Shepherd’s Fields
Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” - Luke 2:8-15
Pictured: looking out over the Shepherds Field
Just at the eastern edge of Bethlehem sits the town of Beit Sahour, which means “place of the night watchers,” and is home to the Shepherds Field. According to Jewish purity laws, this would have been the place where shepherds would tend their flocks, so it’s pretty certain that this field is where the shepherds were and the angels appeared. This area is also home to lots of caves like the ones shepherds would have lived in, and also similar to ones where Jesus was born and raised (Church of the Nativity and Basilica of the Annunciation). We had the opportunity to go into one of the caves which was much bigger than I expected.
Pictured: our group inside one half of the cave - as you can see, it’s huge
The caves were made up of two rooms, though the one we were in was sectioned into two spots for people to gather separately for worship. In the sides of the cave, you can see the mangers where the newborn lambs were laid - not unlike the one in The Grotto at the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was laid.
Pictured: mangers built into the cave walls to hold newborn lambs
One interesting note that I learned on this trip is the idea that these weren’t just any shepherds, they may have been Levitical Shepherds, charged with raising the lambs that would be used for sacrifices at the temple. According to Jewish law, all male baby lambs were immediately wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger to keep them perfect and unblemished. If this is the case, then the angel’s message of “a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” would have been a signal that baby Jesus was to be the final sacrifice as he came into the world and was immediately treated with the same reverence as the sacrificial lambs in the Levitical Shepherds’ care. I’m not sure how I feel about this idea but it is really fascinating to me. It makes some sense for sure.
Another interesting note about the Shepherd’s Field is that it’s also believed to be known as the Fields of Ruth and Boaz. It’s thought that this area used to belong to Boaz and was the site of the story with Ruth (see the book of Ruth). It makes sense that so many of the Bible stories would overlap - all of the lands in this part of the world truly are holy!