I had intended to work this into the message from last Sunday on shepherding and decided to leave it out. I was trying to pull three texts together and a tangential comment about Habakkuk 3 would have not been helpful.
John 10 is a case of Jesus doubling up on metaphors. First he is the gate by which the sheep come and go. As the gate he provides them safety and security. Jesus then uses another metaphors, still connected to sheep, but this time he is the good shepherd who protects the sheep from thieves and sacrifices his life for the sheep. In John 21 the focus is on Peter’s responsibility to feed and take care of the sheep. Both John 10 and 21 being connected to the hope of the good shepherd in Ezekiel 34.
Before talking about Habakkuk 3 here is a little background. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew with a complete small sections in Aramaic. However, the Old Testament was translated into Greek as Greek become the common language. This was done c.300-100 BCE and is commonly called the Septuagint. For many of early church communities the Greek Old Testament would have been the primary text.
Every translation is an interpretation. There are sometimes differences between the Hebrew text and the Greek text. A simple exercise to notices this would be to compare Old Testament passages in Luke-Acts with their original context (Acts 13:41 with Habakkuk 1:5).
The second to last clause of Habakkuk 3:17 displays a slight change in nuance due to a difference between the Hebrew text and the Greek text.
Hebrew text
- the flock have disappeared from the pen (גזר ממכלה צאן)
Greek text
- the sheep have run out of food (ἐξέλιπον ἀπὸ βρώσεως πρόβατα)
I am not arguing that this interesting difference in how Habakkuk 3:17 is translated had any influence whatsoever in the gospel of John. However, I found it interesting that both concerns are addressed by Jesus. The flock being out of the pen and the flock not having anything to eat are both dealt with in the shepherd/sheep sections in the gospel of John. Jesus is the fulfillment of the grand story that God is telling and invites us to participate in.
~chris
John 10 is a case of Jesus doubling up on metaphors. First he is the gate by which the sheep come and go. As the gate he provides them safety and security. Jesus then uses another metaphors, still connected to sheep, but this time he is the good shepherd who protects the sheep from thieves and sacrifices his life for the sheep. In John 21 the focus is on Peter’s responsibility to feed and take care of the sheep. Both John 10 and 21 being connected to the hope of the good shepherd in Ezekiel 34.
Before talking about Habakkuk 3 here is a little background. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew with a complete small sections in Aramaic. However, the Old Testament was translated into Greek as Greek become the common language. This was done c.300-100 BCE and is commonly called the Septuagint. For many of early church communities the Greek Old Testament would have been the primary text.
Every translation is an interpretation. There are sometimes differences between the Hebrew text and the Greek text. A simple exercise to notices this would be to compare Old Testament passages in Luke-Acts with their original context (Acts 13:41 with Habakkuk 1:5).
The second to last clause of Habakkuk 3:17 displays a slight change in nuance due to a difference between the Hebrew text and the Greek text.
Hebrew text
- the flock have disappeared from the pen (גזר ממכלה צאן)
Greek text
- the sheep have run out of food (ἐξέλιπον ἀπὸ βρώσεως πρόβατα)
I am not arguing that this interesting difference in how Habakkuk 3:17 is translated had any influence whatsoever in the gospel of John. However, I found it interesting that both concerns are addressed by Jesus. The flock being out of the pen and the flock not having anything to eat are both dealt with in the shepherd/sheep sections in the gospel of John. Jesus is the fulfillment of the grand story that God is telling and invites us to participate in.
~chris
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