Luke 2:8

Abiding in the field (agraulounte). From agro, field and aulh, court. The shepherds were making the field their court. Plutarch and Strabo use the word. Keeping watch (pulassonte pulaka). Cognate accusative. They were bivouacking by night and it was plainly mild weather. In these very pastures David had fought the lion and the bear to protect the sheep ( 1 Samuel 17:34 ). The plural here probably means that they watched by turns. The flock may have been meant for the temple sacrifices. There is no way to tell.