Text -- Matthew 9:36-38 (NET)

9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 9:38 Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mat 9:36

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² tn Or “because they had been bewildered and helpless.” The translational issue is whether the perfect participles are predicate (as in the text) or are pluperfect periphrastic (the alternate translation). If the latter, the implication would seem to be that the crowds had been in such a state until the Great Shepherd arrived.

NET Notes: Mat 9:38

¹ sn The phrase Lord of the harvest recognizes God’s sovereignty over the harvest process.

² tn Grk “to thrust out.”