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In John, Jesus' image of one flock under one shepherd mirrors Ezekiel’s vision of divine restoration led by God and a Davidic king. Ezekiel portrays God as the shepherd who gathers the scattered sheep, with David serving as a faithful agent of that care.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Ezekiel 34:13
Septuagint
11 For thus says the Lord God, Look, I will seek out my sheep, and will visit them. 12 As the shepherd seeks his flock, in the day when there is darkness and cloud, in the midst of the sheep that are separated: so I will seek out my sheep, and will bring them back from every place where they were scattered in the day of cloud and darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the Gentiles, and will gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land, and will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, and in the valleys, and in every inhabited place of the land. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, on a high mountain of Israel: and their folds shall be there, and they shall lie down, and there they will rest in perfect prosperity, and they shall feed in a fat pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to rest; and they shall know that I am the Lord: thus says the Lord God.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
John 10:16
New Testament
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father.”
Date: 90–110 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Although Ezekiel insists that there will be “one shepherd” (Ezekiel 34:23), he actually describes both God and “my servant, David” as the shepherds of Israel. David’s rule, however, is clearly secondary to God’s in Ezekiel; David rules as vassal prince over Israel, while God is the suzerain king. John’s allusion to Ezekiel allows him to connect Jesus to both “good shepherds” of Ezekiel 34. David is God’s shepherd, and he will do the same things that God does: he will shepherd the people and be their shepherd and ruler (Ezekiel 34:23-24, compare 37:22-24). Ezekiel’s David will be the “one shepherd” (34:23, 37:23) and the one ruler (37:22) over the one people (37:22); Jesus will be the one shepherd over the one flock (John 10:16). John adapts the material from Ezekiel to explain his christology: Jesus is God’s faithful representative who fully carries out God’s work (John 10:25, 37-38); as God appoints David over God’s sheep, so God gives the sheep to Jesus (John 10:29); as God makes a covenant with David (Ezekiel 34:25 LXX), God knows, loves, appoints and commands Jesus (John 10:15, 17, 18) ..."
Gary T. Manning Jr., “Shepherd, Vine, and Bones: The Use of Ezekiel in the Gospel of John,” in After Ezekiel: Essays on the Reception of a Difficult Prophet, ed. P. Joyce and A. Mein, LHBOTS (London: T&T Clark, 2010), 1–31.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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