Matthew 18:12

Verse Matthew 18:12. 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, c. This latter reading appears to me to be the best because, in Luke 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.

Leaving the ninety and nine, and seeking the ONE strayed sheep: - This was a very common form of speech among the Jews, and includes no mystery, though there are some who imagine that our Lord refers to the angels who kept not their first estate, and that they are in number, to men, as NINETY are to ONE. But it is likely that our Lord in this place only alludes to his constant solicitude to instruct, heal, and save those simple people of the sea coasts, country villages, c., who were scattered abroad, as sheep without a shepherd, (Matthew 9:36,) the scribes and Pharisees paying no attention to their present or eternal well-being. This may be also considered as a lesson of instruction and comfort to backsliders. How hardly does Christ give them up!