Matius 9:36

9:36 When ¹  he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, ²  like sheep without a shepherd.

[9:36]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:36]  ² tn Or “because they had been bewildered and helpless.” The translational issue is whether the perfect participles are predicate (as in the text) or are pluperfect periphrastic (the alternate translation). If the latter, the implication would seem to be that the crowds had been in such a state until the Great Shepherd arrived.