Genesis 30:29-31

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, ¹  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. ²  30:30 Indeed, ³  you had little before I arrived, ⁴  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ⁵  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁶  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁷ 

30:31 So Laban asked, ⁸  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ⁹  Jacob replied, ¹⁰  “but if you agree to this one condition, ¹¹  I will continue to care for ¹²  your flocks and protect them:

Genesis 37:13

37:13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers ¹³  are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” ¹⁴  Joseph replied. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 46:32-34

46:32 The men are shepherds; ¹⁶  they take care of livestock. ¹⁷  They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 46:33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ¹⁸  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ¹⁹  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ²⁰  to the Egyptians.”

Genesis 47:3

47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s ²¹  brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” ²² 

Exodus 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ²³  was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert ²⁴  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ²⁵ 

Psalms 78:70-72

78:70 He chose David, his servant,

and took him from the sheepfolds.

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, ²⁶ 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ²⁷ 

78:72 David ²⁸  cared for them with pure motives; ²⁹ 

he led them with skill. ³⁰ 

Amos 7:15

7:15 Then the Lord took me from tending ³¹  flocks and gave me this commission, ³²  ‘Go! Prophesy to my people Israel!’

[30:29]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:29]  ² tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”

[30:30]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

[30:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ⁹ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ¹⁰ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ¹² tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[37:13]  ¹³ tn The text uses an interrogative clause: “Are not your brothers,” which means “your brothers are.”

[37:13]  ¹⁴ sn With these words Joseph is depicted here as an obedient son who is ready to do what his father commands.

[37:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here I am.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[46:32]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “feeders of sheep.”

[46:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for men of livestock they are.”

[46:34]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34]  ¹⁹ sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.

[46:34]  ²⁰ tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.

[47:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:3]  ²² tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”

[3:1]  ²³ sn The vav (ו) disjunctive with the name “Moses” introduces a new and important starting point. The Lord’s dealing with Moses will fill the next two chapters.

[3:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “west of the desert,” taking אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”) as the opposite of עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿne, “on the face of, east of”; cf. Gen 16:12; 25:18).

[3:1]  ²⁵ sn “Horeb” is another name for Mount Sinai. There is a good deal of foreshadowing in this verse, for later Moses would shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.

[78:71]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[78:72]  ²⁸ tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[78:72]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”

[78:72]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”

[7:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “from [following] after.”

[7:15]  ³² tn Heb “and the Lord said to me.”