Charles Ellicott Commentary John 10:4

"When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice." — John 10:4 (ASV)

And when he putteth forth his own sheep.—The majority of the better manuscripts add the word “all.” The tense is past. We should read, therefore, when he has put forth all his own sheep. The addition is important as marking the care of the shepherd to count his flock and see that none is missing.

The phrase “put forth” is stronger than “lead out” from the previous verse and represents the details of the action as it took place in the sheepfold. The shepherd would call each sheep by name, and when it answered to its name, he would drag it outside the fold. Though it knew its shepherd, it would be unwilling to separate itself from the whole flock. One by one, then, he calls his sheep and places them outside the fold.

He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.—This is one of the incidents in the management of an Eastern flock, which strikes all who see it for the first time and is abundantly illustrated in books of Eastern travel. The details are given here with minute accuracy. When the last sheep has been brought out, the shepherd places himself at their head, and the flock follows him together.

For they know his voice.—The word is stronger than the one in John 10:3, and the sheep hear his voice. It expresses the familiar knowledge that the little flock has of the voice of their own shepherd who leads them day by day.