Ezekiel 34:10

34:10 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; ¹  the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.

Ezekiel 34:17

34:17 “‘As for you, my sheep, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.

Psalms 22:12-16

22:12 Many bulls ²  surround me;

powerful bulls of Bashan ³  hem me in.

22:13 They ⁴  open their mouths to devour me ⁵ 

like a roaring lion that rips its prey. ⁶ 

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ⁷ 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ⁸  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

22:15 The roof of my mouth ⁹  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ¹⁰ 

You ¹¹  set me in the dust of death. ¹² 

22:16 Yes, ¹³  wild dogs surround me –

a gang of evil men crowd around me;

like a lion they pin my hands and feet. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 25:31-46

The Judgment

25:31 “When ¹⁵  the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 25:32 All ¹⁶  the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 25:33 He ¹⁷  will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 25:34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 25:36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 25:37 Then the righteous will answer him, ¹⁸  ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 25:38 When ¹⁹  did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? 25:39 When ²⁰  did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 25:40 And the king will answer them, ²¹  ‘I tell you the truth, ²²  just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters ²³  of mine, you did it for me.’

25:41 “Then he will say ²⁴  to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! 25:42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 25:43 I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 25:44 Then they too will answer, ²⁵  ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed?’ 25:45 Then he will answer them, ²⁶  ‘I tell you the truth, ²⁷  just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 25:46 And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

[34:10]  ¹ tn Heb “I will cause them to cease from feeding sheep.”

[22:12]  ² sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.

[22:12]  ³ sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.

[22:13]  ⁴ tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”

[22:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).

[22:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”

[22:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ⁸ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[22:15]  ⁹ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ¹⁰ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ¹¹ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ¹² sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[22:16]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[22:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet. The line has been traditionally translated, “they pierce my hands and feet,” and then taken as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ. Though Jesus does appropriate the language of this psalm while on the cross (compare v. 1 with Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34), the NT does not cite this verse in describing the death of Jesus. (It does refer to vv. 7-8 and 18, however. See Matt 27:35, 39, 43; Mark 15:24, 29; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24.) If one were to insist on an emendation of כָּאֲרִי (ka’ariy, “like a lion”) to a verb, the most likely verbal root would be כָּרָה (karah, “dig”; see the LXX). In this context this verb could refer to the gnawing and tearing of wild dogs (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV). The ancient Greek version produced by Symmachus reads “bind” here, perhaps understanding a verbal root כרך, which is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic and means “to encircle, entwine, embrace” (see HALOT 497-98 s.v. כרך and Jastrow 668 s.v. כָּרַךְ). Neither one of these proposed verbs can yield a meaning “bore, pierce.”

[25:31]  ¹⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:32]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:33]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:37]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “answer him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[25:38]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:39]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:40]  ²¹ tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:40]  ²² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:40]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). In this context Jesus is ultimately speaking of his “followers” (whether men or women, adults or children), but the familial connotation of “brothers and sisters” is also important to retain here.

[25:41]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:44]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Then they will answer, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[25:45]  ²⁶ tn Grk “answer them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[25:45]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”