On the basis of verse 46, where it becomes obvious that the sheep of this verse are actually “the righteous,” Good News Translation translates the sheep as “the righteous people” and the goats as “the others.” The problem is that at some point in the narrative a shift must be made to signify that the King is not addressing actual “sheep” and “goats” (verse 34) but rather people who in some way are symbolized by these two groups of animals. Otherwise a ridiculous scene results: a king sits on his throne and passes judgment on a herd of sheep and goats! Some translators have retained sheep and goats by using a rather long comparison: “just as the shepherd puts the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left, so the Son of Man (or, the King) will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left.”

At his right hand … at the left: in a Jewish setting both positions normally signify positions of authority, though the place of greatest honor is the one on the right. As right and left are used in this passage (verses 34, 41), the contrast is between the place of favor (on the right-hand side of the King) and that of disfavor (on the left-hand side of the King).

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 .