Hareuveni 1991: 95ff.). Shepherd and sheep can only be safe on ‘right paths’.46 To face these various challenges a shepherd carried two simple but versatile implements. His staff (maṭṭeh) was useful for support, picking off branches, snagging a trapped animal with the crook, or redirecting misbehaving members of the herd. The staff became a symbol for the protective presence of the shepherd (Ps. 23:4). Maṭṭeh is commonly used for tribe, perhaps suggesting the tribal head who leads by (or leans