The Good Shepherd

DКrФo Jέ Krstić Center for Church Studies σiš, SerЛiК The Good Shepherd, the sheep and the wolf- St. Sava's usage of the Johannine theology of the Good Shepherd (Jn 10) in his Life of St. Sιmeon Abstract: St. Sava frequently uses the Johannine Good Shepherd motif (Jn 10) in order to present a biblical framework for the presentation of his father's life in the Life of St. Simeon. The Old Testament background of the Johannine motif (Ez 34) implies a political application of the Shepherd motif to a political ruler and this is exactly what St. Sava accomplishes when he depicts his father as Shepherd in the crucial moment of his political abdication (1196). In this manner St. Sava characterizes the whole political career of his father, in the very moment of his Farewell Speech, with the help of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif. If the political context of the reception of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif is dominant in Nemanja's hagiography, still St. Sava transcends the strictly political framework of the reception of the Good Shepherd motif. He presents an expressionistic autobiographical description of the relationship with his father and parallels his father's journey to Mount Athos to the Johannine Good Shepherd, who is searching for his Lost Son. Key-words: St. Sava, Nemanja, Good Shepherd, Gospel according to John, hagiography, sheep, wolf. One of the most prominent features of St. Sava's Life of St. Sιmeon, the first medieval hagiography of Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Serbian Nemanjic dynasty, is the exploitation of numerous biblical motifs in depicting Nemanja's life. St. Sava is eager to present the life of his father as an illustration or more precisely as an embodiment of various motifs or pictures from the Scripture. In this manner, an episode from Nemanja's life not only echoes a biblical story, but also becomes an interpretation of it in the historical context of the Serbian medieval state1. One of St. Sava's favorite biblical motifs in presenting the life of his father was the specific Johannine parable (πα ο α) of the Good Shepherd (Jn 10), which can be easily confirmed even by superficial overview of the text of the Life of St. Sιmeon. The Christ-like picture of Nemanja as This methodology is labeled by Radmila Marinkovic (1997:10 ) by the verb úraĥúmħti, the verb which was first used by Domentian in his hagiographic work. 1 the Johannine Good Shepherd is developed four times in the Life of St. Sιmeon; therefore it represents one of the leading biblical motifs in St. Sava's hagiographical prose. Nevertheless, St. Sava has not the credit of being the first medieval Serbian writer who used the aforementioned Johannine motif in order to describe the life of a Serbian ruler. The same Johannine motif is used in the theological evaluation of the life of St. John Vladimir in A Chronicle of the Priest Duklanin, the oldest Southern Slavonic work of historiography. In this work, the Johannine parable of the Good Shepherd is applied solely to interpret the suffering and death of St. John Vladimir (Krstić 2016: 114-116). If we turn to St. Sava's usage of the Johannine parable of the Good Shepherd we can ascertain much broader reception of the specific details of the parable in describing Nemanja's life, when compared to the life of St. John Vladimir. Consequently, we will present all usages of the aforementioned Johannine parable in St. Sava's hagiography and compare them to Jn 10 to elucidate their function in the theological and hagiographic argument of St. Sava's presentation of his father's life. Jn 10 in St. Sava's Life of St. Simeon The first characterization of Nemanja as Good Shepherd is in the moment of Nemanja' voluntary abdication in 1196, when he gathers his children and court officials. Nemanja holds an elaborate Farewell Speech (ψoУović-Krstić ἀί11μ 116-117), in which he informs the court of his departing to the monastery and embracing the monastic life. One