• Luke 2:8
    The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures

    • 8 Καὶ And ποιμένες shepherds ἦσαν were ἐν in τῇ the χώρᾳ country τῇ the αὐτῇ very ἀγραυλοῦντες living in the fields καὶ and φυλάσσοντες guarding φυλακὰς watches τῆς of the νυκτὸς night ἐπὶ upon τὴν the ποίμνην flock αὐτῶν. of them.

  • Luke Study Notes—Chapter 2
    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)

    • 2:8

      shepherds: A large number of sheep were regularly needed for offerings at Jerusalem’s temple, so it is quite possible that some of the sheep raised around Bethlehem were intended for this purpose.

      living out of doors: The Greek expression comes from a verb that combines a·grosʹ (“field”) and au·leʹ (“place open to the air”), so the word means “to live in the fields, to live under the open sky,” and implies spending the night outdoors. Sheep may be led out to pasture during the daytime in any season of the year. However, the shepherds were spending the night out in the fields with their flocks. So this indicates the time of Jesus’ birth. The rainy season in Israel begins about mid-October and lasts several months. By December, Bethlehem, like Jerusalem, frequently experiences frost at night. The fact that Bethlehem’s shepherds were in the fields at night points to a season prior to the start of the rains.​—See App. B15.