| dc.description.abstract | The shepherd metaphor is used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to kings or
leaders of the Israelite community. It belongs to the larger group of pastoral
metaphors which are used to convey ideas about governance and politics. This is
especially apparent in how the Hebrew prophets have utilized pastoral imagery in
their rhetoric about politics. Specifically, the imagery occurs in Micah 2:12-13; 5:1-
5; 7:14-20; Isaiah 40:9-11; 44:24-45:7; 56:9-12; 63:7-14; Jeremiah 3:15-20; 10:19-
21; 22:18-23; 23:1-8; 25:30-38; 31:10-14; Ezekiel 34 and Zechariah chs. 10, 11, 13.
This study is an analysis of these passages. It investigates the political processes
depicted in the text and describes the political ideas that they express.
In order to show that pastoral metaphors are powerful rhetorical devices for
revealing political ideas, Chapter 1 provides a survey of metaphorical theories that
are relevant to the exegesis of the shepherd texts. Particularly useful is Janet Soskice’
notion of ‘metaphorical modeling’ which leads to the overarching metaphorical
assumption in the use of pastoral metaphors, that ‘Political governance is
shepherding.’ New meanings are created by mapping out the structures of
shepherding onto the domain of governance. Secondly, the chapter also examines the
sociological background of pastoral metaphors in their wider Mesopotamian context
to show that the shepherd metaphor is a political metaphor. Lastly, it explores ideas
in political theology that might enhance the exegesis of the text from the perspective
of politics. Particularly, the study draws upon the conceptions in political theology
proposed by Oliver O’Donovan, Walter Brueggeman and Dale Launderville, who all
base their theories on the notion of the ‘authority’ of God. O’Donovan suggests four
organizing concepts for doing political theology, namely, salvation, judgment,
possession, and praise. On the other hand, Brueggeman intimates a reading that uses
the ‘politics of Yahweh vs. politics of Pharaoh’ as a paradigm. As for Launderville,
he explores the idea of authority through the notion of legitimation by the gods and
by the people.
Each of the subsequent chapters (2-6) will offer a detailed exegetical
analysis of the prophetic books containing shepherd texts. These close readings
result in variety of political implications based on the interactions of three main
players, Yahweh who is the owner of the flock and sometimes also portrayed as the
Great Shepherd, the human shepherd, and the flock. The web of relationship and
interaction of these three players affirms the centrality of the ‘authority of God’ in
the politics of the shepherd texts. Moreover, five aspects of politics arise and
consistently thread their way across the five chapters. Primary among these is [1]
the different manifestations of the dynamics of relations of power between different
entities such as: Yahweh, the Great Shepherd and the supreme king of the flock, the
human shepherd-rulers who are considered as vicegerents and are under the
jurisdiction of the Great Shepherd, and the flock who are subordinate to both the
Great Shepherd and the human shepherd-rulers. Consequent to this notion are the
following ideas: [2] the need for the human-shepherd to be attentive to divine
sanction; [3] the human-shepherd as the chief redistributor of material and symbolic
goods in the community; [4] the shepherd-leader, whether referring to Yahweh or to
the human shepherds, as the centralizing symbol in the community; and [5] justice
as a central aspect of governance within the shepherding-governance framework. | en |