of the main features of Nemanja's Farewell Speech is the detailed teaching of the departing father to his sons and court officials, which is mainly comprised either from the biblical verses of the Johannine parable or from the avert allusions to them. St. Sava writes: "I simi úvħt¥ úvħ‚avь ihь dobrx gospodinь i blagx pastxrьέ sim „ `e vßsħmь mnΣgo rxdaüùimь i glagolüùimь emú. ne ostavi nasь sirь gospodi. toboü bo Σsve‚enni bxhΣmь i toboü nàúËeni bxhΣmь, i toboü prosvħtihΣmь se pastxrü dobrxi. polagaei dúù$ svoü ĥà Σvce. i nikoli`e bΣ v¢ tvoe dьni v¢shx{eno bxstь Σv~e vl¢komь Σtь boga prħdannago ti stada pastve. i v¢ vse liÓ lħtь tvoihь s¢blüdeni bxhΣmь, i v¢spitħni. i inogo gospodina i Σtьca ne poĥnahΣmь" (St. Sava 1998: 156-158). And with these commands he, good master and Meek Shepherd, taught them. And they wept a lot, saying to him: "Do not abandon us, master, because we were sanctified, we were taught and enlightened by you, o Good Shepherd, who lays down your soul for the sheep. And all the days of your reign a sheep was never snatched by wolf from the flock given by God to you. And in all 38 years of your reign we were preserved and reared by you and we didn't recognize any other master and father besides you"2. First of all, St. Sava presents his father in the role of Good Shepherd in his function of teaching his sons and the court officials. St. Sava's emphasis on Nemanja's role of teacher is not presented only by overt mention of teaching his followers, obviously by words, but also by the notion of sanctification (toboü bo Σsve‚enni bxhΣmь). In the Gospel according to John Christ sanctifies ( word (ὁ ) his pupils by God's very word: "sanctify ( α ο ) them in the truth; thy ο ὁ ὸ ) is truth...And for their sake I consecrate myself ( also may be consecrated (ἡ α ἐ αυ ), that they ο ) in truth" (Jn 17,17-19)3. Therefore, in John's Gospel the word (of God, of Christ) is the means of sanctification of the apostles (Agourides 1984: 177). We have seen that in the cited passage St. Sava points to the fact that Nemanja is teacher and he alludes that his father consecrates his followers by words. This connection between Nemanja's teaching by words and the image of Good Shepherd is St. Sava's allusion to Jn 10,3-5, where the close relationship between the sheep and the shepherd is stated in terms of sheep's recognizing the Good Shepherd's voice (Brown 1966: 392). This is emphasized by frequent using the words with the stem -φ (ῆ φ ῆ ), and he calls (φ know his voice ( ὴ φ -, both verb and noun, in Jn 10,3-5: "The sheep hear his voice ῖ) his own sheep by name...and the sheep follow him, for they ). A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice ( ὴ φ ) of strangers". The important function of the Good Shepherd in Jn 10,3-5 is his teaching and the fact that such a shepherd establishes a relationship with his sheep by voice (word, teaching) "constitutes an admirable picture of the master/disciple relationship" (Carson 1991: 383). This is exactly the picture of Nemanja drawn by St. Sava. 2 3 All translations from the Serbian Slavonic are from the author of the article. All English translation of the New Testament Greek text are taken from Nestle- Aland 1998. The next detail of the Johannine parable of the Good Shepherd used by St. Sava for the description of Nemanja in the cited passage is the mention of Nemanja's laying down his life (soul) for the sheep (polagaei dúù$ svoü ĥà Σvce), i. e. for his sons and his court officials. This is the overt reception of Christ's description as the Good Shepherd in Jn 10,11: "I am the Good Shepherd (ὁ πο ὴ ὁ α υ ὴ α οῦ ). The Good Shepherd lays down his life (ὁ πο ὴ ὁ α ὸ ) for the sheep ( πὲ ῶ π ο )". TСe eбpression α ὴ υ ὴ , as the biblical analogy for St. Sava's polagaei dúù$ svoü ĥà Σvce4, is an expression peculiar to the Johannine writings (Jn 10,11.15.17; 15,13; 1 Jn 3,16) and it always refers to the death of Christ. The reference to the death of Christ in Jn 10,11 is enhanced by the usage of preposition π (Barrett 1960: 311), which mostly refers to death, either Christ's (Jn 6,51; 18,14) or somebody else's (Jn 15,13). It is of utmost importance that none of the Old Testament texts (Ez 34, Zech 11,4-9), that admittedly function as the Scriptural background for the Johannine picture of the Good Shepherd, contain any mention of the shepherd's death, which is quite reasonable since God, as the Good Shepherd, is contrasted with bad shepherds (rulers) of Israel. Therefore, the connection between the image of the Good Shepherd and death is unimaginable in the Old Testament and it is justifiable to conclude that its presence in Jn 10 is the result of applying the theme of the Good Shepherd to Jesus (Lindars 1972: 361). In other words, the Old Testament image of the Good Shepherd is enriched in its New Testament usage by mentioning the death of the Good Shepherd- Jesus Christ. The result of this Johannine semantic widening of the initial Old Testament image of the Good Shepherd is the peculiar picture of the suffering and dying Good Shepherd. The image of a dying Good Shepherd (Jn 10,11) isn't a bit strange only in comparison to the Old Testament, but also in comparison to St. Sava's reception of it. It comes abruptly after Nemanja's description of being teacher, which is fully in accordance to St. Sava's presentation of his father as a wisdom teКМСer (ψoУović-Krstić ἀί11μ 126-130). On the other hand, the picture of Nemanja as Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his followers is incongruent with the rest There is almost unanimous agreement among scholars that the peculiar Greek expression ιθέ αι ὴ ή may be derived from the rabbinic Hebrew ‫פ ו‬ ‫( מ‬to give one's life) (Barrett 1960: 311). If this is correct, then it is interesting to establish the transfer of a Hebrew expression via the New Testament Greek to the Serbian medieval literature. Consequently, any scientific approach to the Serbian medieval literature should include the knowledge of the Biblical languages, mainly of the Koine Greek but of the Hebrew also, because these languages constitute the indispensible means for the correct and precise understanding of the Serbian medieval reception of the Biblical texts. 4 of the Life of St. Simeon. The death of Simeon isn't atoning death, as was the case of Christ's death; Nemanja' death resembles the death of a pious and righteous wise man, but without any sign of contributing to the redemption of his followers. St. Sava underlines the incorruptible character of his father's body in his death, without any interest in presenting Nemanja's death as sacrificial or redemptive, which is the case of Jesus' death. While Jn 10,11 "provides the Evangelist with the clearest and most explicit statement he has yet permitted himself upon the Passion of Christ as a voluntary and vicarious self-sacrifice" (Dodd 1970: 360), St. Sava introduces the Johannine image of Nemanja as dying Good Shepherd in the cited passage as semantically foreign body to the overall text of the Life of St. Simeon. This can be explained only because he was heavily dependent on the Johannine image of the dying Good Shepherd from Jn 10,11; St. Sava simply transfers the Johannine image of the dying Good Shepherd to his father, although it differs significantly from the presentation of Nemanja's death in the rest of the hagiography. The third feature of the Johannine Good Shepherd imagery used by St. Sava in describing his father is the mention of Nemanja as the protector of his flock from the ferocious wolf. Here St. Sava enters the field of politics quite naturally, since from the ancient times the ruler was pictured metaphorically as shepherd (Ez 34). The political activity of Nemanja, during his long reign, was viewed by St. Sava as the period of peace and prosperity. The enemies, in congruence with the metaphor of ruler as the good shepherd, were considered to be wolves, preying at the (political) flock in moments of turmoil. The picture is taken from Jn 10,12, where the Good Shepherd is