Shepherds part 4

If you are still hanging around I appreciate it. Life has to be navigated when the unexpected happens. Sometimes even the expected requires more resources than previously imagined.

Let's continue looking at Philo's shepherding metaphors in his writing On Husbandry. I was last in section XI, which ends with  "but what is really desirable is, that our mind should govern all our conduct, like a goatherd, or a cowherd, or a shepherd, or, in short, like any herdsman of any kind; choosing in preference to what is pleasant that which is for the advantage both of himself and of his flock." We have seen that the mind is either a keeper of sheep, pleasure seeking and indulgent, or a true shepherd, diligently controlling the various parts of the body or the flock.

Philo goes on to say, in section XII, that being a (metaphorical) shepherd is a good thing. This is evidenced by Psalm 23, which says "The Lord is my shepherd..." God governs his flock of people and the elements according to law and justice. According to Philo, It is impossible for god to be anything else but a good shepherd, doing what is necessary for the entire world.

In section XIII, Philo goes on to say that a soul governed by god has no need of other things. He seeks after the knowledge of a shepherd and laughs at being a mere keeper of sheep. Then he tells us that Joseph told the Israelites to tell the Pharoah that they were keepers of cattle. (Sheep and other herded animals were all considered cattle.) However, the Israelites, when asked their occupation by Pharaoh, replied that they were shepherds. Philo seems to think this was a deliberate distinction and that the Israelites were allying themselves with their god.

In section XIV, Philo tells us that the Israelites' boast of being shepherds is equivalent to a king boasting of his power and dominion. "Yet, if the discussion had been merely about the care of goats or sheep, perhaps they would have been ashamed to make such an admission through desire to avoid dishonour; for such occupations are accounted inglorious and mean among those who are loaded with great prosperity, without being at the same time endowed with prudence, and especially among kings." Aha! Here we have finally come across a true cultural statement about people who take care of cattle for a living. Philo tells us that rich people who are not endowed with prudence consider the occupation of tending sheep to be "inglorious" (defined: shameful, disgraceful, dishonorable) and "mean" (defined:inferior, poor, lowly). So, in a way, Philo does intimate that shepherds (actual, not metaphorical ones) were despised and thought lowly, by the rich.  Considering Philo's phraseology here, it seems that he may not be of that opinion himself. 

Further more we must remember Philo is living in Alexandria, Egypt. He is speaking of first century Egyptian opinion of the occupation of shepherd, not first century Israelite opinion. He makes this clear when he says, "And the Egyptian character is by nature most especially haughty and boastful whenever so slight a breeze of prosperity does merely blow upon it, so that men of that nation look upon the pursuits of life and objects of ambition of ordinary men, as subjects for laughter and downright ridicule." 

To be continued.