SHEPHERDS, or Pastors. When the Patriarch Joseph invited his Father and Gen. xlvi. 31, 32, 33, 34.Brethren to settle in Egypt, he bid them tell Pharaoh, that they were Shepherds or Breeders of Sheep, that they might have the Land of Goshen assign’d to ‘em for an Habitation; Because, says Joseph, the Egyptians have an Abomination to Shepherds. Quia detestantur Ægyptii omnes Pastores ovium. Now it is inquir’d, whence it is that the Egyptians had such an Abhorrence to Shepherds? There are two Reasons generally assign’d for this. First, because the Hebrews who bred Sheep, made no Difficulty to kill and eat them, or to sacrifice them to their Gods. Whereas the Egyptians worshipped Sheep and Goats, and all Creatures of that Kind, Diodor. Sicul. l. 1.and would have thought it a great Crime to kill or sacrifice them. Diodorus Siculus says, that Sheep are in very great Veneration throughout all Egypt. And Strabo assures us, that they sacrificed them only in the Nome or Province of Nitria, or in that Herodot. l. 2. c. 42.of Mendese, according to Herodotus. Tacitus observes, that the Israelites sacrificed Sheep and Lambs, as if it were to insult Jupiter Ammon, a Deity of the Egyptians; and that they kill’d Oxen without any Scruple, to affront the Ox Apis. Cæso ariete velut in contumeliam Ammonis; Bos quoque immolatur, quem Ægyptii Apim colunt. But all this does not prove, that the Employment of Oxkeepers or Neatherds was of itself odious to the Egyptians, as the Scripture insinuates it was: On the contrary, this Office would have recommended them to the Esteem of the People, if they had not kill’d these Animals; as in the Nome of Mendese, the Keepers of Goats were honour’d, because the Goat was the favourite Deity of that Canton.
We must therefore seek for another Cause of the Aversion which the Egyptians Joseph. cont. App. l.i.p.1042.express’d towards Shepherds. Manetho relates, that an Army of Strangers from the Coasts of Arabia, or from the East, made an Irruption into Egypt, and finding it without Defence, they subdued it, and had a Succession of Kings in Lower Egypt for about five hundred and eleven Years. After which the Kings of Thebais, and of the rest of Egypt, maintain’d a long War against them, and at last drove them out of the Country. The Race of these Princes was call’d Hicsos, that is to say, Kings of Shepherds. Some, says Manetho, affirm, they were Arabians; but we find in other Books, that they were not Kings, but Captives. For in Egyptian, the Word Hic, when pronounced as Hoc, signifies a Captive. This Reason of the Hatred of the Egyptians against Shepherds appears to be more plausible. But whatever the Motive was, the Fact itself is beyond Controversy. See before the Article EXODUS.
Abel was a Keeper of Sheep, according to Gen. iv. 2.Moses, and the greatest Number of the antient Patriarchs follow’d the same Profession. When Men began to multiply, and to be distinguish’d from one another by following different Employments, Jabal, Son of Lamech bigamus, and his Wife Adah, Gen. iv. 20.was acknowledg’d as Father and Founder of Shepherds and Nomades, whose Dwelling was in Tents: He was the Father of such as dwell in Tents, and of such as have Cattle. God sometimes takes the Isa. xl. 11.Name of the Shepherd of Israel; in the same manner as Kings, both in Scripture and antient Writers, are distinguish’d by the Title of Shepherds of the People. And Eze. xxxiv. 23. Numbers xxvii. 17. 1 Kings xxii. 17. Judith xi. If. xliv. 28. 15. Isa. xl. 11.the People forsaken, are compared to a Flock without a Shepherd. Isaiah says, that the Messiah shall feed his Flock. God calls Cyrus his Shepherd. The Prophets often inveigh against the Shepherds of Israel, against the Kings, who feed themselves, and neglect their Flocks; who distress them, treat them ill, seduce them, and lead them astray. See to this purpose Ezekiel xxxiv.
The Lord says, that he brought through the Red-sea his People with their Shepherds;If. lxiii. 11. that is, having Moses, Aaron, and the Chief of the People at their Head. Mic. v. 5.Micah says, that the Lord shall raise up seven Shepherds over his People, and an eighth to govern the Land of Assyria, and to bring from thence the People of Israel. We take these seven or eight Shepherds to be the seven Princes confederate with Darius Son of Hystaspis, who killed Smerdis the Magian, who had possessed himself of the Empire of the Persians, after the Death of Cambyses.
