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JOHN 10:5 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 10:4John 10:6
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice — the sheep's instinctive rejection of false voices emphasizes the spiritual discernment of those who truly belong to God's flock. The Greek word for 'stranger' (allotrios) suggests someone foreign to the flock, without legitimate relationship to it. This verse warns against the danger of deception and emphasizes that authentic spiritual community is built on genuine relationship and voice recognition, not on charisma or claims of authority.

Church Fathers on John 10:5

Our Lord having reproached the Jews with blindness, they might have said, We are not blind, but we avoid you as a deceiver. Our Lord therefore gives the marks which distinguish a robber and deceiver from a true shepherd. First come those of the deceiver and robber: Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. There is an allusion here to Antichrist, and to certain false Christs…

Chrysostom · 4th century

Many go under the name of good men according to the standard of the world, and observe in some sort the commandments of the Law, who yet are not Christians. And these generally boast of themselves, as the Pharisees did; Are we blind also? But inasmuch as all that they do they do foolishly, without knowing to what end it tends, our Lord said of them, Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a…

Augustine · 4th century · Or thus

Or, the Holy Spirit is the porter, by whom the Scriptures are unlocked, and reveal the truth to us.

Theophylact · 11th century
Read all 17 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 10:5 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy