to tend a flock · preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shal…
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, a…
Ezekiel 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
Proverbs 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
Proverbs 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those th…
John 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 12:8-12
Solomon is here drawing towards a close, and is loth to part till he has gained his point, and prevailed with his hearers, with his readers, to seek for that satisfaction in God only and in their duty to him which they can never find in the creature.
I. He repeats his text (Ecc 12:8), 1. As that which he had fully demonstrated the truth of, and so made good his undertaking in this sermon, wherein he had kept closely to his text, and both his reasons and his application were to the purpose. 2. As that which he desired to inculcate both upon others and upon himself, to have it ready, and to make use of it upon all occasions. We see it daily proved; let it therefore be daily improved: Vanity of…
goads--piercing deeply into the mind (Act 2:37; Act 9:5; Heb 4:12); evidently inspired words, as the end of the verse proves.
fastened--rather, on account of the Hebrew genders, (The words) "are fastened (in the memory) like nails" [HOLDEN].
masters of assemblies--rather, "the masters of collections (that is, collectors of inspired sayings, Pro 25:1), are given ('have published them as proceeding' [HOLDEN]) from one Shepherd," namely, the Spirit of Jesus Christ [WEISS], (Eze 37:24). However, the mention of "goads" favors the English Version, "masters of assemblies," namely, under-shepherds, inspired by the Chief Shepherd (Pe1 5:2-4). SCHMIDT translates, "The masters of assemblies are fas…
The words of the wise are as goads,.... As the goad teacheth the ox; so the Targum. Not the words of the wise philosophers of that age, or of ages before, or since; but of the inspired penmen of the Scriptures, as Moses, David, Solomon, and of others since; and of all good men, whose doctrines are agreeably to them; these are like "goads" or "pricks", sharp pointed sticks or staves, with which men push and prick their cattle, when driving them from place to place, or ploughing with them: and of a similar use are the doctrines of the word, when attended with a divine efficacy; these are a means of pricking sinners to the heart; and of laying open their vileness and sinfulness to them; and of…
The Church Fathers
All the Scriptures are "words of the wise like goads, and as nails firmly fixed which were given by agreement from one shepherd," and there is nothing superfluous in them. But the Word is the one Shepherd of things rational which may have an appearance of discord to those who have not ears to hear but are truly at perfect concord.
Let your discourses then be flowing, let them be clear and lucid; pour the sweetness of your moral arguments into the ears of the people, and sooth them with the charm of your words, that so they may willingly follow your guidance. But if there be any contumacy or transgression in the people or individuals, let your sermons be of such a character as shall move your audience, and prick the evil conscience, for the words of the wise are as goads. The Lord Jesus too pricked Saul, when he was a persecutor. And think how salutary the goad was which from a persecutor made him an Apostle, by simply saying, It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And likewise it is a pleasant thing to endeavor to understand and exhibit the fact of the concord of the two covenants—of the one before the bodily advent of the Savior and of the new covenant. For among those things in which the two covenants are at concord so that there is no discord between them would be found prayers, to the effect that about anything whatever they shall ask it shall be done to them from the Father in heaven. And if also you desire the third that unites the two, do not hesitate to say that it is the Holy Spirit. For "the words of the wise," whether they be those before the advent, or at the time of the advent, or after it, "are as goads, and as nails firmly fixed, which were given by agreement from one shepherd."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Nail — For fastening. (1.) Hebrew yathed, “piercing,” a peg or nail of any material (Ezek. 15:3), more especially a tent-peg (Ex. 27:19; 35:18; 38:20), with one of which Jael (q.v.) pierced the temples of…
Walls · Of houses: Had nails or pegs fastened into them when built — Of houses: Had nails or pegs fastened into them when built
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Words · .As goads, and as well-fastened nails — .As goads, and as well-fastened nails
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
From the words of Koheleth the author comes to the words of the wise man in general; so that what he says of the latter finds its application to himself and his book: "Words of the wise are as like goads, and like fastened nails which are put together in collections - they are given by one shepherd." The lxx, Aq., and Theod. translate darvonoth by βούκεντρα, the Venet. by βουπλῆγες; and that is also correct. The word is one of three found in the Jerus. Gemara, Sanhedrin x. 1, to designate a rod for driving (oxen) - דרבן (from דרב, to sharpen, to point), מלמד (from למד, to adjust, teach, exercise), and מרדּע (from רדע, to hold back, repellere); we read ka-dārevonoth; Gesen., Ewald, Hitz.,…
cattle prods . . . nail-studded stick: Painful lessons are sometimes required to direct us into paths that we would rather not take. • a shepherd: This word is possibly an allusion to God as the shepherd of his people (Ps 23:1; Isa 40:11). The sentence might also just be comparing the words of the wise to the work that any shepherd does in taking care of his flock.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:11
The words of the wise. They made a “fence” for the Torah with [various] decrees in order to distance a person from sin, e.g., eating hallowed things [is permitted] until dawn, but they declared “[only] until midnight,” and likewise, the evening recitation of Shema.53See Mishnayos Berachos 1:1.
Are like goads. Just as this goad directs the cow to its furrows, so do their words direct a person to the ways of life.
Like well-fastened nails. Just as this nail is permanent, so are their words permanent, and just as a sapling is fruitful and multiplies, so are their words fruitful and multiply, to find a reason for them.
Of the masters of [learned] assemblies. Nails that have a large and thick…
