Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

John 10:11

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

KJV

ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός. ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ τίθησιν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων·

Greek NT

Ego sum pastor bonus. Bonus pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis.

Vulgate

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep.

ASV

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

10 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

αὐτός
autos
pronoun · 5564×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
καλός
kalos
adjective · 100×
ποιμήν
poimen
noun · 18×
πρόβατον
probaton
noun · 39×
τίθημι
tithemi
verb · 99×
ψυχή
psuche
noun · 102×
ἐγώ
ego
pronoun · 1720×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὑπέρ
uper
preposition · 148×

Intertextual echoes

This verse quotes or alludes to 2 earlier texts.

  • Ezek 34:23 · allusion
    "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd."
    Ezekiel: one shepherd — Jesus as the good shepherd
  • Isa 40:11 · echo
    "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."
    Isaiah: he tends his flock like a shepherd — Jesus the good shepherd

Themes

Parable

Historic Christian voices

12 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§553Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."287 The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrec…
§754"The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, even though governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly nourished and led by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds, who gave his life for his sheep.146
Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210229.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…
§37Because Christ is so exalted, He alone by every right rules and governs the Church; and herein is yet another reason why He must be likened to a head. As the head is the "royal citadel" of the body [50] - to use the words of Ambrose - and all the members over whom it is placed for their good [51] are naturally guided by it as being endowed with superior powers, so the Divine Re…
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. David, who had himself been a shepherd, uses this image to express the tender care of God over his people. Under the metaphor of green pastures and still waters, he celebrates the spiritual nourishment which God provides. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, the believer need fear no evil, for God's rod and staff are a comfort. T…
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Calvin expounds Christ's parable of the sheepfold. The good shepherd knows his sheep and is known by them. He has other sheep not of this fold — the Gentiles whom he will also bring in. No one takes his life from him; he lays it down of himself. "I and my Father are one" — Calvin shows this declares the un…
Q. What do you believe concerning the holy catholic church? A. I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member.
The Synod rejects the errors of those who teach that God the Father appointed his Son to death on the cross without a fixed and definite plan to save anyone by name, so that the necessity, usefulness, and worth of what Christ acquired by his death could have stood intact and altogether perfect, complete, and whole, even if the redemption that was acquired had never in actual fa…
'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.' See Ps. xxiii. 1. The Church speaks this of Christ, for He is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. See John x. 11. 'He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.' See Ps. xxiii. 2. The green pastures are the refreshments of good works; the still waters are the quiet of peace. 'H…

Cross-references

  • 1John 3:16 — Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
  • 1Pet 2:24 — Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
  • 1Pet 2:25 — For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
  • 1Pet 5:4 — And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
  • 1Pet 5:4 — And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
  • 1Sam 17:34 — And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
  • 2Sam 5:2 — Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Isr
  • 2Sam 24:17 — And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be
  • Eph 5:2 — And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
  • Ezek 34:2 — Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the
  • Ezek 34:11 — For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
  • Ezek 34:12 — As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the
  • Ezek 34:23 — And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
  • Ezek 34:23 — And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
  • Ezek 34:31 — And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.
  • Ezek 37:24 — And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
  • Gal 1:4 — Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
  • Gal 2:20 — I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself fo
  • Gen 31:39 — That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
  • Heb 13:20 — Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
  • Heb 13:20 — Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
  • Isa 40:11 — He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
  • Isa 40:11 — He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
  • Isa 53:6 — All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  • John 8:18 — I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
  • John 10:2 — But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
  • John 10:14 — I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
  • John 10:14 — I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
  • John 10:15 — As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
  • John 10:16 — And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
  • John 10:17 — Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
  • John 10:17 — Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
  • John 10:18 — No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
  • John 15:13 — Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
  • John 15:13 — Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
  • John 19:30 — When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
  • John 21:16 — He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
  • Matt 18:12 — How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
  • Matt 20:28 — Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
  • Matt 27:50 — Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.