Acts 20:28

Act_20:28-31

Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock.

Take heed

I. To yourselves. To your--

1. Doctrine.

2. Walk.

II. To the flock. To its--

1. Divine dignity.

2. Human infirmity.

III. To the wolves. Those who--

1. Threaten without.

2. Look within its fold. (W. W. Wythe.)

Take heed

The logic and the theology of the sentence are equally good. The first care of the spiritual shepherd is for himself, the next for the flock. In some parts they paint garden walls black, that they may absorb more of the suns heat and so impart more warmth to the fruit trees that lean on them. Those who in any sphere care for souls stand in the position of the garden wall. The more that the teacher absorbs for himself of Christs love, the more benefit will others obtain from him. It is not the wall which glitters most in the sunshine that does most for the trees that are trained against it: it is the wall which is least seen that takes in most heat for itself: and the wall that has most heat in itself gives out most for the benefit of the trees. So it is not the preacher who flashes out into the greatest flame himself that imparts most benefit to inquirers who sit at his feet. Those who drink in most of the Masters spirit are most useful in the world. Those who first take heed to themselves will be most effective in caring for the spiritual weal of those who look up to them. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Eastern shepherds and their flocks

The work of a shepherd in the East is in many respects different from a shepherds work among ourselves. The Oriental flock does not graze within fenced pasturages, but moves hither and thither through the wild pasture lands, following the lead of the shepherd, and often going to a great distance from inhabited places. It therefore takes all the shepherds vigilance to keep his flock together--to prevent one part of it from straying gradually, in search of pasturage, to the north, another to the south, another to the east, and another to the west. In these remote districts, too, attacks from wild beasts are not uncommon; a wolf or a bear will pounce suddenly upon an unsuspecting sheep, and the shepherd must risk his own life, as David did, to rescue the imperilled sheep. The shepherd, or overseer, is responsible to his employer for the safety of the sheep, and he must render a strict account of that which has been lost, or which has perished. Here is an extract from Oriental law on this point, as quoted by Paxton: Cattle shall be delivered over to the cowherd in the morning; the cowherd shall tend them during the whole day with grass and water; and in the evening shall re-deliver them to the master, in the same manner as they were entrusted to him. If, by the fault of the cowherd, any of the cattle be lost or stolen, that cowherd shall make it good. When a cowherd has led cattle to any distant place to feed, if any die of distemper, in spite of the fact that the cowherd applied the proper remedy, the cowherd shall carry the head, the tail, the forefoot, or some such convincing proof taken from the animals body, to the owner of the cattle. Having done this, he shall be no further answerable. If he neglects to act thus, he shall make good the loss. Paul, therefore, compares the Ephesian Church to a flock of sheep, seeking pasturage under the guidance of their shepherds, yet prone of themselves to wander, and constantly exposed to peril from wild beasts. The shepherds, he teaches, are answerable not only for the divisions which occur in the flock through their neglect, but also for the attacks of wild beasts, permitted by the same neglect. (S. S. Times.)

Over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers.

The minister in the flock

The word over should be rendered in. The minister is in the flock; he is in no sense extraneous to it. He is part of it. Some have read the word over violently and offensively, and have asserted rights of dominion over faith, practice, and ritual such as were contrary to the whole idea of the gospel. One is your Master even Christ, etc. The minister is in the flock--

I. As to his personal hope.

1. He is a sinner, and if conscientious feels himself even more so than others. Negligence in him is more serious, example for evil more influential.

2. He wants a Saviour, if possible more than his people. If he is to be the overlooker, he must first be the penitent and the forgiven. It is this which gives pathos, solemnity, and authority, to every part of his ministration--because he is in the flock and partakes with it of the refreshing streams and free pastures.

II. As to all the relations and responsibilities of his life. Before he is anything else he must be a good man. The ministry is not a separate caste, living its whole life by itself, having a tariff of habits, and rules quite different from the ordinary rules and duties of Christian men. The ministry is exemplary before it is episcopal. Its whole idea is that of going before and showing the way in all that is pure and beautiful and of good report.

III. As to sympathy. If the minister were over the flock he might be sorry for its distresses and sins. Sympathy there can only be where there is insideness to the flock. Even our Lord must incorporate Himself with us if He would make us know and feel that He can sympathise.

IV. As to comfort. Oh the comfort of being just one of the worshippers, of losing the official in the personal, the minister in the Christian--in communion, in prayer, in preaching. (Dean Vaughan.)

To feed the Church of God.--

The Church of God

Is here regarded as a society--

I. Of priceless value.

1. It is a flock, a name given to the Church of the Old Testament (Isa_40:11; Isa_63:11; Jer_13:17; Jer_23:2; Jer_31:10; Eze_34:3; Mic_7:14, etc., etc.), and which Christ also applied to His disciples (Luk_12:32). It was a favourite figure with the apostle Peter (1Pe_5:2-3).

2. This flock is incalculably precious because it has been purchased with the blood of God, or rather of the Lord, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. Other societies exist irrespective of Christs mediation--scientific, political, commercial--but the Church is acquired by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Had He not died, it never would have been.

II. Well guarded.

1. It is put in charge of earthly shepherds. There is here--

(1) Self-vigilance; Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves. The spiritual shepherd must take care of himself first. He must enlighten his own judgment, discipline his own heart, and train his own soul into Christian virtues first. He must save himself before he can save others (1Ti_4:14).

(2) Church vigilance. And to all the flock. They are to take heed of the Church, to instruct, guide, guard it, and in every way promote its spiritual welfare.

2. The earthly shepherds are appointed by the Holy Ghost.

III. Assailed by enemies (Act_20:29).

1. Those who would come from without--worldly men, malignant persecutors.

2. Those who would spring up from within--professed members. The Churchs greatest enemies have sprung from her own bosom.

IV. Demanding the utmost attention. Pauls labour was--

1. Incessant. Night and day.

2. Earnest. With tears. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Church membership

I. The claims of the Church. These are founded--

1. In the language of Scripture upon the subject of the Church. The Bible ever speaks of the inward as above the outward, elevates the power of godliness above the mere form of it, and tells us of at least one who, without baptism or the Church, went into paradise. Still, the Bible has some very strong language on the subject. Take the statement of the text. Can you imagine that that for which such a price was paid, has no claim upon your allegiance? But take other testimonies (Isa_49:15-16; Eph_1:22-23; Eph_5:22-27).

2. In the relation of Christ to the Church. It is true that there is much in the Church for which Christ gave no warrant. Church vestments and ceremonies, and the minute ramifications of Church creeds, all come under this head. As upon an old vessel, so upon the Church in her navigation of the sea of Time, many barnacles have fastened, and these, so far from being a necessary part of the Church, do but oppose her power and impede her progress. But we must take Christs idea of the Church. He called His followers out from among men into a special relationship to Himself and to each other. One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And by these words He constituted a Church. And this brotherhood, which He so organised in the world, He arranged to perpetuate, by inaugurating two rites, which, for all time, should separate His people from the world, and bind them together in a compact and visible body. Now the Church being Christs own arrangement, to reject it is to reject Him.

3. In the conduct of the apostles, who, under the direction of Christ, and in possession of the Spirit, at once set up the Church and began to use it as the school, the home, the sanctuary of the disciples whom they called. That little band in the upper room was the Church. And no sooner did others, through their words, believe on Christ than they were formally added to this organisation (Act_2:47). And when Peter went to preach to Cornelius he baptized him. The believer in Jesus he enrolled as a member of the Church. So, when Paul kneeled to Jesus, he was also baptized. And so throughout all that early period. And shall anyone in view of this fact say, I will be a Christian outside of the Church? The apostles knew of no such thing as a Christian willingly outside the Church.

4. In the fact that there is nothing so distinctly characteristic of the Christian life as the spirit of obedience. What wilt Thou have me to do? is the voice which comes out of the very essence of every Christian life. If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And here is the duty of Church membership, about which the Bible speaks most plainly.

5. In the principle that Christ gains men through men. This is in its widest sense the ordinance of preaching. And the widest, the most continuous, and the most forcible preaching, is by example. But how can we thus testify for Christ if we refuse to place ourselves in a Christian attitude before the eyes of the world?

II. The objections with which it is common to meet these claims.

1. There are in the Church many who give no evidence of Christian character. This is sadly true. But--

(1) Christ never declared that His Church was to be a perfect body, but said that the tares would grow with the wheat until harvest.

(2) Because another makes a mock of duty it is no reason why you should neglect it.

2. I can live a good life outside the Church. Perhaps so. But if your hope for eternity is in Christ, then to despise the Church is to despise the blood with which it was purchased; and surely no one can do this, and, at the same time, rest upon Christ for salvation.

3. I cannot agree with all the doctrines of the Church. But no Church makes the reception of all the articles of its creed a condition of membership.. Trust in Christ for salvation and a Christian life, make up the one condition of Church membership. And what is there here which you cannot receive?

4. I am not fit to be a Church member. This--

(1) May be a fact. There are those who are determined to live just as they please, without regard to Christ or conscience, and who do not care what lies beyond. Such, of course, are fit only for membership with devils. In such communion they are even now.

(2) May be a plea of simulated humility in order to get rid of duty. The man says, I am not fit, because he is not willing.

(3) May be the expression of a true consciousness of imperfection. And here it is a mistake. Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Conclusion:

1. The amazing character of mens indifference here. Christ says, Behold My Church, for which I gave My blood! And men pass the Church by without notice.

2. These are words of invitation. Again the Church, through the blood by which she has been purchased, speaks unto you, asking for your attention, for your allegiance. What shall be your answer? (S. S. Mitchell, D. D.)

Which He hath purchased with His own blood.--

The infinite purchase

I. The Church of God.

1. The body of His people in all ages, whom He has called out and separated from the world.

2. Always has been, and always will be, represented by a visible organisation in the world.

3. In Gods apprehension not bounded by, nor identified with, the visible organisation by which it is represented.

II. The relation of the Church to God.

1. Belongs to Him as His purchased possession. His peculiar, not His odd or eccentric people, but the people who belong to Him.

2. Under His government and instruction through officers Divinely appointed. Over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers.

3. To the Church God has committed the truth and treasure of the gospel, together with the sacraments, and all the means of grace, as instruments for the conquest of the world.

III. The price God paid for the Church even His own blood.

1. The blood of Christ is the blood of God.

2. In the person of Christ the Divine and human natures, though distinct, are so united, that His one Person may be designated and described by the attributes of either nature.

3. The sacrifice of Christ derives an infinite value from His Divine nature. It was the Lord of glory who was crucified (1Co_2:8). Application: We are bound to belong to the visible Church as the representative of the invisible; to love it, and to labour for its advancement. It is not the gospel, but the Church, by means of the gospel, which is to conquer and reform the world. (H. J. Van Dyke, D. D.)

Pauls farewell

I. The great responsibility (Act_20:28). To feed the Church of God.

1. Nourish, strengthen, and build up the souls of men with the doctrines of grace. But before souls can be fed they must be converted. This can only be done by the Holy Ghost applying the atonement of Jesus Christ. The Church is composed of men and women who have been purchased with the blood of the Lord.

2. To do this work we must Take heed--

(1) To ourselves; our own souls must first of all each day be cared for.

(2) To the flock.

II. The reasons of the responsibility (Act_20:29-30). There is great danger ahead. Grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

1. External foes--infidelity, intemperance, etc., are wolves.

2. Internal foes--black sheep in the flock--selfish, designing men, speaking perverse things. Oh how Sabbath schools and churches are destroyed by grievous wolves and black sheep!

III. The means by which this responsibility is to be discharged (Act_20:31-38).

1. By watchfulness Therefore watch. Watch and pray was one of the Masters greatest exhortations.

2. Perseverance--a night and day toil and anxiety (Act_20:31).

3. An unswerving trust in God and in the Word of His grace (Act_20:32).

4. Self-sacrifice--we must not covet money, fame, ease, or anything that man can bestow. We must be--like our Master and like Paul--givers, not receivers (Act_20:33-35). The concluding verses (36-38) are most suggestive of the spirit we all need--prayer, love, gratitude, deep sorrow in parting with friends, and especially with those who have blessed us in the Lord! (A. H. Moment, D. D.)

