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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comFausset Bible Dictionary: Shepherd
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(See SHEEP.) The nomadic state is one of the earliest stages of society, and was regarded as honourable even to a chief (; ; ff; Genesis 37); chiefs' daughters did not disdain to tend flocks (, etc.; ). The long stay in Egypt elevated Israel from the nomadic to a settled life. The two and a half nomadic tribes received their portion in the outlying regions beyond Jordan (Numbers 32). As agriculture increased pasturage decreased, and was limited to particular spots, the border of the wilderness of Judah, Carmel (), Bethlehem (; ), Tekoa (), and Gedor (). Hence the "shepherd's tent" came to symbolize desolation (; ). The shepherd's occupation was now no longer dignified (; ; ).
The shepherd's office represents Jehovah's tender care of His people (Psalm 23; ; -10; -4; -12; ). Allusions occur to the exposure to heat and cold (), the precarious food (), the husks of the carob (), the attacks of beasts (; ; ), robbers (). The shepherd had a mantle of sheepskin with the fleece on (), a wallet for food (), a sling such as the Bedouin still carries, a staff to ward off foes and to guide the flock with its crook (; ; so Jehovah "lifts up His staff against" His people's foes, -24; His word is at once our prop of support and our defense against Satan). The shepherd, when far from home, had his light tent (), easily taken down and shifted ().
Towers were sometimes erected to spy a foe afar off, and to guard the flock (; , compare "tower of Edar," ; ). (See EDAR.) His duty was to go before and call by name the sheep (), watch it with dogs, a sorry animal in the East (), to search for stray sheep (; ), to supply water, either at a stream or at troughs by wells (; ; ), (so Jesus, ), to bring back to the fold at evening and to reckon the sheep that none be missing (compare as to Jesus ; -12; -29), passing one by one "under the rod" (; ; ), (i.e. you shall be counted as Mine, and subjected to My chastening discipline with a view to My ultimate saving of the elect, ), checking each sheep as it passed; to act as porter, guarding the entrance to the fold by night ().
The shepherds kept watches (plural in Greek, , not "slumbering," ) by turns at night, not on duty both night and day as Jacob (). Tenderness to the young and feeble was the shepherd's duty, not to overdrive them (); so Jesus (-29; ; ; ; ). There were chief and under shepherds (; ), and hirelings not of the family (-13; ). The shepherd had responsibility, and at the same time personal interest in the flock (; ; ).
Playing on the pipe beguiled the monotony, and a feast at shearing time gave a yearly variety (; ; ; ). Shepherds often contended with one another as to water (-22; ). The Egyptian antipathy to shepherds (whom the monuments always represent as mean) was due to their being themselves agriculturists, whereas the neighbouring Arabs with whom they so often strove were nomads. The seizure of Lower Egypt by shepherd kings (Hyksos) for centuries aggravated this dislike, though the Hyksos were subsequent to Joseph (). Princes, and even hostile leaders, are called shepherds: ; ; ; ; ; . Teachers: . Messiah: ; ; ; ; .