Matthew 18:12

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

▾

KJV

How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

ASV

How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray?

YLT

`What think ye? if a man may have an hundred sheep, and there may go astray one of them, doth he not--having left the ninety-nine, having gone on the mountains--seek that which is gone astray?

DBT

What think ye? If a certain man should have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not, leaving the ninety and nine on the mountains, go and seek the one that has gone astray?

⋯

Commentary voices

loading…

Voices5

On this verse

(Vers. 12, 13.) What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine in the mountains, and goeth to seek that which is gone astray? And if it so be that he findeth it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that than for the ninety and nine that went not astray.

Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420patristic

Related commentary

How think ye,.... Or, as the Arabic, "what do you think?" what is your opinion of this matter? what is your sense of it? how does it appear to you? It is a Talmudic way of speaking, the same with מה א־תאם סבורין "what do you think?" what is your judgment? So the Rabbins, after they have discussed a point among themselves, ask (k), מאי סבירא לן, "what is our opinion?" or what do we think upon the whole?

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains - So our common translation reads the verse; others, Doth he not leave the ninety and nine Upon The Mountains, and go, etc. This latter reading appears to me to be the best; because, in Luk 15:4, it is said, he leaveth the ninety and nine In The Desert. The allusion, therefore, is to a shepherd feeding his sheep on the mountains, in the desert; not seeking the lost one On the mountains.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

Observe the gradation of the argument; the angels of God are their servants, the Son of God is their Saviour, and, to complete their honour, God himself is their Friend.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

To the state of fallen man in general; he is strayed like a lost sheep, the angels that stood were as the ninety-nine that never went astray; wandering man is sought upon the mountains, which Christ, in great fatigue, traversed in pursuit of him, and he is found; which is a matter of joy. Greater joy there is in heaven for returning sinners than for remaining angels.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Voices on this verse

loading…

Rabbinic commentary

How the Hebraic tradition has read this verse — and Marcus Brown’s own reading of it.

Cross-references

21 linked verses

The verses this one reaches12

1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Ezekiel 34:12
As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.
Luke 15:4–7
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
Ezekiel 34:16
I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’
Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
Ezekiel 34:28
They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them.
Isaiah 53:6
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
Ezekiel 34:6
My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’
Psalms 119:176
I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
John 10:11–21
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Matthew 12:11
He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
Jeremiah 50:6
My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.

9 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

Cross-references

loading…

The quotation web

loading…

More cross-references9 further linked verses, grouped by book▾ open

Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.

Deuteronomy1

Deuteronomy 22:1If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it;…

1 Kings1

1 Kings 21:17Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

Isaiah1

Isaiah 27:12In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi…

Ezekiel1

Ezekiel 34:4You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought…

Daniel1

Daniel 2:18urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery,…

Matthew2

Luke1

Luke 12:32Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you…

1 Corinthians1

1 Corinthians 10:15I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.

Cross-references are drawn from classic Bible study tools and open, shareable Bible data.

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Isaiah 53:6
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
leads to
- 1 Peter 2:25
  For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- 1 Peter 3:18
  For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Psalms 119:176
  I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
- Isaiah 55:7
  Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
- Romans 4:25
  He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.
Through
Ezekiel 34:16
I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’
leads to
- Luke 19:10
  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Ezekiel 34:4
  You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.
- Ezekiel 34:11
  For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

loading…

Continue: Matthew 18 →