Pauls farewell

I. Faithful counselling. Lessons: Take heed--

1. Unto yourselves, for you can do little for others until your own heart is set right.

2. To all the flock, for you cannot be a faithful shepherd of the Lords sheep unless you value their safety as your own.

3. To feed the Church of God. Christ was glad to purchase the sheep at the cost of His own life; ought you not willingly to make the slight sacrifice of caring for those whom He purchased at such a price.

4. Against the wolves. The bark of materialism and spiritualism and destructive criticism is a good deal worse than their bite, still you need to be watchful lest it drive some of the more timid souls out of the fold.

5. For from among yourselves men will arise with all sorts of perverse religious notions, and you will have to combat them. Do it discreetly.

6. And take courage, remembering how much easier is your testifying than was Pauls, and that your helping words and deeds, as well as his, all receive Gods approval.

II. Trustful commending. Lessons:

1. Paul commended the Ephesians unto God, and God commended Paul for the zeal with which he laboured for the welfare of the Ephesians.

2. Paul did not covet gold or silver, but he did long for something vastly more precious. What could have exceeded his eagerness to save souls.

3. Paul laboured for the necessities, not for the luxuries of life.

4. Paul laboured not only for himself, but also for those who were with him. Every one for himself is a motto of the devil. Bear ye one anothers burdens is the law of Christ.

5. Paul gave to the Ephesians an active living example of what a Christian worker should be. So doing, he gave to his words a tremendous vital force.

6. Paul worked with his hands, and was rather proud than ashamed of the fact. Hands hardened by honest toil are a much nobler possession than a soft head, or a heart hardened by an empty pride of birth.

III. Prayerful parting. Lessons: Parting--

1. Loses half its bitterness when those who are about to be separated feel that they will remain united in love for the same Saviour.

2. With a beloved pastor is a sad trial, but it is one to be borne as cheerfully as possible, if Providence is evidently calling him elsewhere.

3. Becomes easier to those who approach the hour of separation on their knees.

4. Is greatly saddened if we feel that the bodily separation is to be forever, but there may be something bitterer than that.

5. Becomes well nigh despairing to those who must harbour the fear that it is final, bodily and spiritually. But such separations were very scarce among those with whom such as Paul have been labouring. (S. S. Times.)

Pauls farewell

The Persian had conquered here, and the story of his triumphs, as the tragedian pictured it, had caused an Athenian audience to burst into tears. There are wet eyes on this Miletian shore, over a capture far more significant than Darius ever made. Hearts have been won here and knit, so as no ties of relationship can unite. They are soon to be separated. Spite of the excitement of the scene, this servant of Jesus Christ is self-possessed; his vision is clear; his advice well considered. There is review and outlook. Lessons of humility, fidelity, courage, and charity are taught by a master here, in a few graphic sentences, which the Christian Church still needs to ponder. They are condensed Epistles. There is--

I. Admonition. These were prominent members of the Church, and very dear to him. Their trials had been his, as were their victories. Knowing that they were in the world, he can but be solicitous now that he can no longer personally aid them.

1. They must first take heed unto themselves. The Church is made up of individuals. Strength or weakness in them is power or feebleness in it. Christ had redeemed them, but they must each work out their own salvation. The Holy Ghost had renewed them, but they must each say with the apostle, I am pure from the blood of all men. Only the saved can save them that hear him. The prayerless cannot inspire others to pray; nor can the ignorant, sceptical, or trifling lead any to knowledge, faith and soberness. After the close of the service in which George Herbert was inducted into the charge of Bemerton Church, a friend, wondering at his delay in leaving the building, looked in at a window and found him prostrate on the ground before the altar. Then and there he made the vow, I will be sure to live well, because the virtuous life of a clergyman is the most powerful eloquence, to persuade all that see it, to reverence and love, and at least to desire to live like him. The more precious the treasure, the more does its keeper arm himself. The Church in its collective capacity must have guardianship. Our Lords figure for it is taken from the timid sheep. The shepherd is essential to the flock. Did these brethren realise the vast responsibility? Being right themselves, they might hope rightly to perform it. They were to feed the Church. This was to be with food adapted to it. No more than the shepherd is obliged to make the grass grow upon which the flock lives, were they to create spiritual supplies. The minister has never to produce the truth for his people. He has only to find it, in its richness and freshness, and bring them to it, or it to them. To try to satisfy the cravings of the soul with mere moralities, humanities, philosophies, speculations, socialities, amusements, is to enfeeble and make it ready to perish. The Church is sound and strong, only as it incarnates the Christ.

II. Prophecy.

1. He saw not far away grievous wolves. Persecution and error were only biding their time to waste and destroy the flock. The bloody vision was realised when Aurelius and: Diocletian published the edict that the Christian name be blotted out; and before a century had passed, seducers appeared. If to be forewarned is to be forearmed, then might these Christians be secure.

2. Is it not still true that cruelty and sophistry are the enemys chosen methods of subverting the Church? Whenever it interferes with the schemes of wicked men they will attack it. Inquisitorial tortures are their resort when strong enough. Ostracism, slander, and ridicule are their milder weapons.

III. Confidence. Though such severe trials might be in store, he knew where they would be safe and prosperous. As was his habit he commends them unto One, by whom he himself in full view of bonds and affliction was able to say, None of these things move me. The gracious Word which He had given was the only means of their sanctification. Through this only did they get wisdom to read their title and secure the heavenly inheritance. Has the method changed? Over against all guesses and denials, changing as the lights and shadows of a spring day, stands now as then this rock of the truth, at once a refuge and an inspiration.

IV. Self-devotion. It is a brief rehearsal--how earnestly and honestly he had toiled, asking nothing of them in return. It had been reward enough for him to preach the gospel. And it had all been in full realisation of that matchless saying of the Lord, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Till so profound a law has been discovered and honoured by the Christian, the advance of the heavenly kingdom must be slow.

V. Prayer. Through this intercourse with God they had first really found each other. At His feet their partings must be made. How very like to that scene, sixteen hundred years after, on the shore of Holland, where another company of pilgrims were assembled, when, as the chronicler says, Ye tide (which stays for no man) calling them away ye were thus loathe to departe, their Reverd pastor falling down on his knees (and they all with him) with watrie cheeks commended them, with most fervent prairers to the Lord and his blessing. So do we clasp hands with our children, with our youth departing for their life work, with our missionaries, with our dying ones.

VI. Parting. Intelligent souls are alone capable of profound emotion. The more brutal men become, the more indifferent are they to the breaking of companionship; the more saintly the more sensitive. (D. S. Clark.)

What Paul leaves behind

1. When the apostle goes, will not the whole fabric which he seemed to represent and sustain go along with him? Is Christianity the heroism of one personality? If Pauls estimation of himself had been that of an idolater or of a superstitious person, he would have reminded the Ephesian elders that in the removal of his personality they had themselves no longer any official standing, or any claim upon public attention.

2. When Paul goes, what will be left? The Church! and the Church is greater than any member of it; the Word! and the Word is infinitely greater than all the ministers that preach it. The blood that bought the Church! and that blood is alone in its meaning, energy, and grace. Then everything will be left when Paul goes. That is the mystery of Divine love. We can take nothing away from Christs Church. The firstborn dies, but the Church is as strong as ever; the most eloquent tongue is silent, but the music of the Cross loses no note of its enchantment. It is even good for us that the apostle should be taken away: it was expedient for us that Christ Himself did not remain upon the earth in visible presence. Christianity does not depend upon its great or its little men. Like its Lord, it is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

3. Pauls charge is Paul himself, Take heed therefore unto yourselves. Paul was a severe disciplinarian. He was always undergoing the discipline of an athlete; he kept his body under lest he himself should become a castaway. Self-heed is the secret of public power. Take heed unto yourselves, and you will be gentle to other people. Take heed also to all the flock. That is the balancing consideration. The minister is not a monk, he is a public, a social man with a great shepherdly heart, that can understand and love a thousand varieties of men. Pauls conception of the ministry was regulated and inspired by his conception of the Church. Was the Church a club, a little gathering of men called together for superficial purposes or for transient enjoyment? It was a flock; it was purchased with the blood of God. Then the Church makes the ministry. The ministry has no existence apart from the Church. The minister--be he Paul or Apollos or Cephas--is but an upper seat holder.

4. Paul uses language full of suggestion and pathos. The Church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood. What grander word is there than blood? Until we contaminated it, it stood next to love. The blood is the life; the life is the blood. God purchased the Church with His own life. When you understand sin you Will understand blood. When you see the hell which sin deserves you will see the Cross which God built.

5. Why should a man care anything about the world he is going to leave? That depends upon the quality of the man. There are those who want peace in their time, and want to leave all thorny questions to he determined by those who come after them. But Paul was anxious for the fortunes of the Church at Ephesus, though he would himself see that Church no more. Christianity is not a new way of sneaking out of responsibility; Christianity is not a cunning method of leaving posterity to take care of itself. Christian love claims all time, all ages, all lands. Paul--great economist, great statesman, supreme prince of the legions of Christ--could not leave Ephesus saying, I am glad I shall suffer no more there; but he cared for Ephesus as much as if he were going to spend the remainder of his days in the endeavour to convert its citizens. Paul knew that after his departing grievous wolves should enter into the Church, not sparing the flock. The wolves could not come in so long as Paul was there. God takes away from us our mighty men that He may train us as much by their absence as He did by their presence. Who would not long to have a whole year with John Bunyan, or the greater Milton, or the fiery Baxter, or the profound Howe and Owen? Yet God is training us by their withdrawal, and Gods greatest men are always the men who are still to come. The ages do not live backward. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Personal contact with souls

As I recall my own ministerial experience I can testify that nearly all the converting work done has been by personal contact with souls. For example, I once recognised in the congregation a newcomer, and at my first visit to his house was strongly drawn to him as a very noble-hearted, manly character. A long talk with him seemed to produce little impression; but before I left, he took me upstairs to see his three or four rosy children in their cribs. As we stood looking at the sleeping cherubs, I said to him, My friend, what sort of father are you going to be to these children? Are you going to lead them towards heaven, or--the other way! That arrow lodged. He gave himself to Christ, and at our next communion season he was at the Masters table, and soon became a most useful officer in the church. (T. L. Cuyler.)

