Aramaic Word Study – Shepherds – רָעַוָתָא Ra’ata Resh, Ayin Vav Taw Aleph
Luke 2:8 “And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.”
We hear this Christmas story so much around this time of year that we never really stop to think about it or wonder about some obvious questions. As a child I often thought of these questions, but I simply put them out of my mind. So this Christmas Eve snuggle up with your loved ones and let me share with you some heartfelt insights to some questions we never ask about Christmas.
These are questions like: “Why was the night watch so important that the Bible made sure to mention it and when did the shepherds sleep if they stayed up all night watching their sheep?” But a question which was more important was, “Why did the angels appear to this particular group of shepherds and why to shepherds in the first place?” Another question I thought about was why were there a group of shepherds, did they not work alone?
These were some of the key questions I planned to ask once I got to Bible college, but somehow the answers I got just did not satisfy me. I got answers like they watched by night during certain times of the year. Shepherds often let their sheep graze together (not true) and when they did they used the opportunity to share local gossip. As to why God chose to reveal the birth of His Son to shepherds, well shepherds were the lowest class of people, sometimes they were even criminals and outcasts. They were filthy, dirty scum of the earth types. After hearing that I really did not want to call my Jesus a Shepherd nor did I want to call my pastor a shepherd (although I met a few pastors I would call a shepherd in that context). I soon learned about something called Christian audibles. Christians hate to admit that they do not have an answer for everything, especially Christian teachers, so they will formulate some sort of answer that borders very close to I am not sure. I know as a teacher I used to be pretty good at calling Christian audibles. You usually know you have been given a Christian audible by that funny taste you get in your mouth after hearing the answer.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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Anyway, it is Christmas and that time of year to again revisit these age old questions and see what kind of answers we can come up with this year. First let’s take a look at this word shepherd that is used in this passage in Luke. The Greek uses the word poimenes which means to feed or to protect. It is also a word for pastures as that is where the shepherd feds his sheep. The Latin word for shepherd is pastor as in pasture where we get the idea that your pastor is your shepherd whose job it is to spiritually feed you.
These shepherds in Luke were good shepherds because they were keeping watch over their flocks by night. Actually, I am not sure where the idea of shepherds being the scum of the earth came from. Often a shepherd was a young teenager, usually the youngest of the family who were charged with keeping watch over the family enterprise. If no son were available some outsider would be hired. Sure you might get some dirt bag who would dummy up his resume but for the most part you ran as much of a background check as you could on your candidate as you were entrusting him with your whole store. I mean if you own a 24 hour convenience store you are not going to hire some ex-con to manage your store who will walk home with a bag of groceries after closing up for the night. You are going to hire someone you can trust. In fact from my study of ancient cultures I find that being a shepherd was a well-respected profession. In those days, every mother dreamed of her son becoming a shepherd, seriously. So the idea that God sent his angels to the lowest scum to announce the birth of his Son just doesn’t historically hold water.
The next question then is why did God reveal the birth of his son to shepherds and to these particular shepherds and why were they grouped together. I think I found the answer to that in the Jewish Talmud. It was there I learned that the sheep which were to be used for the daily sacrifice in the temple were to be fed in the Bethlehem pastures. These shepherds had charge of the most important sheep of all, the seh or sacrificial lambs. Such sheep were not left entrusted to just one shepherd but a team of shepherds, most likely from the tribe of Levi. They provided round the clock watches. There were four night watches where the shepherds worked in shifts. There was the evening watch, the midnight watch, the cock crowing watch and the morning watch. I have seen many nativity play where the shepherds are laying on the ground fast asleep when suddenly they are awakened by a bright light. Boloney! The Bible clearly says they were watching their sheep by night. The Greek words used here is phulassontes phuloakas which literally means guarding in the guardhouses of the night. The shepherds in Bethlehem who were guarding (not watching) these sacrificial lambs worked around the clock sleeping in established guard houses when not on their shift. These pastures were specifically owned by the temple for the raising of the yearling ewe lambs. These were not your nomadic shepherds wandering all over the place. A sacrificial lamb had to be without blemish and without spot so they required extra special care and only the best of the best shepherds were chosen for this elite task of guarding these little lambs.
The Aramaic word used in the Peshitta for shepherd is ra’a. This comes from a Semitic root which expresses the idea of a deep passion. These are the good shepherds who feel such passion for their sheep and their duty to guard these sheep that they would lay down their lives for these sheep. Jesus as the good shepherd was a ra’a.
