Matthew 25:32 · Clearspring

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Other translations

WEBBE

Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

BSB

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

KJV

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

ASV

and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats;

BBE

And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper.

Original Greek

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καὶ kai And G2532 συναχθήσονται sunachthēsontai they will be gathered G4863 ἔμπροσθεν emprosthen before G1715 αὐτοῦ autou Him G846 πάντα panta all G3956 τὰ ta the G3588 ἔθνη ethnē nations G1484 καὶ kai and G2532 ἀφορίσει aphorisei He will separate G873 αὐτοὺς autous them G846 ἀπ ap᾽ from G575 ἀλλήλων allēlōn one another G240 ὥσπερ hōsper as G5618 ὁ ho the G3588 ποιμὴν poimēn shepherd G4166 ἀφορίζει aphorizei separates G873 τὰ ta the G3588 πρόβατα probata sheep G4263 ἀπὸ apo from G575 τῶν tōn the G3588 ἐρίφων eriphōn goats G2056

The early church

All 6

Or, we need not understand this of a local gathering together, but that the nations shall be no more dispersed in divers and false dogmas concerning Him. For Christ's divinity shall be manifested so that not even sinners shall any longer be ignorant of Him. He shall not then show Himself as Son of God in one place and not in another; as He sought to express to us by the comparison of the lightning. So as long as the wicked know neither themselves nor Christ, or the righteous see through a glass darkly, (1 Cor. 13:12.) so long the good are not severed from the evil, but when by the manifestation of the Son of God all shall come to the knowledge of Him, then shall the Saviour sever the good from the evil; for then shall sinners see their sins, and the righteous shall see clearly to what end the seeds of righteousness in them have led. They that are saved are called sheep by reason of that mildness which they have learnt of Him who said, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly, (Mat. 11:29.) and because they are ready to go even to death in imitation of Christ, who was led as a sheep to the slaughter. (Isa. 53:7.) The wicked, are called goats, because they climb rough and rugged rocks, and walk in dangerous places.

Origen of Alexandria · d. 253Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

And everything will help to render that day fearful. Then, "shall be gathered together," He saith, "all nations," that is, the whole race of men. "And He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd his sheep." For now they are not separated, but all mingled together, but the division then shall be made with all exactness. And for a while it is by their place that He divides them, and makes them manifest; afterwards by the names He indicates the dispositions of each, calling the one kids, the other sheep, that He might indicate the unfruitfulness of the one, for no fruit will come from kids; and the great profit from the other, for indeed from sheep great is the profit, as well from the milk, as from the wool, and from the young, of all which things the kid is destitute. But while the brutes have from nature their unfruitfulness, and fruitfulness, these have it from choice, wherefore some are punished, and the others crowned.

John Chrysostom · d. 407Homilies on Matthew

Also the goat is a salacious animal, and was the offering for sins in the Law; and He says not 'she goats' which can produce young, and come up shorn from the washing. (Song of Solomon 4:2.)

Jerome · d. 420Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

(de Civ. Dei, xx. 24.) This gathering shall be executed by the ministry of Angels, as it is said in the Psalm, Gather to him his saints. (Ps. 50:5.)

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

And all nations shall be gathered before Him. These words prove that the resurrection of men shall be real.

Remigius of Rheims · d. 533Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 31–46

This is a description of the last judgment. It is as an explanation of the former parables. There is a judgment to come, in which every man shall be sentenced to a state of everlasting happiness, or misery. Christ shall come, not only in the glory of his Father, but in his own glory, as Mediator. The wicked and godly here dwell together, in the same cities, churches, families, and are not always to be known the one from the other; such are the weaknesses of saints, such the hypocrisies of sinners; and death takes both: but in that day they will be parted for ever. Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd; he will shortly distinguish between those that are his, and those that are not. All other distinctions will be done away; but the great one between saints and sinners, holy and unholy, will remain for ever. The happiness the saints shall possess is very great. It is a kingdom; the most valuable possession on earth; yet this is but a faint resemblance of the blessed state of the saints in heaven. It is a kingdom prepared. The Father provided it for them in the greatness of his wisdom and power; the Son purchased it for them; and the blessed Spirit, in preparing them for the kingdom, is preparing it for them. It is prepared for them: it is in all points adapted to the new nature of a sanctified soul. It is prepared from the foundation of the world. This happiness was for the saints, and they for it, from all eternity. They shall come and inherit it. What we inherit is not got by ourselves. It is God that makes heirs of heaven. We are not to suppose that acts of bounty will entitle to eternal happiness. Good works done for God's sake, through Jesus Christ, are here noticed as marking the character of believers made holy by the Spirit of Christ, and as the effects of grace bestowed on those who do them. The wicked in this world were often called to come to Christ for life and rest, but they turned from his calls; and justly are those bid to depart from Christ, that would not come to him. Condemned sinners will in vain offer excuses. The punishment of the wicked will be an everlasting punishment; their state cannot be altered. Thus life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, are set before us, that we may choose our way, and as our way so shall our end be.

Read Matthew Henry on Matthew 25 →

Cross-references

20

Topics

Wicked (People)Shepherd