shepherd
part of speech
noun (a shepherd, shepherds); verb (shepherd, shepherds, shepherded, shepherding)
meaning for a pupil
1) A shepherd is a person whose job is to look after sheep, keeping them safe and moving them to fresh grass. tree →
2) To shepherd people is to guide them carefully somewhere, like a teacher shepherding children onto a bus. tree →
3) A German shepherd is a large kind of dog. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Prophets and Writings "shepherd" is also a picture for God and for kings and leaders. The psalm says "The LORD is my shepherd," and Ezekiel scolds the shepherds of Israel for caring for themselves instead of the flock. David was a shepherd before he became king. Interpretation: Jewish tradition sees the shepherd as a model of a good leader, as Moses and David were. It reads God Himself as the shepherd of Israel, and Psalm 23 is a much loved prayer of trust. The rabbis said Moses showed he was fit to lead people by how gently he cared for a lost lamb. In the primary lessons: In farm and countryside lessons, a shepherd works with sheepdogs, counts the flock and protects lambs from foxes. In stories and fables, such as «The Boy Who Cried Wolf», a shepherd boy lies and then is not believed. In everyday life, adults shepherd children across roads.
examples
- And the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. (Torah EXO.2.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Pharaoh said unto his brethren: 'What is your occupation?' And they said unto Pharaoh: 'Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.' (Torah GEN.47.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- And they said: 'An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.' (Torah EXO.2.19, JPS 1917) tree →
- The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Writings PSA.23.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: (Prophets EZK.34.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: (Prophets EZK.34.9, JPS 1917) tree →
- The shepherd led the sheep up the hill. tree →
- A sheepdog helps the shepherd round up the flock. tree →
- In the story, the shepherd boy cried «Wolf!» too many times. tree →
- The teacher shepherded the class onto the bus. tree →
- The shepherd counted 40 sheep in the field. tree →
- Our neighbour has a German shepherd called Max. tree →
- The shepherd stayed up all night when the lambs were born. tree →
note
Countable noun; regular verb (shepherded). Pronounced SHEP-erd: the «h» is silent. A woman who does this job is also a shepherd (old word: shepherdess). A German shepherd is a dog, not a person. The group of sheep is a «flock».
In the corpora
- And the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
- And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way,
- and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
- Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion under foot, they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
- Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith the LORD.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «shepherd» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.