The Shepherd-Flock Motif in the Miletus Discourse (Acts 20:17-38) Against Its Historical Background

The Shepherd-Flock Motif in the Miletus Discourse (Acts 20:17-38) Against Its Historical Background provides a comprehensive survey of the use of the shepherd-flock motif in the ancient world for the readers of the New Testament. This review of Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, Greco-Roman, and Christian sources is guided by a motific approach that integrates the concept of metaphor, Semantics, and the comparative method. A chief concern of this study is to apply this knowledge to the study of Luke-Acts, especially the Miletus Discourse (Acts 20:17-38). The shepherd-flock motif appears to be central in this speech and helps to integrate other motifs and themes in this discourse, such as the kingship motif. The Shepherd-Flock Motif in the Miletus Discourse (Acts 20:17-38) Against Its Historical Background is indispensable to the study of motifs in the New Testament and contributes meaningfully to the scholarly research on Luke-Acts.

The Author: Bernard Aubert is a researcher at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He received his Ph.D. in hermeneutics from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and his Master in Theology from the Faculté Libre de Théologie Réformée in Aix-en-Provence. He is working on the translation of two Huguenot works by Claude Brousson and by David Blondel, and he is pursuing research on the interpretation of the Bible in Reformed confessions.