The Greek verb agrauleō (ἀγραυλέω) means to live in the fields, to camp out, to keep watch in the open air. It is a compound of agros (G68, field) and aulē (courtyard, enclosure), literally meaning "to be in the field-courtyard" or "to live outdoors." It appears only once in the New Testament — Luke 2:8 — to describe the shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks at night when the angel announced the birth of Jesus.
The shepherds agrauleō — living in the open fields at night — were the first humans to receive the announcement of the Incarnation. This is profoundly intentional in Luke's gospel. The God who became flesh was announced not to priests in a temple or kings in a palace, but to workers in a field at night. Shepherding was considered one of the lowest social occupations in first-century Judea, yet these night-shift shepherds were the first evangelists, the first to hear "good news of great joy." Luke 2:8–20 is the gospel's declaration that no one is too low, too far, or too ordinary to receive the announcement of grace. The same God who met Moses in a field (Exodus 3) and called Amos from following the flock (Amos 7:15) now announces His Son's birth to those who agrauleō — who have made the field their home.