Bible Strands
1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Peter addresses believers in Asia Minor, placing this declaration immediately after Christ’s atoning work on the cross. The moment marks the conclusion of a theological argument about dying to sin and living to righteousness.
The words — ἐπεστράφητε (epestraphēte) translates literally as “you have returned,” indicating a completed action of turning back. πλανώμενοι (planōmenoi) means “going astray,” describing the aimless wandering of the sheep before restoration.
The thread — The wandering sheep motif appears in Isaiah 53:6 and Ezekiel 34:6, where the people’s dispersion is noted. Luke 15:4 expands the shepherd’s pursuit of the lost, which Peter adapts by identifying Christ as the Shepherd and Overseer of souls.
Why it lands — The text states that readers have shifted from self-directed wandering to being guided by Christ, who watches over their inner life. It demands acknowledgment of this restored allegiance and dependence on his direction rather than independent wandering.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 53:6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- Ezekiel 34:6 My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’
- Luke 15:4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
- Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
- John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- Isaiah 40:11 He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- Psalms 119:176 I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
- Ezekiel 34:11 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.
- Matthew 9:36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
- Ezekiel 34:23 I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.