Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Isaiah 40:11: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms.”
The word for flock and shepherd are the same words. One is used as a noun and the other as a verb. It is up to the translator to apply the application so it makes some sense. The word is “ra’ah. It can mean shepherd but in it’s prime state it means companion and friend. From a friendship one finds pleasure, comfort, delight. You are nourished in a friendship, thus the word ra’ah is used to express feeding. Yet you must remember the prime state of the word is friendship so this feeding or nourishment comes as a result of the friendship.
You see this whole verse is a picture. God is not a literal shepherd, we are not sheep, we are humans and He is God. But we are getting a picture of our relationship to God. Thus, God is not a master, dictator, tyrant, He is a friend. Christianity and Judaism are the only religions in the world were it’s followers do not follow their God out of fear that he will withhold the necessities of life if we do not honor him. Although, many Christians tend to behave in this fashion, after the false religions of the world. Only in Christianity and Judaism, who worship the same God, do we serve Him because we love Him, do we experience a personal relationship with our God. Only the God Jehovah is a God who will call Himself a friend.
Yet, here is the most wonderful thing about this passage. The word for lamb is “tela’.” It is used only once in Scripture and it is found here and means lamb. There are about nine other words in the Hebrew that are used for lamb. The most common is “kebes” which is simply a yearling sheep or lamb. There is one for ewe lamb, another for a sacrificial lamb and another for a lamb without blemish or spot.
So what is this particular lamb that the Good Shepherd (friend) gathers in his arms? It is the tela’. Since it is used only once I had to go to extra Biblical sources, Hebrew writings outside of Scripture, to see how tela is used. Tela actually means to be blemished, spotted, wounded. The lamb that the Good Shepherd is carrying is one that is not perfect, it is flawed, or has been wounded and can not walk or feed on it’s own nor keep up with the rest of the flock. This is the one who has been honored to rest in the Shepherds arms and be carried. The Shepherd takes care of His whole flock and feeds them by leading them to pastures and cool waters, but it is the wounded lamb that he not only takes care of but carriers, feeds with his own hand and lets the tela drink the water from the palm of His hand.
The Talmud teaches that the rich man only needs to depend upon God once for his wealth. Each day he then turns to his wealth to be feed. But for a poor man, God must feed him every day and thus every day he must depend upon God. Why did God send manna to the children of Israel every day and if they collected more than was necessary for one day the manna would rot? Because He wanted Israel to wake up every morning depending on God for their next meal..
If you are a tela, a wounded lamb, you are the lucky one. You get to be carried by the Good Shepherd, you get to be feed from His hand and drink from the palm of His hand. Although He loves His entire flock, you get the special attention.
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