Sheep to be Fed, not Sheared
John 10:1-13
Truly, truly, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way…


These words do not constitute a tautology or mere rhetorical amplification (Obadiah 1:5). The one and the other appropriate what is not theirs, but the thief by fraud and in secret (Matthew 24:43; John 12:6; cf. Exodus 22:2; Jeremiah 2:26), the robber by violence and openly (2 Corinthians 11:26; cf. Hosea 9:1; Jeremiah 7:11). The one steals, the other plunders, as his name in the Greek (as our own from raub, "booty), sufficiently declares. The latter should be substituted for the former in Matthew 21:13; Matthew 26:55; Luke 10:30; Luke 23:39-43.

(Archbp. Trench.)

Sheep to be fed, not sheared: — Dr. Johnson declined a rectory in youth with "I cannot in conscience shear the sheep which I am unable to feed."



Parallel Verses
KJV: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

WEB: "Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn't enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.




Jesus the Good Shepherd
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