Behind | Shepherd Leadership

Biblical theology can be done with focused attention on a biblical topic’s literary context (i.e., its relationship to the author, book and genre it is in). Biblical theology often includes more awareness of the cultural context of the Bible’s themes as well. 

For the topic of shepherding leadership, you can see two different books by Dr. Laniak. The first is Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions in the Bible. This is primarily a literary or exegetical investigation of the Bible’s shepherding themes. It moves book by book though the Bible. There is an introduction to how these themes played out in other ancient societies, but culture is not the primary emphasis.

The second book is While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks: 40 Daily Reflections on Biblical Leadership. This one focuses more on the cultural context of modern shepherds (mostly Bedouin) to try to understand the Bible’s teaching on leadership in its own time. This kind of “ethno-archaeological” research can contribute to biblical theology as we’ll see Behind the Text.