John 10:11-14

Context

10:11 “I am the good¹ shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life² for the sheep. 10:12 The hired hand,³ who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons⁴ the sheep and runs away.⁵ So the wolf attacks⁶ the sheep and scatters them. 10:13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep,⁷ he runs away.⁸

10:14 “I am the good shepherd. I⁹ know my own¹⁰ and my own know me –

[10:11] ¹tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).

[10:11] ²tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”

[10:12] ³sn 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] ⁴tn Grk “leaves.”

[10:12] ⁵tn Or “flees.”

[10:12] ⁶tn 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.

[10:13] ⁵tn Grk “does not have a care for the sheep.”

[10:13] ⁶tc The phrase “he runs away” is lacking in several important mss (Ì^{44vid,45,66,75} א A*^vid B D L [W] Θ 1 33 1241 al co). Most likely it was added by a later scribe to improve the readability of vv. 12-13, which is one long sentence in Greek. It has been included in the translation for the same stylistic reasons.

[10:14] ⁷tn Grk “And I.” 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.

[10:14] ⁸tn The direct object is frequently omitted in Greek and must be supplied from the context. Here it could be “sheep,” but Jesus was ultimately talking about “people.”