This week I tidied up an old posting on the Hebrew word for shepherd. Check it out below:
RA’AH
Shepherd is a prominent theme in both the the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the B’rit Chadashah (New Testament). For something a little different, check out this video called, “The Shepherd”. It is not a Biblical story, per se, but it is based loosely around the story of Yeshua’s birth, from the perspective of the Shepherd. It is a plausible rendition of the life of a shepherd in first century Israel, with a touching message of peace and salvation.
There were many who were named as shepherds in the Bible, including Rachel (Genesis 29:9), Jacob’s sons (Genesis 47:3), the prophet Amos (Amos 1:1), and David, in his youth, (1 Samuel 16:11). This does say something about their characters. The shepherd was meant to be a caretaker of the sheep. They were providers and protectors. They gathered them, fed them, bound their wounds, guided them around dangerous grounds, lifted them up when they needed help. The shepherd would drop everything to search for the lost, putting their own life at risk to save this little needy, lost, animal. This is the image of a shepherd, the loving, protective, provider, is the perfect metaphor for the character of YHWH:
Psalm 23:1-3a
[David:] YHWH is my shepherd, I will lack nothing.
He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.
For your prayers, try learning a simplified version of Psalm 23:
YHWH is my shepherd… He restores my soul.
YHWH roh’ee… naf’shee y-sho’vev
יְהוָ֥ה רֹ֝עִ֗י (YHWH roh’ee… YHWH is my Shepherd)
נַפְשִׁ֥י יְשֹׁובֵ֑ב (naf’shee y-sho’vev… my soul, He restores)
Next week: Revisiting LIGHT
Hebrew Word Lessons 