times as well as today, sheep, while helpless and in need of guidance, are able to discern between their shepherd’s voice and the call of a stranger (represented, in the present instance, by the “thieves and robbers” of 10:1).16 This intimacy of a shepherd and his flock provides a beautiful illustration of the trust, familiarity, and bond existing between Jesus and his followers. The term παροιμία (paroimia, illustration; TNIV: “figure of speech”) occurs in John elsewhere only in 16:25, 29,