Genesis 4:2

4:2 Then she gave birth ¹  to his brother Abel. ²  Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. ³ 

Genesis 31:18

31:18 He took ⁴  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ⁵ 

Genesis 37:2

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ⁶  was taking care of ⁷  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ⁸  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ⁹  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ¹⁰  to their father.

Genesis 47:3

47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s ¹¹  brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” ¹² 

Exodus 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ¹³  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 ¹⁴  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ¹⁵ 

Exodus 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ¹⁶  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 ¹⁷  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ¹⁸ 

Exodus 16:11

16:11 and the Lord spoke to Moses:

Exodus 17:15

17:15 Moses built an altar, and he called it “The Lord is my Banner,” ¹⁹ 

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, ²⁰ 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ²¹ 

78:72 David ²²  cared for them with pure motives; ²³ 

he led them with skill. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 40:11

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart; ²⁵ 

he leads the ewes along.

Zechariah 13:5

13:5 Instead he will say, ‘I am no prophet – indeed, I am a farmer, for a man has made me his indentured servant since my youth.’ ²⁶ 

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “And she again gave birth.”

[4:2]  ² sn The name Abel is not defined here in the text, but the tone is ominous. Abel’s name, the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hevel), means “breath, vapor, vanity,” foreshadowing Abel’s untimely and premature death.

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (ro’eh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (’oved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.

[31:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”

[37:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

[37:2]  ⁷ tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

[37:2]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

[37:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

[37:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.

[47:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:3]  ¹² tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”

[3:1]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[3:1]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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.

[17:15]  ¹⁹ sn Heb “Yahweh-nissi” (so NAB), which means “Yahweh is my banner.” Note that when Israel murmured and failed God, the name commemorated the incident or the outcome of their failure. When they were blessed with success, the naming praised God. Here the holding up of the staff of God was preserved in the name for the altar – God gave them the victory.

[78:71]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ²¹ tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[78:72]  ²² tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[78:72]  ²³ tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”

[78:72]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”

[40:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.

[13:5]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps “for the land has been my possession since my youth” (so NRSV; similar NAB).