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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Sheepcote; Sheepfold
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sheÌ„p´kot, sheÌ„p´koÌ„t, sheÌ„p´foÌ„ld (גּדרה, gedheÌ„raÌ„h, מכלה, mikhlaÌ„h, מש×פּתי×, mishpethayim, × ×•×”, naÌ„weh; αὐληÌ, auleÌ„Ì): At night the sheep are driven into a sheepfold if they are in a district where there is danger from robbers or wild beasts. These folds are simple walled enclosures (; ; ; ; ; ). On the top of the wall is heaped thorny brushwood as a further safeguard. Sometimes there is a covered hut in the corner for the shepherd. Where there is no danger the sheep huddle together in the open until daylight, while the shepherd watches over them (; ). In the winter time caves are sought after (; ). The antiquity of the use of some of the caves for this purpose is indicated by the thick deposit of potassium nitrate formed from the decomposition of the sheep dung.