Shepherds part 9

Now we come to what the Mishna has to say about shepherds. But first I want us to remember that the Mishna was not compiled in the first century, nor does it stand alone. It is part of the Talmud. The Mishna is essentially rabbinic commentary on the Torah (the law of Moses) , handed down by word of mouth, until it was compiled and written down about 200 C.E. Other parts of the Talmud are rabbinic commentary on the Mishna. They were written later. So we've got rabbinic commentary on rabbinic commentary that some rabbis were taught other rabbis had said. All of it is part of a complex legal code that was produced after the fall of Jerusalem and led to modern rabbinic Judaism.  How relevant is what was eventually written to actual life for ordinary Jews in the first century of Jesus's time, before this rabbinic law was codified?

We have seen from first century Philo of Alexandria's work "On Husbandry" that Philo implies shepherds are ordinary men. (XIV:62) He says the rich Egyptians look down on anyone who has an ordinary occupation. I suspect that this was may have also been the case of the rabbis who wrote what we will be examining in the Mishna and Talmud. They weren't necessarily rich in wealth, but they did hold a priveledged position in the Jewish community. The  rabbis were experts in the Jewish legal code and presided over local courts. They ultimately decided how the law was to be interpreted in daily matters and disputes.

I think it is important to note that not once in my research into what these rabbinic writings say have I seen shepherds called despised, unclean, or the lowest of the low. It is true that they do have some legal disadvantages, as did other occupations.  These strictures did not seem to carry a connotation of spite, but a merely an obssession with legal codification of absolutely every circumstance that could be imagined in ancient Jewish culture. I certainly could not find any passage that said anything about not helping a shepherd who fell into a pit as Mr.Alcorn suggests in his article. Nevertheless, I could be wrong.

My main source for finding passages in the Mishna and Talmud is the Jewish Virtual Library. I conducted searches using the word shepherd. I will post the names of tractates where the word shepherd is found. You can do a page search for the word shepherd. I will give a brief summary of what applies to shepherds in the tractate. Notice that the tractates will divide the mishna up into chunks with detailed commentary on each chunk from the Gemara. Many of the references are in the Gemara sections.

Yoma 6- wierd paradoxical questions about shepherds and lions
Yoma 8- a story about a gluttonous man who robs a shepherd
Beitza  3- regulations about what can and cannot be done on festivals days. Shepherds can't carry pouches. A person can go to a shepherd of his acquaintance and ask for a goat or sheep, but can't mention prices.
Beitza 5-regulations about what labor can be performed on festival days. Shepherds can only drive cattle as far as the owner of the amimals may go.

To be continued.