Matthew 10:6

10:6 Go ¹  instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 18:12-13

18:12 What do you think? If someone ²  owns a hundred ³  sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? ⁴  18:13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, ⁵  he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

Luke 15:4-6

15:4 “Which one ⁶  of you, if he has a hundred ⁷  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ⁸  and go look for ⁹  the one that is lost until he finds it? ¹⁰  15:5 Then ¹¹  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ¹²  home, he calls together ¹³  his ¹⁴  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’

¹ tn Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.

² tn Grk “a certain man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

³ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

⁴ sn Look for the one that went astray. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁶ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

⁷ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

⁸ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

⁹ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

¹⁰ sn Until he finds it. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹² tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹³ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

¹⁴ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.