Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?
The prophet has no more to say to the shepherds, but he has now a message to deliver to the flock. God had ordered him to speak tenderly to them, and to assure them of the mercy he had in store for them.
Commenting on Ezekiel 34:17-31
And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet,.... They are forced to do it, not being able to come at any thing else; being as sheep without a shepherd, or worse: and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet; which, as it cannot be agreeable and relishing, so neither wholesome; as the leaven of the...
Not content with appropriating to their own use the goods of others, they from mere wantonness spoiled what they did not use, so as to be of no use to the owners. deep waters--that is, "limpid," as deep waters are generally clear. GROTIUS explains the image as referring to the usuries with which the rich ground the poor (Eze 22:12; Isa 24:2).