Shepherd, as occupation

The occupation of a shepherd was both humble and honourable. In the marginal hill country of Palestine it was particularly demanding.

A shepherd as a keeper of flocks of animals

Genesis 46:32 The Hebrew word refers to a keeper of goats and cattle as well as sheep.

The tasks of a shepherd

Tending, feeding and watering

Psalm 23:2 See also Genesis 29:3, Genesis 26:19–22; Exodus 22:5; Luke 13:15; John 21:15–17

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

Keeping and protecting

Jeremiah 31:10 See also Genesis 4:2; Psalm 23:4 The rod is a crook (for extracting sheep from difficulty) and the staff a club (for warding off wild animals); 1 Samuel 17:34–37

Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Leading, not driving, sheep

John 10:3–4 See also Exodus 3:1; Psalm 23:2, Psalm 77:20; Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 50:6

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Gathering animals together

John 10:3 See also Psalm 147:4; Isaiah 40:26; Matthew 25:32

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

The shepherd's routine

The search for pasture

Genesis 37:17

The midday rest

Song of Solomon 1:7

The night-watch

Luke 2:8; Jeremiah 43:12

Shearing, an annual festival

1 Samuel 25:7–8

The use of pens and folds

Psalm 50:9; Habakkuk 3:17; John 10:1, John 10:16

Breeding

Genesis 30:40

Rearing

Rebekah's ruse depended on a method used to get a ewe to accept an alien lamb: Genesis 27:16, Genesis 27:27

The problems faced by shepherds

Drought and dry winds

Jeremiah 12:4; Hosea 4:3, Hosea 13:15; Joel 1:17–20; Amos 1:2

With animals and thieves

1 Samuel 17:34–37, 1 Samuel 25:15; John 10:1, John 10:12

Shepherds as employers

Job 1:3 See also 1 Samuel 25:2; 2 Kings 3:4; Amos 1:1

and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

Shepherds as employees

The status of a shepherd

1 Samuel 16:11, 1 Samuel 17:28; Luke 2:8

The responsibilities of a shepherd

Genesis 31:39; Amos 3:12 A shepherd who lost an animal to wild beasts had to produce evidence; Matthew 18:12 parallel Luke 15:4