What Does Ezekiel 34:14 Mean?
I will feed them in a good pasture, and on the high mountains of Israel will be their fold. There they will lie down in a good fold, and in a fat pasture they will feed on the mountains of Israel.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.THE KEY
The same Hebrew root names both feeding and pasture, so the place where the flock is nourished grows from the act of being tended.
THE MEANING
Here, you are pictured as a flock fed in good ground and given a place to dwell and lie down. The pasture is both good and fat, holding abundance alongside rest, not bare survival.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
That nourishment and rest cannot exist together, that provision only keeps you moving or barely alive.
THE ROOT
אֶרְעֶה
er'eh
GROWS FROM
רעה
to tend as a shepherd, pasture, or feed
The verb rendered “feed” and the noun rendered “pasture” grow from רעה (ra’ah), whose range includes shepherding and feeding. English separates the caretaker’s action from the field where the flock eats; Hebrew keeps provision inside the act of tending.
ALSO GROWS
ro'eh: shepherd; one who tends a flock
רֹעֶה
The one who provides food is also the flock’s caretaker.
mir'eh: pasture; grazing place
מִרְעֶה
The pasture shares the feeding root, making the place of nourishment part of the shepherd’s care.
תִּרְבַּצְנָה
tirbatsnah
GROWS FROM
רבץ
to crouch or lie down, especially of an animal
The verb pictures the flock settling into a resting posture. Ezekiel 34:15 uses this same root for the shepherd causing the flock to lie down, joining their rest directly to being tended.
ALSO GROWS
rovetz: one crouching or lying down
רֹבֵץ
The same root describes the animal’s settled posture.
mirbats: couching place; lair
מִרְבָּץ
The root can also name a place where an animal settles, linking rest to its dwelling.
THE PATTERN
The shepherd’s provision includes nourishment and a place to rest.
He lays me down in green pastures; he leads me beside resting waters.I am the door. Through me, if anyone enters, he shall be delivered, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture.For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and guides them along the way to springs of living waters, and God wipes away every tear from their eyes.THE THREAD
I myself will feed my flock, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD.Ezekiel 34:15 repeats רעה (ra’ah, tend or feed) and רבץ (ravats, lie down): the shepherd feeds the flock and causes it to rest. That shared wording makes explicit what verse 14 holds together in its pasture and fold, the same care nourishes and settles the flock.
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