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not, but for shepherd, whose own the sheep are
not, seeth the wolf coming, and leav- An. Olymp.
eth the sheep, and fleeth: and the
wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
13 The hireling fleeth, because he is a hire-
ling, and careth not for the sheep.

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

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14 I am the good shepherd, and know my

12 But he that is a hireling, and not the sheep, and am known of mine.

Isai. 40. 11. Ezek. 34. 12, 23. & 37. 24. Heb. 13. 20. 1 Pet. 2. 25. & 5. 4.

Zech. 11. 16, 17.- 2 Tim. 2. 19.

Those who come for salvation to God, through Christ, shall get it: he shall be saved-he shall have his sins blotted out; his soul purified; and himself prescrved unto eternal life. This the Scribes and Pharisees could neither promise nor impart.

Go in and out] This phrase in the style of the Hebrews, points out all the actions of a man's life; and the liberty he has of acting, or not acting. A good shepherd conducts his flock to the fields where good pasturage is to be found; watches over them while there, and brings them back again, and secures them in the fold. So he that is taught and called of God feeds the flock of Christ with those truths of his word of grace which nourish them unto eternal life: and God blesses together both the shepherd and the sheep, so that going out and coming in they find pasture: every occurrence is made useful to them; and all things work together for their good.

an abundance, meaning either of life, or of all necessary good things; greater felicity than ever was enjoyed under any period of the Mosaic dispensation; and it is cer tain that Christians have enjoyed greater blessings and privileges than were ever possessed by the Jews, even in the promised land. If go be considered the accusative fem. Attic, agreeing with on, (see Parkhurst) then it signifies more abundant life, that is, eternal life; or, spiritual blessings much greater than had ever yet been communicated to man, preparing for a glorious immortality. Jesus is come that men may have abundance; abundance of grace, peace, love, life, and salvation. Blessed be Jesus!

Verse 11. I am the good shepherd] Whose character is the very reverse of that which has already been described. In verses 7, and 9. our Lord had called himself the door of the sheep, as being the sole way to glory, and entrance into eter nal life; here he changes the thought, and calls himself the shepherd, because of what he was to do for them that believe in him, in order to prepare them for eternal glory.

Giveth his life for the sheep.] That is, gives up his soul as a sacrifice to save them from eternal death.

Some will have the phrase here only to mean hazarding his life in order to protect others; but the 15th, 17th, and 18th verses, as well as the whole tenor of the new covenant, suificiently prove, that the first sense is that in which our Lord's words should be understood.

Verse 10. But for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy]|| Those who enter into the priesthood that they may enjoy the revenues of the church, are the basest and vilest of thieves and murderers. Their ungodly conduct is a snare to the simple, and the occasion of much scandal to the cause of Christ. Their doctrine is deadly; they are not commissioned by Christ, and therefore they cannot profit the people Their character is well pointed out by the prophet Ezekiel, chap. xxxiv. 2, &c. Woe be to the shepherds of Israel, that do feed themselves! Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe with the wool; ye kill them that are fed: but feed ye you not the flock, &c. How can worldly minded, hireling, fox-reads it, the marchaunt, he who makes merchandise of men's hunting, and card-playing priests read these words of the Lord, without trembling to the centre of their souls! Woe to those parents who bring up their children merely for church honours and emoluments! Suppose a person have all the church's revenues, if he have God's woe, how miserable is his portion! Let none apply this censure to any one class of preachers, exclusively.

Verse 12. But he that is a hireling] Or, as my old MS. Bible

souls; bartering them and his own too for filthy lucre. Let not the Reader apply this, or any of the preceding censures, to any particular class or order of men: every religious party may have a hireling priest, or minister; and where the provision is the greatest, there the danger is most.

Whose own the sheep are not] A hireling priest who has never been the instrument of bringing souls to God, will not abide with them in the time of danger or persecution. They are not the produce of his labour, faith, and prayers: he has no other interest in their welfare, than that which comes from the fleece and the fat. The hireling counts the sheep his Might have it more abundantly.] That they might have own, no longer than they are profitable to him; the good

That they might have life] My doctrine tends to life, because it is the true doctrine-that of the false and bad shepherds tends to death, because it neither comes from, nor can lead to that God who is the fountain of life.