The ministers weeping time

Thomas Toller, of Kettering, exerted an extraordinary influence over the feelings of his audience, while he himself remained apparently unmoved. Being once asked, How is it possible for you to remain calm yourself while the people are weeping before you? he replied, with evident emotion, My weeping time was yesterday.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 20:28. Take heed therefore — I now devolve my care upon you; first, to yourselves — That you thoroughly understand all the doctrines, experience all the graces, enjoy all the blessing, and practise all the duties of genuine Christianity; and that you fully understand and faithfully execute every part of your important office. And to all the flock — That they may possess the same Christian knowledge and experience, may enjoy the same blessings, and perform the same duties; may be wise unto salvation, holy and useful; not living unto themselves, but unto him that died for them and rose again. Over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers — Greek, επισκοπους, bishops, or inspectors. It seems evident from every part of the New Testament, that there was no distinction, when the Acts and the Epistles were written, between elders, or presbyters, and bishops in the Christian Church. All the elders were bishops, inspectors, or overseers. Thus, (1Pe 5:1-2,) The elders which are among you I exhort, feed the flock of God, taking the oversight thereof, Greek, επισκοπουντες, acting the part of bishops, or inspectors. It is probable, however, that when, in any city or district, the elders became numerous, it was found expedient to appoint some to take the oversight of the rest, and see that they did their duty. The apostle’s expression here, The Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, implies that no man, or number of men, can constitute an overseer, bishop, or any Christian minister. To do this is the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost; to feed the church of God — That is, the believing, loving, obedient, holy children of God, only such being true members of the church of Christ; which he hath purchased with his own blood — How precious is it then in his sight! Here the blood of Christ, the only begotten of the Father, is termed the blood of God; for it is the blood of the WORD, who was in the beginning with God, and was God, Joh 1:1.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:28 Paul refers to the church as God’s people and God’s flock (cp. 1 Pet 2:25; 5:2, 4). Elsewhere the church is called the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27; Eph 1:23; 4:12; Col 1:24); the bride of Christ (2 Cor 11:2; Rev 19:7; see Eph 5:25-32); the temple of the living God (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16); a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession (1 Pet 2:9); and God’s field, God’s building (1 Cor 3:9). • Paul expected the leaders to feed and shepherd the church over which the Holy Spirit had appointed them as leaders (see 1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Pet 5:1-4; cp. Acts 6:2-4).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 20:28. Προσέχετε, take heed) This care I devolve from myself on you, Act 20:31.—ἑαυτοῖς) first to yourselves, then to the flock.—τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, the Holy Ghost) The Holy Spirit mediately, through the instrumentality of Paul, appointed them. Comp. ch. Act 14:23. But a call which has not been given by the Holy Spirit really, does not deserve to be termed even a mediate call.—ἐπισκόπους, overseers or bishops) At this time the appellation, “bishops,” was not yet the customary and peculiar one (applied to those subsequently bearing that name): but here it has the meaning which the force of its etymological derivation requires, and is applicable to all presbyters, whose title (“Presbyter”) was a more customary one, owing to its existence in the Jewish Church. Afterwards Timothy and Titus, whom the apostles had set over the presbyters in a certain peculiar manner, were entitled bishops: and yet the bishops also did not cease to be entitled presbyters: Tit 1:7; Tit 1:5, where he who is called a bishop in Act 20:7, is called an elder in Act 20:5; 1Pe 5:2; 1Pe 5:1; Php 1:1.—τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, the Church of God) Others read τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Κυρίου; many, with the Slavonic Version, τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Κυρίου καἰ Θεοῦ. Paul often uses the appellation, the Church of God, in the Ep. to the Thess. Cor. Gal. Tim., never the Church of the Lord. Nor does he use the expression at all, Lord and God, interposing the particle and between. Therefore it remains that we read the Church of GOD: although, if in this passage Paul used the expression, Church of the Lord, according to the parallelism of the Old Testament it would be the Church of Jehovah.[123]—ἣν περιεποιήσατο, which He hath purchased) This therefore is a most precious flock [as having cost so dearly].—ἰδίου, His own) For it is the blood of the Son of GOD: 1Jn 1:7, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

[123] Τοῦ Θεοῦ is supported by B Vulg. (oldest MSS.), Harclean Syriac, Cyril of Alexandria, Epiphanius. Τοῦ Κυρίου is read by ACDEde Memph. Theb. Iren. (Latin) 201, Eusebius, Lucifer 226, Jerome. Τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ, the common reading of MSS., is supported by none of the oldest authorities: the Slavonic Version of the 9th cent. is no good authority. Τοῦ Θεοῦ, in connection with “blood,” is the more difficult reading, and therefore so far less likely to be an interpolation. But ἡ ἐκκλησία τοῦ Κυρίου is a still less likely reading to be interpolated, as the phrase is found nowhere else in the N. Test., so that a transcriber would readily change it into τοῦ Θεοῦ, as in 1Co 1:2 : and 1Pe 5:2, ποίμνιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, might also suggest the change. Even if the preponderance of testimony lead to the reading Κυρίου, still the infinite value of Christ’s own blood, as alone equal to meet the justice of an infinite God, is clearly brought out. B, the oldest MS. is weighty authority for τοῦ Θεοῦ. Alford shows that there was greater reason for Arians to change the text to Κυρίου, than for the orthodox to change it to τοῦ Θεοῦ. The latter, if left untouched, would be fatal to Arianism; the former, if untouched, does not militate against orthodoxy in the least.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_20:28. Οὖν] Therefore, since I am innocent, and thus the blame would be chargeable on you.

ἑαυτοῖς κ. π. τ. ποιμνίῳ] in order that as well ye yourselves, as the whole church (Luk_12:32; Joh_10:1 ff.), may persevere in the pure truth of the gospel. See Act_20:29-30. On the prefixing of ἑαυτοῖς comp. 1Ti_4:16.

τὸ πν. τ. ἅγ. ἔθετο] This was designed to make them sensible of the whole sacredness and responsibility of their office. The Holy Spirit ruling in the church has Himself appointed the persons of the presbyters, not merely by the bestowal of His gifts on those concerned, but also by His effective influence upon the recognition and appreciation of the gifts so bestowed at the elections (see on Act_14:23). Comp. Act_13:2; Act_13:4.

ἐπισκόπους (also very common with classical writers), as overseers, as stewards,[113] denotes the official function of the presbyters (Act_20:17), and is here chosen (not πρεσβυτέρους) because in its literal meaning it significantly corresponds to the ποιμαίνειν. Ipso nomine admonet velut in specula locatos esse, etc., Galvin.[114] The figurative (Isa_40:11; Jer_2:8; Eze_34:2; Joh_10:14; Joh_21:15; and see Dissen, ad Pind. Ol. x. 9, p. 124) ποιμαίνειν comprehends the two elements, of official activity in teaching (further specially designated in Eph_4:11; comp. 1Ti_3:2), and of the oversight and conduct of the discipline and organization of the church. For the two together exhaust the ἐπισκοπεῖν (1Pe_5:2).

On τ. ἐκκλησ. τοῦ Κυρίου (see the critical remarks), comp. Rom_16:16; Mat_16:18. With the reading τοῦ Θεοῦ this passage was a peculiarly important locus for the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and the communicatio idiomatum against the Socinians. See especially Calovius.

ἣν περιεποιήσατο κ.τ.λ.] which He has acquired (for His possession, Eph_1:14; Tit_2:14; 1Pe_2:9) by His own blood, by the shedding of which He has redeemed believers from the dominion of the devil and acquired them for Himself as heirs of His eternal salvation. Hic ergo grex est pretiosissimus, Bengel. Comp. on Eph_1:14; 1Co_6:20; 1Co_7:23; 1Pe_1:7; 1Pe_1:19.

[113] The comparison of the Athenian ἐπίσχοποι in dependent cities, with a view to explain this official name (Rothe, p. 219 f.; see on these also Hermann, Staatsalterth. § 157. 8), introduces something heterogeneous.

[114] How little ground this passage gives for the hierarchical conception of the spiritual office, see on Eph_4:11; Höfling, Kirchenverf. p. 269 f.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 20:28 . προσέχετε … ἑαυτοῖς ( cf. 1Ti 4:16 ), Luk 17:3 ; Luk 21:34 , Act 5:35 ; Act 8:6 . In LXX with ἐμαυτῷ , Gen 24:6 , Exo 10:28 , Deu 4:9 . “Non tantum jubet eos gregi attendere, sed primum sibi ipsis; neque enim aliorum salutem sedulo unquam curabit, qui suam negliget … cum sit ipse pars gregis,” Calvin, in loco , and also Chrys. (Bethge, p. 144). ποιμνίῳ : the figure was common in the O.T. and it is found in St.Luke, Luk 12:32 , in St. John, in St. Peter, but it is said that St. Paul does not use it, cf. however Eph 4:11 , where, and nowhere else, he writes καὶ αὐτὸς ἔδωκε … τοὺς δὲ ποιμένας . ἐνᾧ : “in the which,” R.V., not “over which”. ὑμᾶς is again emphatic, but the presbyters were still part of the flock, see Calvin, u. s. ἔθετο , cf. 1Co 12:28 , 1Ti 1:12 ; 1Ti 2:7 , 2Ti 1:11 . There is no ground whatever for supposing that the ἐπισκόποι here mentioned were not ordained, as the words τὸ Π . τὸ Ἅγ . ἔθετο may be used without any reference whatever to the actual mode of appointment. Dr. Hort allows that here the precedent of Act 6:3-6 may have been followed, and the appointment of the elders may have been sealed, so to speak, by the Apostle’s prayers and laying-on-of-hands, Ecclesia , pp. 99, 100. The thought of appointment by the Holy Spirit, although not excluding the ordination of Apostles, may well be emphasised here for the sake of solemnly reminding the Presbyters of their responsibility to a divine Person, and that they stand in danger of losing the divine gifts imparted to them in so far as they are unfaithful to their office. ποιμαίνειν : “to tend” as distinct from βόσκειν “to feed,” although the act of feeding as well as of governing is associated also with the former word; see on Joh 21:16 . The figurative pastoral language in this passage was probably not unknown as applied to Jewish elders, Edersheim, Jewish Social Life , p. 282; Hort, Ecclesia , p. 101. ἐπισκόπους : the word, which occurs five times in the N.T., is applied four times to officers of the Christian Church: in this passage, again at Ephesus in 1Ti 3:2 , at Philippi in Phi 1:1 , at Crete in Tit 1:7 ; and once to our Lord Himself, 1Pe 2:25 ( cf. the significant passage, Wis 1:6 , where it is applied to God). In the LXX it is used in various senses, e.g. , of the overseers of Josiah, 2Ch 34:12 ; 2Ch 34:17 ; of task-masters or exactors, Isa 60:17 ; of minor officers, Neh 11:9 ; Neh 11:14 ; of officers over the house of the Lord, 2Ki 11:18 ; and in 1Ma 1:51 of overseers or local commissioners of Antiochus Epiphanes to enforce idolatry, cf. Jos., Ant. , xii., 5, 4. In classical Greek the word is also used with varied associations. Thus in Attic Greek it was used of a commissioner sent to regulate a new colony or subject city like a Spartan “harmost,” cf. Arist., Av. , 1032, and Boeckh, Inscr. , 73 (in the Roman period ἐπίμεληταί ); but it was by no means confined to Attic usage. In another inscription found at Thera in the Macedonian period mention is made of two ἐπίσκοποι receiving money and putting it out at interest, and again at Rhodes, in the second century B.C., ἐπίσ . are mentioned in inscriptions, but we do not know their functions, although Deissmann claims that in one inscription, I. M. A. e. , 731, the title is used of a sacred office in the Temple of Apollo, but he declines to commit himself to any statement as to the duties of the office: cf. also Loening, Die Gemeindeverfassung des Urchristenthums , pp. 21, 22; Gibson, “Bishop,” B.D. 2 ; Gwatkin, “Bishop,” Hastings’ B.D.; Deissmann, Neue Bibelstudien , p. 57; Lightfoot, Philippians , p. 95. M. Waddington has collected several instances of the title in inscriptions found in the Haurân, i.e. , the south-eastern district of the ancient Bashan (see the references to Le Bas Waddington in Loening, u. s. , p. 22, note, and Gore, Church and the Ministry , p. 402), but none of these give us precise and definite information as to the functions of the ἐπίσκοποι . But it is important to note that M. Waddington is of opinion that the comparative frequency of the title in the Haurân points to the derivation of the Christian use of the word from Syria or Palestine rather than from the organisation of the Greek municipality ( Expositor , p. 99, 1887). It has been urged that the officers of administration and finance in the contemporary non-Christian associations, the clubs and guilds so common in the Roman empire, were chiefly known by one or other of two names, ἐπιμελητής or ἐπίσκοπος , Hatch, B.L. , p. 36, and hence the inference has been drawn that the primary function of the primitive ἐπίσκοποι in the Christian Church was the administration of finance; but Dr. Hatch himself has denied that he laid any special stress upon the financial character of the ἐπίσκοποι , although he still apparently retained the description of them as “officers of administration and finance,” see Expositor, u. s. , p. 99, note, thus adopting a position like that of Professor Harnack, who would extend the administration duties beyond finance to all the functions of the community. But however this may be (see below), there is certainly no ground for believing that the title ἐπίσκοπος in the Christian Church was ever limited to the care of finance (see the judgment of Loening on this view, u. s. , p. 22), or that such a limitation was justified by the secular use of the term. If indeed we can point to any definite influence which connects itself with the introduction of the title into the Christian Church, it is at least as likely, one might say more likely when we consider that the Apostles were above all things Jews, that the influence lies in the previous use in the LXX of ἐπίσκοπος and ἐπισκοπή , and the direct appeal of St. Clement of Rome, Cor [340] , 42:5, to Isaiah (LXX) Isa 60:17 in support of the Christian offices of ἐπίσκοποι and διάκονοι may be fairly quoted as pointing to such an influence. But whatever influences were at work in the adoption of the term by the early believers, it became, as it were, baptised into the Christian Church, and received a Christian and a higher spiritual meaning. This one passage in Act 20:28 is sufficient to show that those who bore the name were responsible for the spiritual care of the Church of Christ, and that they were to feed His flock with the bread of life (see the striking and impressive remarks of Dr. Moberly, Ministerial Priesthood , p. 266). This one passage is also sufficient to show that the “presbyter” and “bishop” were at first practically identical, cf. Act 20:17 ; Act 20:28 , Steinmetz, Die zweite römische Gefangenschaft des Apostels Paulus , p. 173, 1897, and that there is no room for the separation made by Harnack between the two, see his Analecta zu Hatch , p. 231, or for his division between the “patriarchal” office of the πρεσβύτεροι and the “administrative” office of the ἐπίσκοποι (Loening, u. s. , pp. 23 27; Sanday, Expositor, u. s. , pp. 12, 104; Gwatkin, u. s. , p. 302). In the Pastoral Epistles the identity between the two is even more clearly marked, although Harnack cannot accept Tit 1:5-7 as a valid proof, because he believes that Act 20:7-9 were interpolated into the received text by a redactor; cf. also for proof of the same 1Ti 3:1-13 ; 1Ti 5:17-19 ; 1Pe 5:1-2 , although in this last passage Harnack rejects the reading ἐπισκοποῦντες (and it must be admitted that it is not found in [341] [342] , and that it is omitted by Tisch. and W. H.), whilst he still relegates the passages in the Pastoral Epistles relating to bishops, deacons and Church organisation to the second quarter of the second century, Chron. , i., p. 483, note. In St. Clement of Rome, Cor [343] , xlii., 4, xliv. 1, 4, 5, the terms are still synonymous, and by implication in Didaché , xv., 1 (Gwatkin, u. s. , p. 302, and Gore, u. s. , p. 409, note). But if we may say with Bishop Lightfoot that a new phraseology began with the opening of a new century, and that in St. Ignatius the two terms are used in their more modern sense, it should be borne in mind that the transition period between Acts and St. Ignatius is exactly marked by the Pastoral Epistles, and that this fact is in itself no small proof of their genuineness. In these Epistles Timothy and Titus exercise not only the functions of the ordinary presbyteral office, but also functions which are pre-eminent over those of the ordinary presbyter, although there is no trace of any special title for these Apostolic delegates, as they may be fairly called. The circumstances may have been temporary or tentative, but it is sufficiently plain that Timothy and Titus were to exercise not only a general discipline, but also a jurisdiction over the other ministers of the Church, and that to them was committed not only the selection, but also the ordination of presbyters (Moberly, Ministerial Priesthood , p. 151 ff.; Bright, Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life , p. 28 ff., 1898; Church Quarterly Review , xlii., pp. 265 302). τὴν ἐκκ . τοῦ Θεοῦ , see critical note. περιεποιήσατο , cf. Psa 74:2 . It has been thought that St. Paul adopts and adapts the language of this Psalm; in comparing his language with that of the LXX we can see how by the use of the word ἐκκλησία instead of συναγωγή in the Psalm he connects the new Christian Society with the ancient ἐκκλησία of Israel, whilst in employing περιεποιήσατο instead of ἐκτήσω (LXX), and retaining the force of ἐλυτρώσω , LXX, by reference to the λύτρον of the new Covenant, a deeper significance is given to the Psalmist’s language: a greater redemption than that of Israel from the old Egyptian bondage had been wrought for the Christian Ecclesia (Hort, Ecclesia , pp. 14 and 102). The verb περιποιεῖσθαι only in St. Luke and St. Paul in N.T., but in a different sense in the former, Luk 17:33 . In 1Ti 3:13 ( 1Ma 6:44 ) it is found in the sense of “gaining for oneself,” so in classical Greek. But it is to be noted that the cognate noun περιποίησις is associated by St. Paul in his Ephesian letter with the thought of redemption, εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῆς περιποίησεως “unto the redemption of God’s own possession,” R.V. τοῦ ἰδ . τοῦ αἵμ ., see critical note.

[340] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[341] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[342] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[343] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A notable sentence for Christ’s Godhead: which showeth plainly in his person, how that by reason of the joining together of the two natures in his own person, that which is proper to one is spoken of the other being taken in the derivative, and not in the primitive: which in old time the godly fathers termed a communicating or fellowship of proprieties, that is to say, a making common of that to two, which belongeth but to one.

To keep it, to feed it, and govern it.

This word, That showeth the excellency of this blood.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Take heed . . . unto yourselves--Compare Ti1 3:2-7; Ti1 4:16; Ti1 6:11.

and to all the flock--Compare Heb 13:17. Observe here how the personal is put before the pastoral care.

over . . . which the Holy Ghost hath made you--Compare Joh 20:22-23; Eph 4:8, Eph 4:11-12; Rev 3:1. (Act 14:23 shows that the apostle did not mean to exclude human ordination).

overseers--or, as the same word is everywhere else rendered in our version, "bishops." The English Version has hardly dealt fair in this case with the sacred text, in rendering the word "overseers," whereas it ought here, as in all other places, to have been "bishops," in order that the fact of elders and bishops having been originally and apostolically synonymous, might be apparent to the ordinary English reader, which now it is not [ALFORD]. The distinction between these offices cannot be certainly traced till the second century, nor was it established till late in that century.

to feed the church of God--or, "the Church of the Lord." Which of these two readings of the text is the true one, is a question which has divided the best critics. The evidence of manuscripts preponderates in favor of "THE LORD"; some of the most ancient Versions, though not all, so read; and ATHANASIUS, the great champion of the supreme Divinity of Christ early in the fourth century, says the expression "Church of God" is unknown to the Scriptures. Which reading, then, does the internal evidence favor? As "Church of God" occurs nine times elsewhere in Paul's writings, and "Church of the Lord" nowhere, the probability, it is said, is that he used his wonted phraseology here also. But if he did, it is extremely difficult to see how so many early transcribers should have altered it into the quite unusual phrase, "Church of the Lord"; whereas, if the apostle did use this latter expression, and the historian wrote it so accordingly, it it easy to see how transcribers might, from being so accustomed to the usual phrase, write it "Church of God." On the whole, therefore, we accept the second reading as most probably the true one. But see what follows.

which he hath purchased--"made His own," "acquired."

with his own blood--"His own" is emphatic: "That glorified Lord who from the right hand of power in the heavens is gathering and ruling the Church, and by His Spirit, through human agency, hath set you over it, cannot be indifferent to its welfare in your hands, seeing He hath given for it His own most precious blood, thus making it His own by the dearest of all ties." The transcendent sacredness of the Church of Christ is thus made to rest on the dignity of its Lord and the consequent preciousness of that blood which He shed for it. And as the sacrificial atoning character of Christ's death is here plainly expressed, so His supreme dignity is implied as clearly by the second reading as it is expressed by the first. What a motive to pastoral fidelity is here furnished!

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 28. Made you overseers] εθετο επισκοπους, 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 επι, over, and σκεπτομαι, 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 fulfil 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 Ac 20:17.

Feed the Church of God] This verse has been the subject of much controversy, particularly in reference to the term Θεου, 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. εκκλησιαν του Θεου, the Church of GOD; τουκυριου, of the LORD; Κυριου και Θεου, 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 Θεου, of GOD; with these only the Vulgate, and the later Syriac in the text, agree. κυριου, 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. Κυριου και Θεου, of the LORD and of GOD, is the reading of the great majority; though the most ancient are for Κυριου, of the LORD: on this ground Griesbach has admitted this reading into the text, and put Κυριου και Θεου in the margin, as being next in authority.

Mr. Wakefield, who was a professed and conscientious Unitarian, decides for του Θεου, of GOD, as the true reading; but, instead of translating του ιδιου αιματος, with his own blood, he translates, by his own Son, and brings some passages from the Greek and Roman writers to show that αιμα 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 του Κυριου, 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. Take heed, therefore. He doth now apply his speech unto them, and by many reasons showeth that they must watch diligently, and that he is not so careful but because necessity doth so require. The first reason is, because they be bound to the flock over which they be set. The second, because they were called unto this function not by mortal man, but by the Holy Ghost. The third, because it is no small honor to govern the Church of God. The fourth, because the Lord did declare by an evident testimony what account he doth make of the Church, seeing that he hath redeemed it with his blood. As touching the first, he doth not only command them to take heed to the flock, but first to themselves. For that man will never be careful for the salvation of other men who will neglect his own. And in vain shall that man prick forward other to live godlily, who will himself show no desire of godliness. Yea, that man will not take pains with his flock who forgetteth himself, seeing he is a part of the flock. Therefore, to the end they may be careful for the flock to them committed, Paul commandeth and warneth that every one of them keep himself in the fear of God. For by this means it should come to pass, that every one should be as faithful towards his flock as he ought. For we said that Paul reasoneth from their calling, that they be bound to take pains in the Church of God, whereof they have the government. As if he should say, that they may not do whatsoever they like best, neither are they free after they be made pastors, but they be bound publicly to all the flock.

The Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. By the very word he putteth them in mind, that they be placed, as it were, in a watch-tower, that they may watch for the common safety of all men. But Paul standeth principally upon this, that they were not appointed by men, but the charge of the Church was committed unto them by God. For which cause they must be the more diligent and careful, because they must give a straight account before that high seat of judgment. For the more excellent the dignity of that Lord and Master whom we serve is, the more reverence do we give him naturally, and the reverence itself doth sharpen our study and diligence.

Moreover, though the Lord would have ministers of the word chosen from the beginning by the voices [suffrages] of men, yet doth he always challenge the government of the Church to himself, not only to the end we may acknowledge him to be the only governor thereof, but also know that the incomparable treasure of salvation doth come from him alone. For he is robbed of his glory if we think that the gospel is brought unto us, either by chance or by the will of men, or their industry. But this doth Paul attribute peculiarly to the Spirit, by whom God doth govern his Church, and who is to every man a secret witness of his calling in his own conscience.

Concerning the word overseer or bishop, we must briefly note this, that Paul calleth all the elders of Ephesus by this name, as well one as other. Whence we gather, that according to the use of the Scripture bishops differ nothing from elders. But that it came to pass through vice and corruption, that those who were chief in every city began to be called bishops. I call it corruption, not because it is evil that some one man should be chief in every college or company; but because this boldness is intolerable, when men, by wresting the names of the Scripture unto their custom, doubt not to change the tongue of the Holy Ghost.

To govern the Church. The Greek word ποιμαινειν doth signify to feed. But by a fit similitude it is translated unto every kind of government. And we have said that this is the third argument drawn from the excellency of the function; as the same Paul telleth Timotheus elsewhere, that he take heed and see how he ought to behave himself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. As if he should say, that there is no time to be idle in such a weighty calling, and that those are less excusable whom God hath made stewards of his family, the higher that degree of honor is, unless they be correspondent to so great dignity, that is, unless they do their duty diligently. Now, if bishops or overseers be made by the Holy Ghost, to the end they may feed the Church, the hierarchy of Papistry is ridiculous, wherein bishops being proud of their (painted sheath and) vain title, do not so much as once meddle with the function of teaching, no, not for fashion’s sake.

