"One Hundred Year Old Photos Depict Life Of Shepherds In Ancient Palestine"
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"Shepherds"
Bruce Cockburn
Lyrics
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Alan: In ancient Israel, shepherds were despised people, the scum of the earth. They had nothing in common with the smarmy image of The Good Shepherd commonly held by many Christians. As was true for prostitutes, "wine tipplers" and traitorous tax collectors, these scorned outcasts were the first to hear - and respond to - The Good News!
"Although some of Israel’s greatest men – including Jacob, Moses, David and the prophet Amos – were shepherds, in the great collections of rabbinic law the Mishnah and theTalmud, shepherding was a despised profession. According to tractate “Kidushin” in the Mishnah, “A man should not teach his son to be an ass-driver, or a camel driver, or a hairdresser, or a sailor, or a shepherd, or a shopkeeper, for their craft is the craft of robbers.”
Because many shepherds were hirelings and the flocks they tended were not their own, it was easy for them to steal wool, milk and goats and blame the loss on bandits. Therefore tractate “Baba Kamma” forbids buying wool, milk or goats from shepherds. A Jewish commentary on Psalm 23:2 says: “There is no more disreputable occupation than that of a shepherd”.
New Testament scholar Joachim Jeremias describes a biblical shepherd’s life as independent, responsible and – in view of the threat from wild beasts and robbers – dangerous. Although some sheep owners looked after their flock themselves, the job was usually was done by hired shepherds, who often did not justify the confidence reposed in them, as Jesus indicates in John 10:12-13. Also, shepherds couldn’t help but tread in sheep excrement and touch dead animals which, according to the book of Leviticus, placed them in a permanent state of ritual impurity and ceremonial defilement. Because of that, shepherds were excluded from the temple and the synagogues." http://www.cwi.org.uk/library/articles/HABET.htm
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