Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 18:12
How think ye? if a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
12. This parable is followed in Luke by the parable of the Lost Drachma and that of the Prodigal Son which illustrate and amplify the same thought.
doth he not leave the ninety and nine ] St Luke adds “in the wilderness.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To show still further the reason why we should not despise Christians, he introduced a parable showing the joy felt when a thing lost is found. A shepherd rejoices over the recovery of one of his flock that had wandered more than over all that remained; so God rejoices that man is restored: so he seeks his salvation, and wills that not one thus found should perish. If God thus loves and preserves the redeemed, then surely man should not despise them. See this passage further explained in Luk 15:4-10.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains] So our common translation reads the verse; others, Doth he not leave the ninety and nine UPON THE MOUNTAINS, and go, c. This latter reading appears to me to be the best because, in Lu 15:4, it is said, he leaveth the ninety and nine IN THE DESERT. The allusion, therefore, is to a shepherd feeding his sheep on the mountains, in the desert; not seeking the lost one ON the mountains.
Leaving the ninety and nine, and seeking the ONE strayed sheep: – This was a very common form of speech among the Jews, and includes no mystery, though there are some who imagine that our Lord refers to the angels who kept not their first estate, and that they are in number, to men, as NINETY are to ONE. But it is likely that our Lord in this place only alludes to his constant solicitude to instruct, heal, and save those simple people of the sea coasts, country villages, &c., who were scattered abroad, as sheep without a shepherd, (Mt 9:36,) the scribes and Pharisees paying no attention to their present or eternal well-being. This may be also considered as a lesson of instruction and comfort to backsliders. How hardly does Christ give them up!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We shall meet with the parable or similitude more fully, Luk 15:4. To what purpose it is brought here our Lord hath told us, Mat 18:14, to show us, that it is not the will of our heavenly Father that the least and meanest believer should perish. And every scandal, or offence, (as I before showed), hath a tendency to destroy that soul before whom it is laid, or to which it is given. Take heed, saith our Saviour, of giving scandals and offences to others, yea, though you should have observed them in something slipping and going astray. Will you be more uncharitable to men than you are to the beasts which you keep? You do not thus with a sheep; though it be gone astray you do not despise and neglect it, much less take courses to drive it further. No, you rather leave the rest, as being safe, and go, though it be into the mountains, to recover the sheep that is lost; and if you find it, have a greater passion of joy for that one sheep so recovered than for all the other. If you see some error in any of my sheep, if they do wander, should it not be your care rather to restore such in the spirit of meekness, as Gal 6:1, than to lay further stumbling blocks before them, and give them occasion of further stumbling and falling? My Father hath done so for lost man: my coming to seek and to save that which is lost, is an evidence to you that it is not his will that one of my little ones should be lost.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12, 13. How think ye? If a man havean hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, c.This isanother of those pregnant sayings which our Lord uttered more thanonce. See on the delightful parable of the lost sheep in Lu15:4-7. Only the object there is to show what the goodShepherd will do, when even one of His sheep is lost, to findit here the object is to show, when found, how reluctant He isto lose it. Accordingly, it is added,
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
How think ye,…. Or, as the Arabic, “what do you think?” what is your opinion of this matter? what is your sense of it? how does it appear to you? It is a Talmudic way of speaking, the same with “what do you think?” what is your judgment? So the Rabbins, after they have discussed a point among themselves, ask k, , “what is our opinion?” or what do we think upon the whole? Christ here appeals to his disciples, makes them judges themselves in this matter, and illustrates it by a familiar instance of a man’s seeking and finding his lost sheep, and rejoicing at it.
If a man have an hundred sheep; who is the proprietor of them; not the hireling, who has them under his care, and whose the sheep are not; but the owner of them, to whom they belong, and who must be thought to be most concerned for anyone of them that should go astray: a hundred sheep seem to be the number of a flock; at least flocks of sheep used to be divided into hundreds. In a Maronite’s will, a field is thus bequeathed l;
“the north part of it to such an one, and with it , “a hundred sheep”, and a hundred vessels; and the south part of it to such an one, and with it , “a hundred sheep”, and a hundred vessels; and he died, and the wise men confirmed his words, or his will.”
Such a supposition, or putting such a case as this, is very proper and pertinent.
And one of them be gone astray; which sheep are very prone to; see
Ps 119:176;
doth he not leave the ninety and nine, which are not gone astray, in the place where they are; it is usual so to do:
and goeth into the mountains; alluding to the mountains of Israel, where were pastures for sheep, Eze 34:13 and whither sheep are apt to wander, and go from mountain to mountain, Jer 50:6, and therefore these were proper places to go after them, and seek for them in: but the Vulgate Latin version joins the words “in” or “on the mountains”, to the preceding clause, and reads,
doth he not leave the ninety and nine in the mountains; and so read all the Oriental versions, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Persic; and in the same manner Theophylact;
and seeketh that which is gone astray? This is usual with men: no man that has a flock of sheep, and though but one strays from it, but takes this method. This parable now may be considered, either as an illustration of the Son of man’s coming into this world, to seek, and to save his lost sheep, mentioned in the preceding verse; even the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the little ones that believed in him, who were despised by the Jews. And then by the “ninety and nine”, we are not to understand the angels; who never went astray, never sinned, but kept their first estate, whom Christ left in the highest heavens, on the holy mountains of eternity, when he became incarnate, and came down on earth to redeem mankind: for these never go by the name of sheep; nor are they of the same nature and kind with the one that strays, and is sought out; nor is their number, with respect to men, as ninety nine to one; at least it cannot be ascertained; nor were they left by Christ, when he came on earth; for a multitude descended at his birth, and sung glory to God. Nor are the saints in heaven intended, whose state is safe; since it cannot be said of them, as in the following verse, that they went not astray; for they went astray like lost sheep, as others, and were looked up, sought out, and saved by Christ as others; but rather, by them, are meant the body of the Jewish nation, the far greater part of them, the Scribes and Pharisees, who rejected the Messiah, and despised those that believed in him: these were in sheep’s clothing, of the flock of the house of Israel, of the Jewish fold; and with respect to the remnant among them, according to the election of grace, were as ninety nine to one: these were left by Christ, and taken no notice of by him, in comparison of the little ones, the lost sheep of the house of Israel he came to save: these he left on the mountains, on the barren pastures of Mount Sinai, feeding on their own works and services; or rather, he went into the mountains, or came leaping and skipping over them, So 2:8, encountering with, and surmounting all difficulties that lay in the way of the salvation of his people; such as appearing in the likeness of sinful flesh, bearing, and carrying the griefs and sorrows of his people, obeying the law, satisfying justice, bearing their sins, and undergoing an accursed death, in order to obtain the salvation of his chosen ones, designed by the one sheep “that was gone astray”; who strayed from God, from his law, the rule of their walk, out of his way, into the ways of sin, which are of their own choosing and approving: or, the intention of this parable is, to set forth the great regard God has to persons ever so mean, that believe in Christ, whom he would not have stumbled and offended, and takes special care of them, that they shall not perish; even as the proprietor of a flock of sheep is more concerned for one straying one, than for the other ninety nine that remain.
k T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 88. 2. l T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 156. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Leave the ninety and nine ( ?). This is the text of Westcott and Hort after BL, etc. This text means: “Will he not leave the ninety and nine upon the mountains and going does he not seek (change to present tense) the wandering one?” On the high pastures where the sheep graze at will one has wandered afield. See this parable later in Lu 15:4-7. Our word “planet” is from , wandering (moving) stars they were called as opposed to fixed stars. But now we know that no stars are fixed. They are all moving and rapidly.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Leave upon the mountains. The text here is disputed. Both A. V. and Rev. follow a text which reads : “Doth he not, leaving the ninety and nine, go into the mountains ?” Rather join leave with on the mountains, and read, “Will he not leave the ninety and nine upon (ejpi, scattered over) the mountains, and go,” etc. This also corresponds with ajfhsei, leaving, letting out, or letting loose.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
12. What think you? Luke carries the occasion of this parable still farther back, as having arisen from the murmurings of the Pharisees and scribes against our Lord, whom they saw conversing daily with sinners. Christ therefore intended to show that a good teacher ought not to labor less to recover those that are lost, than to preserve those which are in his possession; though according to Matthew the comparison proceeds farther, and teaches us not only that we ought to treat with kindness the disciples of Christ, but that we ought to bear with their imperfections, and endeavor, when they wander, to bring them back to the road. For, though they happen sometimes to wander, yet as they are sheep over which God has appointed his Son to be shepherd, so far are we from having a right to chase or drive them away roughly, that we ought to gather them from their wanderings; for the object of the discourse is to lead us to beware of losing what God wishes to be saved The narrative of Luke presents to us a somewhat different object. It is, that the whole human race belongs to God, and that therefore we ought to gather those that have gone astray, and that we ought to rejoice as much, when they that are lost return to the path of duty, as a man would do who, beyond his expectation, recovered something the loss of which had grieved him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) If a man have an hundred sheep.The parable is repeated more fully in Luk. 15:4-6, and will best find its full explanation there. The fact that it reappears there is significant as to the prominence, in our Lords thoughts and teaching, of the whole cycle of imagery on which it rests. Here the opening words, How think ye? sharpen its personal application to the disciples, as an appeal to their own experience. Even in this shorter form the parable involves the claim on our Lords part to be the true Shepherd, and suggests the thought that the ninety and nine are (1) strictly, the unfallen creatures of Gods spiritual universe; and (2) relatively, those among men who are comparatively free from gross offences.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“Does he not leave the ninety and nine, and go to the mountains, and seek that which is going astray?”
And what does the Shepherd do when He finds that one has gone astray? Why, He goes out into the mountains to seek the one who has gone astray. Note the emphasis on the cost. He ‘goes to the mountains’ to seek the one which is lost. A real effort is put in and a real price is paid. In one sense the Shepherd here is the Father. It is His concern that is being described (Mat 18:10; Mat 18:14). But He does it, of course, through His shepherds; through Jesus, and through all who follow Jesus truly.
He ‘leaves the ninety nine’ in the care of others. To the average person of that day ‘ninety nine’ would be a discordant number. The fullness suggested by one hundred has been broken. The divine shepherd cannot therefore rest until fullness is restored for every member of the flock is of equal importance.
(In actual fact it is doubtful how many, if any, of the shepherds, could count to a hundred. They would know that the sheep was missing because they knew them all by name (Joh 10:3). They would not even know how many they had left behind. But they would know that it was an incomplete number. It was ‘ninety nine’ not ‘a hundred’).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 18:12. Doth he not leave the ninety and nine This might be rendered, Would he not leave the ninety and nine on the mountains (in their pasture or fold) and go out to seek, &c.? See this parable in Luke 15.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
Ver. 12. Doth he not leave the ninety and nine ] I am not, saith a divine, of their fond opinion that think the angels are here meant by the ninety-nine sheep, as if they were so infinite in number beyond the number of mankind: a yet, without question, they are exceeding many, and that number cannot be known of us in this world, Dan 7:10 ; Psa 68:17 ; “The chariots of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them as in Sinai,” &c., that is, those myriads of angels made Sion as dreadful to all her enemies as those angels made Sinai at the delivery of the law. But the application of this parable makes it plain, that the hundred sheep are God’s elect little ones; all which are set safe by Christ upon the everlasting mountains, and not one of them lost, Joh 10:27-29 Mat 24:31 ; Mat 24:36-41
a Theophrastus, 99 oves vult esse angelos qui non erraverunt, unam perditam, genus humanum.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12, 13. ] See notes on Luk 15:4-6 , where the same parable is more expanded. Compare also Eze 34:6 ; Eze 34:11-12 .
belongs to , not to . See var. read. The preposition of motion, , gives the idea of the wandering and scattering of the flock over the mountains. If we join the words to , we give them an unmeaning emphasis, besides destroying the elegance of the sentence.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 18:12-14 . Parable of straying sheep (Luk 15:4-7 ); may seem less appropriate here than in Lk., but has even here a good setting, amounting to a climax = God cares not only for the lowly and little but even for the low the morally erring. In both places the parable teaches the precious characteristically Christian doctrine of the worth of the individual at the worst to God.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 18:12 . . as in Mat 17:25 . . . . : if a man happen to have as large a number, yet, etc. . : only one wanderer, out of so many. : does he not go and seek the one?
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 18:12-14
12″What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”
Mat 18:12-14 “a hundred sheep” This parable relates in context to believers who have become backslidden and then returned to God. Believers are to help and restore one another (cf. Gal 6:1-3). In Luk 15:4-7 this same parable refers to the spiritually lost, self righteous Pharisees. This shows that Jesus used the same parables in different ways to different audiences.
Mat 18:13 “if” Both Mat 18:12-13 are third class conditional sentences, which meant possible future action.
“Truly” See Special Topic at Mat 5:18.
Mat 18:14 “the will of your Father who is in heaven” See Special Topic at Mat 7:21.
“that one of these little ones perish” There are several Special Topics that relate to this phrase.
1. Destruction (appollumi) at Mat 2:13
2. Apostasy (aphistami) at Mat 7:21
3. Perseverance at Mat 10:22
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
12, 13.] See notes on Luk 15:4-6, where the same parable is more expanded. Compare also Eze 34:6; Eze 34:11-12.
belongs to , not to . See var. read. The preposition of motion, , gives the idea of the wandering and scattering of the flock over the mountains. If we join the words to , we give them an unmeaning emphasis, besides destroying the elegance of the sentence.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 18:12. , …, what think ye? etc.) A gracious instance of Communicatio.[814]-, an hundred) Otherwise the loss of one out of so great a number would be easier.[815]-, one) The roundness of the number would be broken, and the exact hundred diminished, by the loss even of one.-, leaving) It is the business of shepherds to give their first care to wandering sheep, as distinguished from those which are in the right way.- , into the mountains) even with great toil, into solitary places. The discourse appears to have been delivered on the shore of the lake of Gennesareth.[816]
[814] A figure in rhetoric, whereby the orator consults the audience what they would do in such a case.-Ainsworth. It is used in this sense by Cicero. See also explanation of technical terms in Appendix.-(I. B.)
[815] i.e. If it were not a round number.-(I. B.)
[816] Which was surrounded by mountains-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
How: Mat 21:28, Mat 22:42, 1Co 10:15
if: Mat 12:11, Psa 119:176, Isa 53:6, Jer 50:6, Eze 34:16, Eze 34:28, Luk 15:4-7, Joh 10:11-21, 1Pe 2:25
into: 1Ki 21:17, Eze 34:6, Eze 34:12
Reciprocal: Deu 22:1 – Thou shalt Isa 27:12 – ye shall be Eze 34:4 – sought Dan 2:18 – they would Luk 12:32 – little Gal 6:1 – restore
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:12
I believe this verse indicates the preceding one is genuine, for it is directly in the same line of thought. If Jesus came to save that which is lost it would be like a shepherd who would leave the sheep that were safely in the fold and go in search of the one that had gone astray.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
[If one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety-and-nine, etc.] a very common form of speech: — “In distributing some grapes and dates to the poor, although ninety-nine say, ‘Scatter them’; and only one; ‘Divide them’: they hearken to him, because he speaks according to the tradition.” “If ninety-nine die by an evil eye,” that is, by bewitchings; “and but one by the hand of Heaven,” that is, by the stroke of God, etc. “If ninety-nine die by reason of cold, but one by the hand of God,” etc.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 18:12. How think ye. This parable (with a similar one) was spoken on a later occasion to a different audience (Luk 15:4-7). Here it is a lesson for the disciples (the under-shepherds), showing them their duty: there it is a rebuke for the Pharisees, who objected to this seeking and saving on the part of the good Shepherd.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 18:12-14. How think ye What do you think would be the conduct of a faithful shepherd? If a man have a hundred sheep, and but one of them wander from the rest, and go astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine in their pasture or fold, and goeth into the mountains, with the most solicitous care and labour, and seeketh that which is gone astray With persevering diligence? And if he find it After long and painful seeking; he rejoiceth more over that sheep. Which was in such danger of being finally lost; than over the ninety and nine which remained in safety. Thus does our Lord display the unspeakable love of our heavenly Father to the souls of men, and the immense care which he takes, of them. He therefore adds, It is not the will of your Father, &c., that one of these little ones should perish He loves them certainly infinitely better than the shepherd loves his sheep, and therefore will not fail to watch over them in order to their preservation: and will judge all those that would deter, or drive away from his duty, the meanest believer. Observe, reader, the gradation: the angels, the Son, the Father!
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Having taught the importance of humility, Jesus now illustrated it with a parable. Jesus taught the same parable on a different occasion to teach a slightly different lesson (Luk 15:4-7). His purpose there was evangelistic whereas His purpose here is pastoral.
The shepherd in the story is God (Mat 18:14). The sheep are those who follow Him, namely, Jesus’ disciples (cf. Mat 10:6; Mat 15:24). God has concern for every one of His sheep and seeks to restore those of them that wander away from Him. He has such great concern for the wayward that when they return to Him He rejoices more than over those who did not wander away. This does not mean that God loves His wayward sheep more than He loves His faithful sheep. It means that when wayward sheep return to Him it gives Him special joy.
Since God has such great concern for His disciples who go astray, His disciples should be very careful not to do anything that would cause one of His sheep to go astray. [Note: Plummer, p. 252.]
Notice again Jesus’ identification of Himself and God in this parable. Jesus’ disciples are God’s sheep. Therefore Jesus and God are one.