Which he hath purchased. The four reasons, whereby Paul doth carefully prick forward the pastors to do their duty diligently, because the Lord hath given no small pledge of his love toward the Church in shedding his own blood for it. Whereby it appeareth how precious it is to him; and surely there is nothing which ought more vehemently to urge pastors to do their duty joyfully, than if they consider that the price of the blood of Christ is committed to them. For hereupon it followeth, that unless they take pains in the Church, the lost souls are not only imputed to them, but they be also guilty of sacrilege, because they have profaned the holy blood of the Son of God, and have made the redemption gotten by him to be of none effect, so much as in them lieth. And this is a most cruel offense, if, through our sluggishness, the death of Christ do not only become vile or base, but the fruit thereof be also abolished and perish; and it is said that God hath purchased the Church, to the end we may know that he would have it remain wholly to himself, because it is meet and right that he possess those whom he hath redeemed.

Notwithstanding, we must also remember, that all mankind are the bond-slaves of Satan until Christ set us free from his tyranny, gathering us into the inheritance of his Father.

But because the speech which Paul useth seemeth to be somewhat hard, we must see in what sense he saith that God purchased the Church with his blood. For nothing is more absurd than to feign or imagine God to be mortal or to have a body. But in this speech he commendeth the unity of person in Christ; for because there be distinct natures in Christ, the Scripture cloth sometimes recite that apart by itself which is proper to either. But when it setteth God before us made manifest in the flesh, it doth not separate the human nature from the Godhead. Notwithstanding, because again two natures are so united in Christ, that they make one person, that is improperly translated sometimes unto the one, which doth truly and in deed belong to the other, as in this place Paul doth attribute blood to God; because the man Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for us, was also God. This manner of speaking is caned, of the old writers, communicatio idiomatum, because the property of the one nature is applied to the other. And I said that by this means is manifestly expressed one person of Christ, lest we imagine him to be double, which Nestorius did in times past attempt; and yet for all this we must not imagine a confusion of the two natures which Eutychus went about to bring in, or which the Spanish dog, Servetus, hath at this time invented, who maketh the Godhead of Christ nothing else but a form or image of the human nature, which he dreameth to have always shined in God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(28) Over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.—Better, in which the Holy Ghost set you as watchers. The word used is the same as that commonly translated bishops, but, as used here in connection with the idea of the flock, it requires a word less technically ecclesiastical. It will be noticed that the word is commonly used in the New Testament as associated with this imagery. So in 1Pe_2:25, we have “the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls,” and the corresponding verb in 1Pe_5:2, “feed the flock of God . . . taking the oversight thereof.” The appointment, as referred to the Holy Ghost, implies, probably, (1) the inward call, the impulse which drew the man to the office; (2) the attestation of that call by the voices of the prophets, as in Act_13:2, 1Ti_4:1; (3) the bestowal of gifts fitting them for the work.

To feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.—It is clear that the words as they stand in the text are of immense importance, as bearing their witness to the belief of the Apostolic Church at once in the absolute divinity of Christ and in the nature of His redemptive work. The MSS., however, vary in their readings. Some of the best uncials and versions give “God;” others, of almost equal authority, give “Lord;” others, again, combine the two “Lord and God.” The fact that elsewhere St. Paul invariably speaks of “the Church of God” (e.g., 1Co_1:2; 2Co_1:1; Gal_1:13; 1Th_2:14, et al.), and never “the Church of the Lord,” may be allowed, from one point of view, some weight as internal evidence in favour of the Received reading; while from another it may be urged that it might have tempted a transcriber to substitute a familiar for an unfamiliar phrase. Accepting that reading, the words not only confirm the great truths of the Church’s creed, but give an implicit sanction to the language of theology or devotion, when it applies to the divine nature of our Lord predicates that belong strictly to the human nature which was associated with it. So Ignatius (Romans 6) spoke of “the passion of my God,” and Tertullian (Ad Uxor, ii. 3) and Clement of Alexandria (Quis dives, c. 34) use the very phrase “the blood of God” which this passage suggests, and the Eastern Church at the council of Ephesus gave to the Blessed Virgin the title of Theotŏkos Deipara, the mother of the very God. So in the liturgy which bears the name of St. James the brother of the Lord, he is described as Adelphotheos, the brother of God, and that name is still current among the Greek Christians of Jerusalem. The general drift of the language of the New Testament writers was, however, in the other direction, and predicated human acts and attributes of the man Christ Jesus, Divine acts and attributes of the eternal Son; and it is obvious that this tends at once to greater accuracy of thought, and is really more reverential than the other.

In the word “purchased” (or, more literally, acquired for himself), we recognise the idea, though not the word, of redemption. The same verb is used in 1Ti_3:13. The thought seems to have been one which specially characterised the teaching of St. Paul at Ephesus (Eph_1:14 : “the redemption of the purchased possession”). Comp. also, “ye were bought with a price,” in 1Co_6:20, which, it will be remembered, was written from that city. The same idea is expressed in the “peculiar people” of 1Pe_2:9; literally, a people for a purchased possession, and so, as it were, the peculium, or personal property of Him who had paid the purchase money.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves] The best MSS. omit “therefore.” The Apostle now resigns into their hands a charge which before had been his own, and the form of his language would remind them that the discharge of their duty after his example would be the means of saving both themselves and those over whom they were placed.

and to all the flock] He commits to them, as Christ had at first to St Peter, the charge to feed both lambs and sheep, in the name, and with the word, of the “good Shepherd” himself.

over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers] These men who are called “elders,” i.e. “presbyters” before (Act_20:17) he now calls “overseers,” i.e. “bishops,” (see note there). The Rev. Ver. gives “In the which, &c.… bishops.” We have no information how these “elders” had been chosen or appointed, but we can see from this verse that there had been some solemn setting apart of the men for their office. The Church, as in Act_13:2, had recognised some indication that they were to be placed over the church. By reminding them from whence their appointment came, St Paul would enforce on them the solemnity of their position. Though they be “in the flock” they are not as others, more has been given unto them, and so more will be required.

to feed the church of God] Perhaps no text in the New Testament has been more discussed than these words. “Many ancient authorities (says Rev. Ver. in a note,) read the Lord” instead of “God.” The Revisers have kept “God” in the text, and that reading is accepted as of most authority by Westcott and Hort. The variation, which has much support from MSS., has been discussed and the evidence for it most fully stated by Dr Ezra Abbott, of Harvard University. The text as it stands asserts most strongly the Divinity of our Blessed Lord, but the form of the sentence implies, from what follows, the use of such a phrase as “the blood of God” which is not like the New Testament mode of expression, though it is found in the Epp. of Ignatius, who perhaps derived it from this passage. Because in other places where “the Church of God” is used “God” cannot be taken, as it must here, to mean Christ, some have given a strong force to the word own, which follows, and have explained “His own blood,” i.e. “the blood of His own Son.” And as the Greek text, which has been accepted, as of most authority, by Westcott and Hort, reads αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου, it has been suggested that after this peculiar collocation of words, υἵου has fallen away in very early times. This would make all easy, rendering “with the blood of his own Son.” But there is no evidence that the word “Son” was ever there, and though the death of Christ is in Scripture spoken of as something “given up” by the Father “for us all” (Rom_8:32), yet the price paid and the purchase made are as definitely (1Co_7:22-23) referred to Christ. The direct assertion of Christ’s Godhead has been the occasion of the questioning of this text, and may in early times have led to the various readings. That doctrine does not stand or fall by this verse, but as the authority of MSS. is in favour of the reading “God” we gladly accept it, and feel that to the first readers the harshness of the expression “blood of God” was not much regarded, as the words are not so written, but only suggested by the close of the verse.

which he hath purchased … blood] Better, as the price was paid once for all, “which he purchased.” The verb implies the “making of what is bought peculiarly one’s own.” It is not the usual word for “buying.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore watch,.... Meaning both over themselves, and the flock; to prevent, if possible, false teachers entering in, and to nip the buds of heresy and schism, as soon as they appear, and to preserve themselves, and the church, from being carried away with the error of the wicked.

And remember that by the space of three years; reckoning from his first coming to Ephesus, unto this time, that he now called at Miletus; see Act 18:19 and

I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears; that is, he was constantly and continually cautioning them against false teachers, and their doctrines, in the most tender and affectionate manner; shedding tears at the thoughts of what mischief would be done, and how many souls would be ruined by them; which gives a lively idea of the apostle, and his ministry, of his affection, zeal, and diligence, very worthy of the imitation of all the preachers of the Gospel. Several copies, and all the Oriental versions, read, "everyone of you".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Ver. 28. Hath made you overseers] επισκοπους. But many are Aposcopi rather than Episcopi, saith Espensaeus; byseers rather than overseers.

Which he hath purchased with his blood] The Church is to Christ a bloody spouse, an Aceldama, or field of blood; for she could not be redeemed with silver and gold, but with the blood of God; so it is called by a communication of properties, to set forth the incomparable value and virtue thereof.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take heed, therefore - Attend to; be on your guard against the dangers which beset you, and seek to discharge your duty with fidelity.

Unto yourselves - To your own piety, opinions, and mode of life. This is the first duty of a minister; for without this all his preaching will be vain. Compare Col 4:17; 1Ti 4:14. Ministers are beset with unique dangers and temptations, and against them they should be on their guard. In addition to the temptations which they have in common with other people, they are exposed to those special to their office - arising from flattery, and ambition, and despondency, and worldly-mindedness. And just in proportion to the importance of their office is the importance of the injunction of Paul, to take heed to themselves.

And to all the flock - The church; the charge entrusted to them. The church of Christ is often compared to a flock. See the John 10:1-20 notes; also Joh 21:15-17 notes. The word “flock” here refers particularly to the church, and not to the congregation in general, for it is represented to be what was purchased with the blood of the atonement. The command here is:

(1) To take heed to the church; that is, to instruct, teach, and guide it; to guard it from enemies Act 20:29, and to make it their special object to promote its welfare.

(2) To take heed to all the flock the rich and the poor, the bond and the free, the old and the young. It is the duty of ministers to seek to promote the welfare of each individual of their charge not to pass by the poor because they are poor, and not to be afraid of the rich because they are rich. A shepherd regards the I interest of the tenderest of the fold as much as the strongest; and a faithful minister will seek to advance the interest of all. To do this he should know all his people; should be acquainted, as far as possible, with their unique needs, character, and dangers, and should devote himself to their welfare as his first and main employment.

Over the which the Holy Ghost - Though they had been appointed, doubtless, by the church, or by the apostles, yet it is here represented as having been done by the Holy Spirit. It was by him:

Because he had called and qualified them for their work; and, Because they had been set apart in accordance with his direction and will.

Overseers - ἐπισκόπους episkopous. “Bishops.” The word properly denotes those who are appointed “to oversee or inspect anything.” This passage proves that the name “bishop” was applicable to elders; that in the time of the apostles, the name “bishop” and “presbyter,” or “elder,” was given to the same class of officers, and, of course, that there was no distinction between them. One term was originally used to denote “office,” the other term denotes “age,” and both words were applied to the same persons in the congregation. The same thing occurs in Tit 1:5-7, where those who in Tit 1:5 are called “elders,” are in Tit 1:7 called “bishops.” See also 1Ti 3:1-10; Phi 1:1.

To feed - ποιμαίνειν poimainein. This word is properly applied to the care which a shepherd exercises over his flock. See the notes on Joh 21:15-16. It is applicable not only to the act of feeding a flock, but also to that of protecting, guiding, and guarding it. It here denotes not merely the “duty” of instructing the church, but also of “governing” it; of “securing” it from enemies Act 20:29, and of “directing” its affairs so as to promote its edification and peace.

The church of God - This is one of three passages in the New Testament in regard to which there has been a long controversy among critics, which is not yet determined. The controversy is, whether is this the correct and genuine reading. The other two passages are, 1Ti 3:16, and 1Jo 5:7. The mss. and versions here exhibit three readings: “the church of God” τοῦ Θεός tou Theos the church of the Lord τοῦ Κυρίου tou Kuriou; and the church of the Lord and God Κυρίος καὶ Θεός Kurios kai Theos. The Latin Vulgate reads it “God.” The Syriac, “the Lord.” The Arabic, “the Lord God.” The Ethiopic, “the Christian family of God.” The reading which now occurs in our text is found in no ancient mss. except the Vatican Codex, and occurs nowhere among the writings of the fathers except in Athanasius, in regard to whom also there is a various reading.

It is retained, however, by Beza, Mill, and Whitby as the genuine reading. The most ancient mss., and the best, read “the church of the Lord,” and this probably was the genuine text. It has been adopted by Griesbach and Wetstein; and many important reasons may be given why it should be retained. See those reasons stated at length in Kuinoel “in loco”; see also Griesbach and Wetstein. It may be remarked, that a change from Lord to God might easily be made in the transcribing, for in ancient mss. the words are not written at length, but are abbreviated. Thus, the name Christ Χριστός Christos is written ChoS; the name God θεός theos is written ThoS; the name Lord κύριος kurios is written KOS; and a mistake, therefore, of a single letter would lead to the variations observable in the manuscripts. Compare in this place the note of Mill in his Greek Testament. The authority for the name “God” is so doubtful that it should not be used as a proof text on the divinity of Christ, and is not necessary, as there are so many undisputed passages on that subject.

Which he hath purchased - The word used here περιεποιήσατο periepoiēsato occurs but in one other place in the New Testament - 1Ti 3:13, “For they that have used the office of deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith.” The word properly means “to acquire or gain anything; to make it ours.” This may be done by a price, or by labor, etc. The noun (περιποίησις peripoiēsis) derived from this verb is used several times in the New Testament, and denotes “acquisition:” 1Th 5:9, God hath appointed us “to obtain” (unto the obtaining or acquisition of) salvation”; 2Th 2:14, “Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”; 1Pe 2:9; Tit 2:14; Eph 1:14. In this place it means that Christ had “acquired, gained, or procured,” the church for himself by paying his own life as the price. The church is often represented as having thus been bought with a price, 1Co 6:20; 1Co 7:23; 2Pe 2:1.

With his own blood - With the sacrifice of his own life; for blood is often put for life, and to shed the blood is equivalent to faking the life. See the notes on Rom 3:25. The doctrines taught here are:

(1) That the death of Christ was an atoning sacrifice; that he offered himself to purchase a people to his own service.

(2) That the church is, therefore, of special value a value to be estimated by the price paid for it. Compare 1Pe 1:18-19.

(3) That this fact should make the purity and salvation of the church an object of special solicitude with ministers of the gospel. They should be deeply affected in view of that blood which has been shed for the church; and they should guard and defend it as having been bought with the highest price in the universe. The chief consideration that will make ministers faithful and self-denying is, that the church has been bought with a price. If the Lord Jesus so loved it; if he gave himself for it, they should be willing to deny themselves; to watch, and toil, and pray, that the great object of his death the purity and the salvation of that church - may be obtained.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock. The ministers of the gospel must in the first place take care of the salvation of their own souls: and in the next place of the salvation of their flock, of the souls committed to their care, and to the Church; especially such ministers of God as are bishops,[2] placed, by divine institution, to govern the Church, or the churches under them. The word bishop, by its derivation, signifies overseers, or superintendants; but the signification is to be taken and expressed by the custom and ecclesiastical use of words. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Episcopos, Greek: episkopous, from Greek: episkopein, or Greek: episkeptesthai, diligenter inspicere, &c.

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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Take heed therefore unto yourselves; be mindful of your own salvation: for he that neglects his own, will not be careful of the salvation of another.

The Holy Ghost hath made you overseers;

1. By his choosing and nominating of them, which was then by a special instinct, or immediate warrant from the Spirit, Act 1:24; 13:2. Or:

2. Because they were constituted by the apostles, who were filled with the Spirit, enabling them to the choice of such persons, Act 14:23. But also:

3. Whosoever is set apart to this office, according to the will of God, is made an overseer by the Holy Ghost; God owning his institutions, and concurring with them.

Overseers; the same who {Act 20:17} are called elders; they were certainly such as had the government and care of the church committed unto them.

To feed; as a shepherd does, (for the apostle continues here the metaphor), Jer 23:4; Joh 21:16,17.

The church of God; our Saviour is so called; for the Word was God, Joh 1:1.

Which he hath purchased; Christ by his bloody death hath redeemed his church, and obtained power to gather it, to rule over it, to protect and preserve it, Isa 53:10; Phi 2:8-10.

With his own blood; the blood of Christ, called truly the blood of God, there being in Christ two natures in one person, and a communion of the properties of each nature. If Christ had not been man, he could have had no blood to shed: had he not been God, the blood which he shed could not have been a sufficient price of redemption. Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, who found out such a ransom; and the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ, who paid this ransom for us! Rom 11:33; Eph 3:18,19.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. Holy Ghost—Held to be, through the instrumentalities of the Church, the truer appointer of the ministry.

Overseers—The original Greek episcopos, from which our word bishop is in fact derived, (by clipping both ends,) is compounded of a preposition signifying over and a noun signifying seer, and is exactly synonymous with the word superintendent.

In post-apostolic times the word episcopos ascended (probably by the custom of one elder’s being president-presbyter of a number of presbyters) into a higher official meaning. The presidency or episcopate of one over a number of elders took place so early as to imply some apostolic concurrence. Strict ministerial equality of function in all cases cannot be clearly deduced from Scripture.

Church of God—Whether the word God or Lord here is the true reading has long been s subject of earnest controversy; specially earnest as it involves the question of the divinity of Christ. At the present time the probability is strongly in favour of God. 1. Internal evidence: (1.) From the fact that Church of the Lord is a phrase unknown to Scripture, while Church of God is the ordinary form, (2.) If God were the original reading it would be a strong trinitarian text, and therefore there would be temptation for anti-trinitarians to alter it: but not vice versa, for Church of the Lord would be no contradiction to Trinitarianism. 2. Patristic evidence, from the fact that the earliest Christian writers, Ignatius, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, use the phrase “blood of God.” 3. Manuscript authority, which, since the readings of the Vatican and Sinaitic are found to be God, is strongly balanced in its favour. It must be fairly held to be the true reading.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take heed for take heed therefore, A.V. and T.R.; in for over, A.V.; bishops for overseers, A.V.; purchased for hath purchased, A.V. Take heed, etc.; prosecete eJautoiv, peculiar to Luke (Act_5:5; Luk_12:1 Luk_17:3 Luk_21:34) Now follows the weighty charge of this great bishop to the clergy assembled at his visitation. With the true feeling of a chief pastor, he thinks of the whole flock, but deals with them chiefly through the under-shepherds. If he can awaken in these individually a deep concern for the souls committed to their charge, he will have done the best that can be done for the fleck at large. The first step to such concern for the flock is that each be thoroughly alive to the worth and the wants of his own soul. "Take heed unto yourselves." He that is careless about his own salvation will never lie careful about the souls of others. (comp. 1Ti_4:16) In the which the Holy Ghost, etc. jEn w, no doubt, does not strictly contain the idea of "over which;" but the idea of authoritative oversight is contained in the word ejpiskopov, and therefore the rendering of the A.V., and of Alford"s A.V. revised, is substantially correct. Perhaps the exact force of the ejn w is "among which," like ejn hJmin. (Act_2:29, and elsewhere) The call and appointment to the ministry is the special function of the Holy Ghost (Joh_20:22, Joh_20:23; Act_12:2; Ordination Service) To feed; poimainein, the proper word for "tending" in relation to tomnion, the flock, as poimhn, the pastor, or shepherd, is for him who so feeds the flock of Christ. (see Joh_10:11, 16 21:17; Heb_13:20 1Pe_5:2, 1Pe_5:3) St. Peter applies the titles of "Shepherd and Bishop of souls" to the Lord Jesus. (1Pe_2:25) St. Paul does not use the metaphor elsewhere, except indirectly, and in a different aspect. (1Co_9:7) The Church of God; margin, Church of the Lord. There is, perhaps, no single passage in Scripture which has caused more controversy and evoked more difference of opinion than this. The T.R. has tou Qeou, but most uncials have tou Kuriou. Kuinoel asserts that the reading tou Kuriou rests on the authority, besides that of the oldest manuscripts, of the old versions, and of many el" the most ancient Fathers, and says that it is undoubtedly the true reading. Meyer, too, thinks that the external evidence for tou Kuriou is decisive, and that the internal evidence from the fact that ejkklhsia tou Kuriou Occurs nowhere else in St. Paul"s writings, is decisive also. But on the other hand, both the Codex Vaticanus (B) and the Codex Sinaitieus (a), the two oldest manuscripts, have Qeou (Qu). The Vulgate, too, and the Syriac have it; and such early Fathers as Ignatius (in his Epistle to the Ephesians) and Tertullian use the phrase, "the blood of God," which seems to have been derived from this passage. And Alford reasons powerfully in favor of Qeou, dwelling upon the fact that the phrase ejkklhsia tou Qeou occurs ten times in St. Paul"s writings, that of ejkklhsia tou Kuriou not once. The chief authorities on each side of the question are:

(1) in favor of tou Kuriou, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Bornemann, Lunge, Olshausen, Davidson, Meyer, Hackett, as also Grotius, Griesbaeh (doubtfully), Wetstein, Le Clerc, and others;

(2) in favor of tou Qeou, Bengel, Mill, Whitby, Wolf, Scholz, Knapp, Alford, Wordsworth, etc., and the R.T. It should be added that the evidence for tou Qeou has been much strengthened by the publication by Tischendorf, in 1563, of rite Codex Sinaiticus, and in 1867 of the Codex Vaticanus, from his own collation. The result is that tou Qeou seems to be the true reading (see the first of the two collects for the Ember weeks in the Book of Common Prayer. With regard to the difficulty that this reading seems to imply the unscriptural phrase, the blood of God," and to savor of the Monophysite heresy, it is obvious to reply that there is a wide difference between the phrase as it stands and such a one as the direct blood of God," which Athanasius and others objected to. The mental insertion of "the Lord" or "Christ," as the subject of the verb purchased," is very easy, the transition from God the Father to God incarnate being one that might be made almost imperceptibly. Others (including the R.T.) take the reading of several good manuscripts, Diaou, and understand tou ijdiou to be an ellipse for tou ijdiou uiJou, the phrase used in Rom_8:32; and so render it which he purchased by the blood of his own Son." OiJ ijdi) his own, is used without a substantive in Joh_1:11. This clause is added to enhance the preciousness of the flock, and the responsibility of those who have the oversight of it.

Vers. 28-31. Paul at Miletus: the prospect which pains.

Paul, pursuing his path of self-sacrificing devotion, going on to he knew not what dangers ahead, looking a violent death in the face, was calm, tranquil, even joyful. But the apostle, looking forward to a distracted and injured Church, torn by false doctrine, laid waste by sinful men, was grieved at heart, and he uses the language of solemn adjuration and entreaty.

I HUMAN APPREHENSION. We often go forward with painful apprehension that some ill is about to befall us; therefore with hesitating step, with trembling heart.

1. It has been that men had an intimation from God that evil was in store for them. This was not uncommon in Old Testament times, when the purpose of God was frequently revealed. It was the case with Paul now; it was revealed to him that dark days were ahead in the experience of the Church at Ephesus.

2. It may be the action of individual insight. By the use of a keen and penetrating judgment, a man can often perceive that events are leading up to a disaster.

3. It may be a simple and sound conclusion from the common heritage of man. It is certain that dark shadows must be across the path we tread, and that we shall be entering them before long.

II THE SPECIAL ANXIETY OF THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR. Paul apprehended:

1. Attack from without: "Grievous wolves entering in not sparing the flock" (ver. 29).

2. Mischief from within: "Of your own selves shall men arise, etc. (ver. 30). This is what the Church of Christ has now to fear: the attacks of infidelity, the invitation to immorality, from without; and the subtler and more perilous dangers of spiritual decline, of the decay of faith, of injurious doctrines, of the breath of worldliness, within.

III THE ATTITUDE OF THE RESPONSIBLE. (Vers. 28-31.) Paul solemnly charged these elders, as those to whose care was committed the Church of God that sacred body which the Lord had redeemed by his own blood to do these three things.

1. To keep diligently their own hearts: "Take heed to yourselves". (see Pro_4:23)

2. To watch carefully the spirit and course of their people: "And to all the flock.

3. To sustain the life of the members by providing spiritual nourishment: "Feed the Church of God." If we would do what the Divine Head of the Church demands of us, and if we would follow in the footsteps of the most devoted of his servants (see ver. 31), we must

(1) cultivate a deep sense of our responsibility;

(2) exercise unremitting vigilance over ourselves and our charge;

(3) supply that kind and measure of sacred truth which is fitted to strengthen and to purify those whom we undertake to teach. C.

The true Church.

Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood." Significance of this passage in view of Church history and present controversies.

I THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHURCH. "Purchased with his own blood." Therefore neither an external organism nor a mere idea, but composed of living souls, whose salvation is secured by the merit of his blood. Not a mixed multitude, united by a formal rite, but, professedly at least, these who are partakers of Christ, The admixture of the evil with the good is the work of the "enemy" who sows the tares, not of the original formation of the Church.

II INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL VIEW or CHURCH LIFE.

1. On those who "feed the Church," helping them to take heed to themselves and their flocks.

2. On the individual members of the Church, in the assurance of Divine grace, in the maintenance of vigilance.

3. On the world, both in "warning" away these who would defile the Church, and in inviting those who would enter in at the open gate into eternal life. The apostle"s words regarded as prophetic. The greatest dangers of the Church have always arisen from lowering the conception of what the Church is. In our proneness to error, let us turn "to the Law and to the testimony. R.

Blood purchased.

This figure of speech is directly connected with a reference to the Church as a flock; to the officers as overseers, or shepherds; and to their duty as feeding the flock. It is important to inquire how far the shepherd and sheep figure will explain the scriptural allusions to redemption, or salvation by blood. The figure as used by our Lord in John 10. should be compared with the expression in our text, "which he hath purchased with his own blood." The question which we have to consider is How does a shepherd purchase his sheep with his blood? The answer takes two possible forms.

I THE SHEPHERD PUTS HIS LIFE IN PERIL IN DEFENDING HIS SHEEP. This is the characteristic feature of the good shepherd as opposed to the hireling. The good shepherd purchases their safety every day by his willingness to shed his blood in their defense. So a mother may be said to purchase the health of a sick child by her willingness to give her life for his, imperiling her own life by her anxious watching and care.

II THE SHEPHERD MAY ACTUALLY GIVE HIS LIFE IN FIGHTING AND KILLING THE WOLVES. If he kills the wolves he saves the sheep, though he may himself die of his wounds; and then he plainly purchases the safety of the flock with his blood. These figures may be applied to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He imperiled his life for our defense. He met our great foe in conflict. He overcame sin and death, and plucked death"s sting away. He died indeed in the struggle, but he set us free; and so he has purchased us by his own blood. He has won, by his great act of self-sacrifice, our love and life forever. Compare the figure as employed by St. Peter. R.T. (1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take heed therefore - I now devolve my care upon you; first to yourselves; then to the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers - For no man, or number of men upon earth, can constitute an overseer, bishop, or any other Christian minister. To do this is the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost: to feed the Church of God - That is, the believing, loving, holy children of God; which he hath purchased - How precious is it then in his sight! with his own blood - For it is the blood of the only begotten Son of God, 1 John i, 7.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The special charge to the elders:

v. 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy’ Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.

v. 29. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

v. 30. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

v. 31. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

With the example of the apostle before them, and with his challenge ringing in their ears, the elders of Ephesus should take heed, should attend closely, should watch over themselves. He purposely places this care first, as that which must precede the care of the flock. For only by constant watchfulness over themselves would they also be able to take proper care of the flock, of the congregation, which was in need of proper feeding and the most faithful attendance. For they are still members of the flock, though the Holy Ghost has placed them in the midst of the flock as overseers, with the one aim and purpose, namely, to feed and nourish the congregation, the Church of the Lord at this place, with spiritual food in proper amounts. Note that the elders are here addressed as bishops, or overseers, showing that in the times of the apostles there was no difference between the two offices, the names being used indiscriminately. No hierarchy has been established by God’s command. It is most significant that Paul describes the congregation of the Lord as being purchased, acquired by purchase, through His own blood. "This is surely a clear text, from which follows without all contradiction that Christ, our Lord, through whose blood the Church was purchased, is God, to whom the Church belongs. For he says’ clearly: It is God, who through His blood has won the Church and whose own the Church is. Since now, as we have heard, the persons are distinct, and it still is written here that God Himself through His blood has purchased the Church, therefore the conclusion comes with great force that God has His own blood which He has shed for His Church, that is, that Christ, our Savior, is true God, born of the Father from eternity, thereafter also by the Virgin Mary in time become a man and born. " The responsibility being so great, therefore, with such precious souls to give an account for, Paul’s warning against two dangers which his prophetic vision could foresee, came with double emphasis. He knew that after his departure from them, in a future which was not greatly distant, there would enter into the flock from without grievous, ravening, ferocious wolves, false teachers that would have no mercy on the flock, but would use every means to disrupt the congregation, to murder the souls by trying to persuade them to accept false doctrine. And in addition there would be factionists from within, out of their own membership, men that would arise without call and authority and establish themselves as teachers, with a doctrine full of perverse and antichristian matter, with the intention of drawing away those that were already Christians, the latter thereby becoming guilty of apostasy from the truth and from the true Church of Christ. These two dangers looming up before them, the elders of Ephesus should watch, be on their guard, exert constant vigilance, always remembering that Paul, for a space of three years, in round numbers, had not ceased night and day to admonish every single one of them with tears. His faithfulness should therefore serve as a continual incentive to them in the entire work of their responsible office. Note: To this day it is the Holy Ghost that gives to the congregations the teachers of the Gospel. For though He does not call immediately, yet He uses the congregations as His instruments and directs the affairs of His Church; therefore the congregations should also accept the pastors chosen by them in this spirit, and pledge them to teach and to watch, just as Paul here did the elders of Ephesus.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The blessed apostle having, in the former part of his farewell sermon to the elders of Ephesus, vindicated his own sincerity among them, both as to his doctrine and practice, and cleared himself by close addresses and smart appeals to their consciences; he now urges them in a rousing and heart-melting exhortation to the utmost care and dilgence in the exercise of their pastoral charge; and to take heed to themselves and the flock, to the whole flock which Christ had purchased with his blood, and the Holy Ghost had committed to his care, ver. 28. Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.

Here observe, A two-fold duty, and a three-fold motive to enforce that duty: the first duty is to take to themselves: the second is to take heed to all the flock.

The first part of a minister’s duty is to take heed to himself: Committe animam diligentibus suam, says St. Bernard: He that neglects his own soul, will never take a faithful care of the souls of others.

We must first look to ourselves, that our judgments be sound, our hearts holy, and our lives exemplary: we must take heed to ourselves, that we be fit for the employment which we undertake. This is not a burthen for a child’s shoulder; he that is himself a babe in knowledge, is altogether unfit to teach men the mysteries of salvation.

Take we heed that our example doth not contradict our doctrine, that our practice doth not give our profession the lie; that we do as well as teach; not preach angelical sermons, and lead diabolical lives; but securing that grace to ourselves which we offer unto others, and shunning that sin ourselves which we condemn in others; and this, because we have a depraved nature and vicious inclinations in us, as well as others, because we have a heaven to win, and a soul to save, as well as others; yea, when others have only their own souls to account for, we have not only our own, but others’ too; in a word because our sins do more dishonour God, discredit religion, more gratify the devil, more harden sinners, and have more of wilfulness in them, more perfidiousness in them, and more hypocrisy in them, than other men’s; and we shall certainly be adjudged by God to a double damnation for them.

Well, therefore might the apostle say to the Ephesian elders, take heed unto yourselves; next he adds, and to all the flock. That is, with a constant care and laborious diligence acquaint them with their duty, inform them of their danger, show them where their happiness lies, and the way and means for attaining of it; and, in order to this, all the flock must be known, that it may be heeded, and we must labour to be acquainted with the state of all our people as fully as we can; we must, as the apostles before us did, visit our people from house to house, that we may know their persons, know their inclinations, and know the manner of conversation; what sins they are most in danger of, what temptations they are most liable to, and what duties they neglect, either for the matter or manner of them; and give them the best encouragement, directions, and assistance, we are able.

This is the sum of the apostle’s exhortation to the elders of Ephesus; Take heed unto yourselves, and unto all the flock. The motives to enforce the duty follow; and they are,

1. Drawn from their office; they are overseers of the flock, that is, officers appointed by solemn ordination to teach, to guide, to govern the church’s committed to their care, and under their charge.

2. From the authority and excellency of him that called them to their office, the Holy Ghost. We read of some that were nominated by the special and immediate instinct of the Holy Ghost, as Act 1:24 and Act 13:2.

Others were ordained by the apostles, who were guided by the Holy Ghost then: and whoever is set apart to that office now, according to the rule of God’s word, may truly be said to be made an overseer by the Holy Ghost; Almighty God concurring to own and bless his own institution.

3. From the dear purchase which Christ paid for, and the tender regard he bears to, this his flock. Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his blood.

Where observe, The divinity of Christ asserted; he is expressly called God, in opposition to the Arians, and their unhappy spawn, the Socinians, who will allow him to be only man; but then his blood could never have purchased the church, which it is here said to do, being God and Man in one person: Man, that he might have blood to shed; and God, that his blood might be of infinite value,and inestimable preciousness when shed.

Observe also the force of the apostle’s argument: " If the church be thus dear to Christ, the chief Shepherd, she ought to be very dear to all under-shepherds; if Christ judged her salvation worth his blood, well may his ministers judge it worth their sweat."

4.From the danger which the church is in by seducers and false teachers, ver. 20. Grievous wolves will enter, not sparing the flock; and even from among yourselves shall arise heretics, who will vent their unsound doctrines to debauch men, first in their principles, and then in their practices: therefore take heed to all the flock.

Now, from the whole, note, 1. The church is Christ’s flock, consisting of sheep and lambs: Christ himself is the great and good Shepherd: his ministers, under-shepherds and overseers: bloody persecutors, heretical seducers, and false teachers, are wolves which worry and divide the flock.

Note, 2. That every flock should have its own pastor, and every pastor his own flock.

Note, 3. That the flock should be no greater ordinarily, than the overseers are capable of taking heed of.

Note, 4. That every overseer of Christ’s flock ought to take great heed, both to himself and to the whole flock, in all the parts of his pastoral work, particularly public preaching and private inspection.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock over whom the Holy Ghost has appointed you bishops, to feed the church of God, which he purchased through his own blood.” The word “bishop” here occurs in the Greek, episcopos from epi “over,” and skopeoo, “see.” Hence it means persons charged with the spiritual oversight of the Lord’s people. Nothing but God’s truth revealed in the Bible is soul pabulum. Consequently, millions this day are starving to death for the bread of life. The precious Word is bread, meat, milk, honey and all the luscious fruits of Canaan. The little sermonettes preached by the popular pastors have scarcely a scintillation of substantial gospel truth. Sick people nauseate food, and the dead have no use for it. The masses of popular churches consist of the dead, i. e., unsaved, and the sick, i. e., weak believers, who have never cut their spiritual teeth so as to eat solid food. Hence the preacher provides aromatics for the dead and sweet milk for the babies, having nobody on hand competent to eat the fatted calf, the bread and the delicious fruits of Canaan. In all this the preacher sustains an awful responsibility for not bringing to the dead the resurrection power and to the sick the healing efficacy of the infallible panacea, i. e., the Savior’s blood. I awfully fear Judas has a vast ministerial following gathering about him in the regions of woe.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28-35. Having thus eloquently expressed himself in reference to his past fidelity and his present devotion, he gives them a prophetic warning in reference to trials which yet awaited them, and places his own example minutely before them for imitation. (28) " Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers, to be shepherds to the Church of the Lord, which he has purchased through his own blood. (29) For I know this, that after my departure, fierce wolves will enter in among you, sparing the flock. (30) Also from among yourselves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. (31) Therefore, watch; remembering that by night and by day, for three years, I ceased not to warn each one with tears. (32) And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his favor, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all the sanctified. (33) I have coveted no man's gold, or silver, or apparel. (34) You yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. (35) In all things I have shown you, that so laboring, you should support the weak, and should remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. " It was a fearful responsibility which rested on the shoulders of these men, to watch as shepherds for the flock, and realize that only by fidelity like that of Paul, could they be free from the blood of them all. In leaving them to this work, he directs their thoughts to the only power sufficient to strengthen them to perform it, by commending them to God and to his Word, assuring them that the Word was able to build them up, and give them inheritance among the sanctified. This is another among many proofs which we have seen of the confidence of the apostles in the sufficiency and power of the word of God.

The closing admonition has reference to relief of the needy, and to the discharge of their duty, even if it were necessary for them to struggle hard to make their own bread and meat, remembering that it is more blessed to give than to receive. In this, also, he could appeal to his own example, saying, "You yourselves know that these hands," holding them out to them, "have ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me." Thus he warns and admonishes these elders, in a speech of inimitable pathos, which is recorded by Luke that it might bear the same lesson to elders of Churches everywhere, teaching that no less than apostolic zeal and self-sacrifice are expected of them.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28–31. Take heed. Here begin the special admonitions to the elders. To yourselves. Their own lives must be the first subject of watchfulness. No man can be so exalted that he does not need to watch and pray. The flock. The church, the fold of the Good Shepherd, of whom they were under-shepherds, or pastors. To feed the church. “On the sincere milk of the word, that it may grow thereby.” Grievous wolves. The figure of the flock is still kept up. The “grievous wolves” were false teachers, and the special reference is to the Judaizing teachers, who taught that the Gentile Christians must keep the Jewish law. Paul's ministry was a long battle with the schismatics. See 1 Tim. 1:3, 4, 20; 2 Tim. 1:15; 2:17; also 1. By turning to these references the names of some six of these “grievous wolves” will be found. Also in Rev. 2:6 we learn that there were false teachers at Ephesus.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Therefore

"Because what I have just said is true," referring to all that Paul has said so far in his speech about his leaving them.

the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be careful to shepherd the church of God

Believers are likened to a "flock" of sheep here. Church leaders are entrusted by God with the care of the community of believers just as a shepherd would care for his flock of sheep and protect them from wolves. AT: "the group of believers the Holy spirit has entrusted to you. Be sure to take care of the church of God" (See: Metaphor)

the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood

The shedding of the "blood" of Christ here is likened to a payment to God for our sins. AT: "the people Christ saved from their sins by shedding his blood on the cross" (See: Metaphor)

his own blood

Here "blood" stands for Christ's death. (See: Metonymy)

vicious wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock

This is a picture of people who teach false doctrine and who harm the community of believers as though they were wolves that eat the sheep of the flock. AT: "many enemies will come among you and try to harm the community of believers" (See: Metaphor)

in order to draw away the disciples after them

A false teacher convincing believers to start believing his false teaching is spoken of as if he were leading sheep away from the flock to follow him. AT: "in order to convince people who are disciples of Christ to become his disciples instead" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

flocks

Holy Spirit

oversee

shepherd

church

God

blood

wolf

corrupt

disciple

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

28. κυρίου for θεοῦ with ACDE. Vulg. has ‘Dei.’

28. προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς, take heed to yourselves. On the construction see on chap. Act 5:35, Act 8:6. The Apostle now resigns into their hands a charge which before had been his own, and the form of his language would remind them that the discharge of their duty after his example would be the means of saving both themselves and those over whom they were placed.

καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ, and to all the flock. The Apostle commits to them, as Christ had at first done to St Peter, the charge to feed both lambs and sheep. This must be in the name and with the word of the ‘Good Shepherd’ Himself.

ἐπισκόπους, overseers. Above they are called πρεσβύτεροι (Act 20:17), and here the R.V. renders ‘bishops.’ We have no information how these ‘elders’ had been chosen or appointed, but we can see from this verse that there had been some solemn setting apart of the men for their office. The Church, as in Act 13:2, had recognised some indication that they were to be placed over the Church. By reminding them from whence their appointment came, St Paul would enforce on them the solemnity of their position. Though they be ‘in the flock’ they are not as others, more has been given unto them, and so more will be required. Cf. ‘Teaching of the Twelve Apostles’ § 15.

ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ κυρίου, to feed the Church of the Lord Perhaps no text in the N.T. has been so much discussed as this Many ancient authorities read θεοῦ instead of κυρίου, and this has been claimed as a direct testimony to the Divinity of our Lord. That doctrine does not stand or fall by this verse. The whole subject has been discussed fully by the late Dr Ezra Abbott of Harvard University who decides in favour of κυρίου (see Bibliotheca Sacra for 1876). Westcott and Hort on the contrary think θεοῦ assuredly genuine. One difficulty which arises if θεοῦ be read is that from what follows there must be implied the use of some phrase like ‘the blood of God’ which is only found in the Epistles of Ignatius, and is unlike N.T. language. Some have found support for θεοῦ in the peculiar collocation of the words which follow, διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίον. Some special force is thought to lie in ἰδίου thus placed, and that it must be taken in the sense of ‘through the blood that was His own,’ i.e. because it was His Son’s. Another suggestion which would make all easy, is that after τοῦ ἰδίου the word υἱοῦ fell out in very early times anterior to all our MSS. Lachmann, Tischendorf and Tregelles declare in favour of κυρίου.

ἣν περιεποιήσατο, which He purchased. The verb conveys the idea of making anything peculiarly one’s own.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. προσέχ. ἑαυτοῖς] If we might venture to trace the hand of Luke in the speech, it would be perhaps in this phrase: which occurs only as in reff.

τ. ποιμνίῳ] This similitude does not elsewhere occur in Paul’s writings. We find it (reff.) where we should naturally expect it, used by him to whom it was said, ‘Feed my sheep.’ But it is common in the O. T. and sanctioned by the example of our Lord Himself.

τὸ πν. τ. ἅγ.] See ch. 13:2

ἔθετο] So Paul, reff. 1 Cor.

ἐπισκόπους] See on ver. 17, and Theodoret on Php 1:1, ἐπισκόπους τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καλεῖ· ἀμφότερα γὰρ εἶχον κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν τὰ ὀνόματα (Olsh.).

The question between θεοῦ and κυρίου rests principally on internal evidence—which of the two is likely to have been the original reading. The manuscript authority, now that it is certain that has θεοῦ a prima manu, as also , is weighty on both sides. The early patristic authority for the expression αἷμα θεοῦ is considerable. Ignat. Eph_1, p. 644, has ἀναζωπυρήσαντες ἐν αἵματι θεοῦ. Tertull. ad Uxor. ii. 3, vol. i., p. 1293, “pretio empti, et quali pretio? sanguine Dei.” Alex., ‘Quis dives salvus,’ c. 34, vol. ii., p. 344, has δυνάμει θεοῦ πατρός, κ. αἵματι θεοῦ παιδός, κ. δρόσῳ πνεύματος ἁγίου. On the other hand Athanasius (contra Apol. ii. 14, vol. ii., p. 758) says, οὐδαμοῦ δὲ αἶμα θεοῦ δίχα σαρκὸς παραδεδώκασιν αἱ γραφαί, ἢ θεὸν δίχα σαρκὸς παθόντα ἢ ἀναστάντα. In attempting to decide between the two readings, the following alternatives and considerations may be put: (I.) if κυρίου was the original, it is very possible (1) that some busy scribe may have written at the side, as so often occurs, θεοῦ. This having been once done, the interests of orthodoxy would perpetuate the gloss, and by degrees it would be adopted into the text and supersede the original word, or become combined with it, as is actually the case in and a vast body of mss. Or, continuing supposition I., it may have been (2) that the expression ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ κυρίου, not found any where else, may have been corrected into the very usual one, ἐκκλ. (τοῦ) θεοῦ, which occurs eleven times in the Epistles of Paul. Or (3), which I consider exceedingly improbable (see below), the alteration may have been made solely in the interest of orthodoxy. Such are possible, and the two former not improbable, contingencies.

On the other hand (II.) if θεοῦ was the original, but one reason can be given why it should have been altered to κυρίου, and that one was sure to have operated. It would stand as a bulwark against Arianism, an assertion which no skill could evade, which must therefore be modified. If θεοῦ stood in the text originally, it was sure to be altered to κυοίου. The converse was not sure, nor indeed likely, from similar reasons, the passage offering no stumbling-block to orthodoxy. (III.) Pauline usage must be allowed its fair weight in the enquiry. It must be remembered that we are in the midst of a speech, which is (as observed in the Prolegg. to Acts, § ii. 17 a) a complete storehouse of Pauline words and expressions. Is it per se probable, that he should use an expression which no where else occurs in his writings, nor indeed in those of his contemporaries? Is it more probable, that the early scribes should have altered an unusual expression for an usual one, or that a writer so constant to his own phrases should here have remained so? Besides,—in most of the places where Paul uses ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ, it is in a manner precisely similar to this,—as the consummation of a climax, or in a position of peculiar solemnity, cf. 1Co 10:32; 1Co 15:9; Gal 1:13; 1Ti 3:5, 1Ti 3:15: and, cæteris paribus, I submit that the present passage loses by the substitution of κυρίου the peculiar emphasis which its structure and context seem to require in the genitive, introduced as it is by προσέχετε … ποιμαίνειν, and followed by the intensifying clause ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου. (IV.) On the whole then, weighing the evidence on both sides,—seeing that it is more likely that the alteration should have been to κυρίου than to θεοῦ,—more likely that the speaker should have used θεοῦ than κυρίου, and more consonant to the evidently emphatic position of the word, I have decided for the rec. reading, which in Edd. 1, 2 I had rejected. And this decision is confirmed by observing the habits of the great mss. respecting the sacred names. It appears that B has no bias for θεός where the others have κύριος: we find it thus reading in Luk 2:38 (so 1א); ch. 16:10 (so א); 17:27 (so AHLא); 21:20 (so ACELא); Col 3:16 (so AC1D1Fא); while on the other hand it has κ̅υ̅ ι̅υ̅ in Rom 15:32, where the others have θ̅υ̅ or χ̅υ̅ ι̅υ̅; χ̅υ̅ in Eph 5:21, where rec. has θ̅υ̅; κ̅υ̅ in ch. 8:22, with ACDEא, where rec. and the mss. have θ̅υ̅: similarly in ch. 10:33, and 15:40: in Rom 10:17 χ̅υ̅, with CD1א1, for θ̅υ̅: 14: 4, κ̅ς̅ with AC1א, for θ̅ς̅. This evidence seems to remove further off the chance of deliberate alteration here to θεοῦ, and leaves the above considerations their full weight. (V.) Of course any reading which combines the two, κυρίου and θεοῦ, is by the very first principles of textual criticism inadmissible. (VI.) The principal names on either side are—for the rec. θεοῦ, Mill, Wolf, Bengel, Matthäi, Scholz: for κυρίου, Grotius, Le Clerc, Wetst., Griesb., Kuin., De Wette, Meyer, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles.

περιεπ.] Luke and Paul (in pastoral Epp. only), see reff.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To yourselves and to all the flock. To yourselves first, that you may duly care for the flock. Compare 1Ti 4:16.

Overseers [επισκοπους] . 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 [ποιμαινειν] . See on Mt 2:6. The word embraces more than feeding; signifying all that is included in the office of a shepherd : tending, or shepherding.

Purchased [περιεποιησατο] . Only here and 1Ti 3:13. See on peculiar people, 1Pe 2:9. The verb means, originally, to make [ποιεω] to remain over and above [περι] : hence to keep or save for one's self; to compass or acquire.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.