Shepherds & A Baby Messiah

Luke 2:7b-15 - [Mary] wrapped [the newborn Jesus] in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

Shepherds? Yuck!
By Jesus' time shepherds were outcasts, particularly in crowded areas like Bethlehem. They stunk, for one, and for two they required land that others wanted. Because they lived in the fields sometimes, they were far from the religious education offered to many Jewish boys in Jesus’ time (or soon thereafter – this is debateable). Any girl not betrothed by 15 or so may have been resigned to the likes of a shepherd.

Town Shepherds v. Commercial Shepherds
Judea specialized in wool, among other things, while Galilee received enough rainwater to specialize in crops. This is a general statement - obviously crops were grown in Judea and there were sheep in Galilee.

Thus in Galilee in Jesus’ time, there were sometimes ‘town shepherds’ – i.e., each family paid a town shepherd to guard their one or two sheep and goats. It’s quite likely that Peter lived this way, since they needed sheep and goats for wool and milk, but didn’t have the land to graze them. At the end of the day the sheep would come home and sleep in the courtyard. The dung, which I always thought might be a floaty mess in the rain and mud, was piled in a dunghill, salted (presumably not to add flavor) and used for fuel. Efficiency is a lovely thing, but picking up a handful of goat poop and tossing it in the fire to cook the food sounds a little gross!

Call me picky.

This may well mean that their reputation was less sullied in Galilee; because they grazed the sheep on local land and returned them home at night, they probably smelled no worse than men who spent their days around fish or got sweaty harvesting the crops. They also would have had access to the schooling, Sabbath services and Scripture studies typical of the other villagers, rendering them less ignorant than their Judean counterparts.

The Scripture: David Slew Goliath
1 Samuel 17:17-19 - Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. [e] See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance [f] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."

Shepherds Food
Seed stored after drying or parching saved better than undried kernels or kernels ground and baked into bread. David's father was telling him to take ten loaves of bread and roughly 5.5 gallons of dried kernels to his brothers.

The kernels, which preserved well because of their tight husks and the lack of moisture inside, would have been soaked and ground for several hours before they could be made into bread.