The Shepherd’s Rod and Staff
Artists all through the Middle Ages and to the present time have been wont to represent the Eastern shepherd as having a long staff with a hook on the end. This, according to seeming facts, is an utter misrepresentation of the case. Dr. Geo. M. Mackie, of Beirut, Syria, writes to the Sunday School Times that the staff commonly used by Orientals on a journey is somewhat longer than the ordinary walking-stick, always held by the thin or small end, and serves as a weapon of defense and something to lean upon in places of difficulty. Sometimes the thick end is formed in the shape of a battle-ax head or some other object as an ornament, but where it is meant for actual service, it has no curved or ornamental top. One of the peculiarities of the shepherd’s outfit is that it includes two sticks; one of these a short heavy-headed club just mentioned; the other a staff between six and seven feet in length. The club hangs from the belt or fitted into a pouch or strap at the side of the shepherd’s cloak. The latter is always held with the thick end to the ground and is carried by the shepherd. With it he beats down leaves from trees, and rests his weight upon it in climbing the mountains. The former is the “rod” of Psalm 23; the latter the “staff.” But the doctor says he has never seen any approach to the pastoral hook introduced by medieval Italian art into Scripture illustration.