| EGYPTIANS DESPISED SHEPHERDS | Added: Mar-3-07 |
"And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians" (Genesis 46:31-34).
The Egyptians despised all shepherds, not just the Hebrew Shepherds.
As a rule-of-thumb Shepherds in general were ruthless and lawless bandits. In previous years, the Egyptians had lost cities and townships to such characters and didn't want anything to do with them.
According the Manetho's account of the King-shepherds, many years before the Hebrews went into the land of Goshen, these marauders had plundered many Egyptian cities. The disdain for the very name and nature of Shepherd remained as distrustful things -a bad taste in their spirits. Moreover, Shepherds ate many of the animals that the Egyptians worshipped.
Joseph instructed his family to tell the Egyptians when asked of their occupation that they were Shepherds. In this way the Egyptians would keep clear of the Hebrews and vise versa. The Hebrews were less likely to become intermingled with the Egyptians by marriage, by land or by any other means.
Moreover, the land of Goshen would be the perfect spot in Egypt for the Shepherds: apart from the Egyptians and in a land of plenty. While remaining attached somewhat to Egyptian protection from the famine and somewhat detached from individual Egyptians, Goshen would provide the needs of the Hebrews spiritually, physically, economically, and every other way imaginable during the time of famine.