Psalms 119:176

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ¹ 

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

Isaiah 53:6

53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,

but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. ² 

Jeremiah 23:2

23:2 So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: “You have caused my people ³  to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. ⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵ 

Ezekiel 34:6

34:6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.

Matthew 9:36

9:36 When ⁶  he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, ⁷  like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 18:12

18:12 What do you think? If someone ⁸  owns a hundred ⁹  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? ¹⁰ 

Luke 15:4-6

15:4 “Which one ¹¹  of you, if he has a hundred ¹²  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ¹³  and go look for ¹⁴  the one that is lost until he finds it? ¹⁵  15:5 Then ¹⁶  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ¹⁷  home, he calls together ¹⁸  his ¹⁹  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’

¹ tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).

² tn Elsewhere the Hiphil of פָגַע (paga’) means “to intercede verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25) or “to intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16), but neither nuance fits here. Apparently here the Hiphil is the causative of the normal Qal meaning, “encounter, meet, touch.” The Qal sometimes refers to a hostile encounter or attack; when used in this way the object is normally introduced by the preposition -בְּ (bet, see Josh 2:16; Judg 8:21; 15:12, etc.). Here the causative Hiphil has a double object – the Lord makes “sin” attack “him” (note that the object attacked is introduced by the preposition -בְּ. In their sin the group was like sheep who had wandered from God’s path. They were vulnerable to attack; the guilt of their sin was ready to attack and destroy them. But then the servant stepped in and took the full force of the attack.

³ tn Heb “about the shepherds who are shepherding my people. ‘You have caused my sheep….’” For the metaphor see the study note on the previous verse.

⁴ tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who should be shepherding my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away and you have not taken care of them. Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your deeds.” “Therefore” announces the judgment which does not come until “Behold.” It is interrupted by the messenger formula and a further indictment. The original has been broken up to conform more to contemporary English style, the metaphors have been interpreted for clarity and the connections between the indictments and the judgments have been carried by “So.”

⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn Grk “a certain man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

⁹ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

¹² sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

¹³ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

¹⁴ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁷ tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁸ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

¹⁹ 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.