The angels appeared to the best of the best of these elite Levitical shepherds, I know they were the best of the best because they had the most difficult watch, the midnight watch. You see there is an ancient Jewish tradition that the Messiah would come at midnight. If they were indeed Levites, they would have been anticipating the arrival of the Messiah at midnight. It is also very likely that Jesus was born at midnight.
Here’s the real kicker, for these elite, dedicated ra’a (shepherds) to leave their seh sacrificial lambs, to abandon their duties, they must have been convinced that they were going to worship the true ra’a (shepherd) and seh sacrificial lamb. They probably realized that their jobs were done, there was no longer a need for the seh sacrificial lambs for the true seh sacrificial lamb had arrived.
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
Thank you so much for this beautiful insight!!!
I always enjoy these writings so much!!! Thank you for sharing!!! This was so good & I plan to share it tomorrow at our home church which includes little ones still absorbing the story of Jesus birth.
Thank you Joseph…I had heard before re the swaddling cloths and I am grateful for your clarification…all se perfect and wonderful…maranatha
Sir. It’s truly amazing and worth reading
So beautifully inspiring ad illuminating, as always! God bless you more and more and merry Christmas dearest Teacher!
So beautiful!
Merry Christmas Chaim, Laura.
John 10:14-15 I am the Good Shepherd, and I know without any doubt those who are My own and My own know Me and have a deep, personal relationship with Me— even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My very own life sacrificing it for the benefit of the sheep. ❤️
Merry Christmas, Teena!!
Amazing…thank you!!!
And they then went to Migdal Eder (The tower of the flock) where Yeshua was born and wrapped in swaddling cloths
Please do not believe that Jesus. Was born in that tower! That tower according to the Jews was where the people met to worship because the Temple could not hold them all.
Wonderful revelation.Praise God.
Thank You Chaim for your insight…since these shepherds were perhaps Levitical it does make sense that they believed the Messiah had come and that is what gave them the excitement to tell others (Lk 2:17) What a wonderful lesson you gave us for Christmas
Bless you!
This is truly most beautiful and I’m glad that you wrote about it. A pastor said that shepherds were scum. Didn’t he know that he was insulting Moses and King David and many other people of the Bible!
Sadly Christians get the Nativity Story with English cultural ideas and not the Culture of the Jews! We must remember that YESUAH( Hebrew name of Jesus) was a very very devout Jew!
I’m not a Hebrew etc. scholar – nor desire to be – too many years behind me.
I stumbled on your site a couple years ago – and check in from time to time.
Many of your studies bless me richly – taking me deeper into relationship with my God (reference your teaching of: The God of Abraham, The God of Isaac, The God of Jacob- The God of Duane)
I appreciate your heart after God!!
This one on the shepherds ‘tickled’ and blessed me!!
THANK YOU!!
Blessings to you in 2025!!
duane
“And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it shall come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.” Micah 4:8 (ESV) The tower of the flock (whose name in Hebrew is ‘Migdal Eder’) was a watch tower found on a hilly section at Bethlehem. One of the uses of the watch tower was to watch over the flocks of sheep that were for sacrifice in Jerusalem. Migdal Eder was used by shepherds to keep watch and protect the flock. The tract of land for the grazing of sheep in the area was large, so the tower would be helpful in watching over the sheep. Underneath the watch tower itself was a cave-like structure. This is where the ewes were taken to deliver their newborn lambs. Newborn lambs were wrapped in cloth (called swaddling clothes) to protect them after birth from being marked and so was the Lamb of God. The shepherds did not need to ask directions to where to find the Messiah for they knew exactly where to look, ‘the tower of the flock’. Jesus was born to take away the sins of the world in the place called Bethlehem. He was the ultimate sacrificial Lamb, and fits perfectly with Migdal Eder.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Love this. I’ll have to read it again I’m sure to pick up the nuances that escaped me the first go round. Appreciate the teaching narrative.
Thanks, very insightful. Indeed the Lamb of God that carries away our sins had arrived on the scene. Stay blessed this festive season.
Thank you for the beautiful breakdown of this. We have just finished up a play and I found myself asking why are we singing that that angels were singing? On the Shepards I had done an in depth study a while back but thank you again have a great day.
Thanks so much for clarifying that. What about clarifying the idea Jesus was born in a stable or that Joseph was so careless with Mary that he arrived so late there was nothing room in the inn
This put a smile on my face. The Lord always has such a wonderful plan for everything and everyone. He doesn’t need to explain His actions. But this explanation of the group of shepherds makes sense. Bless you, Merry Christmas and a healthy New Year. Come quickly Lord Jesus.
Thank you, dear Teacher – please teach us more so that we are not mislead by incorrect interpretations
Love this word