יחזקאל, פרק ל״ד, פסוק ח׳

A severe and absolute oath is issued by God against the leaders of the nation, who act as criminal shepherds. Rather than protecting the vulnerable people entrusted to their care, these leaders abandoned them to danger and exploited their positions of power for personal gain. God delivers an irreversible judgment, serving as an explicit threat of the punishment that will inevitably follow their actions [מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Left without proper guidance or supervision, the flock was reduced to mere spoil and prey, ultimately devoured by wild beasts [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This disaster occurred entirely because the flock was left without proper supervision [מצודת דוד]. Morally and legally, the shepherds bear complete responsibility for this devastating loss. Ordinarily, attacks by wild animals or robbers might be considered unavoidable tragedies. However, because these leaders deliberately left the sheep unguarded and led them into dangerous territories, they are viewed as negligent from the very beginning. It is this initial negligence that directly caused the disaster. At the very least, they should have sought out the flock or hired replacement guards armed with sticks to ensure its safety [מלבי״ם].

The ultimate betrayal lies in the fact that these shepherds chose to feed only themselves. The primary approach among commentators is that the leaders cared exclusively for their own well-being, growing fat at the expense of the public. They acted as paid watchmen who pocketed their wages without performing their duties. They cannot even defend themselves by claiming they simply stepped down from their roles. Instead, they actively continued to exploit the system for their own personal benefit, completely neglecting God's flock in the process [מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].