My servant David shall be king over them: For God’s promise to restore the Davidic kingship, see the comments on 34.23-24. In this verse God refers to David as king, but in 34.24 he used the term “prince.” In many languages it will not be possible to distinguish between these two terms. That is acceptable because the book of Ezekiel uses them almost interchangeably. Some translations make it clear that this clause does not refer to David literally returning from the dead to become king again; for example, Good News Translation says “A king like my servant David will be their king,” and Contemporary English Version has “Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David.”

And they shall all have one shepherd: For shepherd as a political leader, see the comments on 34.2. God stresses that there will be one king/shepherd for all the people, that is, the whole nation of Israel.

They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes: See the comments on 18.9. When the nation is fully restored under one king, the people will be able to obey Yahweh fully. Follow is literally “walk” (King James Version / New King James Version). Be careful to observe my statutes is better translated “obey my laws and do them.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .