![]() ![]() In the days of the Prophets, sheep-herders symbolized judgment and social desolation (Zephaniah 2:6). While poetic sections of Scripture record positive allusions to shepherding, scholars believe these references reflect a literary ideal, not reality. The lowliness of this trade made David’s promotion striking (2 Samuel 7:8). Shepherding became a menial vocation for the laboring class.Īround 1000 BC, David’s emergence as king temporarily raised the shepherd’s image. As the Israelites acquired more farmland, pasturing decreased. 1400 BC), the few tribes still retaining a fondness for pastoral life chose to live in the Trans-Jordan (Numbers 32:1 ff).Īfter the settling in Palestine, shepherding ceased to hold its prominent position. Jacob’s descendants became accustomed to a settled lifestyle and forgot their nomadic roots. In the course of 400 years, the Egyptians prejudiced the Israelites’ attitude toward shepherding. ![]() Joseph matter-of-factly informed his brothers, “Every shepherd is detestable to the Egyptians” (Genesis 46:34). Pharaoh’s clean-shaven court looked down on the rugged shepherd sons of Jacob. Neighboring Arabs-their enemy-were shepherds, and Egyptian hatred climaxed when shepherd kings seized Lower Egypt. Egyptian art forms and historical records portray shepherds negatively. The first murder in history erupted from a farmer’s resentment of a shepherd (Genesis 4:1-8).Įgyptians considered sheep worthless for food and sacrifice. Battles between farmers and shepherds are as old as they are fierce. As farmers, they despised shepherding because sheep and goats meant death to crops. When the twelve tribes of Israel migrated to Egypt, they encountered a lifestyle foreign to them. Jethro, the priest of Midian, employed his daughters as shepherdesses (Exodus 2:16). The wealthy sons of Isaac and Jacob tended flocks (Genesis 30:29 37:12). In nomadic societies, everyone-whether sheikh or slave-was a shepherd. Shepherds are mentioned early in Genesis 4:20 where Jabal is called the father of those living in tents and raising livestock. Only Luke mentions them.ĭuring the time of the Patriarchs, shepherding was a noble occupation. ![]() They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung sweepers. In Christ’s day, shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the Palestinian social ladder. They finish spreading the good tidings, leave the stage, and we hardly give them another thought.īut why did the announcement come to them at all? Why not to priests and kings? Who were they that they should be eyewitnesses of God’s glory and receive history’s greatest birth announcement? As they return to their flocks, they praise God and tell all who will listen about the birth of the chosen Child. Frightened by the angel’s sudden appearance, they marvel at the good news from the angel and rush to Bethlehem to see the Savior-King. No Christmas program is complete without its little band of gunnysack shepherds. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.” “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ![]()
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