John 10:16

John 10:16. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must lead, and they shall hear my voice. Not in the Jewish Church only was there a work of preparation for His coming: the light had been shining in the darkness (chap. John 1:5), the light which enlighteneth every man (John 1:9). Many in the Gentile world were waiting only to hear His voice: they will recognise their Shepherd, and He will know His own sheep. He regards them as His own even now (‘other sheep I have '); they are not shunning the light and seeking darkness; He receives them now as His Father's gift to Him. It is not easy to answer a question which the words immediately suggest: Does our Lord speak of these ‘other sheep' of the Gentile world as abiding in a fold? It might be so. We cannot see that there would be difficulty in regarding that dispensation of which we know so little, the dealings of the One Father with the heathen world (to which had been given no such revelation as the Jews possessed, but in which He had never left Himself without witness), as symbolized by a ‘fold.' But there does seem to be an intentional avoidance of any word that would necessarily suggest this image here. No mention is made of ‘entering in' to the place where these sheep abide, or of the door through which they pass. The word ‘lead' is used again, but, whereas in John 10:3 we read that the Shepherd leadeth out His own sheep from the Jewish fold, here He says only ‘them also I must lead .' We conclude therefore that it was not without design that Jesus said not ‘I have sheep of another fold,' but ‘I have other sheep, not of this fold.' The language of chap. John 11:52 suggests rather that these ‘other sheep ‘have been comparatively shelterless, not drawn together by any shepherd's care, but ‘scattered abroad.' Their past has been altogether different from that of the devout Israelite; but the future of Jew and Gentile shall be the same. As in the case of Israel, so here the whole work of bringing liberty and life is accomplished by Jesus Himself: it is a work that He must do (comp. chap. John 4:34; John 9:4, etc.), for it is His Father's will. He seeks the scattered sheep; they come together to Him; He places Himself at the head of this other flock; His voice keeps them near to Him. Passing for a moment from the figure, we recognise once more how Jesus includes all the work of faith and discipleship in ‘ hearing Him ' (see chap. John 8:31; John 8:40; John 8:47): all that had been wanting to these heirs of a lower dispensation is supplied when they hear His voice.

And they shall become one flock, one shepherd. Then shall be brought to pass the saving that is written, One flock, One Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:22-24). As written by the prophet indeed the words have express reference to the reuniting of scattered and divided Israel; but, as in countless other instances, the history of Israel is a parable of the history of the world. The apostolic comment on the verse is found in Ephesians, chap. 2. It is very unfortunate that in the Authorised Version the rendering ‘one fold' should have found a place, instead of ‘one flock.' The whole thought of the parable is thrown into confusion by this error, which is the less excusable inasmuch as the word which actually does mean ‘fold' (a word altogether dissimilar) occurs in the first part of the verse. Our first and greatest translator, William Tyndale, rightly understood the words: the influence of the Vulgate and of Erasmus was in this case prejudicial, and led Coverdale (who in his own Bible of 1535 had followed Tyndale) to introduce the wrong translation into the Great Bible of 1539. We may well wonder that the Vulgate should contain so strange a mistake; the older Latin version was here correct, but was changed by Jerome.