complete verse (John 10:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 10:5:

  • Uma: “They do not follow another person. If a person who is not their shepherd calls them, they run away from him, because they do not know how to recognize his voice.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “If it is a different person, these sheep do not follow but they flee from him because they do not recognize/know his voice.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They will not follow another person, but rather they will run away from him because they are not used to the voice of another person.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But they don’t follow a stranger but rather run-from-him, because they don’t recognize his voice.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But they really don’t go along with others. They in fact run away if there is someone else, because they don’t recognize the voice as the voice of their shepherd.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But they will not follow someone whose voice they do not know. On the contrary, they will run away when they see him because they do not know his voice.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 10:5

The possibility that there were sheep that belonged to other shepherds in the same sheep pen evidently reflects an ancient custom, in which various shepherds brought their sheep to the same pen in the evening, to be guarded during the night by the gatekeeper. In the morning each shepherd would come to the pen and call his own sheep, and they would then follow him. Though in many parts of the world sheep are herded (that is, driven by shepherds), in the Middle East shepherds still walk ahead and their sheep follow them. It may be necessary to indicate by means of a marginal note these facts concerning shepherding in ancient times; otherwise, the story may appear to be anomalous and the analogies misleading.

In the Greek sentence structure, someone else is in the emphatic position. The word means literally “stranger,” and it appears as such in most translations. Good News Translation translates someone else, because in the present context the emphasis is not that the person involved is a stranger, but that he is not the sheep’s own shepherd.

Because they do not know his voice is literally “because they do not know the voice of strangers.” In Greek the first clause has the singular “stranger” (Good News Translation someone else), while here it has the plural “strangers.” In English it is more natural to be consistent throughout, using either a singular or a plural in both instances. Thus Good News Translation uses a singular in both places: someone else … his (voice).

In this context know must be understood in the sense of “recognize,” for example, “because they do not recognize his voice” or “because they do not recognize the voice as being that of their shepherd” or “… the one who takes care of them.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 10:5

10:5a

But: The Greek text introduces this clause with a word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as But. It indicates a contrast. The sheep follow the shepherd but they do not follow the stranger. Indicate this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.

they will never follow a stranger: The sheep will not follow someone they do not know. The Greek text emphasizes the word never in the verb phrase will never follow.

a stranger: This clause refers to any and every stranger. In some languages it may be natural to use a plural form. For example:

The sheep will not follow strangers. (Contemporary English Version)

The Greek text emphasizes the word stranger. This contrasts a stranger that the sheep do not follow with the shepherd that the sheep do follow. For example:

A stranger they simply will not follow (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
But a stranger is someone that they will never follow

10:5b

in fact: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in fact here connects a negative statement (10:5a) to a positive statement (10:5b). This kind of sentence emphasizes the positive statement. Languages have different ways to indicate this type of emphasis. Here are some ways to show the emphasis:

• Use the conjunction “but” as in the New Revised Standard Version.

• Use a conjunction other than “but” as the Berean Standard Bible does. This is a common way in English to show this type of emphasis. For example:

They won’t follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from a stranger….

• Do not use a conjunction. For example:

They will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him (Revised English Bible)

• Change the order of the clauses. For example:

They will run away from a stranger and not follow him

You should translate this emphasis in the way that is most natural in your language.

they will flee from him: The word they refers to the sheep. Use an expression that describes how frightened sheep scatter and run from someone that they do not know.

because: This word here introduces the reason why the sheep will run away.

they do not recognize his voice: This clause indicates that the sheep do not recognize the sound of a stranger’s voice. They run away because they do not trust him. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

they do not recognize a stranger’s voice (New International Version)
-or-
they don’t know his voice (New Century Version)

his voice: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as his voice is literally “the voice of strangers.” In some languages it may be natural to use a plural form. For example:

the voices of strangers

General Comment on 10:5b

In some languages it may be natural to translate 10:5b as a separate sentence and reverse the order of the clauses. For example:

They don’t recognize a stranger’s voice, and they run away. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.