A herdsman signifies the man practising the virtues, for moral achievements may be represented by cattle. That is why Jacob said, "Your servants are herdsmen." The shepherd signifies the gnostic, for sheep represent thoughts pastured by the intellect on the mountains of contemplation. That is why "every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians", that is, to the demonic powers. (Maximos the Confessor)

And sometimes a herdsman is but a herdsman and a cow is only a cow.

Allegory and analogy are among my favorite devices, but it is easy to take them too far.

Without care allegory and analogy can transform messy reality into orderly - and unreal - abstraction.

The Genesis story of Jacob's arrival in Goshen is about healing deep human divisions and redemption emerging from vulnerability.

This event and its meaning is not strengthened by allegory. But we might benefit by finding analogies to our own life.