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Bible Dictionaries
Shepherd
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or The name ‘shepherd’ is taken from the occupation of the Hebrews as a pastoral tribe (Genesis 13:7; Genesis 30:36; Genesis 37:2; Genesis 47:3, Exodus 3:1, 1 Samuel 17:34) and applied to God as the one who feeds and provides for His people (Genesis 48:15; Genesis 49:24, Isaiah 40:11, Psalms 23:1; Psalms 95:7; Psalms 100:3; cf. Ezekiel 34:11-31) and to the rulers of the nation (Numbers 27:17, 2 Samuel 7:7, 1 Kings 22:17, Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 3:15; Jeremiah 23:1-4, Ezekiel 34:2-10, Zechariah 10:3; Zechariah 11:3 ff; Zechariah 13:5). The idea expressed in most of these passages is that the care of Israel, as ‘the flock of His pasture,’ is given by the Lord in charge of the rulers who are held to account for the welfare of every member of the same. Especially Ezekiel 34 rebukes these ‘shepherds’ for their neglect of their charge, and ends up (v. Ezekiel 34:23 b) with the prophecy that in the end one shepherd, like unto David the servant of the Lord, will tend them as prince. To this Messianic passage reference is made in John 10:11-16, where Jesus is represented as saying: ‘I am the good shepherd; … and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: … and they shall become one flock, one shepherd’; cf. Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 2:25; 1 Peter 5:4. To His office as Shepherd Jesus refers in Matthew 15:24; cf. Jeremiah 50:6. Moses also is represented in Ex. R. ii. 2-3 as the good shepherd to whom the Lord said: ‘Since thon takest such care of the lambs of thy flock, be thou the shepherd of My flocks.’ The same is said there also of David when chosen by the Lord to be king. Concerning the identification of Christ as the Good Shepherd with Orpheus on ancient Christian paintings see F. Piper, Mythologie und Symbolik der christl. Kunst, Weimar, 1847-51, i. 126; J. P. Lundy, Monumental Christianity, New York, 1876, pp. 187-196; also R. Reitzenstein, Poimandres, Leipzig, 1904, 11-13, 32 f., 113. But the title ‘shepherd’ or ‘pastor’ is given in the NT to all the heads of the Church, to the apostle Peter (John 21:17; cf. Matthew 10:6; Matthew 10:16) and to the elders of the Church (Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 5:2) as having charge of the ‘sheep of Christ,’ ‘the flock of God.’ The name Ποίμην (‘pastor’ or ‘shepherd’) is used in the sense of ‘overseer,’ episcopus (Ephesians 4:1), wherefore Jesus is also called the ‘arch-shepherd,’ ἀρχιποίμην (1 Peter 5:4). This conception (cf. Philo, ed. Mangey, i. 196) of spiritual rulers as shepherds rests on the original Jewish Didascalia (preserved in the so-called Apostolic Constitutions, ii. 6, 10, 15. 4, 18. 7-18, 19. 1-3, 20. 3-5, 9, 11), where the above-quoted passages from Jeremiah and Ezekiel are interpreted in a spiritual sense as referring to the duties and responsibilities of the overseer of the Church, viz. that he has to look after the spiritual health of each member of the flock, keep them in a sound state of perfect faith, strengthen those weakened by doubt, bind up those bruised by the remorse of sin, and bring back those that have gone astray, while expelling those that may affect the moral or spiritual well-being of the flock by evil conduct or evil doctrine (see article ‘Didascalia’ in Jewish Encyclopedia ). The name ‘shepherd’ or ‘pastor’ became henceforth the title of the bishop (Ignat. ad Phil. ii. 1, ad Rom. ix. 1; Iren. iv. 33; Cyprian, Ep. viii. [ii.], ‘Cleri Romani ad clerum Carthaginensem’; Clem. Alex. Strom. i. 26), and later on in Protestant Christianity of the minister of the Church in general. In Enoch lxxxix. 59, xc. 25, the name ‘shepherd’ is given to the 70 angels ruling the 70 nations of the earth (see R. H. Charles, ad loc., and F. Spitta, Zur Geschichte und Litteratur des Urchristentums, Göttingen, 1901, ii. 367 ff.), also to the angel in Hermas, Mand. iv. 2. 2, Sim. vi. 3. 2. In ancient Babylonia the chief stars bore the name of ‘Shepherds of Heaven.’
K. Kohler.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Shepherd'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/s/shepherd.html. 1906-1918.
