Luke 15:5

Luk 15:5. Ἑαυτοῦ, His own shoulders) He might have employed the agency of His servant; but love and joy render the exertion to Himself sweet and delightful.

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

Luk 15:5 . ἐπιτίθησιν , etc., he places the found one on his shoulders; not in affection merely or in the exuberance of his joy, but from necessity. He must carry the sheep. It cannot walk, can only “stand where it stands and lie where it lies” (Koetsveld). This feature, probable in natural life, is true to the spiritual. Such was the condition of the mass of Jews in Christ’s time (Mat 9:36 , cf. “when we were without strength,” Rom 5:6 ). χαίρων : the carrying necessary, but not done with a grudge, rather gladly; not merely for love of the beast, but in joy that a thing lost has been found , making the burden, in spite of the long way, light. He is a very poor shepherd that does not bear the sheep that stands still, unable to walk ( vide Zec 11:16 , margin).

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

(5) And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders.—Here again we have a three-fold series of parallel applications: the love of Jesus for each wandering sheep, bearing and sustaining it in its weakness; the love which led Him to take upon Him our nature, and to bear its infirmities; the love which leads those in whom the mind of Christ is formed to follow in His footsteps, and to act as He acted.

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

5. he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing] Literally, “his own shoulders.” All anger against the folly of the wanderer is swallowed up in love, and joy at its recovery. “He bare our sins in His own body,” 1Pe_2:24. We have the same metaphor in the Psalm of the shepherd king (Psa_119:176; comp. Isa_53:6; Joh_10:11), and in the letter of the Apostle, to whom had been addressed the words, “Feed my sheep,” 1Pe_2:25. This verse supplied a favourite subject for the simple and joyous art of the catacombs. Tert. De Pudic. 7. See Lundy, Monumental Christianity, pp. 150 sqq.

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.

And when he hath found it,.... In a sad plight and condition: so Christ finds his sheep in a most desolate one, in a pit, in the mire and clay of nature; in the paw of the roaring lion, Satan; helpless, hopeless, wretched, miserable, and naked; and not only starving, famishing, and dying, but even dead in trespasses and sins: and finding them with respect to redemption, designs his procuring eternal salvation for them; and with regard to calling, his laying hold upon them by his Spirit and grace, and bringing them to a sense of themselves, and to the knowledge of himself. There are several things which Christ does to his sheep when he has found them, which are not here expressed, but understood: finding them dead in sin he speaks life into them; he calls them by name, and asserts his property in them; he takes them out of the pit of nature; he rescues them out of the hands of Satan; he washes them from their filthiness, and heals all their diseases; he feeds and refreshes them; he covers them with his robe of righteousness; he beautifies and adorns them, and brings them home in the manner after described:

he layeth it on his shoulders; he does not put them on their own legs to go alone; nor does he lead them, and much less drive them before him; but he takes them up in his arms, and lays them on his shoulders: which shows the passiveness of men in conversion, and their weakness and impotency to any thing that is spiritually good of themselves; they cannot think a good thought, nor do a good action, and still less begin and carry on the work of grace in their hearts; as also the strength of Christ in bearing and carrying them, as he does, through all afflictions, temptations, and difficulties, safe to glory; and likewise his great love and affection for them; he loved them before the world began, and he showed it in dying for them, and manifests it to them, when he calls them by grace; and this also expresses the safety of his sheep; for being on him, they are in no danger from the law and justice of God; nor from Satan, or any other enemy; nor of a final and total falling away: and moreover this signifies the spiritual ease and rest which such have in Christ: the manner in which Christ the shepherd carries them, having found them, and laid them on his shoulders, is

rejoicing: not upbraiding them with going astray; nor complaining of, or groaning under the burden; but rejoicing in a kind of triumph, and carrying them as a trophy of victory, and a spoil obtained.

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

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

Ver. 5. See Mat 18:13.

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.

5. He layeth it on his shoulders—The shepherd of the East at the present day is often seen bearing upon his shoulder the forlorn sheep that is too weak to be driven. It furnishes a beautiful image of the tenderness of the Redeemer to the soul of the penitent, which he is saving from its lost condition.

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

5. ἐπιτίθησιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους αὐτοῦ χαίρων. The Received text has ἑαυτοῦ, ‘his own shoulders.’ All anger against the folly of the wanderer is swallowed up in love, and joy at its recovery. “He bare our sins in His own body,” 1Pe 2:24. We have the same metaphor in the Psalm of the shepherd king (Psa 119:176; comp. Isa 53:6; Joh 10:11), and in the letter of the Apostle to whom had been addressed the words, “Feed my sheep,” 1Pe 2:25. This verse supplied a favourite subject for the simple and joyous art of the catacombs. Tert. De Pudic. 7. See Lundy, Monumental Christianity, pp. 150 sq.

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.

5.] Not mere self-interest, but love comes forward here: see Isa 40:11. No blows are given for the straying—no hard words; mercy to the lost one,—and joy within himself,—are the Shepherd’s feeling; the sheep is weary with long wanderings,—He gives it rest, Mat 9:36; Mat 11:28.

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

5. ἐπιτίθησιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους αὐτοῦ. This also is peculiar to Lk. The owner does not drive it back, nor lead it back, nor have it carried: he carries it himself. Comp. Isa_40:1l, 49:22, 60:4, 66:12. In LXX ὦμος is common; in N.T. only here and Mat 23:4.

χαίρων. There is no upbraiding of the wandering sheep, nor murmuring at the trouble. Comp. the use of χαίρων, 19:6; Act 8:39.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When he hath found it. Matthew, If so be that he find it.

On his shoulders. Lit., his own shoulders. "He might have employed a servant 's aid, but love and joy make the labor sweet to himself" (Bengel). the "Good Shepherd" is a favorite subject in early Christian art. " We cannot go through any part of the catacombs, or turn over the pages of any collection of ancient Christian monuments, without coming across it again and again. We know from Tertullian that it was often designed upon chalices. We find it ourselves painted in fresco upon the roofs and walls of the sepulchral chambers; rudely scratched upon gravestones, or more carefully sculptured on sarcophagi; traced in gold upon glass, molded on lamps, engraved on rings; and, in a word, represented on every species of Christian monument that has come down to us.... It was selected because it expressed the whole sum and substance of the Christian dispensation.... He is sometimes represented alone with his flock; at other times accompanied by his apostles, each attended by one or more sheep.

Sometimes he stands amidst many sheep; sometimes he caresses one only; but most commonly - so commonly as almost to form a rule to which other scenes might be considered the exceptions - he bears a lost sheep, or even a goat, upon his shoulders "(Northcote and Brownlow," Roma Sotteranea "). A beautiful specimen is found in the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, at Ravenna, erected about 450 A. D. It is a mosaic in green and gold. The figure is a beautiful one, youthful in face and form, as is usual in the early mosaics, and surrounded by his sheep. Facing this appears, over the altar, the form of Christ seated beside a kind of furnace, on the other side of which stands a little open bookcase. He is engaged in casting heretical books into the fire. Are they, indeed, the same - the Shepherd Christ of the Gospels, and the polemic Christ of the ecclesiastics?

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