Matthew 9:36

“Seeing the crowds, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and cast down, like sheep that do not have a shepherd.”
Matthew 9:36 · direct translation from the Greek

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With the Greek beneath

SeeingἸδὼνthe crowds,τοὺς ὄχλουςhe was moved with compassionἐσπλαγχνίσθηforπερὶthem,αὐτῶνbecauseὅτιthey wereἦσανharassedἐσκυλμένοιandκαὶcast down,ἐρριμμένοιlikeὡσεὶsheepπρόβαταthat do notμὴhaveἔχονταa shepherd.ποιμένα

Allusion · Numbers 27:17

Go to Numbers 27:17

Both texts say “like sheep that do not have a shepherd”: Moses, when asking YHWH for a leader for the people; Matthew, of the crowds that Jesus sees.

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

πρόβαταprobataG4263צֹּאןtsonH6629“sheep”
ποιμέναpoimenaG4166רֹעֶהroeH7462“shepherd”

Matthew 9:36, word by word

SeeingἸδὼνIdōn

see

To perceive with sight, to look and notice what is in front.

Where else “Idōn” appears

the crowdsὄχλουςochlous

crowd

A lot of people together.

Where else “ochlous” appears

he was moved with compassionἐσπλαγχνίσθηesplanchnisthē

have compassion

Be moved with compassion from deep within, feel pity.

Where else “esplanchnisthē” appears

they wereἦσανēsan

To be: says who or what something is.

Where else “ēsan” appears

harassedἐσκυλμένοιeskylmenoi

trouble, bother

Trouble, bother, wear out.

Where else “eskylmenoi” appears

cast downἐρριμμένοιerrimmenoi

throw, cast down

Throw, cast, hurl down; in the passive, lie thrown down, abandoned.

Where else “errimmenoi” appears

likeὡσεὶhōsei

Compares one thing with another that resembles it.

Where else “hōsei” appears

sheepπρόβαταprobata

flock

The people a shepherd cares for, God's people.

Where else “probata” appears

haveἔχονταechonta

have

To count something or someone as one's own: goods, family, faith, power.

Where else “echonta” appears

a shepherdποιμέναpoimena

shepherd

One who looks after and leads sheep.

Where else “poimena” appears

Translation note

“He was moved with compassion”: literally, his insides were stirred; the deepest compassion, felt in the body. “Sheep that do not have a shepherd” recalls Numbers 27:17.

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The harvest is plentiful

Luke 10:1-2

A similar saying; scholars discuss whether it is the same saying in another setting or a repeated one.

See them side by side

Matthew 9:35-38

³⁵And Jesus went around all the towns and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness. ³⁶Seeing the crowds, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and cast down, like sheep that do not have a shepherd. ³⁷Then he says to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; ³⁸so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

Luke 10:1-2

¹Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy-two others also, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he himself was about to come. ²And he was saying to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the workers are few; so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

The context

35And Jesus went around all the towns and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness.

36 · This verse (above)

37Then he says to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few;

Read all of Matthew 9

To study Matthew 9 in a group

1. What it says
What did Jesus say to the paralyzed man before healing him, and how did some scribes react (vv. 2–3)?
2. What it means
What did Jesus mean by “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” as he sat with them (vv. 10–13)?
3. How I live it
Jesus saw the crowds with compassion (v. 36). Whom around you could you look at with more compassion today?

How to use it