John 10 · Verse 3

John 10:3

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

John 10:3, King James Version

John 10:3 in other translations

BSB	The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
WEB	The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
ASV	To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
YLT	to this one the doorkeeper doth open, and the sheep hear his voice, and his own sheep he doth call by name, and doth lead them forth;
DARBY	To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
BBE	The porter lets him in; and the sheep give ear to his voice; he says over the names of the sheep, and takes them out.
Webster	To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

What does John 10:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

3. To him the porter openeth--that is, right of free access is given, by order of Him to whom the sheep belong; for it is better not to give the allusion a more specific interpretation [Calvin, Meyer, Luthardt]. and the sheep hear his voice--This and all that follows, though it admits of important application to every faithful shepherd of God's flock, is in its direct and highest sense true only of "the great Shepherd of the sheep," who in the first five verses seems plainly, under the simple character of a true shepherd, to be drawing His own portrait [Lampe, Stier, &c.].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 3. To him the porter openeth. The porter is the doorkeeper. It seems that the more wealthy Jews who owned flocks employed some person to take charge of the flock. At first all shepherds attended their flocks personally by day and by night, and this continued to be commonly the practice, but not always.

The sheep hear his voice. The voice of the shepherd. A flock will readily discern the well-known voice of one who is accustomed to attend them. The meaning is, that the people of God will be found disposed to listen to the instructions of those who are appointed by Christ, who preach his pure doctrines, and who show a real love for the church of God. There is scarcely any better test of fidelity in the pastoral office than the approbation of the humble and obscure people of God, when they discern in the preacher the very manner and spirit of the doctrines of the Bible.

He calleth his own sheep by name. It was customary, and is still, we are told by travellers, for shepherds to give particular names to their sheep, by which they soon learned to regard the voice of the shepherd. By this our Saviour indicates, doubtless, that it is the duty of a minister of religion to seek an intimate and personal acquaintance with the people of his charge; to feel an interest in them as individuals, and not merely to address them together; to learn their private wants; to meet them in their individual trials, and to administer to them personally the consolations of the gospel.

Leadeth them out. He leads them from the fold to pasture or to water. Perhaps there is here intended the care of a faithful pastor to provide suitable instruction for the people of his charge, and to feed them with the bread of life. See a beautiful and touching description of the care of the Great Shepherd in Ps 23:1-6.

(c) "To him" Rev 3:20 (d) "calleth his own sheep" Eze 34:11, Rom 8:30 (e) "leadeth them out" Eze 34:11, Rom 8:30

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 3 To him the porter openeth - Sir Isaac Newton observes that our Lord being near the temple, where sheep were kept in folds to be sold for sacrifices, spoke many things parabolically of sheep, of their shepherds, and of the door to the sheepfold; and discovers that he alluded to the sheepfolds which were to be hired in the market place, by speaking of such folds as a thief could not enter by the door, nor the shepherd himself open, but a porter opened to the shepherd. In the porter opening the door to the true shepherd, we may discover the second mark of a true minister - his labor is crowned with success. The Holy Spirit opens his way into the hearts of his hearers, and he becomes the instrument of their salvation. See Col 4:3; 2Cor 2:12; 1Cor 16:9; Rev 3:8. The sheep hear his voice - A third mark of a good shepherd is that he speaks so as to instruct the people - the sheep hear His voice; he does not take the fat and the fleece, and leave another hireling on less pay to do the work of the pastoral office. No: himself preaches Christ Jesus the Lord, and in that simplicity too, that is best calculated to instruct the common people. A man who preaches in such a language as the people cannot comprehend may do for a stage-player or a mountebank, but not for a minister of Christ. He calleth his own sheep by name - A fourth mark of a good pastor is that he is well acquainted with his flock; he knows them by name - he takes care to acquaint himself with the spiritual states of all those that are entrusted to him. He speaks to them concerning their souls, and thus getting a thorough knowledge of their state he is the better qualified to profit them by his public ministrations. He who has not a proper acquaintance with the Church of Christ, can never by his preaching build it up in its most holy faith. And leadeth them out - A fifth mark of a good shepherd is, he leads the flock, does not lord it over God's heritage; nor attempts by any rigorous discipline not founded on the Gospel of Christ, to drive men into the way of life; nor drive them out of it, which many do, by a severity which is a disgrace to the mild Gospel of the God of peace and love. He leads them out of themselves to Christ, out of the follies, diversions, and amusements of the world, into the path of Christian holiness: in a word, he leads them, by those gentle yet powerful persuasions that flow from a heart full of the word and love of Christ, into the kingdom and glory of his God.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 10:1-5

Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of the East, in the management of sheep. Men, as creatures depending on their Creator, are called the sheep of his pasture. The church of God in the world is as a sheep-fold, exposed to deceivers and persecutors. The great Shepherd of the sheep knows all that are his, guards them by his providence, guides them by his Spirit and word, and goes before them, as…

Read the full comment on John 10:1-5 →

John 10:3 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

τούτῳtoutōTo himG3778

ὁhotheG3588

θυρωρὸςthurōrosdoorkeeperG2377

ἀνοίγει,anoigeiopens,G455

καὶkaiandG2532

τὰtatheG3588

πρόβαταprobatasheepG4263

τῆςtēsto theG3588

φωνῆςphōnēsvoiceG5456

αὐτοῦautouof himG846

ἀκούει,akoueilisten,G191

καὶkaiandG2532

τὰta<the>G3588

ἴδιαidia[his] ownG2398

πρόβαταprobatasheepG4263

φωνεῖphōneihe shouts toG5455

κατ᾽kat᾽byG2596

ὄνομαonomanameG3686

καὶkaiandG2532

ἐξάγειexageileads outG1806

αὐτά.autathem.G846

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for John 10:3

Ezekiel 34:11-16
For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. …
2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
John 10:16
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
John 10:14
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Psalms 78:52-53
But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
John 10:26-27
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Romans 8:30
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Exodus 33:17
And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
Isaiah 42:16
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
Psalms 23:2-3
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the porter.
Isa 53:10-12; 1Co 16:9; Col 4:3; 1Pe 1:12; Re 3:7,8,20
the sheep.
4,16,26,27; 6:37,45; So 8:13
and he.
14,27; Ex 33:17; Ro 8:30; Php 4:3; 2Ti 2:19; Re 20:15
and leadeth.
Ps 23:2,3; 78:52,53; 80:1; Isa 40:11; 42:16; 49:9,10; Jer 31:8,9
Jer 50:4-6; Eze 34:11-16; Re 7:17

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

John 10:2
But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
John 10:3
To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

Read all of John 10

John 10:3 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	A éste abre el portero, y las ovejas oyen su voz: y á sus ovejas llama por nombre, y las saca.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	À celui-ci le portier ouvre; et les brebis écoutent sa voix; et il appelle ses propres brebis par leur nom, et les mène dehors.
German Elberfelder 1871	Diesem tut der Türhüter auf, und die Schafe hören seine Stimme, und er ruft seine eigenen Schafe mit Namen und führt sie heraus.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Huic ostiarius aperit, et oves vocem ejus audiunt, et proprias oves vocat nominatim, et educit eas.