Texts in Conversation
In Matthew 18, Jesus' image of a good shepherd interprets the language from Isaiah and Ezekiel in a way similar to Psalms of Solomon 17, following a Jewish interpretive tradition where the messianic shepherd is a king who protects and preserves.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalms of Solomon 17:40
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
38 And the blessing of the Lord (will be) with him: he will be strong and not stumble; 39 His hope (will be) in the Lord: who then can overpower him? 40 (He will be) powerful in his actions, and strong in the fear of God; (He will be) shepherding the flock of the Lord faithfully and righteously, and will allow none of them to stumble in their pasture. 41 He will lead them all rightly, and there will be no pride among them that might cause anyone to be oppressed. 42 This (will be) the majesty of the king of Israel whom God knows; He will raise him up over the house of Israel to correct him.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 18:12
New Testament
10 “See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 12 What do you think? If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost. 15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Psalms of Solomon 17, which is considered the most detailed description of a pre-Christian Messianic expectation, represents the most extensive use of the Messianic Shepherd-King motif in post-biblical Judaism ... At the appearance of the Messiah, these would form the nucleus of a restored national state. Yet, in the eschaton, when Messiah’s kingdom extends to include all the nations, the Lord’s flock will expand to include the one nation Israel as well as reverent Gentile nations. With such a significant use of the Messianic Shepherd-King motif, in a setting not so distant either temporally or socio-politically from the Gospel of Matthew, Psalms of Solomon 17 provides an important comparison to the Evangelist’s use of the motif ..."
Joel Willitts, Matthew’s Messianic Shepherd-King: In Search of "the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel" (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2007), 79–90.
* 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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