What Does John 10:13 Mean in the King James?
The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The danger does not make the hireling indifferent; it reveals that the sheep never became what mattered to him.
THE MEANING
When danger arrives, the hireling’s choice makes his measure visible: he leaves because the sheep do not matter to him. A person can occupy a role of care while remaining untouched by the lives entrusted to that role.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a title, position, or paid duty guarantees care; someone can stand among the sheep and still not have them matter.
THE ROOT
μισθωτός
misthōtos
GROWS FROM
μισθ-
misth-
wage, pay, compensation
The word names someone hired for wages, marking the relation by its compensation. The verse then makes a sharper distinction: this hireling’s role does not mean the sheep matter to him.
ALSO GROWS
misthos: wage, pay, reward
μισθός
The hired worker’s name shares its seed with the word for wages, bringing compensation into view.
misthoō: to hire or pay wages
μισθόω
The same root names the act of hiring, showing how a work role can be established without itself guaranteeing care.
μέλει
melei
GROWS FROM
μέλ-
mel-
matter, be a concern
“careth not” in this verse is melei. The phrase says more than that the hireling fails to show care: the sheep do not matter to him. Beside the word for a wage worker, it reveals the gap between being employed to tend the sheep and having them become a true concern.
ALSO GROWS
melēma: care, concern
μέλημα
This related word makes explicit the sense of something occupying a person’s concern.
ameleō: to neglect, disregard
ἀμελέω
This related verb names the neglect that follows when something is not treated as a concern.
THE PATTERN
When someone entrusted with the vulnerable serves self-interest instead of the flock, abandonment exposes what the role was really serving.
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;THE THREAD
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.The hireling flees when danger threatens the sheep; here, the good shepherd gives his own life for them. The two lines reveal opposite measures of care: one leaves when the cost rises, while the other stays at the cost of his life.
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