“And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.”
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began teaching them many things — the compassion (esplagchnisthē, moved in the bowels — the deepest visceral compassion) is the emotional foundation for everything that follows. The sheep without a shepherd description echoes Numbers 27:17 (Moses' prayer that God would appoint a leader so the people would not be like sheep without a shepherd), Ezekiel 34 (the indictment of Israel's false shepherds and the promise of the divine shepherd), and Psalm 23. Jesus recognizes in the crowd the condition that the entire Old Testament has been addressing — a people in need of the shepherd God promised to send.
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