Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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.

Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament

On his shoulders (επι τους ωμους αυτου — epi tous ōmous autou). He does it himself in exuberant affection and of necessity as the poor lost sheep is helpless. Note the plural shoulders showing that the sheep was just back of the shepherd‘s neck and drawn around by both hands. The word for shoulder (ωμος — ōmos) is old and common, but in the N.T. only here and Matthew 23:4.

Vincent's Word Studies

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, moulded 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 Sotterranea”). A beautiful specimen is found in the mausoleum of Galls 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

The Fourfold Gospel

1. And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. A touch suggesting the weakness of the sheep and the willing affection of the shepherd.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

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

Ver. 5. See Matthew 18:13.

Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary

5.] Not mere self-interest, but love comes forward here: see Isaiah 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, Matthew 9:36; Matthew 11:28.

Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament

Luke 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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

See Poole on "Luke 15:4"

Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of Holy Scripture

возьмет ее на плечи свои Пример любящего пастыря. Ср. Ин. 10:11; Пс. 23:1.

с радостью Самой характерной особенностью всех трех притчей является радость о возвращении потерянного (ст. 7, 10, 32).

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

“And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”

Note that in this narrating of the parable success is assumed. It is not ‘if’ He finds it, but ‘when’ He finds it (contrast Matthew 18:13, which demonstrates that the parable there was given on a different occasion. The emphasis of the parable would vary depending on the emphasis Jesus wished to lay). This carrying of the sheep on his shoulders would be normal practise for a shepherd. The sheep would be exhausted, and the shepherd triumphant and rejoicing (compare Isaiah 40:11).

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

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.

Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Luke 15:5. Each one of his lord’s debtors. The debtors were scarcely tenants or contractors, but more probably men who had bought and not yet paid for certain stores belonging to the rich man.

Said to the first. We have two examples of what happened in each case.

The Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 15:5_{. , 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 (}Matthew 9:36_{, cf. “when we were without strength,”} Romans 5:6_{).— : 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}Zechariah 11:16_{, margin).}

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

when he hath found it = having found it. In Matt., "If so be that he find it. "For the reason, see note on Luke 15:3.

on. Greek. epi. App-104.

his shoulders = his own shoulders; not those of another.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

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

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(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.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

when

19:9; 23:43; Isaiah 62:12; John 4:34,35; Acts 9:1-16; Romans 10:20,21; Ephesians 2:3-6; Titus 3:3-7

he layeth

Isaiah 40:10,11; 46:3,4; 63:9; Micah 5:4; Ephesians 1:19,20; 2:10; 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:26; 1 Peter 1:5

rejoicing

23,24,32; Isaiah 53:10,11; 62:5; Jeremiah 32:41,42; Ezekiel 18:23; 33:11; Micah 7:18; Zephaniah 3:17; John 15:11; Hebrews 12:2