a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
guided
וַֽיְנַהֲגֵ֥םvay.na.ha.Gem
H5090
to drive forth (a person · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
wilderness
בַּמִּדְבָּֽרba.mid.Bar
H4057
a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
flock
כַּ֝עֵ֗דֶרka.'E.der
H5739
an arrangement · preposition with the article + noun, common 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
Nehemiah 9:12 Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they s…
Psalms 77:20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Isaiah 63:11-14 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his…
John 10:11-42 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Psalms 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psalms 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalms 105:37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
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…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:40–end
The matter and scope of this paragraph are the same with the former, showing what great mercies God had bestowed upon Israel, how provoking they had been, what judgments he had brought upon them for their sins, and yet how, in judgment, he remembered mercy at last. Let not those that receive mercy from God be thereby emboldened to sin, for the mercies they receive will aggravate their sin and hasten the punishment of it; yet let not those that are under divine rebukes for sin be discouraged from repentance, for their punishments are means of repentance, and shall not prevent the mercy God has yet in store for them. Observe,
I. The sins of Israel in the wilderness again reflected on, because…
But made his own people to go forth like sheep,.... The people of Israel, whom the Lord chose to be his peculiar people above all others; these he caused to go forth out of Egypt, with a mighty hand and stretched out arm; like sheep, weak, timorous, unarmed, harmless, and inoffensive, not a dog daring to move his tongue at them: the power of God was wonderfully displayed in the delivery of his poor, helpless, and oppressed people, well may it be ascribed to him; for it was not their arm, but his, that brought them out:
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; by the hands of Moses and Aaron, Psalm 77:20, he also going before them as the Shepherd of the flock, in a pillar of cloud by…
Psalm 78:52-58
52. And he made his people to go forth like sheep, and led them in the wilderness like a flock. 53. And he conducted them in safety, and they were not afraid: and the sea covered their enemies. 54. And he brought them to his holy border, [literally to the border of his holiness,] this mountain, [353] which his right hand acquired. [354] 55. He expelled the heathen from before them; and made them to fall into their part of the inheritance; [355] and made the children of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56. And they tempted and provoked the Most High God, and kept not his testimonies. 57. And they turned back and dealt treacherously, like their fathers: they turned back, like a…
The Church Fathers
The Psalm proceedeth then after the commemoration of the plagues of the Egyptians and saith, "And He took away like sheep His people, and He led them through like a flock in the desert." This cometh to pass to so much the greater good, as it is a more inward thing, wherein being delivered from the power of darkness, we are in mind translated into the Kingdom of God, and with respect to spiritual pastures we are made to become sheep of God, walking in this world as it were in a desert, inasmuch as to no one is our faith observable: whence saith the Apostle, "Your life is hidden with Christ in God." But we are being led home in hope, "For by hope we are saved." Nor ought we to fear. For, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" And our enemies the sea hath covered, He hath effaced them in baptism by the remission of sins.
The Spirit speaks with the authority of the Lord: "The Spirit said to [Peter], 'Rise and go down, and accompany them without hesitation; for I have sent them.' " Are these the words of an abject inferior? "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Does a slave give commands like this? Isaiah says, "The Lord God and his Spirit have sent me," and "the Spirit came down from the Lord and led them." Do not try again to convince me that this "leading" by the Spirit is some lowly service. Scripture testifies that it is the work of God: "He led forth his people like sheep," it says, and "You who lead Joseph like a flock," and "He led them in safety so that they were not afraid." Therefore, when you hear that "the Comforter will bring to remembrance all that I have said to you and will guide you into all truth," do not quibble over the meaning.
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
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Under God’s guidance — Under God’s guidance
Righteous · .Sheep — .Sheep
Saints, Compared To · Sheep — Sheep
Sheep · Illustrative: Of the Jews — Illustrative: Of the Jews
Shepherd · One who — One who
Shepherds · Care of the sheep by, exhibited in: Going before and leading them — Care of the sheep by, exhibited in: Going before and leading them
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).
When these plagues rose to the highest pitch, Israel became free, and removed, being led by its God, into the Land of Promise; but it continued still to behave there just as it had done in the desert. The poet in Psa 78:49-51 brings the fifth Egyptian plague, the pestilence (Exo 9:1-7), and the tenth and last, the smiting of the first-born (מכּת בּכרות), Exo 11:1, together. Psa 78:49 sounds like Job 20:23 (cf. below Psa 78:64). מלאכי רעים are not wicked angels, against which view Hengstenberg refers to the scriptural thesis of Jacobus Ode in his work De Angelis, Deum ad puniendos malos homines mittere bonos angelos et ad castigandos pios usurpare malos, but angels that bring misfortune. The…
The Israelites rebelled even though the Lord had rescued them from powerful plagues.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 78:52
But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
But made his own people to go forth like sheep. The contrast is striking, and ought never to have been forgotten by the people. The wolves were slain in heaps, the sheep were carefully gathered, and triumphantly delivered. The tables were turned, and the poor serfs became the honoured people, while their oppressors were humbled before them. Israel went out in a compact body like a flock; they were defenceless in themselves as sheep, but they were safe under their Great Shepherd; they left Egypt as easily as a flock leaves one pasture for another. And guided them in the wilderness like a flock. Kn…
