Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 2:8

"And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock." — Luke 2:8 (ASV)

Shepherds abiding in the field.—This fact, based on the assumption that sheep were commonly kept in folds during the winter months, has been thought to weigh against the common traditional view that fixes December 25 as the day of the Nativity. It has been argued that at that time of year, the weather was typically too inclement for shepherds and sheep to spend the night in the open air, and there was too little grass for pasture.

In summer, on the other hand, the grass on the hills is rapidly scorched. The season when the grass is greenest is just before the Passover (Mark 6:39; John 6:10); and, on the whole, this seems to be the most probable date. The traditional season, which does not appear as such until the fourth century, may have been chosen for entirely different reasons—possibly to displace the old Saturnalia, which coincided with the winter solstice. It is noticeable that the earliest Latin hymns connected with the festival of Christmas dwell on the birth as the rising of the Sun of Righteousness on the world’s wintry darkness.

Keeping watch.—Literally, keeping their night-watches, as in Matthew 14:25. We cannot know who the shepherds were, or why they were chosen as the first to hear the glad tidings. Analogy suggests that it was an answer to their prayers and the fulfillment of their hopes, that they, too, were looking for the consolation of Israel. Perhaps we may venture to think of the shepherds of Bethlehem as cherishing the traditions of David’s shepherd-life. They would also have been aware of the expectations—which, as we know from Matthew 2:5 and John 7:42, were then prevalent throughout Judea—that the coming of the Christ was not far off, and that Bethlehem was to witness His appearing. In this way, they may have gained a higher spiritual receptivity than others.

The statement in the Mishna that the sheep intended for sacrifice in the Temple were pastured in the fields of Bethlehem gives special interest to the fact thus narrated. This may, perhaps, partly explain the faith and devotion of the shepherds. They had been rejoicing, at the Passover season, over the springtime birth of the lambs of their flocks. Now they heard of the birth of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29).