Micah 7:14

7:14 Shepherd your people with your shepherd’s rod, ¹ 

the flock that belongs to you, ² 

the one that lives alone in a thicket,

in the midst of a pastureland. ³ 

Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead, ⁴ 

as they did in the old days. ⁵ 

Psalms 23:1-2

Psalm 23 ⁶ 

A psalm of David.

23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, ⁷ 

I lack nothing. ⁸ 

23:2 He takes me to lush pastures, ⁹ 

he leads me to refreshing water. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 40:10-11

40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ¹¹ 

his military power establishes his rule. ¹² 

Look, his reward is with him;

his prize goes before him. ¹³ 

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart; ¹⁴ 

he leads the ewes along.

Isaiah 49:9-10

49:9 You will say ¹⁵  to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons, ¹⁶  ‘Emerge.’ ¹⁷ 

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;

the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, ¹⁸ 

for one who has compassion on them will guide them;

he will lead them to springs of water.

Ezekiel 34:22-24

34:22 I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another.

34:23 I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them – namely, my servant David. ¹⁹  He will feed them and will be their shepherd. 34:24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince ²⁰  among them; I, the Lord, have spoken!

John 10:27-30

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give ²¹  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ²²  no one will snatch ²³  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ²⁴  and no one can snatch ²⁵  them from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I ²⁶  are one.” ²⁷ 

[7:14]  ¹ tn Or “with your scepter” (the Hebrew term can mean either “rod” or “scepter”).

[7:14]  ² tn Heb “the flock of your inheritance.”

[7:14]  ³ tn Or “in the midst of Carmel.” The Hebrew term translated “pastureland” may be a place name.

[7:14]  ⁴ sn The regions of Bashan and Gilead, located in Transjordan, were noted for their rich grazing lands.

[7:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “as in the days of antiquity.”

[23:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 23. In vv. 1-4 the psalmist pictures the Lord as a shepherd who provides for his needs and protects him from danger. The psalmist declares, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and then extends and develops that metaphor, speaking as if he were a sheep. In vv. 5-6 the metaphor changes as the psalmist depicts a great royal banquet hosted by the Lord. The psalmist is a guest of honor and recipient of divine favor, who enjoys unlimited access to the divine palace and the divine presence.

[23:1]  ⁷ sn The LORD is my shepherd. The opening metaphor suggests the psalmist is assuming the role of a sheep. In vv. 1b-4 the psalmist extends the metaphor and explains exactly how the LORD is like a shepherd to him. At the surface level the language can be understood in terms of a shepherd’s relationship to his sheep. The translation of vv. 1-4 reflects this level. But, of course, each statement also points to an underlying reality.

[23:1]  ⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form is best understood as generalizing; the psalmist highlights his typical or ongoing experience as a result of having the LORD as his shepherd (habitual present use). The next verse explains more specifically what he means by this statement.

[23:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “he makes me lie down in lush pastures.” The Hiphil verb יַרְבִּיצֵנִי (yarbitseniy) has a causative-modal nuance here (see IBHS 445-46 §27.5 on this use of the Hiphil), meaning “allows me to lie down” (see also Jer 33:12). The point is that the shepherd takes the sheep to lush pastures and lets them eat and rest there. Both imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 are generalizing and highlight the psalmist’s typical experience.

[23:2]  ¹⁰ tn Both genitives in v. 2 indicate an attribute of the noun they modify: דֶּשֶׁא (deshe’) characterizes the pastures as “lush” (i.e., rich with vegetation), while מְנֻחוֹת (mÿnukhot) probably characterizes the water as refreshing. In this case the plural indicates an abstract quality. Some take מְנֻחוֹת in the sense of “still, calm” (i.e., as describing calm pools in contrast to dangerous torrents) but it is unlikely that such a pastoral scene is in view. Shepherds usually watered their sheep at wells (see Gen 29:2-3; Exod 2:16-19). Another option is to take מְנֻחוֹת as “resting places” and to translate, “water of/at the resting places” (i.e., a genitive of location; see IBHS 147-48 §9.5.2e).

[40:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.

[40:10]  ¹² tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).

[40:10]  ¹³ tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.

[40:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.

[49:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.

[49:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”

[49:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).

[49:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”

[34:23]  ¹⁹ sn The messianic king is here called “David” (see Jer 30:9 and Hos 3:5, as well as Isa 11:1 and Mic 5:2) because he will fulfill the Davidic royal ideal depicted in the prophets and royal psalms (see Ps 2, 89).

[34:24]  ²⁰ sn The messianic king (“David”) is called both “king” and “prince” in 37:24-25. The use of the term “prince” for this king facilitates the contrast between this ideal ruler and the Davidic “princes” denounced in earlier prophecies (see 7:27; 12:10, 12; 19:1; 21:25; 22:6, 25).

[10:28]  ²¹ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ²² tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ²³ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ²⁴ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ²⁵ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[10:30]  ²⁶ tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.

[10:30]  ²⁷ tn The phrase ἕν ἐσμεν ({en esmen) is a significant assertion with trinitarian implications. ἕν is neuter, not masculine, so the assertion is not that Jesus and the Father are one person, but one “thing.” Identity of the two persons is not what is asserted, but essential unity (unity of essence).