Gentiles. Acts xiv. 27.-Every good gift is finally traced up to the Father as its origin. Jas. i. 17.-God generally owns the faithful pastor's labours, although he is not always permitted to see results.

The sheep.

See on John ii. 15. The faithful who are what all in the fold should be.

Hear his voice. Gr. give heed to. Lange. A Hebraism for obeying, still used in the East.-Ministers by the pulpit give the call, and preaching finds its completion in the pastoral care of soul Why do some hear, and others refuse to regard mercy's call? In the former it is the Spirit of God who worketh in them both to WI L and to DO. Phil. ii. 13.-The reckless and wicked care not to ask even for the hearing ear, or obedient will.-Some seem resolved to perish, if they can find a hell in the universe.-They are bent on closing every crevice, through which light can enter.-Resolved to insult the Spirit, each time He would call.-Determined to defy the Son, each time He would knock at their hearts.-Even when "His locks are wet with the drops of the night." Cant. v. 2. Calleth. Shepherds either whistle or call by a pipe to the flock. "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling." 2 Tim. i. 9. His own. Redeemed, regenerated, sealed, elect. Rom. viii. 28. -An orientalism for a complete and minute knowledge of their hearts. This tender relation differs from that of the hireling:-1. By Creation. 2. By Redemption. 3. By Regeneration.-Israel has ever been the Angel Jehovah's "peculiar people." Deut. xiv. 2. "A chosen generation." 1 Pet. ii. 9.-" For all the earth is mine." Ex. xix. 5.-A king, having many possessions, yet prefers one above all others.-Our Lord out of all believers chose twelve, out of twelve, chose three. Matt. xvii. 1.—Our King has myriads of beings, but chooses a number for Himself." Children of the promise," are by the new birth of one land, one law, one hope, one home. Gal. iv. 28.-They are a "royal priesthood, being washed in His blood." 1 Pet. ii. 9; Rev. i. 5.-The world accounts saints the humblest and lowest of mankind.-The Eternal God esteems them His SONS, FRIENDS, PRIESTS, and KINGS. Rev. i. 5.

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By name. In oriental lands sheep, as well as children have names. -Daughters among the heathen Chinese, are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c., nameless as our herds.-Soldiers and slaves have been called as "things" by number.-But a name implies a person.-When the the Lord called "Mary,” He summoned up all the devotion and love of that believer. He called John, Cephas, Zacchæus, Cornelius, and others.-Isaiah represents the Almighty Creator as leading out the starry heavens, as a shepherd leadeth his flock. The

humblest may hope that He will write his name in the Eternal Register of Heaven.-Christ holds a particular relation to individual persons.-He knows them, loves them, watches for them and leads them individually.-Our Saviour alludes to a pastoral scene of touching beauty and interest, a flock of sheep, not driven by violence, nor harassed by pursuing dogs, but slowly moving along, following their shepherd, he, perhaps, with a lamb in his arms. For a while they linger to graze or partake of the clear stream, still he makes progress towards the fold of safety for the night. Are any missing as one by one "called by name," they enter? He goeth out into the wilderness to seek the lost one. Ezek. xxxiv.-All the volumes of classical literature have nothing that approaches this picture of a Teacher of religion leading his disciples through an unfriendly world, to the fold of peace.The twenty-third psalm, that Divine pastoral has for 2500 years been a source of consolation to myriads of weary, care-worn, heavy-laden believers.-In the protection of the Divine Shepherd "they shall neither hunger nor thirst."- "The Sun shall not smite them" &c. Isa. xlix. 10.-"The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters." Rev. vii. 17.-To call by one's name indicates a loving regard of one, the reflection of the name.-"I know thee by name,' ," Ex. xxxiii., same as, "Thou hast found grace in my sight."-"I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off." Isa. lvi. 5. Leadeth.-In our land they are driven, in Oriental lands they are led. The author in Palestine saw a shepherd and a flock of sheep and goats following.-Several dogs kept the stragglers from straying away.-A secret allusion to His leading the blind man out from the snares of the Pharisees. Chrysostom.-The pillar of cloud led the thousands of Israel through the desert.-God present, ever leading." He led them on safely and they feared not." Psalm lxxviii. 53.-"Give ear, O shepherd, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock." Psa. lxxx. 1.-" He shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them." Isa. xlix. 10.

"I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers." Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 16.-Leading those trusting Him, excludes the unbelieving world.-1. He leadeth them in a way where is no uncertainty. 2. In a way of safety. 3. In a way of peace. 4. In a way of joy.-But of false shepherds He saith, "My soul loathed them." Zech. xi. 8.

Leadeth. He does not drive them on before as a herd of unwilling disciples. He goes before Himself, leading them into paths that He has trod, and dangers He has met, and sacrifices He has borne Himself, calling them after Him, and to be only followers.

Bushnell.-What a mistake to regard the Christian life as a legal or constrained service.

Oupwpòs. Romans had a eunuch or slave chained to the post. Suetonius. Jesus, the Door, Porter, Shepherd, all within Himself. Fikenscher. God the Father, opening an entrance for Christ. Bengel, Hengst. Holy Ghost, the Porter. Weisse. Such a ministry inappropriate to the Lord of the flock. Tholuck. Moses as an author of scripture. Chrys. John the Baptist, supposed by some to be the Porter. Holy Spirit openeth the Scripture door to those knocking. Origen, Theoph., Alford. The Porter-he to whom the sheep belong. Exegesis ought not to be more specific. Calvin, Meyer, Luthardt, D. Brown. Christ is His own Porter. Cyril. avoiye. Right of free access. Calvin, Meyer, Luthardt.

owns. A whistle, as the bird's note, and cock's crowing, is thus called. Bloomfield.

ίδια. Put for αὐτοῦ. Rosenm. Christ, the alone shepherd who led the Church from the Old Test. to the New. Lampe.

idia. Elect, beloved ones. Lampe. Omnes sunt propriæ. Bengel, Stier. High Priest's attire shadowed the three-fold office of Christ. The Crown, His kingly. The Urim, His prophetical. The twelve names on the Ephod, His Priestly Office. Godwyn. Distinction between "sheep" and "own sheep," gives rise to mistakes. Alford.

Kaλei. pwveî Cod. Sin., Lach., Tisch. pwvel better corresponds with the figure. The sheep, as sheep, are not influenced by an understanding of the call, but by its warm, accustomed tone. Lange.

Kaλeî. Whom He draws, He calls, and vice versa. H. Charo.

KаT'OVOμа Gives His people a name, e. g., Israel. Schleier. Sheep, goats, horses anciently had names. Callimachus. Different folds under many shepherds. Lücke, Crusius. "Known thee by name." Ex. xxxiii. 12, i. e., chosen thee to do My will. Oehler. A specific personal relation. Keil. Parallel with: Thou hast found grace in My sight. Hengst. In Germany a shepherd in charge of three or four hundred sheep can call at will by name those belonging to a family. Blackley.

égaye. Formerly the Syrian shepherd with a low humming voice preceded the flock. Salmeron. An old English law required farmers not to irritate beasts at work, but with pleasant musical sounds to encourage them. Selden, in Denton.

4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

Putteth forth. Illustrates the energetic mode of "leading them out." Appropriate to the employment of a shepherd who "turns out" the sheep to pasture.-It implies that the sheep hesitate and linger behind. He frees them from the burden of their sins, as Israel was freed from the tyranny of Pharaoh.-Sin has imprisoned by bolt and bar the guilty race of Adam. Zech. ix. 12. Goeth before. As He led them by the Pillar of fire in the desert forty years. Follow. See on verse 3. Sheep are social and affectionate to

those kind to them.-In the Old Test. no allusion is ever made to driving the flock.-The custom alluded to is common to this day in Palestine and on the Downs of England.-The Moors' descendants in Spain still lead their Merino flocks.-Twice literally the Saviour walked in advance of His disciples. Matt. xxvi. 32;

Mark x. 32. Not as an intrepid leader, but as a faithful and loving shepherd.-In the garden He took the lead to confirm and protect them, John xviii. 4.-By His crucifixion, He precedes each believer through the gates of death.-Ambition prompts proud prelates to walk in advance of Christ's ministry.-Christ's followers eye their shepherd's steps, and listen for His voice."These are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” Rev. xiv. 4.

Know. This reveals the fact of acquaintance. Job xxii. 21.—The sheep know the voice of every true shepherd; honest minds generally discriminate truth from error; hence, believers soon forsake preachers who become heretics.-The hungry soul finds false doctrines, as bitter ashes to the taste.-When the pulpit becomes a fountain of heresy, a sad sifting is going on among the people of God."Tasting the good word of God," shows His previous working. Heb. v. 14.

His voice. Truth is like light: visible in itself.

Christ came

with truth, and the true recognise it as true. In all matters of eternal truth, the heart is before the head. You know truth by being true. You recognise God by being like Him. Robertson.— They know His voice so well, that an angel from heaven must expect no welcome, if he bring another gospel. Gal. i. 8.

Grotius, Rosenmuller.
Wakefield.

ἐκβάλῃ and ἐξάγει the same sense. EKBáλn. Not necessarily violence. Tà idia Tрóẞата. Távтα. All his own. Lach., Tisch. A more expressive reading than the received text, in accordance with B. D. L. X. etc. Schaff, Tregelles. His favourite sheep, and the rest of the flock follow. Lange.

ἀκολουθεῖ. The Lord led, and the sheep followed," Book of Enoch. Lawrence's Translation. Allusions are found in Ignatius, Clemens Alex., Chrys. The Corsican shepherds led their flocks. Polybius. Believers not to be treated as driven beasts. Maldonatus. His voice has an agreement with their higher reason. Albertus Magnus. Goeth before in temptations. Dion. Carth. He walked before His disciples, Mark x. 32, as a bold commander. Grotius. He advanced to protect them. Bengel.

oidaσi. The shepherd's voice is self-evidencing. Stier.

pwvv. A harp stood in a room, when a clock at midnight in a neighbouring belfry struck one. One solitary chord out of many vibrated, one note sounded, for but one chord was in harmony. Author. It cannot be fundamentally understood, without something resembling itself. Stier.

5. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers

A stranger. The Jews are thus reproached with more obstinacy than beasts. They must discern between good and evil. Heb. v. 14.-A spirit of discerning. 1 Cor. x. 12.-Mind of Christ. 1 Cor. ii. 16.-Reasonable service. Rom. xii. 1.—

Obedience by faith. Rom. xvi. 26.-1. A stranger to the deceitfulness of his own heart. 2. A stranger to the utter poverty of all his promises and schemes. 3. A stranger to the fulness of the grace of God. 4. A stranger to the Divine shepherd whose flock he appears to tend.-So infatuated and hardened were the Pharisees that they never, for an instant, doubted that they were genuine shepherds.-The intruder is called a thief, he leads others to the pit, not to the fold.-Some under judicial blindness, may be unconscious of their state.-One holding the key of knowledge should be a man of prayer and should exercise self-denial, meekness, diligence, zeal, heavenly-mindedness.-They are "set for the fall and rise of many in Israel." Luke ii. 34.-Emperor Julian subjoined on all the Pagan priests of the Roman empire to be sober-minded and pure in converse, to avoid all shows, and to excel all in virtue." I never knew him say an idle word, or that which did not tend to edify." Burnet, of Leighton.-People and minister are sometimes one in guilt, and one in punishment."Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats." Zech. x. 3; Lam. iv. 13.--Prayer pre-eminently aids the faithful shepherd, as feathers, the eagle.-Strip him of his plumage, and you fix him to the earth.-Those who persecute, prove themselves strangers to the flock of God.-That which hath horns to push is Anti-christ, whatever be their office. Rev. xvii. 3.-When Chrysostom, the faithful minister, was banished from Constantinople, the people said, "It had been better that the sun itself had been darkened."-The magnet drawn through the earth's rubbish, only attracts the iron: our Lord only draws those hearts seeking Him.

Follow. The true flock of God have a voice as to the choice of their under-shepherd.-The Great Head of the Church here assigns them a Charter for their liberty of conscience; each believer will be held responsible for his influence, but the supreme Arbiter in all these things is the Great Shepherd.-The true call draws the flock of God to the green pastures. Psa. xxiii.Since the flock have an ear and a heart, to heed His voice, those shepherds whose voice the flock regard not, may well doubt their call.

Know not. Sheep are called silly, but they never confound their shepherd's voice with that of strangers.-This world supposed to be the night in which Christ leads His flock, and amid the darkness of our life, we walk by faith not by sight. 2 Cor. v. 7.-True Christians are taught by the Spirit and the word to know the voice of the stranger, and to flee from it as perilous.-False leaders in worldly churches call this refusal pride, obstinacy, &c., for the true church has always been "a little flock." Luke xii. 32.