SEV Biblia, Chapter 20:28
Por tanto mirad por vosotros y por todo el rebao en que el Espíritu Santo os ha puesto por obispos, para apacentar la Iglesia de Dios, la cual gan por su sangre.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 20:28
Verse 28. Made you overseers] eqeto episkopouv, Appointed you bishops; for so we translate the original word in most places where it occurs: but overseers, or inspectors, is much more proper, from epi, over, and skeptomai, I look. The persons who examine into the spiritual state of the flock of God, and take care to lead them in and out, and to find them pasture, are termed episcopoi, or superintendents. The office of a bishop is from God; a true pastor only can fulfill this office: it is an office of most awful responsibility; few there are who can fill it; and, of those who occupy this high and awful place, perhaps we may say there are fewer still who discharge the duties of it. There are, however, through the good providence of God, Christian bishops, who, while they are honoured by the calling, do credit to the sacred function. And the annals of our Church can boast of at least as many of this class of men, who have served their God and their generation, as of any other order, in the proportion which this order bears to others in the Church of Christ. That bishop and presbyter, or elder, were at this time of the same order, and that the word was indifferently used of both, see noticed on chap. xx. 17. Feed the Church of God] This verse has been the subject of much controversy, particularly in reference to the term qeou, of GOD, in this place; and concerning it there is great dissension among the MSS. and versions. Three readings exist in them, in reference to which critics and commentators have been much divided; viz. ekklhsian tou qeou, the Church of GOD; tou kuriou, of the LORD; kuriou kai qeou, of the LORD and GOD. From the collections of Wetstein and Griesbach, it appears that but few MSS., and none of them very ancient, have the word qeou, of GOD; with these only the Vulgate, and the later Syriac in the text, agree. kuriou, of the LORD, is the reading of ACDE, several others, the Sahidic, Coptic, later Syriac in the margin, Armenian, AEthiopia, and some of the fathers. kuriou kai qeou, of the LORD and of GOD, is the reading of the great majority; though the most ancient are for kuriou, of the LORD: on this ground Griesbach has admitted this reading into the text, and put kuriou kai qeou in the margin, as being next in authority.
Mr. Wakefield, who was a professed and conscientious Unitarian, decides for tou qeou, of GOD, as the true reading; but, instead of translating tou idiou aimatov, with his own blood, he translates, by his own Son, and brings some passages from the Greek and Roman writers to show that aima and sanguis are used to signify son, or near relative; and, were this the only place where purchasing with his own blood occurred, we might receive this saying; but, as the redemption of man is, throughout the New Testament, attributed to the sacrificial death of Christ, it is not likely that this very unusual meaning should apply here. At all events, we have here a proof that the Church was purchased by the blood of Christ; and, as to his Godhead, it is sufficiently established in many other places. When we grant that the greater evidence appears to be in favour of tou kuriou, feed the Church of the Lord, which he has purchased with his own blood, we must maintain that, had not this Lord been GOD, his blood could have been no purchase for the souls of a lost world.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves , etc.] Since the blood of men may be required of those, who are negligent or partial in their office, and shun to declare the whole counsel of God: this exhortation is given them not merely as men, to take care of their bodily health, the outward concerns of life, and provide for themselves and families; nor merely as Christians, but as ministers of the Gospel; that they would take heed to their gifts, to use and improve them, and not neglect them; to their time, that they spend it aright, and not squander it away; and to their spirit, temper, and passions, that they are not governed by them; and to their lives and conversations, that they be exemplary to those who are under their care; and to their doctrine, that it be according to the Scriptures; that it be the doctrine of Christ, and the same with the apostles; that it be according to godliness, and that it tends to edification; that it be sound and incorrupt, pure and unmixed, and all of a piece and consistent with itself; and that they be not infected and carried away with errors and heresies: and to all the flock ; the church and all the members of it, which are compared to a flock of sheep, which are to be looked after and watched over by the ministers of the word, who are as shepherds to them, lest they should be infected, or any damage done them. The people of God are compared to sheep on many accounts; before conversion, for their going astray, when they are as lost sheep; after conversion, for their meek and inoffensive carriage and behaviour, and for their patience in bearing sufferings, to which they are exposed: and a church of Christ is compared to a flock of them, being in Gospel order, folded together and feeding in the same pasture, attending the word and ordinances, under the care of shepherds appointed by Christ the chief shepherd; whose business it is to take heed unto them, and care of them, to learn to know their state and condition, to watch over them, and to feed them with knowledge and with understanding, for which they are qualified by Christ; and they are to take heed unto everyone in the flock, the poor of