The routine of the shejiherd's duties appears to have been as follows: in the morning he led forth his flock from the fold (.lohn x, 4), which he did by going before them and calling to them, as is still usual in the East; arrived at the pasturage, he watched the flock with the assistance of d()gs (Job xxx, 1), and, should any sheep stray, he had to search for it until he found it (Kzek. xxxiv, 12; Luke xv, 4); he supplied them with water, either at a running stream or at troughs at- _
tachcd to wells ((ien. xxix, 7; xxx, 38; ICxod. ii. IG; Psa. xxiii, 2); at evening lie brought them back to the fold, and reckoned them to see that none were missing, by passing them "under tlic rod" as they entered the door of the enclosure (Lev. xxvii, 32; Ezek. xx, 37), cliecking each sheep as it passed by a motion of the hand (Jer. xxxiii, 13); and, finally, he watche<l the en- trance of the fold throughout the night, acting as porter (John x, 3). We need not assume that the same person was on duty both by night and by day; .Jacob, indeed, asserts tliis of himself ((ien. xxxi, 4t)), but it would bt; more proljable that the shepherds tuok it by turns, or tiint they kept watch for a portion only of the night, as may possibly be implied in the expression in Luke ii, 8, rendered in the A. V. " keeping watch," rather " keeping the watches" {(pvXun- aovTfr <pv\aK<'ii;). The shepherd's oftice thus reipiirfil grcnt watchfulness, particularly by night (Luke ii, H; com|). Nah. iii, IK). It also required tenderness towards the young and
feeble (Isa. xl, 11), particularly in driving them to and from the pasturage (Gen. xxxiii, 13). In large estab- lishments there were various grades of shepherds, the highest being styled "rulers" (xlvii, 6) or "chief shep- herds" (1 Pet. V, 4) ; in a royal household the title of "i^SX, abbir, "might_v," was bestowed on the person who held the post (1 Sam. xxi, 7). Great responsibil- ity attached to the office ; for the chief shepherd had to make good all losses (Gen. xxxi, 39) ; at the same time he had a personal interest in the flock, inasmuch as he was not paid in money, but received a certain amount of the produce (xxx, 32; 1 Cor. ix, 7). The life of the shepherd was a monotonous one ; he may per- haps have whiled away an hour in playing on some in- strument (1 Sam. xvi, 18 ; Job xxi, 12 ; xxx, 31), as his modern representative still occasionally does (Wortabet, Si/ria, i, 234). He also had his periodical entertain- ments at the shearing-time, which was celebrated by a general gathering of the neighborhood for festivities ((ien. xxxi, 19; xxxviii, 12; 2 Sam. xiii, 23) ; but, gen- erally speaking, the life must have been but dull. Nor did it conduce to gentleness of manners; rival shepherds contended for the possession or the use of water with great acrimony (Gen. xxi, 25; xxvi, 20 sq. ; Exod. ii, 17) ; nor perhaps is this a matter of surprise, as those who come late to a well frequently have to wait a long time until their turn comes (Burckhardt, Syiia, p. 63). — Smith. See Shb;ep.
Large flocks of sheep and goats often constituted the chief wealth of patriarchal times. Job possessed seven thousand sheep (Job i, 3), and Nabal three thousand sheep and a thousand goats (1 Sam. xxv, 2). At the pres- ent day both sheep and goats usually intermingle in the same tlock for pasturage, in the valleys and on the hills of I'alestiue (Gen. xxx, 35). In one Arab encampment Prof. Robinson saw about six hundred sheep and goats, the latter being the most numerous; and the process of milking was going on at four o'clock in the morning. The Arabs have few cows. In Deut. xxxii, 14, Moses, in his farewell song, represents Jehovah as having fed Israel with " butter of kine and milk of slwep f and the apostle asks, " Who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?" (1 Cor. ix, 7). "It shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep ; and it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give, that he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land" (Isa. vii, 21, 22). Here the milk is the ]iroductioii of the sheep as well as of the cow. See Milk.
The hatred of the Egyptians towards shepherds (Gen. xlvi, 34) may have been maiidy due to their contempt for the sheep itself, which appears to have been valued neither for food (Plutarch, he Is. 72) nor generally for
bheep-tuilking and fiulter-making iu Egypt.
SHEPHERD OF HERMAS
667
SHEPHERD-KINGS
sacrifice (Herod, ii, 42), the onlj' district where they were otfered being about the Natron lakes (Strabo, xvii, 803). It may hav^e been increased by the memory of the shepherd invasion (Herod, ii, 128). Abundant con- firmation of the fact of this hatred is supplied by the low position which all herdsmen held in the castes of Egypt, and by the caricatures of them in Egyptian paintings (Wilkinson, ii, 1G9). See Hyksos.