Hebrew word · H951
בּוֹקֵר
voker
herdsman
This form occurs only here. It is a participle-type noun from baqar, 'cattle, large livestock': 'one who handles cattle, herdsman'. Amos 1:1 uses a different word for him, noqed, 'sheep-breeder', the same title given to King Mesha of Moab, who paid tribute of 100,000 lambs (2 Kgs 3:4).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
herdsman
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
This form occurs only here. It is a participle-type noun from baqar, 'cattle, large livestock': 'one who handles cattle, herdsman'. Amos 1:1 uses a different word for him, noqed, 'sheep-breeder', the same title given to King Mesha of Moab, who paid tribute of 100,000 lambs (2 Kgs 3:4).
- Against the English
BSB/ESV/WEB/KJV 'herdsman' is accurate. NIV/NLT 'shepherd' shifts from cattle to sheep. That fits v. 15 ('from following the flock') and 1:1, but it loses the word's link to cattle and brings in the gentle pastoral image English 'shepherd' carries.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint has aipolos, 'goatherd'. The Vulgate has armentarius, 'herdsman (of large cattle)'. The Aramaic Targum paraphrases with a phrase usually understood as 'owner of herds'. In Ugaritic texts the related title nqdm (cf. noqed) names men in charge of flocks who are listed alongside temple personnel.
Where it appears
Amos · 1
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Amos 7:14 בוֹקֵ֥ר [was] a herdsman
“I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.
Here: 'Herdsman', from baqar, 'cattle'. This exact form appears only here in the Bible. It names his livestock trade. Whether he was a hired hand or an owner-breeder the word alone does not say.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.