Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 32:1 (Oct 2021)
Article: Of Sheep, Shepherds, And Temples: A Social Identity Reading Of The Good Shepherd "Paroemia" On The Way To A Destroyed Temple
Author: Christopher A. Porter

Conspectus 32:1 (October 2021) p. 158

Of Sheep, Shepherds, And Temples: A Social Identity Reading Of The Good Shepherd Paroemia On The Way To A Destroyed Temple

Christopher A. Porter

Trinity College Theological School, University of Divinity

About The Author

Dr. Christopher Porter, PhD (Ridley College, ACT) is a New Testament scholar working as postdoctoral research fellow at Trinity College University Theological School of Divinity. Originally trained in Psychology at the Australian National University, he brings a Social Identity (Tajfel & Turner, et al.) framework to the consideration of the biblical text and theology. His recent work has been in the identity formative function of the Fourth Gospel in the context of a post-Temple milieu and the particular environment of religious enmity in the first and twenty-first century. [email protected]

This article: https://www.sats.ac.za/sheep-shepherds-temples-social-identity

Abstract

The Good Shepherd paroemia of John 10 is often read as an inserted soliloquy between the once-blind-man of John 9 and Jesus’s actions in the temple at the Feast of Dedication. In this context many readings perceive a two-level engagement drawing upon the perceived intertextual allusions to Ezekiel 34—and the further host of shepherd imagery in the Hebrew bible—and relating it to the context of a Johannine Community. From this perspective the Good Shepherd narrative is read as a condemnation of the Pharisees, and the “sheep of another fold” is taken as a reference to the incorporation of Gentiles in a “post-parting of the ways” or Birkat Haminim context. However, this two-level reading regularly dislocates the Ezekiel intertext from its own context of exile. Furthermore, although readings of John 10 recognize the presence of an intertext with Zechariah 10–11, they rarely invest it with the significance of Ezekiel 34. Therefore, this paper seeks to read the Good Shepherd paroemia through the lens of Social Identity Theory in the temple-removed context shared by Zechariah and Ezekiel, and the context of John’s audience in a post- 70 CE environment. From this context we will look at the shepherd and flock imagery in order to consider whether the integration of flock (10:17) and the sheep of another fold (10:16) fit better in a diaspora Jewish context struggling with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple under Titus in 70 CE. Through this lens we will see how the i...