Hireling

A hireling in biblical usage was a wage laborer employed for a limited term, as distinguished from a slave (permanent property) or a bondslave (serving a fixed period to discharge debt). The Hebrew śākîr and Greek misthios designate one hired for pay, with the Mosaic law providing that day laborers must be paid the same day their work is done, before sunset, as they were typically poor and dependent on immediate payment for daily sustenance (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14–15).

The hireling's legal protections under the law reflected Israel's memory of their own bondage in Egypt. In the prophets, the metaphor of the hireling whose days are defined and appointed appears in Job 7:1–2 to describe the brevity and toil of human life. Jesus's parable of the prodigal son has the younger son resolve to return as a hireling in his father's house—a deliberate step down from sonship. Most memorably, Jesus contrasts the good shepherd with the hireling (John 10:12–13), who flees when danger comes because he has no personal stake in the flock, making the hireling a figure for self-interested leadership as opposed to genuine pastoral care.