CONCLUSIONS

I have argued that Zechariah 9-14 progressively reveals a complex eschatological program that infuses and reworks earlier material from Ezekiel and Isaiah, and ultimately promises restoration for YHWH’s people through the agency of the

eschatological Davidic shepherd. Central to Zechariah’s program is the revelation that this eschatological Davidic shepherd will not usher in immediate peace and prosperity. Instead, he will be rejected and killed; and his death will initiate a time of trouble for all of Israel, in which the remnant will be protected by YHWH as they endure fiery trials that will bring purity in preparation for YHWH’s universal reign.

While the reception of Zechariah 9-14 in the Jewish Second Temple Period was sparse, there was enough evidence to suggest that it was known and available for theological reflection, though without any uniform approach for interpreting and appropriating the eschatological program. In contrast, in early Christianity, Zechariah 9-14 was a prominent and integral source for explaining how Jesus’ rejection, suffering and death as messiah were in keeping with the scriptures (the PNs) and for indicating signs which pointed to the imminent and consummated restoration of YHWH’s people (Revelation).

We are now well prepared to examine whether Zechariah 9-14 has shaped the eschatological program of 1 Peter.

KING

In keeping with my outline (§1.3.3), in the following three chapters I will argue that 1

Peter alludes to material in Zechariah 9-14. More specifically, I will analyze the shepherd imagery of 1 Pet 2.25 (Chapter Three) and 5.2-4 (Chapter Five) and the fiery trials

imagery of 1.6 and 4.12 (Chapter Four) and argue that Zechariah 9-14 is the most

plausible explanation for this imagery. In Chapter Six I will seek to demonstrate how the conclusions that I have reached in Chapters Three, Four and Five can be understood in relation to the argumentative strategy of 1 Peter. Ultimately, I will propose that the eschatological program of Zechariah 9-14 generates and undergirds the theology of Christian suffering as well as the eschatological outlook of 1 Peter.

In this chapter, then, I begin with an analysis of the shepherd imagery of 1 Peter

2.25.Primopetrine scholars have long considered 1 Peter 2.21-25 to be one of the most

significant passages for understanding the letter as a whole. Some have gone as far as regarding it as ‘the heart of 1 Peter’s Christology’,1_{and the place ‘where all the literary} characteristics of the letter converge.’2

The passage begins by exhorting Christians3_{to endure unjust suffering, since} ‘Christ also suffered for you’ (2.21). This exhortation is followed by an appropriation of Isaiah 53, which is used to present Jesus’ innocent suffering and subsequent death (2.22-

1_{Jobes 2005:192.}

2_{‘[D]onde todas las características literarias de la carta convergen’ (Cervantes Gabarrón 1991a:108). Brox (1979:128)}

similarly posits, ‘Darüber hinaus liegt darin [1 Pet 2.18-25] die Logik der Theologie des ganzen Briefes, nicht nur der Sklaven-Paränese’.

3_{Although the passage specifically addresses slaves, most commentators agree with John Elliott (2000: 542), who}

writes that ‘this passage has in view not simply servants/slaves but the entire community. The former are held up here as paradigmatic of the condition and vocation of the brotherhood as a whole’. See also Achtemeier 1996: 192 and Michaels 1988:135; Brox 1979:128; Campbell 1998:143; Jobes 2005:187.

23) both as an example to follow and as a means of ‘healing’ (2.24). It culminates with a description of the Anatolian Christians as straying sheep who have now been returned4 to the shepherd and overseer of their souls (2.25).

Table 3.1: 1 Peter 2.21-25 (NA 27)

verse _{1 Peter 2} 21a εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκλήθητε, ὅτι καὶ Χριστὸς ἔπαθεν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ὑμῖν ὑπολιμπάνων ὑπογραμμὸν b ἵνα ἐπακολουθήσητε τοῖς ἴχνεσιν αὐτοῦ, 22 ὃς ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὐδὲεὑρέθη δόλος ἐντῷ στόματιαὐτοῦ, 23a ὃς λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντελοιδόρει, πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει, b παρεδίδου δὲ τῷ κρίνοντι δικαίως· 24a ὃςτὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶναὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν ἐντῷ σώματιαὐτοῦ ἐπὶτὸ ξύλον, b ἵνα ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ ζήσωμεν, c οὗ τῷ μώλωπι ἰάθητε. 25a ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι, b ἀλλὰ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶτὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοποντῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.

Scholarly inquiry of this passage has almost exclusively focused on issues pertaining to the appropriation of Isaiah 53 and its relation to Jesus.5_{Although there is} certainly warrant for this fruitful line of research, other important features in the passage have been neglected. In particular, there has been very little attention given to the shepherd imagery found in 2.25, and even less reflection as to why this imagery has been combined with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 (1 Pet 2.22-24).6

In this chapter, I will give special attention to ascertaining the logic that has brought together Isaiah 53 and the reference that straying sheep have being returned to

4_{See the discussion below for translatingἐπεστράφητεas a passive rather than a middle deponent.}

5_{This includes such debates as whether an early Christian hymn stands behind the appropriation of Isaiah 53,}

whether the passage promotes a theory of substitutionary atonement, and which text-form of Isaiah the author was using.

6_{Bosetti 1990 and Cervantes Gabarrón 1991b are notable exceptions to this trend; however Cervantes Gabbarón’s}

the shepherd and overseer of souls. In other words, why has 2.22-25a been combined with 1 Pet 2.25b?

3.1 RECENT PROPOSAL REGARDING