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* Matt. 11. 27.— ch. 15. 13. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 2. 25.

Isai. 56. 84 Ezek. 37. 22. Eph. Ch. 2. 19.—— ch. 6. 38. & 15. 10. Acts 2. 24, 32. ch. 7. 43. & 9. 16.
Isai. 53. 7, 8, 12. Heb. 2.9.
ch. 7. 20. & 8. 48, 52.

shepherd looks upon them as his, so long as he can be pro-to the outer court, or court of the Gentiles, because the Genfitable to them.

Among the ancient Jews some kept their own flocks, others hired shepherds to keep them for them. And every owner must naturally have felt more interest in the preservation of his flock, than the hireling could possibly feel.

Verse 14. I-know my sheep] I know, a qua, them that are mine: I know their hearts, their wishes, their purposes, their circumstances; and I approve of them; for in this sense the word to know is often taken in the Scriptures. Homer represents the goat-herds as being so well acquainted with their own, though mixed with others, as easily to distinguish

them.

Τους δ' ως αιπολία πλατε αίγων αίπολοι άνδρες
Ρεια διακρινέωσιν, επεί κε νομω μιγεωσιν.
Iliad. 2. 474.
"As goat-herds separate their numerous flocks
"With ease, though fed promiscuous."

And am known of mine.] They know me as their father, protector, and saviour; they acknowledge me and my truth before the world; and they approve of me, my word, my ordinances and my people; and manifest this by their attachment to me, and their zeal for my glory. The first clause of the 15th verse should be joined to the fourteenth.

Verse 16. Other sheep I have] The Gentiles and Samaritans As if our Lord had said, Do not imagine that I shall lay down my life for the Jews, exclusively of all other people; no, I shall die also for the Gentiles; for by the grace, the merciful design and loving purpose of God, I am to taste death for every man. Heb. ii. 9. and though they are not of this fold now, those among them that believe shall be united with the believing Jews, and made one fold under one shepherd. Eph. ii. 13-17.

The original word aan, which is here translated fold, signifies properly a court. It is probable that our blessed Lord was now standing in what was termed the inner court, or court of the people, in the temple: see ver. 23. and that he referred

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tiles who were proselytes of the Gate were permitted to wor ship in that place; but only those who were circumcised were permitted to come into the inner court, over the entrance of which were written, in large characters of gold, these words, let no uncircumcised person enter here! Our Lord therefore might at this time have pointed out to the worshippers in that court, when he spoke these words, and the people would at once perceive that he meant the Gentiles.

Verse 17. Therefore doth my Father love me] As I shall be shortly crucified by you, do not imagine that I am abandoned by my heavenly Father, and therefore fall thus into your hands. The Father loveth me particularly on this account, because I am going to lay down my life for the life of the world. Again, do not suppose that I shall be put to death by your rulers, because I have not strength to resist them. I LAY DOWN my life voluntarily and chearfully; no one can take it away from me, see ver. 18. and I shall give you the fullest proof of my supreme power by raising, in three days, that very crucified wounded body from the grave.

Verse 18. I have power] Or, authority, govora. Our Lord speaks of himself here as man, or the Messiah, as being God's messenger, and sent upon earth to fulfil the divine will, in dying and rising again for the salvation of men.

This commandment have I received] That is, I act according to the divine commandment in executing these things, and giving you this information.

Verse 19. There was a division] Exopa, a schism, a rent. They were divided in their opinions; one part received the light, and the other resisted it.

Again] There was a dissension of this kind before, among the same people; see chap. ix. 16.

Verse 20. He hath a devil, and is mad] So then, a dæmo niac and a madman, were not exactly the same in the apprehension of the Jews; no more than the effect is the same with: the cause which produces it. Some will have it, that when the Jews told our Lord that he had a damon, they meant no

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more than that he was deranged; but here these matters are evidently distinguished. They believed him to be possessed by a damon, who deranged his faculties, and that he inust have been a wicked man, and a deceiver, thus to be put under the power of such a spirit.

Verse 21. These are not the words of him that hath a devil.]|| If he were deranged by an unclean spirit, his words would bear a similitude to the spirit that produced them: but these are words of deep sense, soberness, and piety: besides, could a damoniac open the eyes of blind men? This is not the work of a dæmon. Now we have seen that this man has restored a man who was born blind. Therefore it is demonstrably evident that he is neither a madman nor a dæmoniac.

Behold the usage which the blessed Lord received from his creatures! and behold with what meekness and gentleness he conducts himself; not a word of impatience proceeds from his lips; nor a look of contempt or indignation is seen in his face. And what was he doing to merit all this? Why, he was instructing the ignorant, and telling the wretched that he was just going to die to save their souls! Amazing love of God, and ingratitude and obduracy of men! Let not the disciple suppose that in this respect, he shall be above his master. When a minister of Christ has done his utmost to do good to his fellow-creatures; let him not be surprised if he meet with nothing from many but reproaches and persecutions for his pains. The grand point is, to take Jesus for an example of suffering, and to be armed with the same mind.-It appears that the words spoken by the friendly Jews prevailed; and that the others were obliged to abandon the field.

temple service seems to have been suspended for three years, great dilapidations having taken place also in various parts of the buildings: see 1 Macc. iv. 36, &c. As Judas Maccabaus not only restored the temple service, and cleansed it from pollution, &c. but also repaired the ruins of it, the feast was called ra syxana, the renovation.

It was winter.] X, or it was stormy or rainy weather. And this is the reason, probably, why our Lord is represented as walking in Solomon's porch, or portico: ver. 23. Though it certainly was in winter when this feast was held, yet it does not appear that the word above refers so much to the time of the year, as to the state of the weather. Indeed there was no occasion to add it was winter, when the feast of the dedication was mentioned, because every body knew that as that feast was held on the twenty-fifth of the month Cisleu, that it was in the winter season.

John has here omitted all that Jesus did from the time when he left Jerusalem, after the feast of Tabernacles in September was ended, until the feast of the Dedication in the December following: and he did it probably because he found that the other Evangelists had given an account of what our Lord did in the interval. St. Luke relates what our Lord did on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem, to this feast: chap. xvii.-11—37. xviii. 1-14. Observe likewise, that this time here mentioned was the fourth time (according to John's account) that Jesus went up to the feasts at Jerusalem in about a year: for first, he went up to the feast of the Pass-over: chap. ii. 13. next to the feast of Pentecost, as it scems to have been: chap. v. 1. then to the feast of Tabernacles: chap. vii. 2. 10. and lastly to the

purposely to have pointed out his presence in Jerusalem at these four feasts, because all the other Evangelists have omitted the mention of every one of them. See Bishop Pearce, and see the note on chap. v. 1.

Verse 22. The feast of the dedication] This was a feast in-feast of the Pass-over, in which he was crucified. John seems stituted by Judas Maccabæus, in commemoration of his purifying the temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. This feast began on the twenty-fifth of the month Cisleu, (which answers to the eighteenth of our December) and continued for eight days. When Antiochus had heard that the Jews had made great rejoicings, on account of a report that had been spread of his death; he hastened out of Egypt to Jerusalem, took the city by storm, and slew of the inhabitants in three days forty thousand persons; and forty thousand more he sold for slaves to the neighbouring nations. Not contented with this, he sacrificed a great sow on the altar of burnt-offerings; and broth being made by his command, of some of the flesh, he sprinkled it all over the temple, that he might defile it to the uttermost. See Prideaux's Connections, vol. iii. p. 236. edit. 1725. After this, the whole of the

Verse 23. Solomon's porch.] By what we find in Josephus, Ant. b. xx. c. 8. s. 7. a portico built by Solomon on the east side of the outer court of the temple, was left standing by Herod, when he rebuilt the temple. This portico was four hundred cubits long, and was left standing, probably because of its grandeur and beauty. But when Agrippa came to Jerusalem, a few years before the destruction of the city by the Romans, and about eighty years after Herod had begun his building (till which time what Herod had begun was not completed) the Jews solicited Agrippa to repair this portico at his own expence, using for argument not only that the

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25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do my Father's name, they bear witness of

in

me.

Messiah, and to be one with God.

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

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A.M. 4035. An. Olymp.

A. D. 29.

CCII. 1.

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck

26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of them out of my Father's hand. my sheep, as I said unto you.

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27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know

them, and they follow me.

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30 "I and my Father are one.

31

Then stone him.

the Jews took up stones again to

e Ch. 6. 57. & 17. 11, 12. & 18. 9.- fch. 14. 28. -8 ch. 17. 2, 6, &c.ch. 17. 11, 22.- ch. 3. 59.

building was growing ruinous, but that otherwise eighteen thousand workmen, who had all of them, until then, been employed in carrying on the works of the temple, would be all at once deprived of a livelihood.

Verse 24. How long dost thou make us to doubt ?] Or, how long dost thou kill us with suspense. Ews TOTE THY Lux nμ aigas, literally, how long wilt thou take away our life? Mr. Markland would read αωρείς for αιρείς, which amounts nearly to the same sense with the above. The Jews asked this question, through extreme perfidiousness; they wished to get him to declare himself king of the Jews, that they might accuse him to the Roman governor: and by it they insolently insinuated that all the proofs he had hitherto given them of his divine mission, were good for nothing.

to me.

Verse 25. I told you, &c.] That is, I told you before what I tell you now again, that the works which I do, bear testimony I have told you that I am the light of the world: the son of God: the good shepherd: that I am come to save: to give life—to give liberty—to redeem you that in order to this, I must die, and rise again: and that I am absolute master of my life, and of my death. Have you not noticed my omniscience, in searching and discovering the very secrets of your hearts? Have you not seen my omnipotence in the miracles which I have wrought? Have not all these been sufficient to convince you? and yet ye will not believe! See the works which bore testimony to him as the Messiah, enumerated Matt. xi. 5.

Verse 26. Ye are not of my sheep] Ye have not the disposition of those who come unto me to be instructed and saved: sce what follows.

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Verse 27. My sheep hear my voice] But ye will not hear;--my sheep follow me; but ye will neither follow nor acknowledge me. Any person who reads without prejudice may easily see, that our Lord does not at all insinuate that these persons could not believe, because God had made it impossible to them; but simply because they did not hear and follow Christ, which the|| whole of our blessed Lord's discourse proves that they might have done. The sheep of Christ are not those who are included in

any eternal decree, to the exclusion of others from the yearnings of the bowels of eternal mercy; but they are those who hear, believe in, follow, and obey the Saviour of the world.

Verse 28. They shall never perish] Why? Because they hear my voice, and follow me; therefore I know, I approve of and love them, and give them eternal life. They who continue to hear Christ's voice, and to follow him, shall never perish. They give themselves up to God-believe so on Jesus that he lives in their hearts; God hath given unto them eternal life, and this life is in his Son, and he that hath the Son hath life, 1 John v. 11, 12. Now it is evident that only those who have Christ living in and governing their souls, so that they possess the mind that was in him, are his sheep; are those that shall never perish, because they have this eternal life abiding in them: therefore to talk of a man's being one of the elect,— one that shall never perish-one who shall have eternal lifewho shall never be plucked out of the hand of God, &c. while he lives in sin, has no Christ in his heart, has either never received, or fallen away from the grace of God, is as contrary to common sense, as it is to the nature and testimonies of the Most High. Final perseverance implies final faithfulnesshe that endures to the end shall be saved-he that is faithful unto death shall have a crown of life. And will any man attempt to say that he who does not endure to the end, and is unfaithful, shall ever enter into life?

Verse 29. My Father-is greater than all] More powerful than all the united energies of men and dæmons. He who loves God must be happy: and he who fears him, need fear nothing on this side eternity.

Verse 30. I and my Father are one] If Jesus Christ were not God, could he have said these words without being guilty of blasphemy? It is worthy of remark that Christ does not say I and My Father, which my our translation very improperly supplies, and which in this place would have conveyed a widely different meaning: for then it would imply that the human nature of Christ, of which alone, I conceive, God is ever said to be the Father in Scripture, was equal to the Most High: but he says, speaking then as God over all, I and THE

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Father, yw xxl πατης €7 εσμέν, the Creator of all things, the
Judge of all men, the Father of the spirits of all flesh, are
ONE, ONE in nature, ONE in all the attributes of Godhead, and
ONE in all the operations of those attributes: and so it is evi-
dent the Jews understood him. See chap. xvii. 11, 22.

