The Review of Biblical Literature recently published my review of the following work:

Baxter, Wayne. Divine Shepherd Christology in the Gospel of Matthew. Lexington/Fortress Academic, 2022. Pp. viii + 205. Hardcover, $100.00. ISBN 9781978704473.

Here’s the final two paragraphs of the review:

Baxter’s emphasis on the shepherd motif in the Gospel of Matthew, as well as the Old Testament, Second Temple Jewish texts outside the New Testament, and the New Testament, is welcome and valuable. This monograph is full of insightful exegetical detail not covered in this review. It would be of special interest to those interested in Matthew’s appropriation and application of Ezekiel and Zechariah. On the negative side, Baxter’s method will likely leave someone trained in conceptual metaphor theory dissatisfied in the first part. Baxter also sometimes risks the fallacy of the undistributed middle (YHWH is the ideal Shepherd; Jesus is the ideal Shepherd; therefore, YHWH is Jesus), but that is not really the core of the argument.

Overall, Baxter is persuasive: Matthew’s Shepherd has a place alongside the other “titles” that, taken together, loudly declare Jesus Christ to be YHWH.

If you are a member of SBL, you can access it at this link. If you are not, you can contact me for a PDF.