John 10:10-12
Darby Translation
10 The thief comes not but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and might have [it] abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep:
12 but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep.
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John 10:10-12
New English Translation
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill[a] and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.[b]
11 “I am the good[c] shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life[d] for the sheep. 12 The hired hand,[e] who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons[f] the sheep and runs away.[g] So the wolf attacks[h] the sheep and scatters them.
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- John 10:10 tn That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).
- John 10:10 tn That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.
- John 10:11 tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).
- John 10:11 tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”sn Jesus speaks openly of his vicarious death twice in this section (John 10:11, 15). Note the contrast: The thief takes the life of the sheep (10:10), the good shepherd lays down his own life for the sheep. Jesus is not speaking generally here, but specifically: He has his own substitutionary death on the cross in view. For a literal shepherd with a literal flock, the shepherd’s death would have spelled disaster for the sheep; in this instance it spells life for them (Compare the worthless shepherd of Zech 11:17, by contrast).
- John 10:12 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.
- John 10:12 tn Grk “leaves.”
- John 10:12 tn Or “flees.”
- John 10:12 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.
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