1. Term

The term “pastor” is taken directly from Lat. pastor, “shepherd” (Gk. poimēn). In both the OT and NT, God is frequently described as a shepherd (“The Lord is my shepherd” [Ps. 23:1]; “For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls” [1 Pet. 2:25]). Similarly, the benediction in the Epistle to the Hebrews refers to “our Lord Jesus” as “the great shepherd of the sheep” (13:20). The Palestinian shepherd—and metaphorically, God and Christ—was responsible for his fl…