John 10:12

10:12 The hired hand, ¹  who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons ²  the sheep and runs away. ³  So the wolf attacks ⁴  the sheep and scatters them.

John 20:27

20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put ⁵  your finger here, and examine ⁶  my hands. Extend ⁷  your hand and put it ⁸  into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe.” ⁹ 

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¹ 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.

² tn Grk “leaves.”

³ tn Or “flees.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Or “Extend” or “Reach out.” The translation “put” or “reach out” for φέρω (ferw) here is given in BDAG 1052 s.v. 4.

⁶ tn Grk “see.” The Greek verb ἴδε (ide) is often used like its cognate ἰδού (idou) in Hellenistic Greek (which is “used to emphasize the …importance of someth.” [BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 1.b.ε]).

⁷ tn Or “reach out” or “put.”

⁸ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

⁹ tn Grk “and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”