FEED THEM IN JUDGMENT, — that is I will feed them with mature judgment, wisdom, discretion, knowing and giving to each what is fitting for him. Second, "in judgment," that is justly, giving to each what is his own, and what is due to him by right.
34:17
17. YOU THEREFORE MY FLOCKS. — He rebukes the shepherds, and turns to the flock, and rebukes it up to verse 23; the flock, that is to say the subjects, who, while living luxuriously, strive to oppress and disturb others. He says therefore that he will judge them, and will place the sheep on the right, the goats on the left: as Christ from this place promises that he will do so at the final judgment, Matt. xxv, 33; whence explaining he adds: I JUDGE BETWEEN CATTLE AND CATTLE, BETWEEN RAMS AND GOATS. — I judge between good and bad, so that I may reward the good and punish the bad. By rams he understands the good: by goats, the bad, who with their feet trample the waters, that is they disturb the peace. St. Gregory however also takes these things concerning shepherds who preach well; but with their foot, that is with their action, they trouble the water. For the flock follows works, not words. This is, says St. Clement, lib. II Const. Apost. cap. XIX: "I will judge bishop with bishop comparing; I will also judge layman with layman, and magistrate with magistrate conferring. For these are sheep partaking of reason, likewise rams; lest the layman say: I am a sheep, and not a shepherd, and no account was taken of me; let the shepherd see, he alone will pay the penalty for me. For as a sheep, when it does not follow a good shepherd, is exposed to wolves; so again, when it follows a bad shepherd, the destruction of the sheep is certain from the bad shepherd, who will devour it. Wherefore shepherds who are murderers must be fled."
34:18
18. WAS IT NOT. — He addresses, as I said, not the shepherds, but the goats, that is the bad and restless subjects. Truly St. Gregory, XXV Moral. XIV: "It is certain, he says, that thus the merits of rulers and of the people are connected to one another, so that often from the fault of shepherds the life of the people becomes worse, and often from the merit of the people the life of the shepherds is changed." The purest water. — In Hebrew: deep; for what is deep is also very pure. The remainder you troubled with your feet. — He notes the rich, who living splendidly, preferred to lose what remained or to give it to dogs and beasts, rather than to distribute it to the poor. He therefore places one sin of mercilessness in place of the others. Christ does the same Matt. XXV, 42: "I was hungry, he says, and you gave me not to eat," etc.
34:20
20. I JUDGE BETWEEN THE FAT SHEEP AND THE LEAN. — "Fat sheep" are the rich, who oppress the poor; "lean," are the poor oppressed. Thus the Chaldean. Otherwise Maldonatus, "Sheep, he says, fat" are the beneficent and charitable, to whom Christ says: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. Lean are the avaricious and destitute of good works, to whom Christ says: "I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat."
34:21
21. WITH SIDES AND SHOULDERS, — with the whole body and effort. It is a metaphor from fat and strong oxen, which with weak sides, shoulders and horns drive the feeble from the pastures. It signifies that the rich have seized all things, and left nothing remaining for the poor.
34:23
23. AND I WILL RAISE UP OVER THEM ONE SHEPHERD, WHO SHALL FEED THEM, MY SERVANT DAVID, — that is Christ, whose father and figure was David, a good shepherd and king, I Kings xvii, 34, as also Moses, Exod. xxxii, 11, and Jacob, Gen. xxxi, 38. Thus St. Ambrose, lib. VII, epist. 47: "David, he says, was certainly already a dead king; and therefore the true David, the truly humble, the truly meek, the truly mighty in hand, the Son of God is announced by this name." Thus also St. Augustine, lib. De octo Dulcitii Quæstionibus, Question V. Moreover the Hebrews, as testified by R. David, understand by this shepherd the Messiah. Whence he calls him, "one shepherd." For he opposes this one to the many pontiffs of the Old Testament, who many with equal right succeeded one another; but in the Church there is one shepherd and pontiff Christ, to whom the Roman Pontiffs, not with equal, but with vicarious right succeed, as the Apostle teaches, Hebr. vii, 25. See the things said there. Thus Isaiah, cap. xl, 11, concerning Christ says: "As a shepherd he shall feed his flock, in his arm he shall gather the lambs, and shall take them up in his bosom, he himself shall carry them that are with young." Hence Christ, John x, 11: "I, he says, am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and mine know me." Moreover that Christ is called David is not new. For thus he is called in Hosea iii, 5: "After this the children of Israel shall return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king." And Ezech. xxxvii, 24: "My servant David king over them, and there shall be one shepherd of them all." And verse 25: "David my servant prince of them forever." Note: Christ is called the servant of God the Father, by reason of the humanity assumed. See Francis Suarez, III part. Question XX, art. 2, disp. XLIV, sect. 1. Finally the modern Jews understand by David Zerubbabel, the leader of those returning from Babylon, but although the Prophet alludes to him, and as it were touches upon him in passing, yet these things so august properly belong to Christ alone.
