When reading the Bible, we must remember that the narrative is whittled down to the bare bones, and because of this it’s important to pay attention to every detail. There’s no room for anything extraneous. Looking at the occupations of some of the more significant men in the Old Testament, there were those who were shepherds and those who were hunters or archers. Shepherds care for their flocks, lead them to green pasture and fresh water, and watch over them at night to protect them from foxes and other predators. Hunters and archers, on the other hand, are predators.
Note: Old Testament references are from the Brenton English Septuagint (BES) and New Testament references are from the King James Version (KJV).
Abel: Shepherd
Abel was a shepherd, a righteous man (Matthew 23:35) whose sacrifice of the first born of his sheep was accepted by the Lord.
And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. (Genesis 4:2)
And Abel also brought of the first born of his sheep and of his fatlings, and God looked upon Abel and his gifts, (Genesis 4:4)
Nebrod (Nimrod): Hunter
Nebrod (Nimrod), was the infamous king who was known for being a giant or mighty hunter, and whose kingdom began with Babylon. It’s important to know that the description “giant hunter” isn’t pointing to Nebrod being a hunter of giants, but that he was a giant among hunters who stood out for his prowess as a hunter.
And Chus begot Nebrod: he began to be a giant upon the earth. He was a giant hunter before the Lord God; therefore they say, As Nebrod the giant hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Orech, and Archad, and Chalanne, in the land of Senaar. (Genesis 10:8-10)
And Chus begot Nebrod: he began to be a mighty hunter on the earth. (1 Chronicles 1:10)
Abraham and Lot: Shepherds
Abraham and Lot, both righteous men, were shepherds with many cattle, such that there was strife between their herdsmen. As a result, they separated and Lot chose the country round about Jordan for his cattle, although he dwelt in Sodom, while Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan.
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. (Genesis 13:2)
And Lot who went out with Abram had sheep, and oxen, and tents. (Genesis 13:5)
And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle, and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle, and the Chananites and the Pherezites then inhabited the land. (Genesis 13:7)
Ismael: Archer/Hunter
Ismael, the son of Sarah’s handmaid Hagar, was prophesied to be a wild man by the angel of the Lord that spoke with Hagar in the wilderness after she fled from Sarah.
And the angel of the Lord said to her, Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ismael, for the Lord hath hearkened to thy humiliation. He shall be a wild man, his hands against all, and the hands of all against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. (Genesis 16:11-12)
When Hagar learned that Sarah was with child, she despised her. Like mother like son, Ismael began to mock Isaac the very day he was weaned.
And Sarrha having seen the son of Agar the Egyptian who was born to Abraam, sporting with Isaac her son, (Genesis 21:9)
As Ismael grew into a man he became an archer and, by extension, a hunter.
And God was with the child, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. (Genesis 21:20)
Esau: Hunter
Like Nebrod, Esau was a skilled or giant hunter, the opposite to his brother Jacob.
And the lads grew, and Esau was a man skilled in hunting, dwelling in the country, and Jacob a simple man, dwelling in a house. (Genesis 25:27)
Jacob: Shepherd
Jacob tended Laban’s flocks for 20 years — fourteen years for Leah and Rachel, followed by another six years for his sheep — after which he departed with his wives, children and possessions to return to his father, Isaac.
And Jacob said, Thou knowest in what things I have served thee, and how many cattle of thine are with me. For it was little thou hadst before my time, and it is increased to a multitude, and the Lord God has blessed thee since my coming; now then, when shall I set up also my own house? (Genesis 30:29-30)
And the man [Jacob] became very rich, and he had many cattle, and oxen, and servants, and maid-servants, and camels, and asses. (Genesis 30:43)
These twenty years have I been with thee; thy sheep, and thy she-goats have not failed in bearing; I devoured not the rams of thy cattle. That which was taken of beasts I brought not to thee; I made good of myself the thefts of the day, and the thefts of the night. I was parched with heat by day, and [chilled] with frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years among thy sheep, and thou didst falsely rate my wages for ten lambs. (Genesis 31:38-41)
The Patriarchs: Shepherds
The eleven patriarchs, who remained with their father Jacob after Joseph was sold into Egypt, were all shepherds.
And Joseph said to his brethren, I will go up and tell Pharao, and will say to him, My brethren, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Chanaan, are come to me. And the men are shepherds; for they have been feeders of cattle, and they have brought with them their cattle, and their kine, and all their property. (Genesis 46:31-32)
Moses: Shepherd
After Moses fled from Pharaoh and the land of Egypt, he went to Madiam and married one of the daughters of Jothor the priest, a man who had flocks of sheep. Moses then took up the life of a shepherd, tending to Jothor’s flocks right up to the day the Lord spoke to him from the burning bush on Mount Horeb.
And Moses was feeding the flock of Jothor his father-in-law, the priest of Madiam; and he brought the sheep nigh to the wilderness, and came to the mount of Choreb. (Exodus 3:1)
Job: Shepherd
Prior to his afflictions, Job had great a wealth and a large number of cattle, running into the thousands.
And his cattle consisted of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses in the pastures, and a very great household, and he had a great husbandry on the earth; and that man was most noble of the men of the east. (Job 1:3)
David: Shepherd
Before David was anointed king, he tended the flocks of his father’s sheep. As he was a type of Christ, God took his from his life of shepherding sheep to a life of shepherding the children of Israel.
He chose David also his servant, and took him up from the flocks of sheep. He took him from following the ewes great with young, to be the shepherd of Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance. So he tended them in the innocency of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. (Psalm 78:70-72)
Jesus: The Good Shepherd
Many of the righteous men in the Old Testament who followed the ways of the Lord were shepherds because the Lord himself is the ultimate shepherd who cares for our souls. He is the good shepherd (John 10:11, 14), the great shepherd (Hebrews 13:20), the chief shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), the shepherd and bishop of our souls (1 Peter 2:25).
A Psalm of David. The Lord tends me as a shepherd, and I shall want nothing. In a place of green grass, there he has made me dwell: he has nourished me by the water of rest. He has restored my soul: he has guided me into the paths of righteousness, for his name’s sake. Yea, even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of evils: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, these have comforted me. (Psalm 22:1-4) [Psalm 23:1-4 in the KJV, ESV, etc.]
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, [and] one shepherd. (John 10:11-16)
Amen! Let us praise God that Jesus is our shepherd.
