addition of the thought of the depth of apparent defeat out of which Christ was raised.
to;n poimevna
...]
the Shepherd of the sheep, the great
Shepherd. Pastor est quia totum gregem conservat et pascit. Pascit autem non solum verbo doctrinae sed corpore et sanguine suo (Herv.).
The image is common from Homer downwards. Philo in commenting on the application of the title of Shepherd to God in Ps. 23 says that as Shepherd and King He leads in justice and law the harmonious courses of the heavenly bodies having placed His right Word, His first-born Son, as their leader, to succeed to the care of this sacred flock, as a viceroy of a great king ( de Agric. § 12; 1.308 M.); and elsewhere he speaks of the divine Word as a Shepherd-king ( de mut. nom. § 20; i. p. 596 M.). Comp. John 10:11 note; and for the addition to;n mevgan Heb. 4:14; 10:21. Polloi; profh'tai didavskaloi ajllj ei|" kaqhghth;" oJ Cristov" (Theophlct.).
The old commentators saw rightly in the words here a reference to Is. 63:11 (LXX.)
pou' oJ ajnabibavsa" ejk th'" qalavssh" to;n poimevna tw'n probavtwn
; The work of Moses was a shadow of that of Christ: the leading up of him with his people out of the sea was a shadow of Christ's ascent from the grave: the covenant with Israel a shadow of the eternal covenant.
ejn ai{m. diaq. aij
.] This clause, based on Zech. 9:11, goes with all that precedes,
oJ ajnag.
...
ejn ai{. d. aij
. The raising of Christ was indissolubly united
with the establishment of the Covenant made by His blood and effective in virtue of it. His blood is the vital energy by which He fulfils His work. So, when He was brought up from the dead, the power of His life offered for the world was, as it were, the atmosphere which surrounded Him as He entered on His triumphant work. Comp. Heb. 10:19 note.
Eij mh; ejghvgerto, oujk a]n h\n hJmi'n to; ai|ma aujtou' eij" diaqhvkhn
(Theophlct.). For
ai{m. diaq.
compare
Test.
xii. Patr.
Benj. 3
uJpe;r ajsebw'n ajpoqanei'tai
[
oJ ajmno;" tou' qeou'
]
ejn ai{mati diaqhvkh"
.
The covenant is described in its character (
ejn ai{. d. aij
.). The new covenant is an eternal covenant: Jere. 32; Isa. 55, 61. Comp. Heb. 8:8 ff.
Aijwnivan th;n kainh;n kevklhke diaqhvkhn wJ" eJtevra" meta; tauvthn oujk ejsomevnh"
(Theodt.).
to;n kuvr. hJ. jI.
] The phrase expresses the sum of the earliest Creed: Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3.
The title the Lord Jesus is common in the book of the Acts (Acts 1:21; 4:33; [7:59;] 8:16; 11:20; 15:11; 19:13, 17; 20:24, 35; 21:13). In other books it is much more rare (1 Cor. 5:5 (?); 11:23; 16:23; 2 Cor. 4:14 (?); 13:13 (?); Eph. 1:15; 2 Thess. 1:7; Phm. 5) and the fuller title the Lord Jesus Christ is generally used. Our Lord Jesus occurs 2 Cor. 1:14; 8:9 (?); Jesus our Lord Rom. 4:24; 2 Pet. 1:2.
Here it is natural that the writer of the Epistle should desire to emphasise the simple thoughts of the Lord's sovereignty and humanity as the Great Shepherd. For the contrast of Moses and Jesus see Heb. 3:1 note.
13:21. katartivsai uJ. ejn p. ajg. ] make you perfect in every good thing. Vulg. aptet vos in omni bono.
Comp. 1 Pet. 5:10. The word katartivzein , to make perfect , includes the thoughts of the harmonious combination of different powers (comp. Eph. 4:12 katartismov" , 2 Cor. 13:9 katavrtisi" ), of the supply of that which is