Shepherd Poking Lambs??!

[chelsea]

Alright, I was recently sharing with my father on "the rod" and how it was used to protect sheep and to beat off predators and not to harm the sheep, and he told me that the rod was also used to poke the sheep and get them back into line when they were wandering. Has anyone done any research on shepherding in Bible times, not just word studies but studies also on the actual practices of shepherds? When I am told these kind of things, it just makes me want to learn more so as to become even more grounded in what I believe...I just have no idea where to start looking for this one! :shrug

[DogwoodMama]

Well, chris3jam has some great real-life observations! :tu

And check out this blog... http://knittedinthewomb.blogspot.com/2005/02/brains-of-sheep.html

I also recommend the book "A Shephard Looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller, very insightful! :D

[odetta]

Mary Glynn Peeples wrote a book called "All We Like Sheep". In it she talks about how she's been studying sheep and shepherds in her spare time for 20 years or so, visiting sheep farms, interviewing real shepherds, etc. She doesn't talk about the rod, per se, but she does talk a lot about how the sheep need to be led, not pushed, and they must have full trust in their shepherd, or they won't follow him.

[Lilly_of the_ Fields]

Erm :think I think "goading" rods were used (nasty looking things) by plowmen to keep their cattle moving. Shepherd did use crooks to catch sheep, but its a comparitively non violent practice, and was used as a protection device etc. Unfortunately, western ideas of shepherding dominate our understanding of the Shepherding image that the Bible gives us of God's leadership. Shepherds in Biblical times did not walk behind and "poke" sheep into moving, desired flock formations etc as we do with our cattle now (whether it be with rounding them up on farm bikes, walking behind them yelling, or using cattle prods etc.). In fact, fear was not a major part of the Shepherds way of leading their sheep. Shepherds in Biblical times relied heavily on the bond they developed with the animals...they quite literally lived with, moved with and 'lay down with' their sheep - developing a relationship of trust such that the animals would folow the leading shepherds to water etc. and would follow their lead if danger presented itself (wolves etc). I believe shepherds would hold back at the rear wore as a precaution to protect the lambs from wolf attacks than to hurry them on, however, even if the Shepherds did use their staffs to encourage the sheep to move along, it's hardly striking them or punishing them...probably more the pragmatic answer of having to reach an animal that may be in the middle of a flock etc. or capture them before they walk off somewhere dangerous.

[Chris3jam]

:clap, to previous posters :D

And to combine history and poetry, "The Song of Our Syrian Guest" is a picture of Oriental shepherding from circa 1904. It is a breakdown of Psalm 23, and gives a very accurate picture of shepherding practices. Let me just say (I've got just a little story in my journal, so I won't re-write it here) that sheep are not driven. They are led. They are peculiar in that respect. Almost every other animal is driven. Not the sheep.

the rod was also used to poke the sheep and get them back into line when they were wandering

Ask him to define "poking". He might just be thinking of "guiding", when the shepherd uses his rod like an extension of his arm and hand.