contrasted to the hireling (ὁ ὸ αὶ ο ὢ πο ) who doesn't protect the sheep from the coming wolf (Moody Smith 1995: 33). The result of the hireling's negligence is that the wolf carries the sheep off and scatters the flock ( αὶ ὁ ο π ο π α ὰ αὶ ). St. Sava's reception of the Johannine Good Shepherd image implies that during the long reign of his father (nikoli`e bΣ v¢ tvoe dьni) the sheep was not carried off by the wolf (vl¢komь)έ The emphasis on nikoli`e bΣ v¢ tvoe dьni generates assumption that in this way St. Sava draws the attention of readers to the period after Nemanja's abdication, implying that after 1196 the wolf (vl¢kь) МКrrieН oПП tСe sСeep (Σv~e). This could refer only to the political turmoil between Nemanja's sons that resulted in the dethroning of Stefan by his older brother Vukan in 1202. This presupposition is corroborated by two facts, namely by the identities both of the sheep (Σv~e) and of the wolf (vl¢kь)έ Let us first see the identity of the sheep (Σv~e). Little later, in the same scene of Nemanja's abdication and Farewell Speech, the departing ruler appoints his successor to the throne. It's not his oldest son Vukan, but younger Stefan. The very appointment of Stefan by Nemanja is given in the following picturesque sentence: "~edo moe lübimoe pasx israilь sx moi, i vßn „mi Σ nemь vode i óko ovËe ∕Σsifь" (St. Sava 1998: 158). My beloved child, pasture this Israel of mine, and watch it, leading it like the sheep Joseph. To the congregation of the court officials Nemanja designates Stefan, his successor to the throne, as the sheep Joseph (ovËe ∕Σsifь)έ IП it's МonМeivКЛle tСКt Stefan, as ruler, is compared to Joseph, the wise Biblical ruler of Egypt (Gen 41,39-42), St. Sava's describing of Stefan as ovËe is a bit unexpected. In any case, Nemanja's explicit description of Stefan as ovËe sheds new light to the aforementioned presentation of Nemanja as Good Shepherd. When his followers state, during the Farewell Speech, that during his reign the wolf never carried off Σv~e, the intertextual reading of it with Nemanja's description of Stefan as ovËe points to the conclusion that Σv~e in St. Sava's presentation of Nemanja as Good Shepherd is referring to Stefan. Consequently, St. Sava's allusion to the carrying off of Σv~e by the wolf, in the period after Nemanja's abdication, may function as a hint to Vukan's dethroning of his brother in 1202. This intertextual hint is corroborated by the phonetic similarity between the wolf in the Good Shepherd imagery (vl¢komь) КnН tСe etвmoloРв oП tСe nКme oП tСe usurper (VuФКn, vl¢kanь)έ In tСis аКв, Stέ SКvК uses the Johannine parable of the Good Shepherd in the presentation of his father in such a highly associative and sophisticated manner to suggest to his readers that the Johannine image of the wolf carrying off the sheep may be understood in the writer's historical context as a hint to Vukan's (vl¢kanь) snКtМСinР tСe tСrone Пrom the ovËe Stefan. If this conclusion is true, then St. Sava's Life of St. Simeon has political dimension also, since it represents a highly associative condemnation of the Vukan's usurpation. The political dimension of St. Sava's reception of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif doesn't end here but extends to the last feature of the Johannine motif that is present in Nemanja's Farewell Speech. The last words of the weeping followers of Nemanja are: "i inogo gospodina i Σtьca ne poĥnahΣmь raĥvħ tebe vlad¥ko naùь" (Saint Sava 1998: 158). "and we didn't recognize any other master or father besides you, our Lord". This is the direct allusion to the Johannine Good Shepherd story since the sheep's knowledge and recognition of the Good Shepherd is one of the central features of their relationship. In Jn 10,14 this recognition defines Jesus' being the Good Shepherd: "I am the Good Shepherd (ἐ ἐ ἰ ὁ πο ὴ ὁ α ὸ ); I know my own and my own know me ( ου ὰ )". In other words, Jesus' existence as the Good Shepherd is confirmed by the fact that His sheep recognize (know) him; Jesus