And, if one reads the Bible carefully, I will venture that God is on the side of the foragers and the pastoralists. Read the story of Cain and Abel and take a look at any medieval chronicle written from the viewpoint of farmers. They look down on pastoral people as lazy and uncivilized. I further suggest that God was not pleased with Cain's offering as opposed to Abel's because Cain brought his offering to the altar with that very attitude. Any other possible reason why God might have told Cain what He did say about the need to master his si crouching at the door? Seriously. If anyone else can offer another explanation, I'd like to read it.

Not to mention that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all herdsmen. Israel was originally a nation of herdsmen. And God continues to push the egalitarians forward throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. Could it be because interacting with animals requires more gentleness and flexibility than being tillers of the ground? I also ask this seriously, in hopes of finding an answer or two.