This paper begins by situating the parable of Shepherd (Q 15:4-7 | GThom 107) in the context of pastoral practices as known from contemporary Graeco-Egyptian papyri, and then tracks the ways the polyvalent image of the shepherd was transformed and adapted in the course of various synoptic and Thomasine performances. The paper pays attention to various social and economic registers which the parable presupposed and to which it appealed.