John 10:8

10:8 All who came before me were ¹  thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ² 

John 10:10

10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill ³  and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ⁴ 

Isaiah 56:10-12

56:10 All their watchmen ⁵  are blind,

they are unaware. ⁶ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ⁷  lie down,

and love to snooze.

56:11 The dogs have big appetites;

they are never full. ⁸ 

They are shepherds who have no understanding;

they all go their own way,

each one looking for monetary gain. ⁹ 

56:12 Each one says, ¹⁰ 

‘Come on, I’ll get some wine!

Let’s guzzle some beer!

Tomorrow will be just like today!

We’ll have everything we want!’ ¹¹ 

Ezekiel 34:2-5

34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds ¹²  of Israel; prophesy, and say to them – to the shepherds: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 34:3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness ¹³  you have ruled over them. 34:5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. ¹⁴ 

Zechariah 11:4-5

11:4 The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter. 11:5 Those who buy them ¹⁵  slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

Zechariah 11:16-17

11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ¹⁶  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ¹⁷  and tear off their hooves.

11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!

May his arm wither completely away,

and his right eye become completely blind!”

Romans 16:18

16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ¹⁸  of the naive.

Romans 16:2

16:2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

Colossians 1:13-15

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁹  1:14 in whom we have redemption, ²⁰  the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ²¹ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ²²  over all creation, ²³ 

Titus 1:11

1:11 who must be silenced because they mislead whole families by teaching for dishonest gain what ought not to be taught.

Titus 1:2

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ²⁴ 

Titus 2:3

2:3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good.

Titus 2:14

2:14 He ²⁵  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ²⁶  who are eager to do good. ²⁷ 

[10:8]  ¹ tn Grk “are” (present tense).

[10:8]  ² tn Or “the sheep did not hear them.”

[10:10]  ³ tn That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).

[10:10]  ⁴ tn That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.

[56:10]  ⁵ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[56:11]  ⁸ sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.

[56:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”

[56:12]  ¹⁰ tn The words “each one says” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[56:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “great, [in] abundance, very much,” i.e., “very great indeed.” See HALOT 452 s.v. יֶתֶר.

[34:2]  ¹² tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the Lord is often addressed as shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24; Ps 8:1). The imagery of shepherds as Israel’s leaders is also employed (Jer 23:1-2).

[34:4]  ¹³ tn The term translated “harshness” is used to describe the oppression the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:13).

[34:5]  ¹⁴ tn As a case of dittography, the MT repeats “and they were scattered” at the end of the verse.

[11:5]  ¹⁵ sn The expression those who buy them appears to be a reference to the foreign nations to whom Israel’s own kings “sold” their subjects. Far from being good shepherds, then, they were evil and profiteering. The whole section (vv. 4-14) refers to the past when the Lord, the Good Shepherd, had in vain tried to lead his people to salvation and life.

[11:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

[11:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”

[16:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “hearts.”

[1:13]  ¹⁹ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[1:14]  ²⁰ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

[1:15]  ²¹ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ²² tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ²³ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”

[2:14]  ²⁵ tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

[2:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

[2:14]  ²⁷ tn Grk “for good works.”