And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Parallel translations
- WEB There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.
- BSB And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
- NKJV Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
- NASB In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night.
- NLT That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Shepherds were watching their flocks by night nearby. It matters because God chose to announce the Savior's birth first to the lowly.
Overview
Luke introduces shepherds keeping watch in the fields outside Bethlehem. Shepherds were ordinary, often looked-down-upon laborers. That the angelic announcement comes first to them displays God's grace toward the humble and reflects the gospel's reach to the lowly rather than the elite.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 31:39–40That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
- Ps 78:70–71He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
- 1 Sam 17:34–35And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
- John 10:8–12All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
- Exod 3:1–2Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
- Ezek 34:8As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 2:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.