In Greek this verse is literally “because he is a hired man and does not care about the sheep.” If one puts a full stop at the end of verse 12, as most translations do, some information must be introduced at the beginning of verse 13. Revised Standard Version begins this verse by “He flees because…”; New English Bible “The man runs away because…”; Jerusalem Bible “this is because…”; and New American Bible “That is because….” The purpose of this information is to make it clear to the reader that the because clause refers back to the first half, not to the second half, of verse 12. Otherwise, the second half of verse 12 and the first part of verse 13 would read “so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them, because he is a hired man and does not care for the sheep.” Good News Translation (also Jerusalem Bible) introduces the adverb only (because he is only a hired man), thus conveying more clearly the intent of the Greek.

Does not care about the sheep must be translated in some languages “has no love for the sheep.” More is intended than mere failure to provide for the sheep. The meaning may be expressed in some languages as “he is not concerned for the sheep” or “the sheep make no difference to him” or “it’s all the same to him, no matter what happens to the sheep.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .