4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.[393] [393] Cant. 2:8; 5:2. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee[394] from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. [394] 2 Tim. 3:5; Rev. 2:2. =4, 5. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.= The true pastor is an example and leader as well as a teacher of his people (1 Cor. 11:1; Gal. 4:12; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6).--=A stranger will they not follow.= The stranger is not the shepherd of another flock, but one who is a stranger and a foreigner, outside the fold and separated from the great flock of the Israel of God. The true Christian is never a stranger to the disciples of Jesus Christ (Ephes. 2:19).--=They know not the voice of strangers.= The shepherd knows his own sheep by name, and they know his voice; but the stranger’s voice they do not know. The figure is all true to the life. “The shepherd calls sharply to them from time to time to remind them (the sheep) of his presence. They know his voice and follow on; but if a stranger calls, they stop short, lift up their heads in alarm, and if it is repeated, they turn and flee, because they know not the voice of a stranger. This is not the fanciful costume of a parable; it is a simple fact.”--(_Thompson’s Land and Book_, I, 301.) This personality of relation between the true religious teacher and the taught, abundantly illustrated by Christ’s personal love for his disciples, and by Paul’s love for the converts gathered under his ministry, is in strong contrast to the distance which was maintained between the Pharisees and the common people. It is not then a fanciful deduction that, under ordinary circumstances, the pastor should have a personal acquaintance with his people, should not have so large a charge that he cannot know his people by name, and should ordinarily depend for his influence upon his personal acquaintance with them, and their personal confidence in him. 6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.