124. “Valley of the shadow of death” is the traditional translation, and is often preached in funerals as a note of confidence as the deceased passes from life in this world to eternal life in God’s presence. Of course, this idea is profoundly true, but the main idea of the psalm is that God protects the psalmist from all kinds of dangers associated with “darkest valley”; death, per se is not mentioned, but is implicit as but one of the dangers of the valley (Longman, Psalms, 135–36).
125. DeClaissé-Walford, et al., Psalms, 243.
126. Ibid.
127. McCann, Theological, 131.
128. Ibid. Hence, the NET translation, “Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days.”
129. DeClaissé-Walford, et al., Psalms, 244.
130. The Heb. word khesed is exceedingly difficult to translate into Eng. with only one word. Translators often translate it “steadfast love,” “covenant loyalty,” “covenant faithfulness,” “covenant mercy,” “lovingkindness,” “covenant of love,” “faithful love,” etc. Therefore, many reference works simply transliterate it as khesed and do not translate it. The pairing of “goodness and mercy” is by no means limited to exodus contexts (Pss 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 136:1).
131. A literal translation for “forever” is “length of days,” which signifies the duration of the psalmist’s life. The OT lacks a developed doctrine of the afterlife, which gains momentum in the intertestamental period, and becomes even more fully developed in the NT (Longman, Psalms, 137).
132. Brueggemann and Bellinger, Psalms, 124.
133. Longman, Psalms, 137.
134. McCann, Theological, 132.
135. DeClaissé-Walford, et al., Psalms, 245.
136. Bullock, Encountering, 171–72.
137. O’Day and Hylen, John, 106.
138. “Eternal life” in John does not wait until the last days; it is available now through Jesus (ibid.).
139. Reardon, Christ, 43.
140. Bryant and Krause, John, 233. Reardon also notes that Jesus as the good shepherd appears in the catacombs of Rome, a second-century work called The Shepherd of Hermas, and in Polycarp’s The Martyrdom of Polycarp 19:2 (Christ, 43).
141. Augustine, Expositions 23, in Blaising and Hardin, eds., Psalms, 178.
142. DeClaissé-Walford, et al., Psalms, 245–46.
143. Reardon, Christ, 44. Reardon refers to the messianic banquet as an “altar,” symbolizing Christ’s sacrifice on the cross where the bread is his body and the cup is his blood; but I see this as the pinnacle moment of fellowship among Christians, and think of it more in terms of a table. See Hicks, Table.
144. McCann, Theological, 135.
145. Reardon, Christ, 44.
146. McCann, Theological, 135; Reardon, Christ, 43. Matthew 14:19 mentions only “grass,” Luke does not mention grass at all but that the place was “desolate” (Luke 9:12), recalling God’s provisions in the wilderness; John 6:10 mentions that there was “much grass” in the place.
147. McCann, Theological, 135.
148. Ibid., 132.
149. Ibid., 135–36.
150. Ibid., 136.
151. Green, “Christ’s Shepherd,” 33–46.
152. Ibid., 40.
153. Ibid., 41.
154. This is essentially the view of McCann (Theological, 130). It represents an allegorical interpretation of Ps 23 in the exilic and postexilic periods. Green also notes the movement of Israel from pasture to wilderness to temple (“Christ’s Shepherd,” 40).
155. Green, “Christ’s Shepherd,” 41.
156. Ibid., 43–44. Green (44n27) uses Ps 16 as a similar example where the original context speaks of the psalmist’s protection from death, while Peter interprets it as a prophecy of the Messiah’s rescue from death via the resurrection (Acts 2:25–31).
157. Eaton, Psalms, 124.
158. See Green, “Christ’s Shepherd,” 38–46.
159. Ibid., 41.
160. Eaton, Psalms, 124.
Psalm 29