John 10:1-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 10
The Good Shepherd. 1 [a]“Amen, amen, I say to you,(A) whoever does not enter a sheepfold[b] through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. 2 But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 [c]When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,(B) because they recognize his voice. 5 But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
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- 10:1–21 The good shepherd discourse continues the theme of attack on the Pharisees that ends Jn 9. The figure is allegorical: the hired hands are the Pharisees who excommunicated the cured blind man. It serves as a commentary on Jn 9. For the shepherd motif, used of Yahweh in the Old Testament, cf. Ex 34; Gn 48:15; 49:24; Mi 7:14; Ps 23:1–4; 80:1.
- 10:1 Sheepfold: a low stone wall open to the sky.
- 10:4 Recognize his voice: the Pharisees do not recognize Jesus, but the people of God, symbolized by the blind man, do.
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