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(prop. בּוֹקֵר, a tender of oxen; in distinction from רוֹעֵה, a feeder of sheep; but practically the two occupations were generally united). From the earliest times the Hebrews were a pastoral people. Abraham and his sons were masters of herds and flocks, and were regulated in their movements very much by a regard to the necessities of their cattle, in which their wealth almost entirely consisted. In Egypt the Israelites were known as keepers of cattle. When they left Egypt, they, notwithstanding the oppressions to which they had been subjected, took with them "flocks and herds" (Exodus 12:38); and though during their wanderings in the wilderness their stock was in all probability greatly reduced, before they entered Canaan they had so replenished it by their conquests in the pastoral regions beyond Jordan that they took with them a goodly number of animals wherewith to begin their new life in the land that had been promised them. Of that land large tracts were suited for pasturage; certain of the tribes were almost exclusively devoted to pastoral occupations; and traces of a nomadic life among other tribes than those settled on the east of the Jordan are found even as late as the time of the monarchy (compare 1 Chronicles 4:38-43) the pastoral life has always had a charm for the Shemitic peoples; and among them, as well as among other nations, it has always been held in honor.
In the open and spacious fields bordering on the Jordan and in the hill-country of Palestine it is a life of comparative ease and of great independence even in the present day; men possessed of flocks and herds become quietly and gradually rich without any severe exertion or anxiety; and but for feuds among themselves, the oppression of superiors, and the predatory tendency of their less respectable neighbors, their life might flow on in an almost unbroken tranquility. The wealth of sheiks and emirs is measured chiefly by the number of their flocks and herds; and men who would count it an intolerable indignity to be constrained to engage in any handicraft occupation, or even in mercantile adventure, fulfill with pride and satisfaction the duties which their pastoral life imposes upon them. It was the same in ancient times. Job's substance consisted chiefly of cattle, his wealth in which made him the greatest of all the men of the East (Job 1:3). The first two kings of Israel, Saul and David, came from "following the herd" to ascend the throne (1 Samuel 9; 1 Samuel 11:5; Psalms 78:70). Men very great," like Nabal, derived their riches from their flocks, and themselves superintended the operations connected with the care of them (1 Samuel 25:2 sq.). Absalom, the prince of Israel, had a sheep-farm, and personally occupied himself with its duties (2 Samuel 13:23). Mesha, king of Moab, was "a sheepmaster" (נוקד, 2 Kings 3:4). The daughters of chiefs and wealthy proprietors did not think it beneath them to tend the flocks and herds of their family (Genesis 29:9 [comp. Genesis 24:15; Genesis 24:19]; Exodus 2:16; comp. Homer, II. 6, 423; Odys. 12, 121; 13, 221; Varro, De Re Rust. 2, 1). The proudest title of the kings of Israel was that of shepherds of the people (Jeremiah 23:4; Ezekiel 34:2, etc.; comp. ποιμένες λᾷῶν in Homer and Hesiod, passim, and Plato, De Rep. 4:15, p. 440, D.), and God himself condescended to be addressed as the Shepherd of Israel (Psalms 80:1), and was trusted in by his pious servants as their shepherd (Psalms 23:1). In later times the title of shepherd was given to the teachers and leaders of the synagogues, who were called פִּרְנָסַים (Lightfoot, Hor. Hebrews in Matthew 4:23); but this was unknown to the times before Christ.
By the wealthier proprietors their flocks and herds were placed under the charge of servants, who bore the designation of מַקְנֶה, מַעֵי, צאֹן, רֹעֵי, רֹעֵי, שֹׁמֵר, or נֹקְדַי . These were sometimes armed with weapons, to protect themselves and their charge from robbers or wild beasts; though, if we may judge from the case of David, their furniture in this respect was of the simplest description. Usually they carried with them a staff (שֶׁבֶט מִקֵּל ) furnished with a crook, which might be used for catching an animal by the foot; those who had the charge of oxen carried with them a sharper instrument (Judges 3:31; 1 Samuel 13:21). (See GOAD). They had also a wallet or small bag (יִלְקוּט, πῆρα ) in which to carry provisions, ammunition, or any easily portable article (1 Samuel 17:40; 1 Samuel 17:43; Psalms 23:4; Micah 7:14; Matthew 10:10; Luke 9:3; Luke 9:10). Their dress consisted principally of a cloak or mantle (the burnuis of the modern Arabs) in which they could wrap the entire body (Jeremiah 43:12). For food they were obliged to be contented with the plainest fare, and often were reduced to the last extremities (Amos 7:14; Luke 15:15). Their wages consisted of a portion of the produce, especially of the milk of the flock (Genesis 30:32 sq.; 1 Corinthians 9:7). That they cultivated music is not unlikely, though it hardly follows from 1 Samuel 16:18, for David's case may have been exceptional; in all countries and times, however, music has been associated with the pastoral life. When the servants belonging to one master existed in any number, they were placed under a chief (שִׂר מַקְנֶה, Genesis 47:6; ἀρχιποιμήν, 1 Peter 5:4); and under the monarchy there was a royal officer who bore the title of
אִבֹּיר הָרֹעַים, "chief of the herdsmen" (1 Samuel 21:7; compare 1 Chronicles 27:29, and "magister regii pecoris," Livy, 1, 4).
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