Free All Things Christmas by E. G. Lewis

the bottom rung of Palestinian society . They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung sweepers. Of the four evangelists, only Luke bothers to mention them.
    During the time of the Patriarchs, shepherding was a noble occupation. Shepherds are mentioned early in Genesis 4:20 where Jabal is called the father of those living in tents and raising livestock. In nomadic societies, everyone —whether sheikh or slave— was a shepherd. The wealthy sons of Isaac and Jacob tended flocks (Genesis 30:29; 37:12). Jethro , the priest of Midian , employed his daughters as shepherdesses (Exodus 2:16) , a nd eventually his son-in-law, Moses .
    When the twelve tribes of Israel migrated to Egypt, they encountered a lifestyle foreign to them. The Egyptians were agriculturalists. As farmers, growers of crops, they despised shepherding because sheep and goats grazed on the crops.
    Separating the Shepherds and the Farmers
    Battles between farmers and shepherds are as old as they are fierce. The first murder in history ( Cain and Abel) erupted over a farmer’s resentment of a shepherd (Genesis 4:1-8). Egyptians considered sheep worthless for food and sacrifice. Egyptian art forms and historical records portray shepherds in a negative light. Neighboring Arabs, the Egyptian’s enemy, were shepherds. Egyptian hatred of sheep herders climaxed when bearded Jewish shepherd s gradually took over Lower Egypt.
    Pharaoh’s clean-shaven court looked down up on the rugged shepherd sons of Jacob. Joseph matter-of-factly informed his brothers, “Every shepherd is detestable to t he Egyptians.” (Genesis 46:34) Over the course of 400 years, the Egyptian prejudices rubbed off on the Israelites’ and affected their attitude toward shepherding. Unbelievably, Jacob’s descendants became accustomed to a settled lifestyle and forgot their nomadic roots.
    When the Israel ites later settled in Canaan (c. 1400 BC), the few tribes that still retained a fondness for the pastoral lifestyle chose to live in the Trans-Jordan (Numbers 32:1). After the Jews settled into their new home , shepherding ceased to hold its prominent position. As the Israelites acquired more farmland, s hepherding became a menial vocation for the laboring class.

    The Angels Appear to the Shepherds
    Around 1000 BC, former shepherd David emerged as king and temporarily raised the shepherd’s image. The lowliness of his trade made David’s promotion to the throne all the more striking (2 Samuel 7:8). While poetic sections of Scripture record positive allusions to shepherding, many scholars believe these references reflect a literary ideal, not reality.
    Prophetic Symbols
    In the days of the Prophets, sheep-herders symbolized judgment and social desolation (Zephaniah 2:6). Amos contrasted his high calling as prophet with his former role as a shepherd (Amos 7:14). In general, shepherds were considered second-class citizens and unworthy of trust. Sheep herding had not just lost its appeal; it eventually forfeited its social acceptability. Some shepherds earned their poor reputations, but others became victims of a cruel stereotype. The religious leaders maligned the shepherd’s good name; rabbis banned pasturing sheep and goats in Israel, except on the desert plains.
    The Mishnah , Judaism’s written record of the oral law, also reflects this prejudice, referring to shepherds in belittling terms. One passage describes them as incompetent; another says no one should ever feel obligated to rescue a shepherd who has fallen into a pit. Shepherds were deprived of their civil rights. They could not hold judicial offices or be admitted in court as witnesses. It was written, “To buy wool, milk or a kid from a shepherd was forbidden on the assumption that it would be stolen property.”
    In Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, the rabbis asked with amazement how, in view of the despicable nature of shepherds, could one explain why God was called my shepherd in Psalm 23. Smug religious