What is a “hireling” (John 10:12)? μισθωτος (misthotos), the original Greek word translated “hireling,” means someone who has been hired to provide labor or some other service in return for money or some other materialistic benefit.

What does a hireling care about? The money or some other materialistic benefit – his own self-interest.

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Why does the hireling leave the sheep and flee when he “sees the wolf coming” (John 10:12)? A hireling is interested in doing the least possible to get paid the most possible. Expecting to get paid to sit around and watch sheep eat, a hireling isn’t going to risk his own life to protect the sheep.

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Who were the hirelings back then? The leaders of Israel, who claimed to care for Israel and its people but were really only interested in protecting themselves, their position, and their power.

Should Jesus’ words have rung a bell to the Pharisees, who knew the Old Testament? They should have remembered the prophecy given through the prophet Ezekiel: And the word of YHVH came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.” ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock” – therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.” (Ezekiel 34:1-10)

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