SEV Biblia, Chapter 10:3
A ste abre el portero, y las ovejas oyen su voz; y a sus ovejas llama por nombre, y las saca.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - John 10:3
Verse 3. To him the porter openeth] Sir Isaac Newton observes that our Lord being near the temple, where sheep were kept in folds to be sold for sacrifices, spoke many things parabolically of sheep, of their shepherds, and of the door to the sheepfold; and discovers that he alluded to the sheepfolds which were to be hired in the market place, by speaking of such folds as a thief could not enter by the door, nor the shepherd himself open, but a porter opened to the shepherd. In the porter opening the door to the true shepherd, we may discover the second mark of a true minister- his labour is crowned with success. The Holy Spirit opens his way into the hearts of his hearers, and he becomes the instrument of their salvation. See Col. iv. 3; 2 Corinthians ii. 12; 1 Cor. xvi. 9; Rev. iii. 8. The sheep hear his voice] A third mark of a good shepherd is that he speaks so as to instruct the people-the sheep hear HIS voice; he does not take the fat and the fleece, and leave another hireling on less pay to do the work of the pastoral office. No: himself preaches Christ Jesus the Lord, and in that simplicity too, that is best calculated to instruct the common people. A man who preaches in such a language as the people cannot comprehend may do for a stage-player or a mountebank, but not for a minister of Christ.
He calleth his own sheep by name] A fourth mark of a good pastor is that he is well acquainted with his flock; he knows them by name-he takes care to acquaint himself with the spiritual states of all those that are entrusted to him. He speaks to them concerning their souls, and thus getting a thorough knowledge of their state he is the better qualified to profit them by his public ministrations. He who has not a proper acquaintance with the Church of Christ, can never by his preaching build it up in its most holy faith.
And leadeth them out.] A fifth mark of a good shepherd is, he leads the flock, does not lord it over God's heritage; nor attempts by any rigorous discipline not founded on the Gospel of Christ, to drive men into the way of life; nor drive them out of it, which many do, by a severity which is a disgrace to the mild Gospel of the God of peace and love.
He leads them out of themselves to Christ, out of the follies, diversions, and amusements of the world, into the path of Christian holiness: in a word, he leads them, by those gentle yet powerful persuasions that flow from a heart full of the word and love of Christ, into the kingdom and glory of his God.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 3. To him the porter openeth , etc.] There is nothing in the explanation of this parable given by Christ, that directs to the sense of this clause; the allusion cannot be, as some have thought, to great men, who have porters at their gates, to open them, and let in persons that come and knock; since the parable is concerning the sheepfold, and the shepherd, and the sheep that go into it; and therefore must refer to one that at least, at certain times, stood by the door of the sheepfold, and had the care of it, and opened it upon proper occasions: by whom is designed not Michael the Archangel, nor the Virgin Mary, nor Peter, the supposed doorkeeper of heaven, as say the Papists, nor Moses, as others, who wrote of Christ; nor does it seem so well to understand it of the ministers of the Gospel, who preach Jesus Christ, and open the door of faith, or set open the door of the Gospel, whereby Christ comes into the souls of men, and they come to him; though this is a sense not to be despised; but rather this intends God the Father, from whom Christ, as man and Mediator, derives his authority, and by whom he is let into, and invested with his office, as the shepherd of the sheep; or else the Holy Spirit, who opens the everlasting floors of the hearts of men, of Christs sheep, and lets him in unto them. And the sheep hear his voice ; not the porters; though they do hear the voice of Christs ministers, and of God the Father, and of the Holy Ghost; but the shepherds, even the voice of Christ; and which is no other than the Gospel, which is a voice of love, grace, and mercy; which proclaims peace, pardon, liberty, life, righteousness, and salvation; and which is a soul quickening, alluring, delighting, refreshing, and comforting voice: this the people of Christ are made to hear, not only externally, but internally; so as to understand it, delight in it, and distinguish it from another: and these are called sheep, and that before conversion; not because they have the agreeable properties of sheep; nor because predisposed unto, and unprejudiced against the Gospel of Christ, for they are the reverse of these; nor can some things be said of them before, as after conversion, as that they hear the voice of Christ, and follow him; nor merely by anticipation, but by reason of electing grace, and because given to Christ the great shepherd, under this character, to be kept and fed by him. And they are so called after conversion, because they are harmless and inoffensive in their lives and conversations; and yet are exposed to the malice, cruelty, and butchery of men; and are meek and patient under sufferings; and are clean, social, and profitable. And he calleth his own sheep by name ; the Ethiopic version adds, and loves them. These are Christs own, by the Fathers gift of them to him, by the purchase of his own blood, and by the power of his grace upon them; who looks them up, and finds them out, and brings them home, and takes care of them as his own, and feeds them as a shepherd his flock: these he may be said to call by name, in allusion to the eastern shepherds, who gave names to their sheep, as the Europeans do to their horses, and other creatures, and who could sit and call them by their names: this is expressive not only of Christs call of his people by powerful and special grace, but of the exact and distinct knowledge he has of them, and the notice he takes of them, as well as of the affection he has for them; (see Isaiah 43:1,2 2 Timothy 2:19). And leadeth them out ; from the worlds goats, among whom they lay, and from the folds of sin, and the barren pastures of Mount Sinai, and their own righteousness, on which they were feeding, and out of themselves, and from off all dependence on anything of their own; and he leads unto himself, and the fulness of his grace, and to his blood and righteousness, and into his Fathers presence and communion with him, and in the way of righteousness and truth, and into the green pastures of the word and ordinances, beside the still waters of his sovereign love and grace.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-5 - Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of the East, in the management of sheep. Men, as creatures depending on their Creator are called the sheep of his pasture. The church of God in the world is as a sheep-fold, exposed to deceivers and persecutors. The grea Shepherd of the sheep knows all that are his, guards them by his providence, guides them by his Spirit and word, and goes before them as the Eastern shepherds went before their sheep, to set them in the way of his steps. Ministers must serve the sheep in their spiritual concerns. The Spirit of Christ will set before them an open door. The sheep of Christ will observe their Shepherd, and be cautious and shy of strangers, who would draw them from faith in him to fancies about him.
Greek Textus Receptus
τουτω 5129 D-DSM ο 3588 T-NSM θυρωρος 2377 N-NSM ανοιγει 455 5719 V-PAI-3S και 2532 CONJ τα 3588 T-NPN προβατα 4263 N-NPN της 3588 T-GSF φωνης 5456 N-GSF αυτου 846 P-GSM ακουει 191 5719 V-PAI-3S και 2532 CONJ τα 3588 T-APN ιδια 2398 A-APN προβατα 4263 N-APN καλει 2564 5719 V-PAI-3S κατ 2596 PREP ονομα 3686 N-ASN και 2532 CONJ εξαγει 1806 5719 V-PAI-3S αυτα 846 P-APN
Vincent's NT Word Studies
3. Porter (qurwrov). From qura, door, and wra, care. An under-shepherd, to whose charge the sheep are committed after they have been folded for the night, and who opens the door on the arrival of the shepherd in the morning.Calleth (kalei). But the best texts read fwnei, expressing personal address.
