HIRE, HIRELING . The former is used in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] alongside of its synonym ‘wages,’ by which it has been supplanted in mod. English as in Genesis 31:8 RV [Note: Revised Version.] (cf. Genesis 30:18; Genesis 30:32 f. with Genesis 29:15 , Genesis 30:28 etc.). A hireling is a person ‘hired’ to work for a stipulated wage, such as a field-labourer ( Malachi 3:5 ), shepherd ( John 10:12 f.), or mercenary soldier ( Isaiah 16:14 , cf. Jeremiah 46:21 ). No imputation of unfaithfulness or dishonesty is necessarily conveyed by the term, although these ideas have now become associated with it owing to our Lord’s application of the word to an unfaithful shepherd in John 10:12-13 .

A. R. S. Kennedy.