The Monarchical Mandate for the Marginalized: A Study of Shepherds in Jeremiah 22-23

Abstract

The depiction of God being the shepherd of God’s flock is familiar among many modern Christians. This is an image rooted in the themes of provision, protection, and authority, which characterize the reign of God as King and Shepherd of His people. In the same thematic stream, the kings and rulers of Israel were also seen as shepherds. Jeremiah 22 contrasts the wicked shepherds of Israel and their rule of oppression with the righteous shepherd that is Josiah and his rule of justice. The praise of Josiah’s righteousness is then sanctified in Jeremiah’s prophecy of the Branch of David in Jeremiah 23: one wholly Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.