Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Jeremiah 23:1; Jeremiah 23:5-6 ("Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ... Behold ... I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign ... THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"), and Zechariah 11:17 ("Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock;" cf. Zechariah 12:7-8, "The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah," etc.) similarly make the removal of the false shepherds the preliminary to the interposition of Messiah the good Shepherd in behalf of His people Israel. The "shepherds" are not prophets or priests, but rulers who sought in their government their own selfish ends, not the good of the people ruled. The term was appropriate, as David the first king, and the type of the true David (Ezekiel 34:23-24), was taken from being a shepherd (2 Samuel 5:2; Psalms 78:70-71), and the office, like that of a shepherd for his flock, is to guard and provide for his people. The choice of a shepherd for the first king was therefore designed to suggest this thought, just as Jesus' selection of fishermen for apostles was designed to remind them of their spiritual office of catching men (cf. Isaiah 44:28; Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 3:15; Jeremiah 10:21; Jeremiah 23:1-2).