SEV Biblia, Chapter 18:12
¿Qu os parece? Si tuviese algn hombre cien ovejas, y se perdiese una de ellas, ¿no iría por los montes, dejadas las noventa y nueve, a buscar la que se había perdido?
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 18:12
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 Luke xv. 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, (chap. ix. 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!
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 12. How think ye , etc.] 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 yrwbs ta hm what do you think? what is your judgment? So the Rabbins, after they have discussed a point among themselves, ask f997 , l arybs yam , 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 mans 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 Maronites will, a field is thus bequeathed f998 ; the north part of it to such an one, and with it ax ham , a hundred sheep, and a hundred vessels; and the south part of it to such an one, and with it ax ham , 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 <19B9176> Psalm 119:176 Isaiah 53:6); 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, ( Ezekiel 34:13,14) and whither sheep are apt to wander, and go from mountain to mountain, ( Jeremiah 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 mans 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 sheeps 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, ( Song of Solomon 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-14 - Considering the cunning and malice of Satan, and the weakness an depravity of men's hearts, it is not possible but that there should be offences. God permits them for wise and holy ends, that those who ar sincere, and those who are not, may be made known. Being told before that there will be seducers, tempters, persecutors, and bad examples let us stand on our guard. We must, as far as lawfully we may, par with what we cannot keep without being entangled by it in sin. The outward occasions of sin must be avoided. If we live after the flesh we must die. If we, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body we shall live. Christ came into the world to save souls, and he wil reckon severely with those who hinder the progress of others who ar setting their faces heavenward. And shall any of us refuse attention to those whom the Son of God came to seek and to save? A father takes car of all his children, but is particularly tender of the little ones.
Greek Textus Receptus
τι 5101 I-ASN υμιν 5213 P-2DP δοκει 1380 5719 V-PAI-3S εαν 1437 COND γενηται 1096 5638 V-2ADS-3S τινι 5100 X-DSM ανθρωπω 444 N-DSM εκατον 1540 A-NUI προβατα 4263 N-NPN και 2532 CONJ πλανηθη 4105 5686 V-APS-3S εν 1520 A-NSN εξ 1537 PREP αυτων 846 P-GPN ουχι 3780 PRT-I αφεις 863 5631 V-2AAP-NSM τα 3588 T-APN εννενηκονταεννεα 1768 A-NUI επι 1909 PREP τα 3588 T-APN ορη 3735 N-APN πορευθεις 4198 5679 V-AOP-NSM ζητει 2212 5719 V-PAI-3S το 3588 T-ASN πλανωμενον 4105 5746 V-PPP-ASN
Vincent's NT Word Studies
12. 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.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
18:12 {Leave the ninety and nine} (afesei ta enenekonta ennea epi ta ore kai poreuqeis zetei to planwmenon?). 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 planaomai, 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.
