Psalm 23 and Who Are the Shepherds?
“The Lord is my shepherd.”—Psalm 23.
Malinda Elizabeth Berry reminds us in an article, “Who Is My Shepherd?” in ChristianCentury.org (7/19/2018), of a frequent misconception about the gender of shepherds. In biblical times, young girls often were shepherds, as well as boys and men. For example, Berry reminds us that beautiful Rachel was tending her father Laban’s sheep when Jacob first saw her and fell in love with her (Genesis 29:9-10). Likewise, Zipporah and her sisters were trying to water their father’s sheep when Moses drove away some other shepherds bothering them (Exodus 2:16-17).
We may also infer that these young and fair maidens were just as masterful with a slingshot as young David!
Berry asks us if we have seen Bible story pictures or paintings with girls as shepherds. Indeed, I could only find a few, including one by Hungarian painter Marko Andrea (1887) called Shepherd Girl. Berry then challenges us to consider having girls and boys dress up as shepherds in this year’s Christmas pageant! (At our staff meeting, Luke, our Family Ministries Coordinator at St. Mark’s, reminded me that, unknown to me, St. Mark’s has been including girl shepherds for years!)
For me, this is another example of a tradition that doesn’t align with historical facts: shepherds should only be boys or men. It makes me wonder why I didn’t think of girls as shepherds, even after reading the stories of Rachel and Zipporah more times than I can remember. Now it is so apparent.
I hope you can share my excitement with Berry’s new information about stories we thought we knew so well. It reminds us not to gloss over old Bible stories, but to hope to see new insights each time we read them. This also encourages us to continue researching what others discover in their study of the Bible. Finally, it reminds us that the Holy Spirit is alive and well, and continually teaches us new insights from old stories.
Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/