St John 10:1-10
John 10:1-10
10:1 Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.
10:2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
10:3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
10:5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
10:6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
10:7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
10:8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.
10:9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
1 Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὁ μὴ εἰσερχόμενος διὰ τῆς θύρας εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν τῶν προβάτων, ἀλλὰ ἀναβαίνων ἀλλαχόθεν, ἐκεῖνος κλέπτης ἐστὶ καὶ λῃστής·
2 ὁ δὲ εἰσερχόμενος διὰ τῆς θύρας ποιμήν ἐστι τῶν προβάτων.
3 Τούτῳ ὁ θυρωρὸς ἀνοίγει, καὶ τὰ πρόβατα τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούει, καὶ τὰ ἴδια πρόβατα καλεῖ κατ’ ὄνομα καὶ ἐξάγει αὐτά.
4 Καὶ ὅταν τὰ ἴδια πρόβατα ἐκβάλῃ, ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν πορεύεται, καὶ τὰ πρόβατα αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖ, ὅτι οἴδασι τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ·
5 ἀλλοτρίῳ δὲ οὐ μὴ ἀκολουθήσωσιν, ἀλλὰ φεύξονται ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ οἴδασι τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τὴν φωνήν.
6 Ταύτην τὴν παροιμίαν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τίνα ἦν ἃ ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς.
7 Εἶπεν οὖν πάλιν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα τῶν προβάτων.
8 Πάντες ὅσοι ἦλθον πρὸ ἐμοῦ, κλέπται εἰσὶ καὶ λῃσταί· ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἤκουσαν αὐτῶν τὰ πρόβατα.
9 Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα· δι’ ἐμοῦ ἐάν τις εἰσέλθῃ, σωθήσεται, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται καὶ ἐξελεύσεται, καὶ νομὴν εὑρήσει.
10 Ὁ κλέπτης οὐκ ἔρχεται εἰ μὴ ἵνα κλέψῃ καὶ θύσῃ καὶ ἀπολέσῃ· ἐγὼ ἦλθον ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχωσι καὶ περισσὸν ἔχωσιν.
Comment
The entire passage rests on a figurative example or comparison, what St John calls a παροιμία.
[1] διὰ τῆς θύρας εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν τῶν προβάτων: θύρα = ‘door’, whence Engl. thyr-oid, lit. ‘door-like’. In class. Gr. θύρα αὔλειος (< αὐλὴ, ‘courtyard’) = ‘outer door, house door’. Cf. vv. 7, 9.
αὐλὴν: αὐλὴ=’courtyard’, ‘enclosed space’; in Homer = ‘outbuilding for cattle’; in John = ‘sheepfold’, ‘pen’.
τῶν προβάτων: πρόβατον (< προ + βαίνω, ‘I walk forward’); the pl. in Homer = ‘livestock, animals, beasts’, including sheep (Montanari s.v.); sometimes in cl. Greek the pl. can mean ‘sheep’, as in Aristophanes, Birds 714.
κλέπτης ἐστὶ καὶ λῃστής: κλέπτης = ‘thief’ (already in Homer) < κλέπτω, ‘I steal’, cf. v. 10. Cf. Engl. klepto-maniac.
λῃστής: ‘robber, pirate’, the opposite of κλέπτης (LSJ).
[2] ποιμήν : ‘herdsman’, ‘shepherd’. Ιn Homer the formulaic phrases ποιμένα λαῶν (‘shepherd of the people’), ποιμένι λαῶν are a metaphor used of heroes as military and political leaders, e.g. Agamemnon, Nestor, Achilles, Hector, Aeneas, etc. This is a Mesopotamian conceit; cf. e.g. Psalm 23.1, ‘The Lord is my shepherd…’ Socrates describes bad leaders as bad shepherds in Republic book 1. Further, https://www.huffingtonpost.gr/entry/poimenes-kai-eyetes_gr_6411e7c2e4b0bc5cb64ddcfb?utm_campaign=share_email&ncid=other_email_o63gt2jcad4
[3] ὁ θυρωρὸς : ‘doorkeeper’, ‘gatekeeper’, already in Sappho. < θύρα, ‘door, gate’, cf. v.1
τὰ ἴδια πρόβατα καλεῖ: τὰ ἴδια, ‘his own’, ‘belonging to him’. The adj. here has ‘an emphatic meaning with a theological significance’ (Exeg. Dict. NT s.v. ἴδιος, p. 174).
The herdsman calls the sheep by name. Can he distinguish their bleating? The classical comic poet Cratinus (5th c. BC) recorded the cry of sheep as βῆ βῆ (‘beh, beh’).
[5] οὐ μὴ ἀκολουθήσωσιν: the two negatives οὐ μὴ + aor. subj. express an emphatic negation, ‘in no way’, ‘by no means’.
[6] παροιμίαν: παροιμία (fem.) = ‘proverb, saying’ in cl. Greek; here, ‘example, comparison, parable’.
[7] ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα τῶν προβάτων: the personal pronoun ἐγώ, not necessary, lends emphasis, ‘I am…’
[9] νομὴν: νομή = ‘pasture’, cf. Engl. nomad.
[10] θύσῃ: 3rd pers. sg.,aor. subj. θύω, ‘sacrifice’, ‘slaughter, murder’.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 