Matthew 10:6

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

Matthew 15:24

15:24 So ²  he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Numbers 27:17

27:17 who will go out before them, and who will come in before them, ³  and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that ⁴  the community of the Lord may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”

Numbers 27:1

Special Inheritance Laws

27:1 ⁵ Then the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh of the families of Manasseh, ⁶  the son Joseph came forward. Now these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Numbers 22:17

22:17 For I will honor you greatly, ⁷  and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.’”

Numbers 22:2

22:2 Balak son of Zippor saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites.

Numbers 18:16

18:16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs).

Isaiah 56:9-11

The Lord Denounces Israel’s Paganism

56:9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour,

all you wild animals in the forest!

56:10 All their watchmen ⁸  are blind,

they are unaware. ⁹ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ¹⁰  lie down,

and love to snooze.

56:11 The dogs have big appetites;

they are never full. ¹¹ 

They are shepherds who have no understanding;

they all go their own way,

each one looking for monetary gain. ¹² 

Jeremiah 50:6

50:6 “My people have been lost sheep.

Their shepherds ¹³  have allow them to go astray.

They have wandered around in the mountains.

They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. ¹⁴ 

They have forgotten their resting place.

Ezekiel 34:3-6

34:3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness ¹⁵  you have ruled over them. 34:5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. ¹⁶  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.

Zechariah 10:2

10:2 For the household gods ¹⁷  have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. ¹⁸ 

Zechariah 11:16

11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ¹⁹  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ²⁰  and tear off their hooves.

Zechariah 13:7-8

13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who is my associate,”

says the Lord who rules over all.

Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; ²¹ 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,

that two-thirds of the people ²²  in it will be cut off and die,

but one-third will be left in it. ²³ 

[10:6]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[27:17]  ³ sn This is probably technical terminology for a military leader (Josh 14:11; 1 Sam 18:13-16; 1 Kgs 3:7; 2 Kgs 11:9). The image of a shepherd can also be military in nature (1 Kgs 22:17).

[27:17]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has the conjunction with the negated imperfect tense, “and it will not be.” This clause should be subordinated to the preceding to form a result clause, and the imperfect then function as a final imperfect.

[27:1]  ⁵ sn For additional information on this section, see N. H. Snaith, “The Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 124-27; and J. Weingreen, “The Case of the Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 518-22.

[27:1]  ⁶ tc The phrase “of the families of Manasseh” is absent from the Latin Vulgate.

[22:17]  ⁷ tn The construction uses the Piel infinitive כַּבֵּד (kabbed) to intensify the verb, which is the Piel imperfect/cohortative אֲכַבֶּדְךָ (’akhabbedkha). The great honor could have been wealth, prestige, or position.

[56:10]  ⁸ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[56:11]  ¹¹ sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.

[56:11]  ¹² tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”

[50:6]  ¹³ sn The shepherds are the priests, prophets, and leaders who have led Israel into idolatry (2:8).

[50:6]  ¹⁴ sn The allusion here, if it is not merely a part of the metaphor of the wandering sheep, is to the worship of the false gods on the high hills (2:20, 3:2).

[34:4]  ¹⁵ tn The term translated “harshness” is used to describe the oppression the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:13).

[34:5]  ¹⁶ tn As a case of dittography, the MT repeats “and they were scattered” at the end of the verse.

[10:2]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew word תְּרָפִים (tÿrafim, “teraphim”) refers to small images used as means of divination and in other occult practices (cf. Gen 31:19, 34-35; 1 Sam 19:13, 16; Hos 3:4). A number of English versions transliterate the Hebrew term (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV) or simply use the generic term “idols” (so KJV, NIV, TEV).

[10:2]  ¹⁸ sn Shepherd is a common OT metaphor for the king (see esp. Jer 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 23:1-2; 50:6; Ezek 34).

[11:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

[11:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”

[13:7]  ²¹ sn Despite the NT use of this text to speak of the scattering of the disciples following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27), the immediate context of Zechariah suggests that unfaithful shepherds (kings) will be punished by the Lord precisely so their flocks (disobedient Israel) can be scattered (cf. Zech 11:6, 8, 9, 16). It is likely that Jesus drew on this passage merely to make the point that whenever shepherds are incapacitated, sheep will scatter. Thus he was not identifying himself with the shepherd in this text (the shepherd in the Zechariah text is a character who is portrayed negatively).

[13:8]  ²² tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).

[13:8]  ²³ sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.