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. ¹ 

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.

Ezekiel 34:16

34:16 I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them – with judgment!

Matthew 10:6

10:6 Go ²  instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24

15:24 So ³  he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 18:12-13

18:12 What do you think? If someone ⁴  owns a hundred ⁵  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? ⁶  18:13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, ⁷  he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

Luke 15:4-7

15:4 “Which one ⁸  of you, if he has a hundred ⁹  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ¹⁰  and go look for ¹¹  the one that is lost until he finds it? ¹²  15:5 Then ¹³  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ¹⁴  home, he calls together ¹⁵  his ¹⁶  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ¹⁷  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ¹⁸  who have no need to repent. ¹⁹ 

John 10:16

10:16 I have ²⁰  other sheep that do not come from ²¹  this sheepfold. ²²  I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, ²³  so that ²⁴  there will be one flock and ²⁵  one shepherd.

John 10:1

Jesus as the Good Shepherd

10:1 “I tell you the solemn truth, ²⁶  the one who does not enter the sheepfold ²⁷  by the door, ²⁸  but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

John 2:25

2:25 He did not need anyone to testify about man, ²⁹  for he knew what was in man. ³⁰ 

[53:6]  ¹ 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.

[10:6]  ² tn Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.

[15:24]  ³ tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The construction in Greek is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ request.

[18:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “a certain man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[18:12]  ⁵ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

[18:12]  ⁶ 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.

[18:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[15:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[15:4]  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.

[15:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

[15:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

[15:4]  ¹² 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.

[15:5]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:6]  ¹⁵ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

[15:6]  ¹⁶ 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.

[15:7]  ¹⁷ sn There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The pursuit of the sinner is a priority in spite of the presence of others who are doing well (see also Luke 5:32; 19:10). The theme of repentance, a major Lukan theme, is again emphasized.

[15:7]  ¹⁸ tn Here δικαίοις (dikaioi") is an adjective functioning substantivally and has been translated “righteous people.”

[15:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “who do not need to repent”; Grk “who do not have need of repentance.”

[10:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And I have.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:16]  ²¹ tn Or “that do not belong to”; Grk “that are not of.”

[10:16]  ²² sn The statement I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold almost certainly refers to Gentiles. Jesus has sheep in the fold who are Jewish; there are other sheep which, while not of the same fold, belong to him also. This recalls the mission of the Son in 3:16-17, which was to save the world – not just the nation of Israel. Such an emphasis would be particularly appropriate to the author if he were writing to a non-Palestinian and primarily non-Jewish audience.

[10:16]  ²³ tn Grk “they will hear my voice.”

[10:16]  ²⁴ tn Grk “voice, and.”

[10:16]  ²⁵ tn The word “and” is not in the Greek text, but must be supplied to conform to English style. In Greek it is an instance of asyndeton (omission of a connective), usually somewhat emphatic.

[10:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[10:1]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “entrance.”

[2:25]  ²⁹ tn The masculine form has been retained here in the translation to maintain the connection with “a man of the Pharisees” in 3:1, with the understanding that the reference is to people of both genders.

[2:25]  ³⁰ tn See previous note on “man” in this verse.