Texts in Conversation
Matthew’s description of the crowds as sheep without a shepherd recalls Jeremiah’s image of Israel as lost sheep abandoned by their leaders. Both use the same pastoral metaphor to portray moral and social neglect, where failed leadership leaves the people vulnerable and scattered.
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Jeremiah 50:6
Hebrew Bible
3 For a nation from the north will attack Babylon; it will lay her land waste. People and animals will flee out of it. No one will inhabit it.’ 4 “When that time comes,” says the Lord, “the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together. They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the Lord their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten. 6 “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have allowed them to go astray. They have wandered around in the mountains. They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. They have forgotten their resting place. 7 All who encountered them devoured them. Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment! For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture. They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors trusted.’
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Matthew 9:36
New Testament
35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest-ready fields.”
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The imagery recalls the oracle of Jeremiah, in which he charges on behalf of the Lord that the (false) shepherds of Judah - rulers who have become corrupt - have led the people astray so that they are 'lost sheep ... upon the mountains'; indeed, 'Israel' is a 'sheep that has wandered away' in Jeremiah 50:6,17 (LXX17:6, 17; compare also Jeremiah 23:1-4; Ezekiel 34:4-6). The verb ('Will he leave?') is in the future tense, fitting for a general question posed to the disciples. It expects a positive answer, whether the action is typical or not of a shepherd. While Matthew has 'on the mountains;' Luke has 'in the wilderness.' There is little difference, since the topography of the wilderness in question is very hilly, even mountainous. It is likely that whatever expression was used in his source, Matthew recalls the language of Jeremiah 50:6 ..."
Hultgren, Arland J.
The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary
(p. 82) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000
* 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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