Zech. xi. 8.Zechariah makes mention of three Shepherds that the Lord had cut off in one Month. These three Shepherds were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam, who died in the Wilderness; not indeed within the Space of one Month, but who all had the Sentence of Death passed upon them in a Month, and died at a little Distance of Time from one another. This is the Explication of the Rabbins. Others think that these three Shepherds were David, Adonijah, and Joab, who did indeed die all in the Space of one Month. Others are of Opinion, they were the three Brethren Maccabees, Judas, Jonathan, and Simeon, who died within a Month of Years, that is to say, within thirty Years. We think it may be understood of the three Roman Emperors who succeeded Nero, that is, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who were put to Death by their own Subjects within the Space of a Year and some Days. Afterwards the Prophet makes God speak in this manner; Zec. xi. 10.And I took my Staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder. This Rupture happen’d when the Jews revolted against the Romans; and when these attack’d them, took Jerusalem, destroy’d the Temple, and dispersed the Nation of the Jews.
The same Zechary received Order from Zech xi. 14, 15.the Lord, saying, Take unto thee yet the Instruments of a foolish Shepherd; for, says the Lord, I will raise up a Shepherd in the Land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, &c. The Shepherds having forsaken Jesus Christ, who was their lawful Shepherd, were deliver’d up to foolish Shepherds, who misused them, and plunged them into Calamities. These Shepherds are the Roman Emperors, Successors of Tiberius, under whom Jesus Christ was crucified. Caligula succeeded Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula; and Nero succeeded Claudius. Every one knows the Characters of those Princes; that they were truly foolish Shepherds, mad, wicked, and cruel.
The Messiah is often represented under Jer. xxiii. 4, 5.the Name of a Shepherd. I will set up Shepherds over them, which shall feed them. I will raise unto David a righteous Isai. xl. 11. Zec. xiii 7.Branch. Isaiah speaks in the same manner. He shall feed his Flock like a Shepherd, he shall gather the Lambs with his Arm, and Math. xxvi 31.carry them in his Bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. And Zechariah says, Awake, O Sword, against my Shepherd, and against the Man that is my Fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts. Smite the Shepherd, and the Sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn mine Hand upon the little ones. Jesus Christ makes the Application of this Passage to what should happen at his Passion. He takes upon himself the Title of a good Shepherd, who gives his Life for his John x. 11, 14, 15. Heb. xiii. 20.Sheep. St. Paul calls him the great Shepherd of the Sheep; and St. Peter gives him the 1 Pet. v. 4.Appellation of Prince of Shepherds.
God gives up to his Ministers the Tythe of Oxen, of Sheep, and of Goats, which pass under Lev. xvii. 32.the Crook of the Shepherd, or are under his Care. Or he makes an Allusion to what is done when the Tythe was given to the Priest: The Shepherd stands with his Hook at the Entrance of the Sheep-fold, and as the young Kids or Lambs go out of the Fold, he counts them, and retains the Tenth for the Priest or the Levite.
Amos i. 1.Amos says, that the Beauty of Shepherds is in Mourning during a dry Season. Luxerunt speciosa pastorum. The Hebrew says according to the Letter, the Huts or Abodes of the Shepherds are in Mourning. These are what are elsewhere call’d Cameræ Pastorum, or 2 Kings x. 12.Habitacula Pastorum. St. Jerome, speaking of the City and Desart of Tekoah, says, that one cannot so much as see there the Hovel of the Shepherds, being like subterraneous Ovens, which the Africans call by the Name Jerom. præf. in Amos.of Mapalia.
In the Description that our Saviour gives John x. 11, 12, &c.us of a good Shepherd, he says, that he lays down his Life for his Sheep; that he knows them, and they know him; that they hear his Voice, and follow him; that he goes before them; that no one shall force them out of his Hands; that he calls them by their Name; that the Hireling, or the bad Shepherd, forsakes the Sheep, and the Thief enters not by the Door of the Sheep-fold, but climbs over by another Way.