How Shepherds Feed the Flock

In a previous post, I introduced the metaphor of food that Scripture uses for itself. One manifestation of this metaphor is the use of language appropriate to shepherds in describing teachers in the church.

The Holy Spirit gives each believer a gift with which to function in the body. One of these gifts is that of teacher (Rom 12:6-7; 1 Cor 12:28). Paul links the title of “teacher” with another that is relevant to the food metaphor:

Eph 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

The word “pastors” is a Greek word (ποιμην) that means, literally, “shepherds.” The corresponding verb ποιμανω is used twice to describe the responsibility of elders in the church:

Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

1Pe 5:1-3 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

It’s interesting that the KJV translates the verb in both these places as “feed.” The verb does have a broader reference, including guiding the flock, and modern translations usually render it as “shepherd” or “care for.” However, the emphasis on the feeding responsibility is appropriate, in view of our metaphor, for the teaching responsibility of the elder.

It’s also more consistent with the use of the term in the LXX. Ποιμαινω is both the dominant translation (the most common one) and dedicated (used more for this Hebrew word than for any other) for the Hebrew root רעה that means “to shepherd” (not to be confused with the distinct roots, using the same radicals, for “evil” and “friend”). Used intransitively, this root describes what sheep do in the field. In this sense, we would translate it “to graze.” So the natural transitive meaning would be “to feed, to lead to grazing,” which is how the KJV understands it in contexts dealing with elders.

This usage suggests something important about how elders should teach. Sometimes a shepherd needs to give a bottle to a little lamb, but most of the time he feeds the flock by leading them to good pasture, showing them where the rich forage is, and removing noxious plants that they might encounter. In the same way, those who feed the flock of God should not just present spiritual conclusions, but show people how they can themselves engage with the word of God. The primary task of the pastor as teacher is not giving the flock spiritual conclusions, but showing the sheep how they can feed themselves from the word of God.