complete verse (Ezekiel 34:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 34:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “You did not strengthen the weak, you did not treat the sick ones and did not put right those who have broken (a leg). You did not bring back those who went astray or search for those who got lost. But you were harsh and fierce to (them).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You do- not -strengthen the ones who-are-weak among them. You do not give-medicine-(drug)/heal the ones-who-are-sick or bind-up the ones-who have wounds. You do not look-for the ones-who have-gone-astray or the ones-who- are -lost. Instead, you (plur.) treated- them -with- great -harshness/cruelty.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You have not enabled those who are weak to become strong. You have not healed those who were sick. You have not bandaged those who were wounded/injured. You have not brought back those who went astray. You have not searched for those who became lost. You have ruled your people harshly and cruelly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 34:4

This verse lists more ways in which the shepherds, that is, the leaders of Israel, were not doing their job properly. It pictures the leaders not looking after and standing up for the weaker members of the community, but treating them harshly.

The weak you have not strengthened means they have not cared for the weaker animals so that they could become strong.

The sick you have not healed means they have not cared for and restored to health animals that were sick.

The crippled you have not bound up means they have not cared for those animals that were injured and hurt. The Hebrew word for the crippled actually refers to animals with “broken bones” (New Living Translation) and the verb for bound up refers to putting “bandages” (New Century Version; similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible, Moffatt) on broken legs to help them heal. Both these words are used in 30.21 (see the comments there). Here translators may say “You have not put bandages on their broken bones to heal them.”

The strayed you have not brought back means they have not tried to bring back the animals that have “wandered away” (New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation) from their owner’s fields. Strayed is literally “driven away,” and reminds the reader of the exiles that God “drove away” into other countries (see 4.13).

The lost you have not sought means they have not gone to look for those who have wandered away and become lost, and so were likely to die because they were alone and without protection.

And with force and harshness you have ruled them: Instead of looking after and caring for the sheep, that is, God’s people, the leaders have governed them harshly and oppressively. This is a very strong expression in Hebrew. The verb for ruled has the idea of dominate, subjugate, control, have power over (as humans were allowed to do to animals in Gen 1.26, 28); the noun for force has the idea of strength with which the powerful people treat others “cruelly” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible) and “harshly” (New International Version, New American Bible); and the noun for harshness carries the sense of the way slaves were treated. The Hebrew word for harshness is the same term used for the way the Egyptians treated badly the Israelites while they were slaves in Egypt (see Exo 1.13-14, where it is rendered “cruel slavery” in Good News Translation). The Law of Moses expressly forbade the Israelites from treating their countrymen in this way (see Lev 25.43, 46, 53).

In the list of this verse the object is stated before the subject and action, for example, The weak you have not strengthened. This word order highlights that the leaders of Israel failed to care for their people who were in need. However, this is not the most natural structure in many languages, and translations such as Good News Translation and Bible en français courant place the object last, as in “You have not taken care of the weak ones” (Good News Translation), and likewise with the other clauses in this list. Translators can do whichever will be best for their readers.

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 .