The image describing the Lord’s people changes to the well-known one of a vineyard. The word shepherds
has also been used before to describe the leaders of foreign nations that invaded Judah (see Jeremiah 6:3; Jeremiah 25:34–36). These nations will destroy,
trample,
and make the vineyard a desolate wilderness.
We see again the Lord’s attachment to his people and therefore his sadness at their destruction: each of the three lines of Hebrew poetry ends with the word my
: my vineyard,
my portion,
my pleasant portion
.1
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down my portion; they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.