Discovery BoxJohn 10:10-12 
Context10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill 1 and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. 2
10:11 “I am the good 3 shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life 4 for the sheep. 10:12 The hired hand, 5 who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons 6 the sheep and runs away. 7 So the wolf attacks 8 the sheep and scatters them.
1 tn That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).
2 tn That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.
3 tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).
4 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).
5 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.
6 tn Grk “leaves.”
7 tn Or “flees.”
8 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.
