John 10:1-9 · Hebrews 7:26-8:2 · John 10:9-16 · Philippians 1:27-2:4 · Luke 7:31-35 — Friday, October 9, 2026

A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures. Readings: John 10:1-9; Hebrews 7:26-8:2; John 10:9-16; Philippians 1:27-2:4; Luke 7:31-35. John's door-and-shepherd imagery is drawn directly from Ezekiel. Fr. Paul notes that the Hebrew sha'ar becomes Greek pyle throughout Ezekiel but shifts to thyra exactly where John has Jesus call himself "the door," and he lines up "he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep" and "he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" against Ezekiel 46 [1,4]. In his lecture he adds that the false shepherds are the kings and leaders of Ezekiel 34 who failed the people, so God himself takes over as shepherd [2]. He also calls this teaching a paroimia, another word for the Hebrew mashal, an instructional story [3]. The thief imagery returns only once more in John, in the Lazarus story, where the Jewish leaders who plot to kill him become thieves who "steal and kill and destroy" [7,20]. The word for hired hand, misthotoi, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except for Mark's sons of Zebedee, whose father's name Fr. Paul links to a Hebrew term for a self-interested mercenary [18]. When Jesus says the other sheep not of this fold will become "one flock, one shepherd," Fr. Paul reads this as the gathering of Jews and Gentiles into one people of God that Paul teaches in Romans 11 [3,8,17]. Fr. Paul reads Hebrews 7:26-8:2 against a Levitical priesthood needing repeated sacrifices because the people kept transgressing; Christ, by contrast, "did this once for all when he offered up himself" [10,13,15]. This rests on God's oath, which unlike the law cannot be revoked, so that "the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever" [13,14]. The chapter's point is that "we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven," minister of the true sanctuary rather than its earthly shadow [11,12]. The root pair of the day · שׂ-כ-ר sin–kaf–resh, שָׂכָר sakar · ش–ك–ر shīn–kāf–rāʾ, شَكَرَ shakara · hire; hire oneself out; earn wages. The pair delet and ʾadlā centers on the door, and its Greek thura is exactly the word John uses where Jesus says "I am the door," the very shift the note traces from Ezekiel's pyle. Delet names the door one who enters finds, as John 10 describes going in and out and finding pasture; thuroma, the doorway, echoes the same opening into shepherd and sheep. cf. The Consolation of Consonants Sources: Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 3, Johannine Writings, p. 199; Orthodox Audio Bible Commentary, John (vol. 43), part 1, at 3:04:03; Tarazi, The Rise of Scripture, p. 477; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 3, Johannine Writings, p. 198; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 3, Johannine Writings, p. 208; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 3, Johannine Writings, p. 198; Tarazi, Hebrews: A Commentary, p. 102; Tarazi, Hebrews: A Commentary, p. 111; Tarazi, Hebrews: A Commentary, p. 136; Tarazi, Hebrews: A Commentary, p. 99; Tarazi, Hebrews: A Commentary, p. 100; Tarazi, Hebrews: A Commentary, p. 108; Tarazi, The Rise of Scripture, p. 477; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 1, Paul and Mark, p. 96; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 3, Johannine Writings, p. 208. The note on ocabs.org Opening music: Taksim Arbi, Bichi Slama, oud (Tunis, Archives de la Parole, 1930s), public domain. Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.