The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
Parallel translations
- WEB The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
- KJV The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
- BSB The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.
- NASB He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep.
- NLT The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The hired hand flees because he does not truly care for the sheep. His self-interest exposes the difference between him and the Good Shepherd.
Overview
This verse drives home the hireling's motive: he has no real love for the flock. Where the shepherd's heart is bound to the sheep, the hireling's heart is bound to his pay. The contrast underscores the costly, faithful love of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- John 12:6Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it.
- Phil 2:20For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.
- Acts 18:17Then all the Greeks laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Gallio didn’t care about any of these things.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 10:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.