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One of the most familiar pictures in the OT is that of the Church or people of God as a flock. In Gen_48:15 the correlative figure is found in ‘the shepherding God,’ and is repealed in the Blessing of the Tribes (‘the Shepherd of Israel,’ Gen_49:24; cf. also Psalms 23 and Eze_34:31). In Isa_40:11 the figure is directly employed: ‘He shall feed his flock like a shepherd’ (in the OT generally ðïéìÝíåò ëáῶí meant ‘civil rulers,’ as in Homer, but in the NT the phrase stands for ‘spiritual guides and teachers’).
The OT metaphor is carried over into the NT, where ôὸ ðïßìíéïí is used exclusively in the figurative sense of ‘church’ or ‘congregation.’ It appears thus in the tender address of our Lord: ìὴ öïâïῦ ôὸ , ìéêñὸí ðïßìíéïí , ‘Fear not, little flock’ (Luk_12:32). The words continued to beat like a pulse in the breast of the Church, and are renewed again and again.
(1) St. Paul says to the elders of Ephesus: ðñïóÝ÷åôå ἑáõôïῖò êáὶ ðáíôὶ ôῷ ðïéìíßῳ … ðïéìáßíåéí ôὴí ἐêêëçóßáí ôïῦ èåïῦ , ‘Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock … to feed the Church of God’ (Act_20:28-29). The overseers and themselves part of the flock ( ἐí ᾧ ), and this suggests the insight, sympathy, closeness of intimacy, and the personal knowledge with which the flock is to be superintended. ‘The bishop is and remains a sheep of the flock, and must thus exercise his oversight both on himself and the whole flock’ (Stier, The Words of the Apostles, 1869, p. 328). ‘Feed’ and ‘guide,’ therefore, include the two great tasks of the ministry.
(2) Jesus had said to Peter: âüóêå ôὰ ἀ ñíἱá ìïõ … ðïἱìáéíå ôὰ ðñüâáôÜ ìïõ , ‘Feed my lambs … tend my sheep’ (Joh_21:15-16). Accordingly the Apostle, ‘in a personal reminiscence’ (W. H. Bennett, The General Epistles [Cent. Bible, 1901], p. 30) and, in ‘unobtrusive allusions to Christ’s life which harmonize with his discipleship’ (Moffatt, Introd. to Literature of the New Testament (Moffatt)., 1911, p. 335), says as a fellow-elder; ðïéìÜíáôå ôὸ ἐí ὑìῖí ðïßìíéïí ôïῦ èåïῦ … ôýðïé ãéíüìåíïé ôïῦ ðïéìíßïõ , ‘Tend the flock of God which is among you … making yourselves ensamples to the flock’ (1Pe_5:2-3; cf. Pss. Sol. 17:45). ‘To feed the flock’ takes in the whole varied duties of the pastoral office. ‘It is not right that a man should only preach a sermon every Sunday, and after that pay no regard to the people’ (Stier, op. cit., 328, quoting Gossner). ‘All modes of watchfulness and help are to be displayed. Fold as well as feed them; guide and guard and heal them’ (Hastings, Great Texts of the Bible, ‘St. John,’ 1912, p. 422). In the Authorized Version of 1Pe_5:3 the flock is called ‘God’s heritage,’ but èåïῦ is not in the text, and it is better to read with Revised Version ‘the charge allotted to yon’ (cf. Tindale’s Version: ‘be not as lordes over the parrishes’). ‘The charge allotted to you’ is therefore parallel to ‘the flock of God which is among you, i.e. the particular Christian society committed to your care. ‘Each separate ἐêêëçóßá was thought of as the “portion” ( êëῆñïò ) of the presbyter who watched over it’ (E. H. Plumptre, Camb. Bible, ‘St. Peter and St. Jude,’ 1880, p. 154).
It is evidence of how completely the thought of the shepherd and the flock possessed the mind of the early Church, that in the Catacombs the figure of a shepherd with a sheep on his shoulder and a crook in his hand is the most frequent of all symbols.
W. M. Grant.