shepherd

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “shepherd” in English is translated in Kouya as Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ — ” tender of sheep.”

Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:

“Then one day they tackled the thorny problem of ‘shepherd’. It was problematic because Kouyas don’t have herdsmen who stay with the sheep all the time. Sheep wander freely round the village and its outskirts, and often a young lad will be detailed to drive sheep to another feeding spot. So the usual Kouya expression meant a ‘driver of sheep’, which would miss the idea of a ‘nurturing’ shepherd. ‘A sheep nurturer’ was possible to say, but it was unnatural in most contexts. The group came up with Bhlabhlɛɛ ‘yliyɔzʋnyɔ which meant ‘a tender of sheep’, that is one who keeps an eye on the sheep to make sure they are all right. All, including the translators, agreed that this was a most satisfactory solution.”

In Chuj, the translation is “carer” since there was no single word for “shepherd” (source: Ronald Ross), in Muna, it is dhagano dhumba: “sheep guard” since there was no immediate lexical equivalent (source: René van den Berg), in Mairasi it is translated with “people who took care of domesticated animals” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Noongar as kookendjeriyang-yakina or “sheep worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), and Kwakum as “those-who-monitor-the-livestock” (source: Stacey Hare in this post ).

See also I am the good shepherd.

Translation commentary on Zechariah 11:16

For lo, I am raising up in the land a shepherd: The occurrence of the Hebrew word translated For links this sentence closely with what has gone before. For lo, see the comments on verse 6. Here some English versions render it as “now” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version). The phrase I am raising up is religious jargon in English, though it is unfortunately used in several modern versions. More modern alternatives are “I am about to install” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible), “I am setting … over” (Moffatt), “I’m going to appoint” (Beck), and “I am about to put … in charge.” The Hebrew verb form is a participle, indicating action that is already in process (as in Moffatt) or on the point of being started (as in New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, Beck, Contemporary English Version). The past tense in Good News Translation “I have put … in charge” is not justified.

In the land refers to the Holy Land, not to the world as a whole (compare the notes on verse 6).

A shepherd who does not care for the perishing: The rest of the verse consists of a description of the new shepherd, and lists four things he does not do that he ought to do, and two things he does that he ought not to do. The description may well be ironic. The thoughts are similar to those of Jer 23.1-2 and Ezek 34.1-4, but the vocabulary is by no means identical. In fact, some of the Hebrew terms used here are uncertain in meaning. The word translated perishing is a form of the same verb found once in verse 8 and twice in verse 9, where Revised Standard Version renders it “destroyed.” The Hebrew root may mean “lost in the sense of dying” or “lost in the sense of missing.” Several English versions keep the ambiguity by translating simply “lost,” though two of these (New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) indicate in the context that they intend to say “lost in the sense of missing.” Other versions are less ambiguous: Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version perishing clearly understand “lost in the sense of dying,” as do Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. Others make their intentions clear by translating “missing” (Moffatt, Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente) or “strays” (Contemporary English Version). Both options make sense in the context. As we will show in the following notes, “missing” would make this clause and the next parallel in meaning, and perishing would set this clause and the three following ones in an order of actions that are less and less severe. Both views yield an attractive structure and it is hard to choose one over the other. Translators may choose according to what fits best with the thought patterns of their own language.

The choice that the translator makes between “lost in the sense of dying” and “lost in the sense of missing” affects the way that the verb care for is translated. The meaning of Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version is that the shepherd does not care for the sheep that are dying in the sense of “taking care of” or “tending.” Compare Good News Translation “he does not help the sheep that are threatened by destruction.” If the sheep are regarded as “lost in the sense of missing,” then the shepherd does not care in the sense of “caring about” them or going to look for them (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Compare Revised English Bible “who will neither care about any that are gone missing.” Probably the same sense is intended by Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible “will not bother about the lost.” In most other languages “care [for]” in the sense of “tend” and “care [about]” in the sense of “bother” will be completely different words, and translators will be obliged to choose one or other meaning and express it unambiguously.

Or seek the wandering: Seek means “look for” (Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation) or “search for” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible). As the Revised Standard Version footnote makes clear, the traditional Hebrew text has a word that normally means “the youth” or “the young man,” where Revised Standard Version has the wandering. Some versions assume that here the Hebrew word refers to young sheep, and render “the young” (New International Version, Beck, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation). But the Hebrew word is masculine, whereas the sheep are consistently referred to as feminine, and moreover, this word is used elsewhere only of people. Some scholars read the same Hebrew consonants with different vowels, while others, like Revised Standard Version, prefer to follow the ancient versions at this point. Either way, they end up with a meaning like wandering (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version) or “stray[s]” (New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible). This certainly fits the context better, and is recommended to translators.

Or heal the maimed: Maimed is a rather high-level word used only in Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version. Better known words are “injured” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Living Translation), “hurt” (Moffatt, Good News Translation), and “wounded” (Jerusalem Bible). In English “injured” tends to refer to the result of an accident, whereas “wounded” tends to refer to what has been caused by deliberate intent on someone’s part. There is no reason to suppose that the Hebrew points to any cause other than accident.

Or nourish the sound: Nourish means “feed” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Contemporary English Version). The Hebrew word rendered sound means literally “standing.” Of available versions, only Beck translates literally “those that can still stand.” The ancient Greek version took this word with the positive sense of “standing well,” that is, “being whole or healthy.” Many modern versions follow this understanding and render “healthy” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or sound (Revised Standard Version, Moffatt). A few analyze the Hebrew word as coming from a different root, and render “swollen” (Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible), while a few others propose changing the Hebrew text to a word that means “sickly” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible) or “frail” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The advantage of this proposal is that it makes this clause parallel with the previous one; its drawback is that the Hebrew makes good sense without any change. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project see no need to make a change, and translators are advised not to follow versions that do so. So “feed the healthy sheep” is a good model (compare Good News Translation).

But devours the flesh of the fat ones: At this point the prophet turns from the ways in which the shepherd failed in his duties to the ways in which he abused his privileges. Far from protecting the sheep, he ate them, and the best ones at that. Good News Translation expresses the meaning more simply with “he eats the meat of the fattest sheep.”

Tearing off even their hoofs: Some interpreters think this means that the shepherd was so greedy that he would eat even the hoofs of the sheep. This seems rather improbable. It is more likely to be a picture of savagery, of wanton cruelty to the animals. It is not clear how New English Bible and Revised English Bible arrive at their rendering “throw away their/the broken bones.” Although this makes sense, it does not make better sense than the traditional understanding, and we recommend that translators should not follow it.

An alternative translation model for this verse (maintaining the close link with the previous verse) is:

• Because look, I am going to install a shepherd in the land. He will not take care of the sheep that are dying, or search for those who are straying, or tend the injured, or feed the healthy. Instead, he will eat the meat of the fattest sheep, and even tear off their hoofs.

If translators wish to follow a different interpretation, as discussed above, an alternative model is:

• Because see, I am about to appoint in the land a shepherd who will not care about sheep that get lost or look for those who stray. He will not tend those who are injured or feed those who are ill. Instead, he will eat the meat of the best sheep, and even tear off their hoofs.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .