carries them off and scatters ἴπεπι
cf. Mt. ix. 36 ; a general description care- less of detail. Bengel says ‘‘lacerat quas potest, ceteras dispergit ”.—Ver. 13. 6 δὲ μισθωτὸς φεύγει, not, as in ver. 12, 6 µισθ. δὲ, “ because the antithesis of the hireling was there first brought forward and greater emphasis was secured by that position”. Meyer. Klotz, p. 378, says that δέ is placed after more words than one ‘“ubi quae praeposita particulae verba sunt aut aptius inter se conjuncta sunt aut ita comparata, ut summum pondus in ea sententia obtineant”. He flees ὅτι µισθωτός ἐστι, his nature is
περὶ τῶν προβάτων.
791
14. ἐγώ εἶμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός: καὶ γινώσκω
κ eS ‘ , ens a ο ρα μη] 8 2 ς τα εµα, και γινώσκομµαι υπο των εµων, 15. καθὼς γινώσκει µε ο
πατὴρ, κἀγὼ γινώσκω τὸν πατέρα” καὶ τὴν ψυχήν µου τίθηµι ὑπὲρ
τῶν προβάτων.
16. καὶ ἄλλα πρόβατα ἔχω, ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς
αὐλῆς ταύτης: κἀκεῖνά µε δεῖ Ἡ ἀγαγεῖν, καὶ τῆς φωνῆς µου ἀκούσ- α Is. Ix. ο.
ovo.’ καὶ γενήσεται µία ποίµνη, “els ποιµήν. πατήρ µε ἀγαπᾶ, ὅτι ἐγὼ τίθηµι τὴν ψυχήν µου, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω
17. διὰ τοῦτο Or Ezek. XXXVil. 24.
1 Τ.Ε. is authenticated by AXTA 33, syr., etc. ; the active γινωσκουσιν pe Ta ena
is the reading of NBL, it. vulg. ‘‘cognoscunt me meae”’.
This gives a better
balanced sentence, though the sense is the same.
betrayed by his conduct. He does not care for the sheep but for himself. He took the position of guardian of the sheep for his own sake, not for theirs ; and the presence of the wolf brings out that it is himself, not the sheep, he cares for.—Ver. 14. The second mark of the good shepherd is introduced by a repeti-
,
tion of the announcement: ἐγώ...
καλός. And this second mark is not stated in general terms applicable to all good shepherds, but directly of Him- self: ἐγώ εἰμι . . . καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμά, καὶ γινώσκομαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμῶν. There is a mutually reciprocal knowledge between Jesus and His sheep. And the existence of this knowledge is the proof that He isthe Shepherd. The shepherd’s claim is authenticated by his knowledge of the marks and ways of the sheep, and by its knowledge of him as shown in its coming to his voice and submission to his hand. Augustine says: ‘‘ They some- times do not know themselves, but the shepherd knows them ’’.—Ver. 15. This reciprocal knowledge is so sure and pro- found that it can only be compared to the mutual knowledge of the Father and the Son: καθὼς . . . warépa. He then applies to Himself what had been stated in general of all good shepherds in ver. ΙΙ: and νετ. 16 might suitably have begun with the words “And my life I lay down for the sheep”. This state- ment is, however, prompted by His reference -to His knowledge of the Father. He knows it is the Father’s will that He should lay down His life. See vv. 17 and 18.—Ver. 16. But the mention of His death suggests to Him the wide extent of its consequences. ἄλλα πρόβατα exw, “other sheep I have”; not that they are already believers in Him, but “His” by the Father’s design and gift. Cf, xvii. 7 and Acts xviii. 10. They are only negatively described : ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς
αὐλῆς ταύτης; ‘this fold”’ is evidently that which contained the Jews who already had received Him as their Shepherd; and the other sheep which are not “of” (ἐκ, as frequently in John, ‘belonging to’’; not as Meyer renders) this fold are the Gentiles.—kaketva . . . ποιµήν ‘those also I must bring and they shall listen to my voice, and they shall so amalgamate with the Jewish disciples that there shall be one flock, one shepherd”’. The listening to Christ’s voice brings the sheep to Him, and this being what constitutes the flock, the flock must be one as He is one. But nothing is said of unity of organisation. There may be various folds, though one flock.—pia ποίµνη, els ποιµήν, the alliteration cannot be quite reproduced in English. For the emphasis gained by omitting καί cf. Eurip., Orestes, 1244, τρισσοῖς φίλοις yap eis ἀγὼν, δίκη µία. The A.V. wrongly translated ‘‘one fold,” following the Vulgate, which renders both αὐλή and ποίµνη by “ ovile” [‘ qua voce non grex ipse sed ovium stabulum declaratur; quod unum vix unquam fuit, et non modo falso, sed etiam stulte im- pudenter Romae collocatur’”. Beza]. This is corrected in R.V. The old Latin versions had ‘‘unus grex” ; see Words- worth’s and White’s Vulg.—Ver. 17. At this point the exposition of the functions of the good shepherd terminates ; but as a note or appendix Jesus adds διὰ τοῦτο, ‘on this account,” 7.¢., because I lay down my life for the sheep (ver. 15 and following clause) does my Father love me. The expressed ἐγώ serves to bring out the spontaneity of the surrender. And this free sacrifice or death is justified by the object, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν. He dies, not to remain in death and so leave the sheep defenceless, but to live again, to resume life in pursuance of the object for which He had given it. The freedom of the sacrifice is proved by His taking