Charles Ellicott Commentary 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 (ASV)

The reference in Luke 10:3 to the wolves among whom they would be as lambs, sheds light on John 10:12. He who would lay down His life for them would expose them to the wolves because He, as the Good Shepherd, would save them from the wolf.

The phrase And it was at Jerusalem is better rendered as And the Feast of the Dedication was being held at Jerusalem. Although St. John gives no hint that our Lord had left the vicinity of Jerusalem, this specific mention of the city implies a return from a distance, because the words would be out of place if He had remained there during the interval since John 10:21. They cannot be restricted to the feast, which was not confined to Jerusalem but was universally observed by the Jews.

The reference in the margin warns us against the error of understanding “the Feast of the Dedication” as a feast in honour of the dedication of Solomon’s or Zerubbabel’s temple. We know of no annual festival connected with these dedications, and the statement that this feast was “in the winter” makes it almost certain that it was the feast instituted in 164 B.C. by Judas Maccabeus, in commemoration of the cleansing of the Temple after its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes .

It extended over eight days, beginning on the 25th of the month Kisleu, which corresponds to parts of our November and December. It is still called “Chanuca,” the Dedication, while St. John’s Greek name for it, which was adopted by the Vulgate (Encœnia), is familiar to English ears in connection with another commemoration.

In this, as in other rejoicings, illumination was a prominent feature, and it was sometimes called the “Feast of Lights.” The Temple and private houses were illuminated. It was customary in the houses of the more wealthy and pious Jews to have a light for each member of the family, increasing by an additional light for each evening of the feast.

This practice of illumination has sometimes been traced to the discovery in the temple by the Maccabees of a vial of oil, sealed with the high priest’s ring. This oil, it is said, was sufficient for the lamps for only one evening but was miraculously multiplied to suffice for eight evenings. This is why the eight evenings were therefore devoted to annual illuminations in remembrance of this gift of God (Talmud, Shabbath 216).

The phrase And it was winter is better rendered as It was winter. These words should then be connected with the following verse, as the current division breaks the sense.