34:25
25. I WILL MAKE A COVENANT OF PEACE WITH THEM. — Christ did this when He said John XIV, 27: "Peace I leave with you;" and when He instituted the new Testament. For this entire Testament is one of charity and peace. AND I WILL CAUSE THE EVIL BEASTS TO CEASE, — that is, vices, and the power of evil men and demons, as if to say, I will take away from the demon the power which he had over men.
34:26
26. I WILL SET THEM IN THE CIRCUIT OF MY HILL (The Chaldean: of the sanctuary, or temple, that is, the Church) A BLESSING — so that they may be a blessing, that is, blessed, that is, happy and fruitful. I will make it so that all things succeed for them prosperously, healthfully and happily. SHOWERS OF BLESSING (that is, showers of fertility and fruitfulness, that is, beneficial, not harmful) SHALL BE. — as if to say, I will give them evangelical doctrine, which like rain will irrigate souls, like trees or fields and earth, will produce the fruits of virtues and nourish them unto eternity.
34:27
27. WHEN I SHALL HAVE BROKEN THE CHAINS OF THEIR YOKE, — which namely the demon and sin imposed upon men. AND I SHALL DELIVER THEM OUT OF THE HAND OF THOSE THAT RULE OVER THEM, — out of the power of the devil, the flesh, the world, sin. In Hebrew, out of the hand of the Chaldeans: and thus he alludes, as I have said.
34:29
29. I WILL RAISE UP FOR THEM A PLANT OF RENOWN, — that is, noble; the Septuagint, a plant of peace; the Chaldean, a planting so that they may remain, as if to say, I will raise up for them a celebrated plant, namely Christ and the Christian people; in Hebrew, a plant unto a name, that is, which will bring them name and fame. He understands Christ, from whose name Christians were to be called, who throughout the whole world, namely in heaven and on earth, were to be celebrated for all ages. A plant signifies God made man, says Vatablus. Thus in Zach. III, 8, Christ is called "the Dayspring," in Hebrew the same is tsemach, that is, a sprout. Note: This plant of renown, which germinates from the heavenly and blessed rain, as preceded, is Christ; but in manifold ways. For, first, He Himself, the Holy Spirit raining down upon the Virgin, was conceived and born as a pure sprout; so that we, like sheep, might be fed by Him, as by a sprout. This is what we sing from St. Ambrose in the Office of the Church: And let Christ be food for us, And let faith be our drink, Let us joyfully drink the sober Drunkenness of the spirit. Second, in the Eucharist Christ is not only a shepherd to us little sheep, but also a sprout, that is, food. Whence Zacharias says of Him, cap. IX, 17: "For what is his goodness, and what is his beauty, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?" Third, Christ by His doctrine and grace, like rain, raises up in the mind, that is, in our intellect and will, pious and holy sprouts, namely holy inspirations of virtues, so that fed and strengthened by these we feel no hunger in the spirit: but we are nourished, grow, and advance unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. Fourth, the sprouts of Christ are the Apostles, Martyrs, Virgins, by whose examples, as by sprouts, He feeds us, so that we may imbibe, draw in and put on the same virtues of zeal, patience, martyrdom, virginity and chastity. For their examples are to us sprouts, that is, nourishments and incentives of virtues. Therefore, O merciful Jesus, good shepherd, true bread, feed us, protect us, make us to see good things In the land of the living. THEY SHALL NOT BE DIMINISHED (that is, consumed) BY HUNGER IN THE LAND, — as if to say, In the Church there shall not be lacking true doctrine, which feeds the soul, there shall not be famine of the word of God, the number of the faithful shall not be diminished on account of this famine, they shall not die of hunger, as happened before Christ. OF THE NATIONS, — from the nations.