Verse 31. The Jews took up stones] To stone him as a blasphemer, Lev. xxiv. 14-16. because he said he was one with God. The Evangelist adds the word again, because they had attempted to do this before, see chap, viii. 59. but it seems they were prevented from doing this now, by the following discourse.

Verse 32. Many good works have I shewed you] I have healed your sick, delivered those of you who were possessed, from the power of dæmons; I have fed multitudes of your poor, and I have taught you in all places, at all times, without expence, with patience; and is this my reward!

Ch. 6. 27. ch. 3. 17. & 5. 36, 37. & 8. 42,

a figurative, metaphorical or improper sense, but in the most literal meaning of the term.

Verse 34. Is it not written in your law] The words which our Lord quotes are taken from Psal. lxxxii. 6. which shews that under the word law, our Lord comprized the Jewish sacred writings in general, See also chap. xii. 34. xv. 25.

Ye are gods?] That is, judges, who are called nba elohim. That judges are here meant, appears from Psal. lxxxii. 2, &c. and also from what follows here. And this is probably the only place where the word

is applied to any but the

true God: see Parkhurst under the root

Verse 35. Unto whom the word of God came] Bishop Pearce thinks that "the word hoyos here, is put for λoyos xgiow, the word or matter of judgment, as in 2 Chron. xix. 6. where Jehosaphat, setting judges in the land of Judah, says, take heed what ye do: judge not for men, but for the Lord, who is with you in judgment—λoyos ng xgious, in the words or matters of judgment.—SEPT. which is nearly according to the Hebrew

To shew good works or good things is a Hebraism, which signifies to do them really, to give good things liberally. The phrase is similar to the following: Who will SHEW us any good? Psal. iv. 6. i. e. who shall give us good things. SHEW us thy mercy, Psal. lxxxv. 7. i. e. give us to feel the effects of thy mercy. Thou hast SHEWED thy people hard things, Psal. lx. 3. i. e. thou hast treated them with rigour. Thou hast SHEWED me great and sore troubles, Psal. Ixxi. 20. i. e. thouλoyos ʊ, because it is the judgment that properly belongs to hast exposed me to terrible hardships.

Verse 33. But for blasphemy] I have elsewhere shewn that the original word Bracne, when applied to men, signifies to speak injuriously of their persons, character, connexions, &c. but when applied to God it signifies to speak impiously, i. e. contrary to his nature, perfections, the wisdom of his providence, or goodness of his works.

Thou, being a man] That is, only a man-makest thyself God. When Christ said before, v. 30. I and the Father are one, had the Jews understood him (as many called Christians profess to do) as only saying he had a unity of sentiments with the Father, they would not have attempted to treat him for this as a blasphemer; because in this sense Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David and all the prophets were one with God. But what irritated them so much was, that they understood him as speaking of a unity of nature. Therefore they say here, thou makest thyself God; which word they understood, not in

man bedebar mishpat, in the word or matter of judgment. In Deut. i. 17. when a charge is given to the judges, that they should not be afraid of the face of man, this reason is given: for the judgment is God's. Hence it appears probable, that hoyos is here used for 20yos xeows: and it is called

God, and which they who give it on earth, give only as acting in the stead of God. A way of speaking very like to this is found in Heb. iv. 23. where the writer says, weos on, nu o 2.0795, with whom we have to do, i. e. by whom we are to be judged.”

But the words Aoyos to may be here understood for the order, commission, or command of God: and so it properly signifies, Luke iii. 2. and in this sense it is found often employed in the Old Testament. When it is there said, that the word of the Lord came, &c. it means, God gave an order, commission, &c. to such a person, to declare or do such and such things.

And the Scripture cannot be broken] AvInvat, dissolved, rendered of none effect, i. e. it cannot be gainsaid or set aside; every man must believe this, because it is the declaration of God. If those were termed gods who were only earthly magistrates, fallible mortals, and had no particular influence of the Divine Spirit, and that they are termed gods is evis

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