as ὁ πο ὴ ὁ α ὸ implies sСeep's ῶ of the Good Shepherd (Dodd 1970: 164-165). That the Good Shepherd is known by his sheep is clearly stated already in Jn 10,3-4: "...the sheep hear his voice...he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know (οἴ α ) his voice". This knowledge is precisely what guarantees that they follow their Shepherd and not somebody else (Carson 1991: 387) because they don't know anybody else's voice, as we read in Jn 10,5: "A stranger they will not follow...for they do not know (ο οἴ α ) the voice of strangers". We may conclude that St. Sava deliberately uses the Johannine theme of the sheep's knowledge of the Good Shepherd and applies it to describe the relationship of the sons and the court officials to Nemanja (poĥnahΣmь). As in the case of St. Sava's veiled allusion to Vukan's usurpation in using the theme of the snatching wolf of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif, so also the theme of sheep's knowledge of the Good Shepherd leads us to the same political hint. The key feature of St. Sava's presentation of his father in terms of the Good Shepherd imagery that enables a political interpretation of it is again the time limit of the sheep's knowledge of Nemanja as the Master and Good Shepherd: i v¢ vse liÓ lħtь tvoihь... i inogo gospodina i Σtьca ne poĥnahΣmь raĥvħ tebe vlad¥ko naùь (Stέ SКvК 1λλκ, 1ηκ)έ The negative description of the court officials' recognition of Nemanja (ne poĥnahΣmь) НurinР Сis lonР-standing reign may well function as St. Sava's allusion to the fact that they switched the allegiance after Nemanja's abdication; if it's St. Sava's allusion to Vukan's usurpation of 1202 it would mean that after 38 years of their allegiance to Nemanja certain court officials recognized another master, i. e. not the one that Nemanja had ordered to be his successor to the throne. In this way St. Sava targets all the court officials that supported Vukan's usurpation of 1202 who acted treacherously toward the Good Shepherd Nemanja and his successor. Once more St. Sava adds a political dimension in his reception of Johannine Good Shepherd motif. In conclusion, we can say that St. Sava broadly used the Johannine Good Shepherd imagery in order to characterize his father's reign. As we saw in the cited passage (St. Sava 1998: 156-158), St. Sava applies to his father four features from the Johannine parable of the Good Shepherd: sanctification through teaching, atoning death, saving the sheep from the wolf and recognition by the sheep. Some of these features proceed naturally from St. Sava's picture of Nemanja in the Life of St. Simeon: sanctification through teaching is compatible to St. Sava's picture of Nemanja as a wisdom teacher, and Nemanja's recognition by his followers fits quite well into this category. But other features of the Johannine Good Shepherd imagery cannot be easily matched to the overall presentation of Nemanja by St. Sava. Especially the image of the Johannine dying Shepherd differs significantly from St. Sava's presentation of Nemanja's death, which is surely not an atoning death as in the case of the Johannine Good Shepherd. The partly correspondence between the features of the Johannine parable of the Good Shepherd and its parallels in St. Sava's presentation of Nemanja points to the conclusion that St. Sava deliberately imposed the Johannine role of the Good Shepherd on his father's character in the Life of St. Simeon, even if some features of the Johannine parable are not in accord with the picture of Nemanja. The main point of St. Sava is not to present a perfectly accurate parallelism between the Johannine Good Shepherd and Nemanja but to accentuate Nemanja's role as Good Shepherd to his successors and consequently to the medieval Serbian state. The other usages of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif in the Life of St. Simeon as a means for theological evaluation of Nemanja's rule do not represent such a thorough application of the Johannine imagery as we