34:31
31. BUT YOU. — The order is inverted, thus to be set right: You, O men! are my flocks, and the sheep of my pasture. He explains the allegory above, as if to say, What I called cattle are not brute beasts, but men, and your shepherd I am the Lord your God (1). This is a moral place of the chapter concerning the duty, dignity, and virtues of the pastors of the Church. Concerning which, hear, first, Christ forming His disciples, who were to be future pastors, Matt. V, 13: "You," He says, "are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world, etc. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Second, St. Paul paints a living image of a true pastor in himself with eight virtues, as with colors, I Thessal. II, as I said there in the synopsis of the chapter. He does the same in Acts XX, 28, and I Cor. II, 3 and seq., and in the epistle II, cap. I, vers. 2 and seq., likewise cap. IV to the Ephesians, finally throughout the entire epistles to Timothy and to Titus. Third, St. Peter, epistle I, cap. V, vers. 2: "Feed," he says, "the flock of God which is among you, taking care of it not by constraint, but willingly according to God: neither for filthy lucre's sake, but willingly: nor as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart; and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory." From which words you may draw forth these six canons:
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
34:7
Primacy of Saint Peter and of the Roman Pontiff
Jer. 23:3; 31:10; Is. 40:11; 49:9-10; Ez. 34:7-24; 37:23-25; Zach. 11:7-9) and Jesus himself had presented himself as the true shepherd (Mt. 18:12; Lk. 15:4; Jn. 16:11-16). By entrusting his flock ("my lambs, my sheep") to Peter, …
34:23
David (Heb. Dāwīdh "Beloved, Dear")
… despite the bitterest oppositions, his very divinity (Ps. 2; 15; 21; 68; 108). So connatural had the idea become that David and the Messiah were the same thing, that Jeremiah and Ezekiel would go so far as to use the name of David as a synonym for Messiah (Ez. 34:23 etc.). …
34:25
… etc. (cf. the image of the table set: Mt. 22, 4; Lk. 14, 15-24). To the reborn Israel, the assistance of Yahweh (Is. 40-66) assures the triumph over present enemies (Ez. 35-36) and future ones (Ez. 38-39; Dan. 7-12) and every prosperity (Is. 31, 10-14; Ez. 34, 25-29; etc.).
… homeland, the exiles regarded themselves as "the true people of Yahweh," "the remnant" or "holy seed" that Yahweh had reserved for himself (Ezra 2:2b; 9:8; Hag. 1:12). They thought that the promises of prosperity which fill the 2nd part of Is. and Ez. 34:25-31; 35; 36; 47 were being realized in them; these are the chapters to which Zech. 9-14 especially refers. …
34:26
… ff.; 61, 1 ff.; Jer. 31, 31-34 (= Hebr. 8, 8-12); Dan. 7, 14-27; 9, 24; its center of diffusion will be Zion (Hos. 2, 19-24; Is. 2, 2 ff.; Mic. 4, 2 ff.; Jer. 31, 33; Ez. 16, 60 ff.; 17, 23; etc.); it will be a source of blessings for all the nations (Ez. 34, 26 = Gen. 12, 2). Characteristics of the kingdom of the M.: the remission of sins and holiness: Is. 56, 6; 57, 13; Jer. 31, 23-34; Ez. 36, 25-28; etc. (cf. Lk. 1, 77 ff.); peace, the …
34:36
… Thus for Is. 7:12; thus for the description of the restoration after the exile: the reborn Israel is considered an immediate preparation for the kingdom of the Messiah by which it will be elevated and absorbed; and therefore they are closely joined in the prophecies (Jer. 30-31, 33; Ez. 34, 36-48). One must always keep in mind that prophecy does not seek to satisfy curiosity, does not seek to be a chronicle.
34:40
which will finally fulfill the conditions of the covenant of Sinai and which will be raised up and absorbed into the Kingdom of the Messiah (Is. 40-66; Jer. 30-31, 33; Ezek. 34, 40-48).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.