Ezekiel 33:24

33:24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’ ¹ 

Jeremiah 2:8

2:8 Your priests ²  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ³ 

Those responsible for teaching my law ⁴  did not really know me. ⁵ 

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁶ 

They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 3:15

3:15 I will give you leaders ⁸  who will be faithful to me. ⁹  They will lead you with knowledge and insight.

Jeremiah 10:21

10:21 For our leaders ¹⁰  are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ¹¹ 

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for ¹²  have all been scattered.

Jeremiah 12:10

12:10 Many foreign rulers ¹³  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ¹⁴ 

They will trample all over my chosen land. ¹⁵ 

They will turn my beautiful land

into a desolate wasteland.

John 10:1-2

Jesus as the Good Shepherd

10:1 “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁶  the one who does not enter the sheepfold ¹⁷  by the door, ¹⁸  but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 10:2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

John 10:12

10:12 The hired hand, ¹⁹  who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons ²⁰  the sheep and runs away. ²¹  So the wolf attacks ²²  the sheep and scatters them.

[33:24]  ¹ sn Outside of its seven occurrences in Ezekiel the term translated “possession” appears only in Exod 6:8 and Deut 33:4.

[2:8]  ² tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”

[2:8]  ³ sn See the study note on 2:6.

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “those who handle my law.”

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “by Baal.”

[2:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).

[3:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “after/according to my [own] heart.”

[10:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the shepherds.”

[10:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They have not sought the Lord.”

[10:21]  ¹² tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”

[12:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “Many shepherds.” For the use of the term “shepherd” as a figure for rulers see the notes on 10:21.

[12:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my vineyard.” To translate literally would presuppose an unlikely familiarity of this figure on the part of some readers. To translate as “vineyards” as some do would be misleading because that would miss the figurative nuance altogether.

[12:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my portion.”

[10:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[10:1]  ¹⁷ sn There was more than one type of sheepfold in use in Palestine in Jesus’ day. The one here seems to be a courtyard in front of a house (the Greek word used for the sheepfold here, αὐλή [aulh] frequently refers to a courtyard), surrounded by a stone wall (often topped with briars for protection).

[10:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “entrance.”

[10:12]  ¹⁹ sn Jesus contrasts the behavior of the shepherd with that of the hired hand. This is a worker who is simply paid to do a job; he has no other interest in the sheep and is certainly not about to risk his life for them. When they are threatened, he simply runs away.

[10:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “leaves.”

[10:12]  ²¹ tn Or “flees.”

[10:12]  ²² tn Or “seizes.” The more traditional rendering, “snatches,” has the idea of seizing something by force and carrying it off, which is certainly possible here. However, in the sequence in John 10:12, this action precedes the scattering of the flock of sheep, so “attacks” is preferable.