have seen it was the case in the cited passage. The next occurrence of the Good Shepherd motif is placed little later in Nemanja's Farewell Speech, when Nemanja comforts his sons by blessing them with peace5: "mirь vx b$dî v¢sħmь stado hristovo slΣvesno eÒe bogomь prħdanoe bxstь mnħ i úpasь vx nevrħdime s¢hranihь óko pastxrь dobrxi dú{ú svoü polagae ĥa vx" (St. Sava 1998: 162). "Peace be to you all, the logical flock of Christ, that was given to me by God and I pastured you preserving you unhurt like the Good Shepherd laying down my life for you". St. Sava repeats here only the feature of the Good Shepherd's laying down his life for the flock, omitting all other Johannine characteristics of it. Nevertheless, he apostrophizes another shepherd's function that is not clearly mentioned in the Johannine Good Shepherd picture, but which is logically a part of it. St. Sava uses the verb úpasti to describe Nemanja's shepherding oП Сis ПloМФ, аСiМС is tСe trКnslКtion oП tСe ύreeФ verЛ πο α where Jesus addresses Peter to tend His sheep (πο α only occurrence of the verb πο α ὰπ . This verb is used in Jn 21, 16 α ου); although this is the in the entire Fourth Gospel6 and it is not textually connected to the Johannine Good Shepherd story, it cannot be semantically disjointed from the theme of the Good Shepherd in Jn 10 (Talbert 2005: 272). In other words, St. Sava's mention of úpasti of Nemanja recalls his political function of a ruler (pastxrь)ν in К similКr аКв tСe mention of πο α (Jn 21,16) evokes the πο of the Johannine Good Shepherd imagery (Jn 10,11). Nemanja's blessing of his sons with peace ( ἰ ή η) is another Johannine feature of St. Sava's presentation of his father. It is not explicitly connected to the Good Shepherd imagery since it occurs in Jn 14,27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ( ἰ ή η φίη ι ῖ , ἰ ή η ὴ ἐ ὴ ί ι ῖ )". Still, it is an organic part of Jesus' Farewell Speech in the Fourth Gospel and as such it was congruent with St. Sava's description of Nemanja's farewell from his sons and court officials. St. Sava's conflation of two Johannine pictures, namely the Good Shepherd motif and Jesus' Farewell Speech, in presenting his father's abdication shows us that the writer freely used various Johannine theological strands, combining them in an unique Christ-shape vision of his father. Also it underlines St. Sava's especial attachment to the Fourth Gospel as the main evangelical source of the symbolic world for composing Nemanja's hagiography. 6 Jn 21,16 is part of an episode between Jesus and Peter (Jn 21,15-19), after Jesus' resurrection, where Jesus questions Peter's loyalty to Him after the threefold denial of Jesus by Peter (Jn 18,15-27). While in Jn 21,16 the verb οι αί ι is used, in the adjacent verses (Jn 21,15.17) it is used almost sy o y ous verb βόσκ ι . Although some commentators state that the verbs are thoroughly synonymous, there is a subtle semantic differentiation between them. While βόσκ ι refers strictly to feeding, the verb οι αί ι has much broader semantic scope including such duties toward the sheep as guarding, tending, feeding and guiding (Brown 1970: 1104-1105). 5 St. Sava closes the Nemanja's Farewell Speech with the rhetorical question how to name (narekú) his father: "gospodina li dobrago. úËiteló li pravovħrîü. Σtьca li blagago. pastxra li i`e vħroü úpase stado emú prħdannoe" (St. Sava 1998: 162-164). "(To name him) Good Lord? Or Teacher of Orthodoxy? Or good Father? Or Shepherd who pastures his God-given flock by faith". Although St. Sava doesn't use explicitly the compound "Good Shepherd" (dobrx pastxrь) in this passage, he clearly alludes on it by using the epithets dobrago and blagago, who cover the semКntiМ rКnРe oП α pasturing (úpase, πο α in Jn 10,11, in the same passage. The semantic scope of Nemanja's ) is broadened by the notion of Orthodox faith which is understood to be the content of the pasture of Nemanja's flock. Finally, the long range of the rhetorical questions reaches its crescendo by the