the flock as well as others, the lambs as well as the sheep, and the sick and the diseased, the torn, and straying, and driven away, as well as the fat and the strong: and this flock, though a little flock, is a holy and beautiful one, a flock of men, and of the souls of men dear to God, to Christ and the blessed Spirit; and a special regard should be had unto them, and that for reasons following: over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers ; or bishops; this is said to the elders of the church, ( Acts 20:17) which shows that the office of an elder and a bishop is one and the same office; and this contains in it more than one argument why they should take heed to the flock; as because they are the overseers of it, who have the care and oversight of the flock, that is under their inspection, and is their proper province, and office; and this they were put into by the Holy Ghost, who gave them gifts to qualify them for it, and called, and inclined them to undertake it, as well as moved the people to make choice of them for this purpose; and since, therefore, this was an affair in which the Holy Ghost was so much concerned, it became them very diligently to attend it: to feed the church of God ; with knowledge and understanding; and discharge the whole office of faithful shepherds to the flock, by feeding the flock and not themselves, strengthening the diseased, healing the sick, binding up the broken, bringing again that which was driven away, and seeking up that which was lost: and here is another argument suggested, to stir up to a diligent performance of this work; and that is, that this flock is the church of God, a set of men whom God has chosen for himself, and called by his grace out of the world, and separated for his own use and glory, and among whom he dwells; and therefore to be fed with the faithful word, with the finest of the wheat, and not with the chaff of human schemes, and with the wind of false doctrine, nor with anything that is vain, trifling, and deceitful; but with the solid doctrines of the Gospel, with the words of faith and good doctrine, with the wholesome words of Christ Jesus, which have in them milk for babes and meat for strong men, and with and by the ordinances of the Gospel, which are the green pastures they are to be guided into, and abide in; and in all they are to be directed to Christ, the sum of the word and ordinances, who is the bread of life, and food of faith; and that the church should be thus fed, is the will of Christ, who has appointed and ordered his ministers to feed his lambs and sheep, and has furnished them with what is necessary for this work; this is the design of the ministry of the Gospel, and the administration of ordinances; and the churches of Christ are placed where food may be had, where the word is faithfully preached, and the ordinances truly administered: some copies read, the church of the Lord; and others, and so the Complutensian edition, the church of the Lord and God: which he hath purchased with his own blood ; which being the blood not only of a pure and innocent man, but of one that is truly and properly God as well as man, was a sufficient ransom price to redeem the church and people of God from sin, the law, its curse and condemnation: so that this is no inconsiderable proof of the true and proper deity of Christ; and contains a fresh argument, or reason, why the flock of God and church of Christ, as the Syriac version reads; or the church of the Lord and God, as in five of Bezas exemplars: or of the Lord God, as the Arabic version, should be taken heed unto and fed; because it must needs be dear to God and Christ, and precious to them, since so great a price has been paid for it.
The purchaser is God, Christ who is God over all, blessed for ever, not a creature; that could never have made such a purchase, it could not have purchased a single sheep or lamb in this flock, no man can redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him, much less the whole flock; but Christ being God, was able to make such a purchase, and he has actually made it, and given a sufficient price for it; not to Satan, with whom these sheep were a prey, and from whom they are taken in virtue of the ransom given; but to God, from whom they strayed, against whom they sinned, and whose law they broke; and this price was not silver and gold, nor men, nor people: but Christ himself, his life and blood; and which were his own, the human nature, the blood of which was shed, and its life given being in union with his divine person, and was in such sense his own, the property of the Son of God, as the life and blood of no mere man are theirs: and this purchase now being made in this way, and by such means, is a very proper one; it is not made without price, but with an invaluable one; and it is a legal purchase, a valuable consideration being given for it, perfectly equivalent to it; and therefore is a complete one, there is nothing wanting to make it more firm, it is a finished purchase; and it is a very peculiar one, it is a peculiar people that are purchased, called the purchased possession, ( Ephesians 1:14) and a peculiar price which is paid for it; there is no other of the same kind, nor any thing like it, and it is made by a peculiar person, one that is God and man in one person.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 28-38 - If the Holy Ghost has made ministers overseers of the flock, that is shepherds, they must be true to their trust. Let them consider their Master's concern for the flock committed to their charge. It is the church He has purchased with his own blood. The blood was his as Man yet so close is the union between the Divine and human nature, that it is there called the blood of God, for it was the blood of Him who is God. This put such dignity and worth into it, as to ransom believer from all evil, and purchase all good. Paul spake about their souls with affection and concern. They were full of care what would become of them. Paul directs them to look up to God with faith, and commends the to the word of God's grace, not only as the foundation of their hop and the fountain of their joy, but as the rule of their walking. The most advanced Christians are capable of growing, and will find the wor of grace help their growth. As those cannot be welcome guests to the holy God who are unsanctified; so heaven would be no heaven to them but to all who are born again, and on whom the image of God is renewed it is sure, as almighty power and eternal truth make it so. He recommends himself to them as an example of not caring as to things of the present world; this they would find help forward their comfortabl passage through it. It might seem a hard saying, therefore Paul adds to it a saying of their Master's, which he would have them alway remember; "It is more blessed to give than to receive:" it seems the were words often used to his disciples. The opinion of the children of this world, is contrary to this; they are afraid of giving, unless in hope of getting. Clear gain, is with them the most blessed thing tha can be; but Christ tell us what is more blessed, more excellent. I makes us more like to God, who gives to all, and receives from none and to the Lord Jesus, who went about doing good. This mind was in Christ Jesus, may it be in us also. It is good for friends, when the part, to part with prayer. Those who exhort and pray for one another may have many weeping seasons and painful separations, but they wil meet before the throne of God, to part no more. It was a comfort to all, that the presence of Christ both went with him and stayed with them __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
προσεχετε 4337 5720 V-PAM-2P ουν 3767 CONJ εαυτοις 1438 F-3DPM και 2532 CONJ παντι 3956 A-DSN τω 3588 T-DSN ποιμνιω 4168 N-DSN εν 1722 PREP ω 3739 R-DSN υμας 5209 P-2AP το 3588 T-NSN πνευμα 4151 N-NSN το 3588 T-NSN αγιον 40 A-NSN εθετο 5087 5639 V-2AMI-3S επισκοπους 1985 N-APM ποιμαινειν 4165 5721 V-PAN την 3588 T-ASF εκκλησιαν 1577 N-ASF του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM ην 3739 R-ASF περιεποιησατο 4046 5668 V-AMI-3S δια 1223 PREP του 3588 T-GSN ιδιου 2398 A-GSM αιματος 129 N-GSN
Vincent's NT Word Studies
28. To yourselves and to all the flock. To yourselves first, that you may duly care for the flock. Compare 1 Tim. iv. 16.Overseers (episkopouv). Denoting the official function of the elders, but not in the later ecclesiastical sense of bishops, as implying an order distinct from presbyters or elders. The two terms are synonymous. The elders, by virtue of their office, were overseers. 26 To feed (poimainein). See on Matt. ii. 6. The word embraces more than feeding; signifying all that is included in the office of a shepherd: tending, or shepherding.
Purchased (periepoihsato). Only here and 1 Tim. iii. 13. See on peculiar people, 1 Pet. ii. 9. The verb means, originally, to make (poiew) to remain over and above (peri): hence to keep or save for one's self; to compass or acquire.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
20:28 {Take heed unto yourselves} (prosecete heautois). The full phrase had ton noun, hold your mind on yourselves (or other object in the dative), as often in old writers and in #Job 7:17. But the ancients often used the idiom with noun understood, but not expressed as here and #Ac 5:35; Lu 12:1; 17:3; 21:34; 1Ti 1:4; 3:8; 4:13. epece is so used in #1Ti 4:16. {To all the flock} (panti twi poimniwi). Contracted form of poimenion = poimne (#Joh 10:16) already in #Lu 12:32 and also in #Ac 20:29; 1Pe 5:2,3. Common in old Greek. {Hath made} (eqeto). Did make, second aorist middle indicative of tiqemi, did appoint. Paul evidently believed that the Holy Spirit calls and appoints ministers. {Bishops} (episkopous). The same men termed elders in verse #17 which see. {To shepherd} (poimainein). Present active infinitive of purpose of poimainw, old verb to feed or tend the flock (poimne, poimnion), to act as shepherd (poimen). These ministers are thus in Paul's speech called elders (verse #17), bishops (verse #28), and shepherds (verse #28). Jesus had used this very word to Peter (#Joh 21:16, twice boske, feed, #21:15,17) and Peter will use it in addressing fellow-elders (#1Pe 5:2) with memories, no doubt of the words of Jesus to him. The "elders" were to watch over as "bishops" and "tend and feed as shepherds" the flock. Jesus is termed "the shepherd and bishop of your souls" in #1Pe 2:25 and "the great Shepherd of the sheep" in #Heb 13:20. Jesus called himself "the good Shepherd" in #Joh 10:11. {The church of God} (ten ekklesian tou qeou). The correct text, not "the church of the Lord" or "the church of the Lord and God" (Robertson, _Introduction to Textual Criticism of the N.T._, p. 189). {He purchased} (periepoiesato). First aorist middle of peripoiew, old verb to reserve, to preserve (for or by oneself, in the middle). In the N.T. only in Luke #17:33; Ac 20:28; 1Ti 3:13. The substantive peripoiesin (preservation, possession) occurs in #1Pe 2:9 ("a peculiar people" = a people for a possession) and in #Eph 1:14. {With his own blood} (dia tou haimatos tou idiou). Through the agency of (dia) his own blood. Whose blood? If tou qeou (Aleph B Vulg.) is correct, as it is, qen Jesus is here called "God" who shed his own blood for the flock. It will not do to say that Paul did not call Jesus God, for we have #Ro 9:5; Col 2:9; Tit 2:13 where he does that very thing, besides #Col 1:15-20; Php 2:5-11.
