The Following Study Article Is Composed From Preliminary Study Notes As I Progressively Step Through A Biblical Word Study On “The Cornerstone”. All References Are To The KJV.
Shepherds search for their flocks (Ezek 34:8 ); they seek their lost sheep ( Ezek 34:4, Ezek 34: 16 ) ; they seek their young sheep and visit those of their sheep that are cut off (Zech 11:16) ; they seek and search after their sheep when they are scattered and wandering upon every mountain and high hill upon all the face of the earth (Ezek 34:6, 12).
Shepherds judge between cattle and cattle and between the rams and the he goats (Ezek 34:17) ; and they divide their sheep from the goats ( Matt 25:32).
Shepherds gather their lambs ( Is. 40:11 ); they gather their flocks ( Jer 31:10 ); they carry their lambs in their bosoms (Is 40:11 ) ; they bring back their sheep that have been driven away ( Ezek 34:4, Ezek 34:16 ); they deliver their sheep out of all the places that they have been scattered in the dark and cloudy day (Ezek 34:12) ; and they bring their sheep out from the people and the countries and into their own land or folds ( Ezek 34:13 , Jer 23:3 ).
Shepherds take care of the needs of their sheep to the degree that there is nothing that they want or lack (Ps 23:1 , Jer 23:4 ); they are principal and noble men of the flock ( Jer 25:34-36 , Mic 5:5 , Nah 3:18 ); they are masters or sovereigns of their sheep ( 1 Kings 22:17 , 2 Chron 18:16 ); they are not hirelings (John 10:12 ); they care for their sheep as their own ( John 10:12, 13) ; but they do not rule or reign over their sheep with either force or cruelty (Ezek 34:4).
Shepherds make folds for their sheep ( Isaiah 13:20 ) ; they make their sheep to lie down in green pastures ( Ps 23:2, Ezek 34:15, Jer 33:12 ) ; they cause their flocks to lie in good folds by the rivers upon the high mountains of Israel (Ezek 34 :13-15); and they lead their sheep beside the still waters (Ps 23:2).
Shepherds know their sheep and their sheep know them (John 10: 14) ; they enter into their sheepfolds by the doors of those sheepfolds ( John 10:2 ) ; they go out and in before their sheep, leading them out and leading them in ( Num 27 :17) ; they gently lead those that are with young ( Is 40:11 ) ; they lead their sheep in the paths of righteousness (Ps 23:3) ; they restore the souls of their sheep (Ps 23:3) ; they are Bishops of the souls of their sheep ( 1 Peter 2:25 ); and they are Pastors of their sheep ( Jer 23:1 ) .
Shepherds comfort their sheep with their staffs and rods ( Ps 23:4 ) ; they keep their flocks ( Jer 31:10 ); they keep their flocks from fear and dismay ( Jer 23:4 ) ; they keep their sheep from getting lost or going astray (Jer 50:6, Ezek 34 :8 ) ; they keep their sheep from straying and forgetting their resting place ( Jer 50:6 ); and they keep their sheep from being scattered abroad upon the hills or mountains (I Kings 22:17 , 2 Chron 18:16 ,Matt 9:36 ).
Shepherds are ready watchman who protect their sheep with alertness, vision and understanding (Is 56:10, Luke 2:8 ); they do not fill themselves with strong drink or wine ( Is 56:12); and they do not assume that the future will be as or more abundant than the present (Is 56:12).
Shepherds do not leave their flock (Zech 11:17) ; they do not leave or flee the sheep when the wolf comes to catch and scatter their sheep (John 10:12); they prevent their flock from being scattered and then becoming meat to all the beasts of the field (Ezek 34: 5, Ezek 34 : 8) ; they protect their sheep from being caught and scattered by the wolf ( John 10:12 ); and they give their lives for their sheep ( John 10:11).
Shepherds prepare tables for their sheep in the presence of their enemies (Psalm 23 :5); they feed their flocks in good pastures or folds in all the inhabited places of the country: in fat pastures by the rivers and upon the mountains of Israel (Is 40:11, Ezek 34:13, 14, 15 ); they feed their sheep that are sound and can stand still (Zech 11:16); they heal, bind up and strengthen their sick, broken and diseased sheep (Ezek 34 :4, 16; Zech 11:16) ; they anoint the head of their sheep with oil (Ps 23:5), and they prepare a cup that overflows for their sheep (Ps 23:5 ).
Shepherds don’t serve themselves at the expense of their sheep ( Ezek 34:27 ); they are not greedy, never having enough , looking to their own way, for their own gain, from their own quarter ( Is 56:11 ); they don’t feed themselves while not feeding their flocks ( Ezek 34:2,8 ); they don’t eat the fat of their fattened sheep, while not feeding their flocks ( Ezek 34 :3) ; they don’t eat up the good pasture while treading down the residue of their pastures with their feet (Ezek 34 :18) ; they don’t drink of the deep waters while fouling the residue with their feet (Ezek 34 :18); and they don’t clothe themselves with the wool of their fattened sheep while not clothing their other sheep ( Ezek 34:3 ) .
Shepherds don’t destroy and scatter the sheep of the LORD’s pasture (Jer23:1); they don’t scatter their flock, drive them away, and neglect to visit them ( Jer 23:2) ; they don’t thrust with their sides and with their shoulders and push all their diseased sheep with their horns until they have scattered their sheep abroad ( Ezek 34 : 21); and they don’t cause their sheep to go astray , turning them away on the mountains so that they go from mountain to hill, forgetting their resting place (Jer 50:6).
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Strong’s “Shepherd(s)” from the Hebrew “râʻâh” ; a primitive root ; “to tend a flock” . ( italics and bold face typestyle added ) From the Greek ποιμήν “poimḗn”, poy-mane’; of uncertain affinity; a shepherd (literally or figuratively):—shepherd, pastor.