16, 17. Taken from Isa 49:10. We have again the solemn paradox, that the Lamb is Shepherd (of course we are reminded of St John 10, but we ought to remember Psalms 23 as well, and its many O.T. imitations, including Isa. l.c., in all of which the Shepherd is the Lord God of Israel), and the men are His flock—cf. Eze 34:31; Eze 36:37-38.
τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θρόνου. See on Rev 5:6.
ζωῆς πηγὰς ὑδάτων. The order of the words is very strange even for this Book. The slight change in the Textus Receptus enabled A. V[282] to preserve the order of the words, which is perhaps more important than the construction preserved in R. V[283], “fountains of waters of life,” cf. Rev 22:1.