following question: "s¢blüditeló li stad$ svoemú" (St. Sava 1998: 164). "Or the Guardian of his flock?" One of the functions of Nemanja as Good Shepherd is to guard and protect his (political) flock. The Good Shepherd as the protector of His flock is an implied meaning of Jn 10,11-13 where the Good Shepherd is contrasted to hirelings who don't care to protect the flock. Therefore, when St. Sava presents his father as the guardian and protector of his (political) flock, he uses the implied Johannine motif of the Good Shepherd story. The common denominator of all the mentioned usages of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif in the presentation of Nemanja's life is that St. Sava frames them within the narrative of his father's abdication in 1197. The description of Nemanja's end of the political leadership is the suitable moment for St. Sava to engage in a theological evaluation of his long rule and the aforementioned Johannine motif perfectly matches for this purpose. Nevertheless, the last mention of Nemanja as a Johannine Good Shepherd is entirely divorced from any political meaning. It is strikingly personal report on the reason for the departure of monk Simeon to Mount Athos (8. 10. 1197.), imbued with strong autobiographical notes (KКšКnin 1λιημ 1ἀιν εКrinФović 1λλκμ ἀ1). St. Sava uses the parable of the Lost Son (Lk 15, 11-32) in order to present the biblical paradigm for Simeon's leaving Studenica and heading toward Mount Athos (Podskalsky 2010: 430). Simeon is depicted as a tender father who, similarly to the father of the Luke's parable (Lk 15, 20), hurries to meet his lost son (St. Sava) on the Mount Athos: "gospodinь sîmeΣn „ v¢`delħ iti v¢ svetúü gorú óko pastxrь dobrxi poiskati ovËete ĥabħg{ago" (St. Sava 1998: 168). "Lord Simeon wanted to depart for Mount Athos, like Good Shepherd to search for the runaway lamb". St. Sava combines the Johannine Good Shepherd motif with the Lucan parable of the Lost Sheep (Lk 15,3-7), merging them into unique picture but departing even more from the original Johannine motif. The narrative frame of the story of Simeon's departure to Mount Athos is taken entirely from the Lucan parable; the main character of the Lucan parable is not even named as "shepherd" but simply as "man" (Lk 15,4: ἄ πο ). Nevertheless, this man is functioning as shepherd since he leads and guards his flock (Fitzmyer 1985: 1076). Conclusion We have seen in our analysis that St. Sava frequently uses the Johannine Good Shepherd motif (Jn 10) in order to establish a biblical framework for the presentation of his father's life in the Life of St. Simeon. The Old Testament background of the Johannine motif (Ez 34) allows a political application of the Shepherd motif to a political ruler and this is exactly what St. Sava accomplishes when he depicts his father as Shepherd in the moment of his political abdication (1196). In this manner St. Sava characterizes the long political career of his father, in the very moment of his Farewell Speech, with the Johannine Good Shepherd motif. St. Sava transfers all the main functions of the Johannine Good Shepherd- sanctification by His word, laying down His life for the flock, protecting the flock from the ferocious wolf and recognition of the Shepherd by the flock- to his father's relationship with the Serbian (political) flock. This transfer is so thorough that sometimes it may appear as artificial since some characteristic of the Johannine Good Shepherd are absent from the overall picture of Nemanja in the Life of St. Simeon; for instance, the atoning death of the Johannine Good Shepherd doesn't have its match in the rest of the hagiography but it's accentuated in St. Sava's reception of the Good Shepherd motif and applied to Nemanja only in his Farewell Speech. If the political context of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif is obvious and fairly dominant in Nemanja's hagiography, St. Sava manages to transcend the strictly political framework of the reception of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif. He engages in a highly suggestive and expressionistic autobiographical description of the relationship with his father and parallels his father's journey to Mount Athos to the Johannine Good Shepherd who acts in the manner of the Lucan Shepherd (Lk 15,3-7)- searching for St. Sava, his Lost Son. The variety of St. Sava's applications of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif in the Life of St. Simeon assures us that Jn 10 was one of the most dominant and pregnant biblical motifs he used in order to give a plausible biblical frame for presentation of his father's life. LIST OF REFERENCES SOURCES SКint SКvК 1λλκμ (1λλκ), ϥϴϵЄϴЁϴ ϸϹϿϴ (ЃЄиЄ. ϦЂЀиЅϿϴ϶ ЈЂ϶ϴЁЂ϶иО)έ μ έ Nestle, Eberhard- Nestle, Erwin- Aland, Barbara- Aland, Kurt (1998), Greek- English New Testament. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelsgesellschaft. BIBLIOGRAPHY Agourides 1984: Α ου Πα π ου Α , Σ . α (1984), Ο Ευαγγελι ής Ιωάννης. Α α: Ε Barrett 1960: Barrett, Charles Kingsley (1960), The Gospel according to St John. London: SPCK. ψoУović- Krstić ἀί11μ , , - (ἀί11), ПЄϹЀЇϸЄЂЅІ Ї ϥ϶ϹІЂЀ μ ПиЅЀЇ и ЅЄЃЅϾЂј ϾНиϺϹ϶ЁЂЅІиέ έ Brown 1966: Brown, Raymond E. (1966), The Gospel according to John (i-xii). New York: Doubleday. Brown 1970: Brown, Raymond E. (1970), The Gospel according to John (xiii-xxi). New York: Doubleday. Carson 1991: Carson, D. A. (1991), The Gospel according to John. Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans/Apollos. Dodd 1970: Dodd, C. H. (1970), The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fitzmyer 1985: Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (1985), The Gospel according to Luke X-XXIV, New York: Doubleday. KКšКnin 1λιημ , (1λιη), ϥЄЃЅϾϴ ϾНиϺϹ϶ЁЂЅІ Ї ЅЄϹϸНϹЀ ϶ϹϾЇέ μ έ Krstić ἀί1θμ , (ἀί1θ), " Ј ", ЦЄϾ϶ϹЁϹ ϥІЇϸијϹ 13, 113-125. Lindars 1972: Lindars, Barnabas (1972), The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids/London: Eerdmans/Marshall, Morgan & Scott. εКrinФović 1λλιμ , (1λλι), " ", ББVI ђ ϥЄЃЅϾϴ КНиϺϹ϶ЁЂЅІ и ϥ϶ϹІЂ ПиЅЀЂέ εКrinФović 1λλκμ , - , η-12. (1λλκ), ϥ϶ϹІЂЄЂϸЁϴ ϷЂЅЃЂϸϴ ЅЄЃЅϾϴέ έ μ Moody Smith 1995: Moody Smith, Dwight (1995), The Theology of the Gospel of John. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. PoНsФКlsФв ἀί1ίμ , БЇϷϴЄЅϾЂј и ϥЄϵији (865-1459)έ (ἀί1ί), ϥЄϹϸНЂ϶ϹϾЂ϶Ёϴ ІϹЂϿЂшϾϴ ϾНиϺϹ϶ЁЂЅІ Ї μ έ Talbert 2005: Talbert, Charles H. (2005), Reading John. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys. SUMMARY The Good Shepherd, the sheep and the wolf- St. Sava's usage of the Johannine theology of the Good Shepherd (Jn 10) in his Life of St. Sιmeon St. Sava frequently uses the Johannine Good Shepherd motif (Jn 10) in order to establish a biblical framework for the presentation of his father's life in the Life of St. Simeon. The Old Testament background of the Johannine motif (Ez 34) allows a political application of the Shepherd motif to a political ruler and this is exactly what St. Sava accomplishes when he depicts his father as Shepherd in the moment of his political abdication (1196). St. Sava applies all the main functions of the Johannine Good Shepherd- sanctification by His word, laying down His life for the flock, protecting the flock from the ferocious wolf and recognition of the Shepherd by the flock- to his father's relationship with the Serbian (political) flock. This application is so thorough that sometimes it may appear as an artificial exaggeration since some characteristic of the Johannine Good Shepherd are absent from the overall picture of Nemanja in the Life of St. Simeon (for instance, the atoning death). St. Sava manages to transcend the strictly political framework of the reception of the Johannine Good Shepherd motif since he engages in a highly suggestive and expressionistic autobiographical description of the relationship with his father. He parallels his father's journey to Mount Athos to the Johannine Good Shepherd who acts in the manner of the Lucan Shepherd (Lk 15,3-7)- searching for St. Sava, his Lost Son. .