In the Greek of this verse the verb opens does not have an expressed object, and the phrase for him is emphatic in the sentence structure. Revised Standard Version translates literally “To him the gatekeeper opens.” Good News Translation supplies an object (the gate), since this information is implicit in the Greek text. Jerusalem Bible (“the gatekeeper lets him in”) and New English Bible (“The door-keeper admits him”) so restructure that no object is necessary.

It is necessary to make a clear distinction between the person who guarded the gate leading into the sheep pen and the shepherd. The gatekeeper was responsible for protecting the sheep during the night. The shepherd was one who came in the early morning and called his sheep, and then followed him out of the pen to pasture. The gatekeeper can always be described as “one who guarded the entrance to the sheep pen.”

There may be serious complications in shifting from gate to “door.” In some languages such a term as “door” refers only to the entrance to an enclosed building, such as a house, while gate indicates an entrance to an open area. In most languages it is better to use only one term, and preferably one that means gate, since a sheep pen was normally an open enclosure.

Evidently Palestinian shepherds often had pet names for their sheep, and that custom is referred to in the second part of the verse 3; he calls his own sheep by name. In Greek this whole verse is one sentence connected by the conjunction “and” at three points. The first of these “ands” is replaced in Good News Translation by a semicolon, the second is translated as, while the last does appear as and.

The verb translated leads them out is also used in the Septuagint of Numbers 27.17 and Ezekiel 34.13, both passages referring to shepherds.

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 .