– Etymologically, the word derives from the Latin verb pascere , to feed, nourish, feed, graze, take (animals) to pasture. In this literal sense there are some passages in the Bible:
1Sm 16:11 : “There remains the youngest”, confessed Jesse, “he is tending the sheep”.
1Sm 17,28.34 : Why have you come here? With whom did you leave your sheep in the desert?
Am 7:14 : Amos replied to Amaziah: “I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. I am a shepherd and a grower of sycamore trees.”
Lc 2,8 : There were shepherds nearby, who kept watch and guarded their flock in the fields.
– But what prevails is the spiritual sense of God, shepherd of souls:
Gen 49:24 : By the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, who is the Stone of Israel.
Psalm 22 : The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In green meadows he makes me lie down.
Ez 34,11-31 : For this is what the Lord Yahweh says: I will take care of my sheep myself, I will watch over them.
– “I am the good shepherd”, says Jesus:
John 10:14 : I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.
1Pt 2,25 : Because you were like sheep that went astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd.
– He is the gate of the fold:
Jn 10:2 : But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
– Take pity on the sheep:
Mt 9:36 : He was filled with compassion, because he was weak and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
Mk 6:34 : Jesus saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
– He is willing to lay down his life for his sheep:
Jo 10,11-13 : I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
– There will be one flock and one shepherd:
Jn 10:16 : I still have other sheep […] and they will listen to my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
1Pt 5 :4 : And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
– The final judgment is figured as the separation, by the shepherd, of the goats from the sheep:
Mt 24:31 : He will send his angels with strident trumpets, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four winds.
Mt 25:32 : The nations will gather before him and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
– By extension, the pastors who serve the community are called:
Is 56,10-11 : They are voracious and insatiable dogs, they are shepherds who observe nothing, each one goes his way.
Jer 23,1 : Woe to the shepherds who let the small flock of my pasture go astray and scattered!
Jr 50.6 : My people were like a flock of lost sheep. Their shepherds had lost them to the misfortune of the mountains.
Ez 34 : Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.
Zech 10,3 : My anger burns against the shepherds, my punishment will fall on the goats.
Zech 11,5 : Feed these sheep destined for the slaughter, which are bought and slaughtered.
Mt 18,12-14 : A man has a hundred sheep: one of them strays. Does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain?
Jn 21:15-16 : “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you”. Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
Acts 20:18 : You know how I have behaved towards you from the first day I entered Asia.
Eph 4:11 : To some he appointed apostles; to others, prophets; to others, evangelists, pastors, doctors.
1Pet 5:2 : Watch over the flock of God entrusted to you.
