One of the characteristics of the good shepherd of John 10:11â18 is a phrase that is usually translated âhe lays down his lifeâ (vv. 11, 15, 17, 18). Although interpreters often acknowledge the alternate meaning, âhe risks his life,â this option is usually rejected. This article sees the notion of risk as an important element of Johnâs metaphorical presentation of Jesus as shepherd. Drawing on cultural conventions of shepherding, the literary context, and metaphor theory, the author argues that John portrays Jesus as one who risks his life for the sheep, and not simply as one who dies for them. This idea of a shepherd who risks his life for the flock can illuminate the readerâs understanding of Jesusâ life, death, and resurrection, and the way that disciples are called to follow him.â©
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âRobert Kysar, John (ACNT; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1986), p. 162. Cf. Ludger Schenke, Johannes Kommentar (Düsseldorf: Patmos Verlag, 1998), pp. 196â97; Craig R. Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel: Meaning, Mystery, Community (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2nd edn, 2003), p. 18; Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), p. 509 n. 36; Jerome Neyrey, âThe âNoble Shepherdâ in John 10: Cultural and Rhetorical Background,â JBL 120 (2001), pp. 267â91 (281); D. Moody Smith, John (ABTC; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999), p. 209.
âFrancis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John (SP 4; Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1988), p. 304.
âRudolf Bultmann, The Gospel of John (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1971), pp. 370â71 n. 5. Other interpreters who separate the meaning of the phrase in vv. 11 and 17 include Brown, John, vol. 1, pp. 386â87; Gail R. OâDay, The Gospel of John (NIB 9; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), pp. 670, 671.
âGeorge Lakoff and Mark Turner, More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), pp. 1â8. For a general discussion of metaphors as conventional speech, see also Lakoff and Turner, More Than Cool Reason, pp. 57â139. In biblical studies, see Lynn R. Huber, Like A Bride Adorned: Reading Metpahor in Johnâs Apocalypse (New York: T & T Clark, 2007), pp. 70â88; Susan Hylen, Allusion and Meaning in John 6 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005), pp. 60â68.
âRodney A. Whitacre, John (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1999), p. 260; italics original. Although Adele Reinhartz only deals with 10:11â18 as part of the literary context for interpreting 10:1â5, she reads vv. 11â18 only in reference to Jesusâ death (Adele Reinhartz, The Word in the World: The Cosmological Tale in the Fourth Gospel [SBLMS 45; Atlanta: Scholars, 1992], p. 96).
âC.K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), p. 313. Other interpreters understand the aorist as a reference to previous attempts on Jesusâ life within the Gospel; see, for example, Edwyn Clement Hoskyns, The Fourth Gospel (ed. F.N. Davey; London: Faber & Faber, 1947), p. 380; M.-J. Lagrange, Ãvangile selon St. Jean (ed. J. Gabalda; Paris: Libraire Lecoffre, 8th edn, 1948), p. 283. Brown thinks either is possible (Brown, John, vol. 1, p. 387). The NA27 prefers the present tense. Without referring to the aorist, Wengst argues that vv. 17â18 only make sense from a post-Easter perspective (Klaus Wengst, Das Johannesevangelium [2 vols.; Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 2000], pp. 385â86).
âSharon H. Ringe, Wisdomâs Friends: Community and Christology in the Fourth Gospel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999), pp. 56, 80.
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One of the characteristics of the good shepherd of John 10:11â18 is a phrase that is usually translated âhe lays down his lifeâ (vv. 11, 15, 17, 18). Although interpreters often acknowledge the alternate meaning, âhe risks his life,â this option is usually rejected. This article sees the notion of risk as an important element of Johnâs metaphorical presentation of Jesus as shepherd. Drawing on cultural conventions of shepherding, the literary context, and metaphor theory, the author argues that John portrays Jesus as one who risks his life for the sheep, and not simply as one who dies for them. This idea of a shepherd who risks his life for the flock can illuminate the readerâs understanding of Jesusâ life, death, and resurrection, and the way that disciples are called to follow him.â©
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1022 | 146 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 322 | 11 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 231 | 22 | 0 |