1 Peter 5:2
1 Peter 5:22Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;
The Watchtower cites to authorise the elder body's pastoral role over the local congregation, framing the multi-tier hierarchy (Governing Body → Branch → Circuit Overseer → Elder Body → Ministerial Servants → Publishers) as a "loving shepherding arrangement." The verse is read in tandem with ("be obedient to those taking the lead") to underwrite the demand for elder-level submission. What the Watchtower omits when quoting the verse is the immediate qualifier in — "not lording it over those who are God's inheritance" — which stands in obvious tension with the confidential "Shepherd the Flock of God" elder manual whose rules rank-and-file members are forbidden to read.
supplies one of the strongest single passages against centralised JW authority and is the textual anchor for three independent Protestant lines of attack. First, Peter identifies himself in verse 1 as "a fellow elder" (sympresbyteros) — the very apostle whom JWs sometimes treat as the prototype of the Governing Body explicitly disclaims any monarchical role and ranks himself alongside the local elders he is addressing. Second, verse 2 is addressed to elders (plural) over a local flock — fitting the New Testament's universal pattern of plural eldership in each city (, , , 1 Tim 5:17) and excluding any layer above the local elder body. Third, verses 2-3 prohibit "lording it over" (mē katakyrieuontes) the flock and require shepherds to be "examples" — a standard the Watchtower's hierarchy violates by combining a secret rulebook, judicial committees, and the threat of disfellowshipping with the demand to obey directives "even when they may not appear practical from a human standpoint" (Watchtower, November 2013, study edition, p. 20). Used in arguments 027 (governing-body), 093 (shepherd-flock-secret-manual), 125 (plural-eldership), and 142 (mainline-protestant-polity).