these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? a Rom. ii. 19. 41 Jesus said unto them, "If ye were blind, ye should have bch. xv. 22, 24. no sin but now ye say, : We see; therefore your sin remaineth. X. 1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep 0 render, would not have.

Pomit.

hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 [P And] when he putteth forth a his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. 58 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 6 This parable spake Jesus unto them but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 7 u Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves

¶ For these words most of the ancient authorities read, all his own; the Sinaitic MS. has merely, his own.

tion between the sheep and his own sheep has given rise to mistakes, from not observing that shepherd here is still in its mere general sense, and not spiritually applied until ver. 7, or rather ver. 11 above. It has been imagined that Christ is here spoken of, and that therefore these two descriptions of sheep must be different, and so the whole exposition has been confused. Even Stier has fallen into this mistake.

4.] When he has led forth to pasture all his sheep (there shall not an hoof be left behind), he goes before them (see "The Land and the Book," p. 202, where there is an interesting description of this following the shepherd); in his teaching pointing out the way to them; they follow him, because they know his voice; his words and teaching are familiar to them. But observe that the expression here becomes again more general; not his own sheep, but the sheep as in ver. 3. The sheep know the voice of every true shepherd.

5.] So that the stranger is not the shepherd of another section of the flock, but an alien: the robber of ver. 1. Meyer takes it as merely meaning a stranger, one who is not their shepherd: but this hardly seems strong enough for the context.

6.] The word here rendered in the A. V. "parable" is not exactly what is commonly so called: not properly a parable: but rather a parabolic allegory. The parable requires

8 render, But.

a render, Therefore.

narrative to set it forth; and St. John relates no such. The right word here would be allegory. The original term, in its etymology, signifies, any saying diverging from the common way of speech. We have other examples in ch. xv. 1 ff. and in Matt. ix. 37, 38. 7.] What follows is not so much an exposition, as an expansion of the allegory. The key to this verse is the right understanding of what went before. Bear in mind, that verses 1-5 were spoken of shepherds in general. But these shepherds themselves go into and out of the fold by the same door as the sheep and Christ is that door; THE Door of the sHEEP: the one door both for sheep and shepherds, into the fold, into God's Church, to the Father.

8.] I believe that the right sense of these words, All that ever came before me, has not been apprehended by any of the Commentators. First, they can only

be honestly understood of time; all who
came before me (not, without regard to
me,' nor passing by me as the door,' nor
instead of me nor pressing before me,'
(ch. v. 7,) which would have been "come,"
not
66
"came:" nor before taking the
trouble to find me, the door:" nor any
other of the numerous shifts which have
been adopted). What pretended teachers
then came before Christ? Remember the
connexion of these discourses. He has
taught the Jews that Abraham and the
prophets entered by Him (ch. viii. 56): but
He has set in strong opposition to Himself
and His, them (these Jews) and their
father, the Devil (ib. ver. 44). He was, as
Milton has it, the first thief who clomb
into God's fold;' and all his followers are

a ch. xiv. 6. Eph. ii. 18.

and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 a I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the Zech. xi. 16, sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf a catcheth them, and scat

I render, came.

render, beholdeth.

с

b

с

Isa. xl. 11. 12,23

Ezek. xxxiv.

xxxvii. 24. Heb. xiii. 20.

1 Pet. ii. 25:

v. 4.

17.

y render, layeth down, as in ver. 15, &c. a render, teareth.

here spoken of inclusively in the language
of the allegory, as coming in by and with
him. His was the first attempt to lead
human nature, before Christ came; be-
fore the series of dispensations of grace
began, in which pasture and life is offered
to man by Him. Meyer understands
the Pharisees, &c. who taught the people
before Christ appeared as the Door of the
sheep but this does not seem to reach
the depth of the requirements of the say
ing. are, not were, because their es-
sential nature as belonging to and being
of the evil one is set forth, and the in-
clusion of these present Pharisees in their
ranks.
but the sheep did not hear

them...
] This of course cannot be un-
derstood absolutely, the sheep never for
one moment listened to them;' but, did
not listen to them in the sense of becoming
their disciples eventually. So that the fall
of our first Parents would be no exception
to this; whom of all men we must con-
clude, by the continuing grace and mercy
of God to them after that fall, to have been
of His real sheep. And since then, the
same is true; however the sheep may for a
while listen to these false shepherds, they
do not hear them, so as to follow them.
Those who do, belong not to the true flock.

9.] expands and fixes ver. 7. "There is no entrance for salvation into the church but by Me, whether it be for shepherd, or for sheep." Erasmus. See Numb. xxvii. 16, 17. The sequel of the verse shews that this combined meaning is the true one. Meyer, who understands it all of shepherds alone, finds great difficulty in the interpretation of the latter words: "shall go in and out before the sheep, and find pasture for them," is certainly a forced meaning. 10.] the gracious intent of the Saviour in this;-to give life, and in abundance. This verse forms the tran

sition from Him as the Door, to Him as
the Shepherd. He is here set in opposition
to the thief (see on ver. 8), and thus insen-
sibly passes into the place of a shepherd,
who has been hitherto thus opposed. Then
the words, that they might have life, bind
on to those in the last verse,
"shall find
pasture”—and that they might have it
more abundantly: as if it had been said,
not merely as a door to pass through, but
actively, abundantly, to bestow abundance
of life. We are thus prepared for-
11.] the announcement of Himself as THE
GOOD SHEPHERD-the great antagonist of
the robber-the pattern and Head of all
good shepherds, as he of all thieves and
robbers: the Messiah, in His best known
and most loving office: cf. Ezek. xxxiv.
11-16, 23; xxxvii. 24, and Isa. xl. 11.
But He is the good Shepherd in this verse,
as having most eminently the qualities of a
good shepherd, one of which is to lay down
His life for the sheep. These words here
are not so much a prophecy, as a declara-
tion, implying however that which ver. 15
asserts explicitly.

12.] The imagery

the

is here again somewhat changed. The
false shepherds are here compared to hire-
lings, i.e. those who serve merely for gain;
the hireling who fulfils the character im-
plied by the word. The idea is brought in
by the words "layeth down his life for the
sheep,' which introduce the thought of
a time of danger, when the true and false
shepherds are distinguished.
wolf] The purposes of this wolf are the
same as those of the thief in ver. 10, and in
the allegory he is the same ;-the great
Foe of the sheep of Christ. Lücke and
De Wette deny this, and hold any enemies
of the theocracy' to be meant;-but no
deep view of the parable will be content
with this,-see Matt. vii. 15, where the
"ravening wolves" are "false prophets,"

e ch. xv. 13.

f Isa. lvi. 8.

tereth the sheep: 13 [b The hireling fleeth,] because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the d2 Tim. ii. 19. good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 d As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And fother sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them g Ezek. xxxvii. also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; & and dd there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17 Therefore because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 g No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it xv. 10. Acts down, and I have power to take it again. k This com

22. Eph. ii. 14. 1 Pet.

ii. 25.

h Isa. liii. 7, 8, doth my Father love me,

12. Heb.

ii. 9.

i ch. ii. 19.

k ch. vi. 38 :

ii. 24, 32.

b

h

omit, with most of the ancient authorities.

© Most of the ancient authorities read, and my sheep know me.

d render, even as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father. dd render, they shall become.

e render, one flock, one shepherd: see note.

f render, may.

the "thieves and robbers" of ver. 8;-and their chief and father would therefore be the wolf, just as our Lord is the Shepherd.

14, 15.] The knowledge of His sheep here spoken of is more than the mere knowing by name; it is a knowledge corresponding to the Father's knowledge of Him;-i. e. entire, perfect, all-comprehensive and their knowledge of Him corresponds to His of the Father, i. e. is intimate, direct, and personal: both being bound together by holy and inseparable Love. Beware of rendering the former clause of ver. 15, as in A. V., as an independent sentence, "As my Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father" it is merely the sequel to ver. 14, and should stand as in margin, as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father. the sheep] i. e. for those my sheep-not, for all; that, however true, is not the point brought out here the Lord lays down His life strictly and properly, and in the depths of the divine counsel, for those who are his sheep.

16.] The other sheep are the Gentiles;-not the dispersion of the Jews, who were already in God's fold. By these wonderful words, as by those in Acts xviii. 10, and by the conclusion of Matt. xxv. (see notes there), our Lord shews that, dark and miserable as the Gentile world was, He had sheep even there. Observe they are not in other folds, but scattered; see ch. xi. 52. Cf. also Eph. ii. 14 ff.

I must bring....] i. e. in the purpose

8 render, for perspicuity, No one.

20.

and covenant of the Father. The Lord
speaks of His bringing them, and their
hearing His voice: meaning that His ser-
vants in His name and by His power would
accomplish this work. Admirably illustra-
tive of the converse method of speaking,
which He employs Matt. xxv. 40, 45. The
one flock, is remarkable-not one fold, as
characteristically, but erroneously ren-
dered in A. V.:-not ONE FOLD, but ONE
FLOCK: no one exclusive enclosure of
an outward church, but one flock, all
knowing the one Shepherd and known of
Him. On one shepherd, compare Heb. xiii.
17.] The speaking in allegories
is now over, and He speaks plainly,-My
Father. In this wonderful verse lies the
mystery of the love of the Father for the
Son ;-because the Son has condescended
to the work of humiliation, and to earn the
crown through the cross (see Phil. ii. 8, 9).
The that here is strictly of the ultimate
purpose, in order that. "Without this
purpose in view,' says Stier, the Death of
Christ would neither be lawful nor pos-
sible.'
18.] The truth of this volun-
tary rendering up was shewn by His whole
sufferings, from the falling of His enemies
to the ground in the garden (ch. xviii. 6)
to His last words, I commend (render up)
my Spirit, Luke xxiii. 46 (see note there).
His resurrection also was eminently His
own work, by virtue of the Spirit of the
Father dwelling in and filling Him: the
power in both these cases being the com-
mandment, appointment, ordinance of the

་

mandment have I received of my Father.

There was 1 ch. vii. 43: a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. 20 And many of them said, m He hath a devil, mch. vii. 20: and is mad; why hear ye him? 21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil.

22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus 1 walked in the temple

Pin Solomon's porch. 24 Then came the Jews round about P Acts ii. 11: him, and said unto him, How long dost thou m make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: 9 the 4 ver. 38. works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of 260 But ye believe not, P because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you]. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; 28 and I

k render, Now it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem. 1 render, was walking.

m render, hold our mind in suspense.