shēp´kot, shēp´kōt, shēp´fōld (גּדרה, gedhērāh, מכלה, mikhlāh, משׁפּתים, mishpethayim, נוה, nāweh; αὐλή, aulḗ): At night the sheep are driven into a sheepfold if they are in a district where there is danger from robbers or wild beasts. These folds are simple walled enclosures ([Num 32:16]; [Jdg 5:16]; [2Ch 32:28]; [Psa 78:70]; [Zep 2:6]; [Joh 10:1]). On the top of the wall is heaped thorny brushwood as a further safeguard. Sometimes there is a covered hut in the corner for the shepherd. Where there is no danger the sheep huddle together in the open until daylight, while the shepherd watches over them ([Gen 31:39]; [Luk 2:8]). In the winter time caves are sought after ([1Sa 24:3]; [Zep 2:6]). The antiquity of the use of some of the caves for this purpose is indicated by the thick deposit of potassium nitrate formed from the decomposition of the sheep dung.
