Texts in Conversation
In Ezekiel, God promises to appoint a shepherd, identified with David, to care for the people after poor leadership harmed the weak. The Psalms of Solomon draws on this, describing hope for a restored Davidic ruler who will shepherd the nation.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ezekiel 34:23
Hebrew Bible
21 Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them abroad, 22 I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 “‘I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them—namely, my servant David. He will feed them and will be their shepherd. 24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken! 25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely in the wilderness and even sleep in the woods.
Date: 600–501 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Psalms of Solomon 17:21
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
19 For the heavens withheld the rain from falling on the earth, Springs were stopped (that sprang) continuous(ly) from the depths, (that ran down) from high mountains. For there was no one among them who practiced righteousness and justice; 20 From their leaders to the least (of them) all were sinful; The king was a lawbreaker, and the judge disobedient, and the people sinful. 21 Look, Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David, at the time You see fit, God, so that he may reign over Your servant Israel. 22 And strengthen him so that he may shatter unrighteous rulers, and so that he may cleanse Jerusalem of nations that trample (her) down to destruction. 23 Wisely, righteously he shall drive out sinners from (the) inheritance; He shall destroy the pride of the sinner as a potter's jar.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... Psalm of Solomon 17 also uses imagery from Ezekiel 34. Psalm of Solomon 17 first affirms the kingship of God and his appointment of David (Psalms of Solomon 17:1-8), and then condemns the leaders of Israel. The psalmist’s prayed-for solution to the problem of Gentile incursion is the restoration of the Davidic line, described in terms derived from Ezekiel 34 (Psalms of Solomon 17:21/Ezekiel 34:23; Psalms of Solomon 17:27/Ezekiel 34:30; Psalms of Solomon 17:16-18/Ezekiel 34:12). Besides the verbal parallels, there are also many conceptual parallels between Psalm of Solomon 17 and Ezekiel 34: the weak sheep (Psalms of Solomon 17:40, Ezekiel 34:4, 16), the pasture (Psalms of Solomon 17:40, Ezekiel 34:14, 18); judgment on the leaders (Psalms of Solomon 17:5-20; Ezekiel 34:1-10, 17-22), deliverance from the Gentile nations (Psalms of Solomon 17:22-25; Ezekiel 34:28-29), and the renewed covenant between God and his people (Psalms of Solomon 17:27; Ezekiel 34:30). The psalmist’s expectation that the coming king will perform a just reallocation of the tribes and the land (Psalms of Solomon 17:28, 43) is similar in concept and wording to the expectations found in Ezekiel 45:8, 47:13, 21 ..."
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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,