Mazmur 78:70-72

78:70 He chose David, his servant,

and took him from the sheepfolds.

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, ¹ 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ² 

78:72 David ³  cared for them with pure motives; ⁴ 

he led them with skill. ⁵ 

Yesaya 40:11

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart; ⁶ 

he leads the ewes along.

Yeremia 3:15

3:15 I will give you leaders ⁷  who will be faithful to me. ⁸  They will lead you with knowledge and insight.

Yeremia 23:1

New Leaders over a Regathered Remnant

23:1 The Lord says, ⁹  “The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. ¹⁰  They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered. ¹¹ 

Mikha 3:11

3:11 Her ¹²  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ¹³ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ¹⁴  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ¹⁵ 

Disaster will not overtake ¹⁶  us!”

Yohanes 10:11

10:11 “I am the good ¹⁷  shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life ¹⁸  for the sheep.

[78:71]  ¹ tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ² tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[78:72]  ³ tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[78:72]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”

[78:72]  ⁵ tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”

[40:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.

[3:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[3:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “after/according to my [own] heart.”

[23:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:1]  ¹⁰ sn Heb This particle once again introduces a judgment speech. The indictment is found in v. 1 and the announcement of judgment in v. 2. This leads into an oracle of deliverance in vv. 3-4. See also the note on the word “judged” in 22:13.

[23:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Woe to the shepherds who are killing and scattering the sheep of my pasture.” See the study note on 22:13 for the significance of “Sure to be judged” (Heb “Woe”) See the study note for the significance of the metaphor introduced here.

[23:1]  sn Verses 1-4 of ch. 23 are an extended metaphor in which the rulers are compared to shepherds and the people are compared to sheep. This metaphor has already been met with in 10:21 and is found elsewhere in the context of the Lord’s covenant with David (cf. 2 Sam 7:7-8; Ps 78:70-72). The sheep are God’s people and he is the ultimate shepherd who is personally concerned about their care (cf. Pss 23:1; 80:2). He has set rulers over them as his under-shepherds and they are responsible to him for the care of his sheep (see 22:3-4). They have been lax shepherds, allowing the sheep to be scattered and destroyed. So he will punish them. As the true shepherd of Israel he will regather his scattered flock and place new shepherds (rulers) over them. These verses lead to a promise of an ideal ruler set over an Israel which has experienced a new and better Exodus (vv. 6-8). For a more complete development of this metaphor with similar messianic and eschatological implications see Ezek 34. The metaphor has been interpreted in the translation but some of the flavor left in the simile.

[3:11]  ¹² sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[10:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).

[10:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”

[10:11]  sn Jesus speaks openly of his vicarious death twice in this section (John 10:11, 15). Note the contrast: The thief takes the life of the sheep (10:10), the good shepherd lays down his own life for the sheep. Jesus is not speaking generally here, but specifically: He has his own substitutionary death on the cross in view. For a literal shepherd with a literal flock, the shepherd’s death would have spelled disaster for the sheep; in this instance it spells life for them (Compare the worthless shepherd of Zech 11:17, by contrast).