As Revised Standard Version indicates, in Greek this verse consists of two questions, the second of which is difficult because of its length and form: If a man …, does he not…? To make comprehension easier Good News Translation adopts the form of a question followed by a statement. The verse may be simplified even more if introduced as “What do you think a man will do in the following circumstances?” or “What would a man do in the following circumstances?” The man in the parable may more appropriately be referred to in the second person: “What would you do if you had a hundred sheep and one of them got lost?” In some languages a first person plural inclusive form will be more natural: “What would we (inclusive) do…?”

There will be languages where using questions like Jesus does here will not be natural at all. There translators can say “Think about what a man would do in a case like this” or “Let me give you an example. Suppose a man….”

The second question is often restructured: “Suppose someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away. What does he do? He leaves the ninety-nine on the hillside and goes to look for the one that is lost, doesn’t he?” or “Suppose someone has a hundred sheep but one of them gets lost. Don’t you think he would leave the ninety-nine where they were and go look for that one sheep? Of course he would.”

Has gone astray … went astray: the verb “go astray” (Good News Translation “gets lost”) is used here for the first time in the Gospel. In 24.4, 5, 11, 24 it is used of persons who give up their faith; elsewhere it is found in 22.29. It can be rendered here as “wandered away” (Barclay) or “got separated from the flock.”

Note that on the mountains is often rendered as “on the hillside” (Good News Translation). This was where the sheep were grazing.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .