Sheep
SHEEP
Of the Syrian sheep, according to Dr. Russell, there are two varieties; the one called Bedaween sheep, which differ in no respect from the larger kinds of sheep among us, except that their tails are somewhat longer and thicker; the others are those often mentioned by travellers on account of their extraordinary tails; and this species is by far the most numerous. The tail of one of these animals is very broad and large, terminating in a small appendage that turns back upon it. It is of a substance between fat and marrow, and is not eaten separately, but mixed with the lean meat in many of their dishes, and also often used instead of butter. A common sheep of this sort, without the head, feet, skin, and entrails, weighs from sixty to eighty pounds, of which the tail itself is usually ten or fifteen pounds, and when the animal is fattened, twice or thrice that weight, and very inconvenient to its owner.The sheep or lamb was the common sacrifice under the Mosaic law; and it is to be remarked, that when the divine legislator speaks of this victim, he never omits to appoint that the rump or tail be laid whole on the fire of the altar, Exo 29:22 Lev 3:9 . The reason for this is seen in the account just given from Dr. Russell; from which it appears that this was the most delicate part of the animal, and therefore the most proper to be presented in sacrifice to Jehovah.The innocence, mildness, submission, and patience of the sheep or lamb, rendered it peculiarly sheep and lamb, rendered it peculiarly suitable for a sacrifice, and an appropriate type of the Lamb of God, Joh 1:29 . A recent traveller in Palestine witnessed the shearing of a sheep in the immediate vicinity of Gethsemane; and the silent, unresisting submission of the poor animal, thrown with its feet bound upon the earth, its sides rudely pressed by the shearer’s knees, while every movement threatened to lacerate the flesh, was a touching commentary on the prophet’s description of Christ, Isa 53:7 Mal 8:32-35 .There are frequent allusions in Scripture to these characteristics of the sheep, and to its proneness to go astray, Psa 119:176 Isa 53:6 . It is a gregarious animal also; and as loving the companionship of the flock and dependant of the protection and guidance of its master, its name is often given to the people of God, 2Ki 22:17 Psa 79:13 80:1 Mat 25:32 . Sheep and goats are still found in Syria feeding indiscriminately together, as in ancient times, Gen 30:35 Mat 25:32,33 . The season of sheep shearing was one of great joy and festivity, 1Sa 25:5,8,36 2Sa 13:23 .Sheep-cotes or folds, among the Israelites, appear to have been generally open houses, or enclosures walled round, often in front of rocky caverns, to guard the sheep from beasts of prey by night, and the scorching heat of noon, Num 32:16 2Sa 7:8 Jer 23:3,6 Joh 10:1-5 . See SHEPHERD.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Sheep
Sheep. Sheep are mentioned more frequently than any other animal in the Bible– about 750 times. This is only natural since the Hebrew people were known early in their history as a race of wandering herdsmen. Even in the days of the kings, the simple shepherd’s life seemed the ideal calling. The Bible makes many comparisons between the ways of sheep and human beings. In the New Testament the church is often compared to a sheepfold.
Well-suited for Palestine’s dry plains, sheep fed on grass, woods, and shrubs. They could get along for long periods without water. Sheep in clusters are easily led, so a single shepherd could watch over a large flock.
Sheep today are bred for white wool. But the sheep of Bible times were probably brown or a mixture of black and white. Modern farmers clip off the tails of sheep for sanitary reasons, but fat tails were prized on biblical sheep. The Hebrews called this “the whole fat tail.” When they offered this prized part of the sheep as a burnt offering to God, they burned the “entire fat-tail cut off close by the spine” (Lev 3:9), (NEB).
Sheep were also valuable because they provided meat for the Hebrew diet. Mutton was a nutritious food, and it could be packed away and preserved for winter. And before man learned to spin and weave wool, shepherds wore warm sheepskin jackets.
By nature, sheep are helpless creatures. They depend on shepherds to lead them to water and pasture, to fight off wild beasts, and to anoint their faces with oil when a snake nips them from the grass. Sheep are social animals that gather in flocks, but they tend to wander off and fall into a crevice or get caught in a thorn bush. Then the shepherd must leave the rest of his flock to search for the stray. Jesus used this familiar picture when He described a shepherd who left 99 sheep in the fold to search for one that had wandered off. The God of the Hebrews revealed His nurturing nature by speaking of himself as a shepherd (Psalm 23). Jesus also described Himself as the Good Shepherd who takes care of His sheep (Joh 10:1-18).
A unique relationship existed between shepherd and sheep. He knew them by name, and they in turn recognized his voice. Sheep were models of submissiveness. Because he demonstrated purity and trustful obedience to the Father, Jesus was also called “the Lamb of God” (Joh 1:29; Joh 1:36).
Wild sheep, high-spirited and independent, lived among the tall peaks of Palestine’s mountains. Like their domesticated cousins, they flocked together, but their disposition more nearly resembled goats. They are referred to as mountain sheep (Deu 14:5), (NKJV, RSV, NIV, NASB), chamois (KJV), and rock goat (NEB).
Wild or domestic, the male sheep is called a ram; the female is called a ewe.
Skink (See Lizard).
Skink (See Lizard).
Snail.
Snail. Snails are small, slow-crawling animals with a soft body protected by a coiled shell. They move with wave-like motions of their single foot, secreting a slime as they go to make their travel easier. The psalmist may have had this peculiar motion in mind when he spoke of the snail “which melts away as it goes” (Psa 58:8).
The snail in (Lev 11:30) (KJV ) is probably a skink, a type of sand lizard.
Snake.
Snake. A snake is the Bible’s first– and final– animal villain (Genesis 3; Rev 20:2). Throughout the Old and New Testaments, several different words for snake or serpent appear some 20 times. Scholars can only make educated guesses as to which of Palestine’s many species of snakes are meant in most verses.
The asp and adder are both common in the Holy Land. The asp is a type of cobra with its familiar hood, although its hood is not as pronounced as the Indian cobra’s. There is also a desert cobra, which has no hood at all. Adder and viper are two different words for the same deadly snake. A horned viper and sawscale, or carpet viper, are native to Israel. Another species mentioned in the Bible is the sand viper (Isa 30:6), (NEB).
In the wilderness, the Israelites were plagued by fiery serpents (Num 21:6). “Fiery” may indicate the burning fever caused by their bite. Or it may refer to the puff adder, which has yellow, flame-like markings. The cockatrice of the KJV was a mythological monster. It had the wings and head of a cock and the tail of a dragon. According to the superstitious legend about this animal, its look could kill.
Most snakes in Palestine were non-poisonous, but the Jewish people feared and hated all snakes. In the Bible the serpent is often referred to as the symbol of evil and wrongdoing (Psa 140:3; Jer 8:17).
In spite of this attitude among the Jews, some of Israel’s neighbors associated serpents with health, life, and immortality. The kingdom of Lower Egypt took the cobra as its official symbol. Even Moses once lifted up a BRONZE SERPENT before the Israelites at God’s command to save the people from the fiery serpents in the wilderness (Num 21:9). Some continued to worship that bronze serpent until King Hezekiah destroyed it generations later (2Ki 18:4).
Snakes are fascinating creatures. Scales on their undersides provide traction. Their forked tongues flick rapidly in and out to collect sensations of touch and smell. (Psa 58:4) is correct in speaking of the “deaf cobra,” since snakes have no ears to receive sound waves. Like deaf persons, they rely on physical vibrations to pick up sounds. Thus cobras are not charmed by music, but by movement.
A snake’s spine may contain as many as 300 tiny vertebrae. This gives them their amazing flexibility to coil and curve. Their mouths are hinged to permit them to swallow and eat creatures much larger than themselves. Their eyes are protected by transparent lids which are always open, causing scientists to wonder if snakes ever sleep.
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Sheep
The following Hebrew words occur as the names of sheep: , tson (varieties tseon, , tsone, or , tsoneh), a collective noun to denote a flock of sheep or goats, to which is opposed the noun of unity, , seh, a sheep or a goat, joined to a masculine where rams or he- goats are signified, and with a feminine when ewes or she-goats are meant, though, even in this case sometimes to a masculine (as in Gen 31:10): , dyil, a ram; , rachel, a ewe; , keseb, or , keseb (fem. , or ), a lamb, or rather a sheep of a year old or above, opposed to , taleh, a sucking or very young lamb; , kar, is another term applied to a lamb as it skips () in the pastures. The Chald. , immar (Ezr 6:9; Ezr 6:17; Ezr 7:17), is a later word, apparently indicating lambs intended for sacrifice, while , attud, rendered ram in Genesis 31 signifies a he-goat. SEE EWE; SEE LAMB; SEE RAM.
The term , kesitah (literally something weighed out, A.V. piece of money, Gen 33:19; Job 42:11; piece of silver, Jos 24:32), has been supposed by many to denote a coin stamped with the figure of a lamb; but Gesenius suggests (Thesaur. p. 1241) that specimens of that sort are probably only those of Cyprus, which bore that mark. SEE KESITAH.
This well known domestic animal has, from the earliest period, contributed to the wants of mankind. Sheep were an important part of the possessions of the ancient Hebrews and of Eastern nations generally. The first mention of sheep occurs in Gen 4:2. The following are the principal Biblical allusions to these animals. They were used in the sacrificial offerings, both the adult animal (Exo 20:24; 1Ki 8:63; 2Ch 29:33) and the lamb, , i.e. a male from one to three years old; but young lambs of the first year were more generally used in the offerings (see Exo 29:38; Lev 9:3; Lev 12:6; Num 28:9, etc.). No lamb under eight days old was allowed to be killed (Lev 22:27). A very young lamb was called . taleh (see 1Sa 7:9; Isa 65:25). Sheep and lambs formed an important article of food (1Sa 25:18; 1Ki 1:19; 1Ki 4:23; Psalm 64:11; etc.), and ewe’s milk is associated with that of the cow (Isa 7:21; Isa 7:23). The wool was used as clothing (Lev 13:47; Deu 22:11; Pro 31:13; Job 31:20, etc.). SEE WOOL.
Trumpets may have been made of the horns of rams (Jos 6:4), though the rendering of the A.V. in this passage is generally thought to be incorrect. Rams’ skins dyed red were used as a covering for the tabernacle (Exo 25:5). Sheep and lambs were sometimes paid as tribute (2Ki 3:4). It is very striking to notice the immense numbers of sheep that were reared in Palestine in Biblical times: see, for instance, 1Ch 5:21; 2Ch 15:11; 2Ch 30:24; 2Ki 3:4; Job 42:12. Especial mention is made of the sheep of Bozrah (Mic 2:12; Isa 34:6), in the land of Edom, a district well suited for pasturing sheep. Bashan and Gilead are also mentioned as pastures (Mic 7:14). Large parts of Carmel, Bashaul, and Gilead, says Thomson (Land and Book, 1, 304), are at their proper seasons alive with countless flocks (see also p. 331). The flocks of Kedar and the rams of Nebaioth, two sons of Ishmael (Gen 25:13) that settled in Arabia, are referred to in Isa 60:7. Sheep shearing is alluded to in Gen 31:19; Gen 38:13; Deu 15:19; 1Sa 25:4; Isa 53:7; etc. Sheep dogs were employed in Biblical times, as is evident from Job 30:1, the dogs of my flock. From the manner in which they are spoken of by the patriarch it is clear, as Thomson (ibid. 1, 301) well observes, that the Oriental shepherd dogs were very different animals from the sheep dogs of our own land. The existing breed are described as being a mean, sinister, ill-conditioned generation, which are kept at a distance, kicked about, and half starved, with nothing noble or attractive about them. They were, however, without doubt, useful to the shepherds, more especially at night, in keeping off the wild beasts that prowled about the hills and valleys (comp. Theocrit. Id. 5, 106). Shepherds in Palestine and the East generally go before their flocks, which they induce to follow by calling to them (comp. Joh 10:4; Psa 77:20; Psa 80:1), though they also drove them (Gen 33:13). SEE SHEPHERD.
It was usual among the ancient Jews to give names to sheep and goats, as we do to our dairy cattle (see Joh 10:3). This practice prevailed among the ancient Greeks (see Theocrit. Id. 5, 103): , ; The following quotation from Hartley (Researches in Greece and the Levant, p. 321) is so strikingly illustrative of the allusions in Joh 10:1-16 that we cannot do better than quote it: Having had my attention directed last night to the words in Joh 10:3, I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give names to the sheep. He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them by their names. This morning I had an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing by a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question which I had put to the servant, and he gave me the same answer. I then bade him call one of his sheep; he did so, and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions and ran up to the hands of the shepherd with signs of pleasure and with a prompt obedience which I had never before observed in any other animal. It is also true in this country that a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him. The shepherd told me that many of his sheep were still wild, that they had not yet learned their names, but that by teaching them they would all learn them. See also Thomson (1, 301): The shepherd calls sharply from time to time to remind the sheep of his presence. They know his voice and follow on; but if a stranger call, they stop short, lift up their heads in alarm, and if it is repeated they turn and flee, because they know not the voice of a stranger. Henderson, in Iceland, notices a shepherdess with a flock of fifty sheep, every one of which she professed to know by name (Iceland, 1, 189).
Domestic sheep, although commonly regarded as the progeny of one particular wild species, are probably an instance, among many similar, where the wisdom of Providence has provided subsistence for man in different regions by bestowing the domesticating and submissive instincts upon the different species of animals which the human family might find in their wanderings; for it is certain that even the American argali can be rendered tractable, and that the Corsican musmon will breed with the common sheep. The normal animal, from which all or the greater part of the Western domestic races are assumed to be descended, is still found wild in the high mountain regions of Persia, and is readily distinguished from two other wild species bordering on the same region. What breeds the earliest shepherd tribes reared in and about Palestine can now be only inferred from negative characters; yet they are sufficient to show that they were the same, or nearly so, as the common horned. variety of Egypt and continental Europe: in general white, and occasionally black, although there was on the Upper Nile a speckled race; and so early as the time of Aristotle the Arabians possessed a rufous breed, another with a very long tail, and, above all, a broad-tailed sheep, which at present is commonly denominated the Syrian. These three varieties are said to be of African origin, the red hairy in particular having all the characteristics to mark its descent from the wild Ovis tragelaphus or barbatus, or kebsh of the Arabian and Egyptian mountains. Flocks of the ancient breed, derived from the Bedawin, are now extant in Syria, with little or no change in external characters, chiefly the broad-tailed and the common horned white, often with black and white about the face and feet, the tail somewhat thicker and longer than the European.
The sheep of Syria and Palestine are the broad-tail (Ovis laticaudatus), and a variety of the common sheep of this country (Ovis aries) called the Bidowin, according to Russell (Aleppo, 2, 147). The broad-tailed kind has long been reared in Syria. Aristotle, who lived more than 2000 years ago, expressly mentions Syrian sheep with tails a cubit wide. This or another variety of the species is also noticed by Herodotus (3, 113) as occurring in Arabia. The fat tail of the sheep is probably alluded to in Lev 3:9; Lev 7:3, etc, as the fat and the whole rump that was to be taken off hard: by the backbone, and was to be consumed on the altar. The carcass of one of these sheep, without including the head, feet, entrails, and skin, generally weighs from fifty to sixty pounds, of which the tail makes up fifteen pounds; but some of the largest breed, that have been fattened with care, will sometimes weigh 150 pounds, the tail alone composing a third of the whole weight. This tail a broad and fiatish appendage has the appearance of a large and loose mass of flesh or fat upon the rump and about the root of the tail; and from the odd motion which it receives when the animal walks one would suppose it connected to the animals’ body only by the skin with which it is covered. In the Egyptian variety this tail is quite pendulous and broad throughout, but in the Syrian variety the tail harrows almost to a point towards the end, and the extremity is turned tip. This is a great convenience to the animal. The sheep of the extraordinary size mentioned before are very rare, and usually kept in yards, so that they are in little danger of injuring the tail as they walk. But in the fields, in order to prevent injury from the bushes, the shepherds in several places of Syria fix a thin piece of board on the under part (which is not, like the rest, covered with wool), and to this board small wheels are sometimes added…. The tail is entirely composed of a substance between marrow and fat, serving very often in the kitchen in the place of butter, and, cut into small pieces, makes an ingredient in various dishes;, when the animal is young it is little inferior to the best marrow (Kitto, Phys. Hist. of Palest. p. 306; see also Thomson, ut sup. 1, 178).
The whole passage in Genesis 30 which bears on the subject of Jacob’s stratagem with Laban’s sheep is involved in considerable perplexity, and Jacob’s conduct in this matter has been severely and uncompromisingly condemned by some writers. We touch upon the question briefly in its zoological bearing. It is altogether impossible to account for the complete success which attended Jacob’s device of setting peeled rods before the ewes and she-goats as they came to drink in the watering troughs, on natural grounds. The Greek fathers, for the most part, ascribe the result to the direct operation of the Deity, whereas Jerome and the Latin fathers regard it as a mere natural operation of the imagination, adducing as illustrations in point various devices that have been resorted to by the ancients in the cases of mares, asses, etc., (see Oppian, Cyyneg. 1, 327, 357; Pliny, H.N. 7, 10, and the passages from Quintilian, Hippocrates, and Galen, as cited by Jerome, Grotius, and Bochart). None of the instances cited by Jerome and others are exact parallels with that in question. The quotations adduced, with the exception of those which speak of painted images set before Spartan women inter concipiendum, refer to cases in which living animals themselves, and not reflections of inanimate objects, were the cause of some marked peculiarity in the fetus. Rosenmuller, however (Schol. ad. loc.), cites Hastfeer (De Re Oviria, German version p.17, 30, 43, 46, 47) as a writer by whom the contrary opinion is confirmed. Even granting the general truth of these instances, and acknowledging the curious effect which peculiar sights through some nervous influence do occasionally produce in the fetus of many animals, yet we must agree with the Greek fathers and ascribe the production of Jacob’s spotted sheep and goats to divine agency.
The whole question has been carefully considered by Nitschmann (De Corylo Jacobi, in Thes. Nov. Theol. Phil. 1, 202-206), from whom we quote the following passage: Fatemur itaque, cum Vossio aliisque piis viris, illam pecudum imaginationem tantum fuisse causam adjuvantem, ac plus in hoc negotio divinae tribuendum esse virtuti, quae suo concursu sic debilem, causae secundae vim adauxit ut quod ea sola secundum naturam praestare non valeret id divina benedictione supra naturam praestaret; and then Nitschmann cites the passage in Gen 31:5-13, where Jacob expressly states that his success was due to divine interference; for it is hard to believe that Jacob is here uttering nothing but a tissue of falsehoods, which appears to be the opinion of Kalisch (Hist. and Crit. Comment. Genesis 30, 31), who represents the patriarch as unblushingly executing frauds suggested by his fertile invention, and then abusing the authority of God in covering or justifying them. We are aware that still graver difficulty in the minds of some persons remains, if the above explanation be adopted; but we have no other alternative, for, as Patrick has observed, let any shepherd now try this device, and he will not find it do what it did then by a divine operation. The greater difficulty alluded to is the supposing that God would have directly interfered to help Jacob to act fraudulently towards his uncle. But are we quite sure that there was any fraud fairly called such in the matter? Had Jacob not been thus aided, he might have remained the dupe of Laban’s niggardly conduct all his days. He had served his money loving uncle faithfully for fourteen years. Laban confesses his cattle had increased considerably under Jacob’s management, but all the return he got was unfair treatment and a constant desire on the part of Laban to strike a hard bargain with him (Gen 31:7).
God vouchsafed to deliver Jacob out of the hands of his hard master, and to punish Laban for his cruelty, which he did by pointing out to Jacob how he could secure to himself large flocks and abundant cattle. God was only helping Jacob to obtain that which justly belonged to him, but which Laban’s rapacity refused to grant. Were it lawful, says Stackhouse, for any private person to make reprisals, the injurious treatment Jacob had received from Laban, both in imposing a wife upon him and prolonging his servitude without wages, was enough to give him both the provocation and the privilege to do so. God Almighty, however, was pleased to take the determination of the whole matter into his own hands. This seems to us the best way of understanding this disputed subject.
The relation of the sheep to man, in a pastoral country, gave rise to many beautiful symbols and interesting illustrations. Jehovah was the shepherd of his people, and Israel was his flock (Psa 23:1; Psa 80:1; Psa 79:13; Isa 40:11; Jer 23:1-2; Ezekiel 34, and often elsewhere); the apostasy of sinners from God is the straying of a lost sheep (Psa 119:176; Isa 53:6; Jer 50:6); and the ever-blessed Son of God coming down to our world is a shepherd seeking his sheep which were lost (Luk 15:4-6). He is the only shepherd; all who do not own him are thieves and robbers (Joh 10:8); wolves in sheep’s clothing (Mat 7:15). He is the good shepherd, who gave his life for the sheep (Joh 10:11); and now he gives them his own life in resurrection, and this is eternal life (Joh 10:28; Rom 6:9-11; Col 2:12). As the sheep is an emblem of meekness, patience, and submission, it is expressly mentioned as typifying these quantities in the person of our blessed Lord (Isa 53:7; Act 2:32, etc.).
In the vision of the prophet Daniel, recorded in ch. 8, the Medo-Persian monarchy was seen under the figure of a ram with two unequal horns, which was overthrown by a one-horned he goat, representing the Macedonian power. We have already remarked on the propriety of the latter symbol SEE GOAT, and the former is no less correct. There is abundant evidence that the ram was accepted as the national emblem by the Persian people, as the he goat was by the Macedonians. Ammianus Marcellinus states that the king of Persia wore a ram’s head of gold set with precious stones, instead of a diadem. The type of a ram is seen on ancient Persian coins, as on one of undoubted genuineness in Hunter’s collection, in which the obverse is a ram’s head and the reverse a ram couchant. Rams’ heads, with horns of unequal height, are still to be seen sculptured on the pillars of Persepolis.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Sheep
are of different varieties. Probably the flocks of Abraham and Isaac were of the wild species found still in the mountain regions of Persia and Kurdistan. After the Exodus, and as a result of intercourse with surrounding nations, other species were no doubt introduced into the herds of the people of Israel. They are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The care of a shepherd over his flock is referred to as illustrating God’s care over his people (Ps. 23:1, 2; 74:1; 77:20; Isa. 40:11; 53:6; John 10:1-5, 7-16).
“The sheep of Palestine are longer in the head than ours, and have tails from 5 inches broad at the narrowest part to 15 inches at the widest, the weight being in proportion, and ranging generally from 10 to 14 lbs., but sometimes extending to 30 lbs. The tails are indeed huge masses of fat” (Geikie’s Holy Land, etc.). The tail was no doubt the “rump” so frequently referred to in the Levitical sacrifices (Ex. 29:22; Lev. 3:9; 7:3; 9:19). Sheep-shearing was generally an occasion of great festivity (Gen. 31:19; 38:12, 13; 1 Sam. 25:4-8, 36; 2 Sam. 13:23-28).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Sheep
Gen 4:2. Abounded in the pastures of Palestine. Shepherds go before them and call them by name to follow (Joh 10:4; Psa 77:20; Psa 80:1). The ordinary sheep are the broad tailed sheep, and the Ovis aries, like our own except that the tail is longer and thicker, and the ears larger; called bedoween. Centuries B.C. Aristotle mentions Syrian sheep with tails a cubit wide. The fat tail is referred to in Lev 3:9; Lev 7:3. The Syrian cooks use the mass of fat instead of the rancid Arab butter.
The sheep symbolizes meekness, patience, gentleness, and submission (Isa 53:7; Act 8:32). (See LAMB.) Tsown means sheep”; ayil, the full-grown “ram,” used for the male of other ruminants also; rachel, the adult “ewe”; kebes (masculine), kibsah (feminine), the half grown lamb; seh, “sheep” or paschal “lamb”; char, “young ram”; taleh, “sucking lamb”; ‘atod (Genesis 31 “ram”) means “he-goat”; imrin, “lambs for sacrifice.”
The sheep never existed in a wild state, but was created expressly for man, and so was selected from the first for sacrifice. The image is frequent in Scripture: Jehovah the Shepherd, His people the flock (Psa 23:1; Isa 40:11; Jer 23:1-2; Ezekiel 34). Sinners are the straying sheep whom the Good Shepherd came to save (Psa 119:176; Isa 53:6; Jer 50:6; Luk 15:4-6; Joh 10:8; Joh 10:11). False teachers are thieves and wolves in sheep’s clothing (Mat 7:15). None can pluck His sheep from His hand and the Father’s (Joh 10:27-29).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
SHEEP
From earliest times people have kept sheep, whether for their meat or for their wool (Gen 4:2). In the dry semi-desert regions around Palestine, many of the Arabs and other tribal people moved with their flocks from place to place, looking for pastures and water (Gen 26:12-22; Exo 3:1; Isa 13:20). In other lands, where there was a better supply of grass and water, people who settled down permanently in one area kept sheep as part of their farming activity. After settling down in Canaan, the Israelites, on the whole, belonged to this latter category (Deu 7:13; 1Sa 17:15; 1Sa 25:2).
Israelites kept sheep mainly for their wool, which they used to make clothing (Gen 38:13; Lev 13:47-48; Pro 27:26). Apart from those ceremonial sacrifices where worshippers ate the meat of the sheep in a ritual meal, Israelites killed sheep for meat only on special occasions (Lev 7:15; Deu 12:21; 1Sa 25:18; Amo 6:4; see also LAMB).
A well known characteristic of sheep was that they were easily led astray and soon became lost. Because of this, people who were easily led astray were sometimes likened to sheep (Isa 53:6; Mat 10:6; Mat 18:12). Sheep needed a shepherd to protect and lead them, and in the same way people need God to care for them and give them the right leadership in life (Num 27:17; Mat 10:16; Joh 10:11; Joh 10:27; Joh 21:15-17; 1Pe 5:1-4; see SHEPHERD).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Sheep
SHEEP.
1. tsn, small cattle, such as sheep and goats, Gen 4:2 etc.; a single sheep or goat, Exo 22:1. 2. seh, Deu 14:4 etc., a sheep or goat; collectively, like 1, in Isa 7:25 etc. 3. ayil, Gen 15:9 ram. 4. rchl, Gen 31:38; Gen 32:14, Son 6:6 etc., ewe. See prop. name Rachel. 5. kar, Deu 32:14 etc., young lamb. 6. kebes, Num 7:15, Isa 5:17, and keseb, Lev 3:7, a lamb from one to three years old; the lamb of sacrifice. 7. taleh (Arab. [Note: Arabic.] tully), 1Sa 7:9, Isa 40:11; Isa 65:25, a lamb, older than the preceding. 8. immar (Aram [Note: ram Aramaic.] . [Note: Aramaic.] ), Ezr 6:9 lamb. 9. In Gen 33:19 AVm [Note: Authorized Version margin.] has lambs as tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of qsth. See Kesitah. 10. (Gr.) amnos, Joh 1:29 etc., lamb. 11. arn, Luk 10:3 etc., lamb. 12. arnion Rev 5:6 etc., the equivalent of Heb. keseb. 13. Probaton, Joh 10:1-4 etc., a general term like Nos. 1 and 2.
The common sheep of Palestine is the fat-tailed sheep (Ovis aries, var. laticaudata). The mass of tail-fat is sometimes enormous; it is the whole rump (Heb. and Arab. [Note: Arabic.] alyh) of Exo 29:22, Lev 3:9 etc. Sheep are usually pastured with goats except when the land is too rocky and harren for the former. The flock is led by the shepherd, though the shepherds boy may bring up the rear; on a journey a shepherd of experience must drive the flock (Gen 33:13), while another leads. When away from villages, the sheep are herded at night in folds, which are roughly made enclosures of piled-up stones; the shepherd lives in a cave or hut adjoining, and is in very intimate touch with his sheep, each of which he knows unfailingly at a glance. The skin of a sheep, roughly tanned with all the wool on, is the common wioter jacket (furweh) of a shepherd or peasant. To kill a sheep or lamh for a strangers meal is one of the first acts of Bedouin hospitality. In the country, sheep are killed only in such circumstances or in honour of some festive occasion (cf. 1Sa 25:18, 1Ki 1:19).
E. W. G. Masterman.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Sheep
See Lamb
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Sheep
shep:
1. Names:
The usual Hebrew word is , co’n, which is often translated flock, e.g. Abel … brought of the firstlings of his flock (Gen 4:4); butter of the herd, and milk of the flock (Deu 32:14). The King James Version and the English Revised Version have milk of sheep. Compare Arabic da’n. The Greek word is , probaton. For other names, see notes under CATTLE; EWE; LAMB; RAM.
2. Zoology:
The origin of domestic sheep is unknown. There are 11 wild species, the majority of which are found in Asia, and it is conceivable that they may have spread from the highlands of Central Asia to the other portions of their habitat. In North America is found the bighorn, which is very closely related to a Kamschatkan species. One species, the urial or sha, is found in India. The Barbary sheep, Ovis tragelaphus, also known as the aoudad or arui, inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northwest Africa. It is thought by Tristram to be zemer, English Versions of the Bible chamois of Deu 14:5, but there is no good evidence that this animal ranges eastward into Bible lands. Geographically nearest is the Armenian wild sheep, Ovis gmelini, of Asia Minor and Persia. The Cyprian wild sheep may be only a variety of the last, and the mouflon of Corsica and Sardinia is an allied species. It is not easy to draw the line between wild sheep and wild goats. Among the more obvious distinctions are the chin beard and strong odor of male goats. The pelage of all wild sheep consists of hair, not wool, and this indeed is true of some domestic sheep as the fat-rumped short-tailed sheep of Abyssinia and Central Asia. The young lambs of this breed have short curly wool which is the astrachan of commerce. Sheep are geologically recent, their bones and teeth not being found in earlier deposits than the pleiocene or pleistocene. They were, however, among the first of domesticated animals.
3. Sheep of Palestine:
The sheep of Syria and Palestine are characterized by the possession of an enormous fat tail which weighs many pounds and is known in Arabic as ‘alyat, or commonly, lyat. This is the , ‘alyah, fat tail (the King James Version rump) (Exo 29:22; Lev 3:9; Lev 7:3; Lev 8:25; Lev 9:19), which was burned in sacrifice. This is at the present day esteemed a great delicacy. Sheep are kept in large numbers by the Bedouin, but a large portion of the supply of mutton for the cities is from the sheep of Armenia and Kurdistan, of which great droves are brought down to the coast in easy stages. Among the Moslems every well-to-do family sacrifices a sheep at the feast of al-‘adha’, the 10th day of the month dhu-l-hijjat, 40 days after the end of ramadan, the month of fasting. In Lebanon every peasant family during the summer fattens a young ram, which is literally crammed by one of the women of the household, who keeps the creature’s jaw moving with one hand while with the other she stuffs its mouth with vine or mulberry leaves. Every afternoon she washes it at the village fountain. When slaughtered in the fall it is called maluf, fed, and is very fat and the flesh very tender. Some of the meat and fat are eaten at once, but the greater part, fat and lean, is cut up fine, cooked together in a large vessel with pepper and salt, and stored in an earthen jar. This, the so-called kauramat, is used as needed through the winter.
In the mountains the sheep are gathered at night into folds, which may be caves or enclosures of rough stones. Fierce dogs assist the shepherd in warding off the attacks of wolves, and remain at the fold through the day to guard the slight bedding and simple utensils. In going to pasture the sheep are not driven but are led, following the shepherd as he walks before them and calls to them. When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice (Joh 10:4).
4. Old Testament References:
The sheepfolds of Reuben on the plain of Gilead are referred to in Num 32:16 and Jdg 5:16. A cave is mentioned in 1Sa 24:3 in connection with the pursuit of David by Saul. The shepherd origin of David is referred to in Psa 78:70 :
He chose David also his servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds.
Compare also 2Sa 7:8 and 1Ch 17:7.
The shearing of the sheep was a large operation and evidently became a sort of festival. Absalom invited the king’s sons to his sheep-shearing in Baal-hazor in order that he might find an opportunity to put Amnon to death while his heart was merry with wine (2Sa 13:23-29). The character of the occasion is evident also from the indignation of David at Nabal when the latter refused to provide entertainment at his sheep-shearing for David’s young men who had previously protected the flocks of Nabal (1Sa 25:2-13). There is also mention of the sheep-shearing of Judah (Gen 38:12) and of Laban (Gen 31:19), on which occasion Jacob stole away with his wives and children and his flocks.
Sheep were the most important sacrificial animals, a ram or a young male being often specified. Ewes are mentioned in Lev 3:6; Lev 4:32; Lev 5:6; Lev 14:10; Lev 22:28; Num 6:14.
In the Books of Chronicles we find statements of enormous numbers of animals consumed in sacrifice: And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep (2Ch 7:5); And they sacrificed unto Yahweh in that day (in the reign of Asa)…seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep (2Ch 15:11); at the cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them (2Ch 29:33 f); and Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the assembly for offerings a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep (2Ch 30:24). In the account of the war of the sons of Reuben and their allies with the Hagrites, we read: And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand (1Ch 5:21). Mesha king of Moab is called a sheep-master, and we read that he rendered unto the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams (2Ki 3:4).
5. Figurative:
Christ is represented as the Lamb of God (Isa 53:7; Joh 1:29; Rev 5:6). Some of the most beautiful passages in the Bible represent God as a shepherd: From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel (Gen 49:24); Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall not want (Psa 23:1; compare Isa 40:11; Eze 34:12-16). Jesus said I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me … and I lay down my life for the sheep (Joh 10:14 f). The people without leaders are likened to sheep without a shepherd (Num 27:17; 1Ki 22:17; 2Ch 18:16; Eze 34:5). Jesus at the Last Supper applies to Himself the words of Zec 13:7; I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad (Mat 26:31; Mar 14:27). The enemies of Yahweh are compared to the fat of the sacrifice that is consumed away in smoke (Psa 37:20). God’s people are the sheep of his pasture (Psa 79:13; Psa 95:7; Psa 100:3). In sinning they become like lost sheep (Isa 53:6; Jer 50:6; Eze 34:6; Luk 15:3 ff). In the mouth of Nathan the poor man’s one little ewe lamb is a vivid image of the treasure of which the king David has robbed Uriah the Hittite (2Sa 12:3). In Son 6:6, the teeth of the bride are likened to a flock of ewes. It is prophesied that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb (Isa 11:6) and that the wolf and the lamb shall feed together (Isa 65:25). Jesus says to His disciples, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves (Mat 10:16; compare Luk 10:3). In the parable of the Good Shepherd we read: He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholdeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth (Joh 10:12).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Sheep
Fig. 317Syrian Sheep
The normal animal, from which all or the greater part of the western domestic races of sheep are assumed to be descended, is still found wild in the high mountain regions of Persia, and is readily distinguished from two other wild species bordering on the same region. What breeds the earliest shepherd tribes reared in and about Palestine can now be only inferred from negative characters; yet they are sufficient to show that they were the same, or nearly so, as the common horned variety of Egypt and continental Europe: in general white, and occasionally black, although there was on the upper Nile a speckled race; and so early as the time of Aristotle the Arabians possessed a rufous breed, another with a very long tail, and above all a broad-tailed sheep, which at present is commonly denominated the Syrian. Flocks of the ancient breed, derived from the Bedouins, are now extant in Syria, with little or no change in external characters, chiefly the broad-tailed and the common horned white, often with black and white about the face and feet, the tail somewhat thicker and longer than the European. The others are chiefly valued for the fat of their broad tails, which tastes not unlike marrow; for the flesh of neither race is remarkably delicate, nor are the fleeces of superior quality. Sheep in the various conditions of existence wherein they would occur among a pastoral and agricultural people, are noticed in numerous places of the Bible, and furnish many beautiful allegorical images, where purity, innocence, mildness, and submission are portrayedthe Savior himself being denominated ‘the Lamb of God,’ in twofold allusion to his patient meekness, and to his being the true paschal lamb, ‘slain from the foundation of the world’ (Rev 13:8). Some commentators affirm that the Hebrew word kesitah, which occurs only in Gen 33:19, and Job 42:11, and is in the Authorized Version rendered money, literally means sheep or lambs, and should be so translated. Others, with greater probability, suppose that it refers to a piece of coined money bearing the figure of a sheep; and it is certain that Phoenicia had sheep actually impressed on a silver coin.
Fig. 318Supposed Kesitah
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Sheep
Sheep were bred in great numbers in Palestine, and formed a large part of the property of the Israelites. The species common there was the broad tailed sheep with horns (Ovis laticaudatus and Ovis aries ). In Palestine they follow the shepherd and know his voice, and will not follow a stranger. Sheep and lambs were constantly offered in sacrifice. The morning and evening lamb and the passover lambs were all types of the sacred One who was called “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Symbolically sheep are figurative of mankind, as being prone to wander: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” Isa 53:6; Luk 15:4-7. The Lord said, “My sheep shall never perish.” The Good Shepherd calls His own sheep by name, and when brought into His own company they have perfect security, liberty, and sustenance. Joh 10:9. The Lord led His sheep out of the Jewish fold: these were united with His ‘other sheep’ (Gentile believers), that they all should become ‘one flock’ with one Shepherd. Joh 10:3; Joh 10:16. In the future judgement of the nations, those saved are called ‘sheep,’ in distinction from the lost, who are called ‘goats.’ Mat 25:31-46.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Sheep
Offered in sacrifice:
– By Abel
Gen 4:4
– By Noah
Gen 8:20
– By Abraham
Gen 22:13 Offerings
Required in the Mosaic offerings
Offerings
Land adapted to the raising of sheep:
– Of Bashan
Deu 32:14
– Of Bozrah
Mic 2:12
– Of Kedar
Eze 27:21
– Of Nebaioth
Isa 60:7
– Of Sharon
Isa 65:10
Jacob’s management of
Gen 30:32-40
Milk of, used for food
Deu 32:14
Shearing of
Gen 31:19; Gen 38:12-17; Isa 53:7
Feasting at the time of shearing
1Sa 25:11; 1Sa 25:36; 2Sa 13:23
First fleece of, belonged to priests and Levites
Deu 18:4
Tribute paid in
2Ki 3:4; 1Ch 5:21; 2Ch 17:11
Figurative:
– General references
1Ch 21:17; Psa 74:1; Jer 13:20
– Of backsliders
Jer 50:6
– Of lost sinners
Mat 9:36; Mat 10:6
– Of the righteous
Jer 50:17; Eze 34; Mat 26:31; Mar 14:27; Joh 10:1-16
– Of the defenselessness of ministers
Mat 10:16
– Parable of the lost
Mat 18:11-13; Luk 15:4-7
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Sheep
Sheep, Shepherd. Gen 4:2; Gen 46:32. Sheep were used in the sacrificial offerings, both the adult animal, Exo 20:24, and the lamb. Exo 29:38; Lev 9:3; Lev 12:6. Sheep and lambs formed an important article of food. 1Sa 25:18. The wool was used as clothing. Lev 13:47. “Rams’ skins dyed red” were used as a covering for the tabernacle. Exo 25:5. Sheep and lambs were sometimes paid as tributes. 2Ki 3:4. Sheep-shearing is alluded to. Gen 31:19. Sheep-dogs were employed in biblical times. Job 30:1. Shepherds in Palestine and the East generally go before their flocks, calling to them, and the sheep follow; comp. Joh 10:4; Psa 77:20; Psa 80:1, though they also drive them. Gen 33:13. Rev. John Hartley gives an illustration of Joh 10:1-16 : ” Having had my attention directed to Joh 10:3, I asked a shepherd to call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions and ran up to the hands of the shepherd with signs of pleasure and with a prompt obedience which I had never before observed in any other animal. It is also true in this country that ‘a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him.'” The common sheep of Syria and Palestine are the broad-tailed, which, when fattened, have tails of an enormous size. “I have seen many in Lebanon so heavy,” says Dr. Thomson, “that the owners could not carry them without difficulty… The cooks use this mass of fat instead of Arab butter…. This is the ‘rump’ so often mentioned in the Levitical sacrifices, which was to be taken off hard by the backbone. Exo 29:22; Lev 3:9; Lev 7:3; Lev 9:19. It is, in fact, not properly a tail, but a mass of mar row-like fat, which spreads over the whole rump of the sheep, and down the caudal extremity, till near the end.” The shearing of the sheep was celebrated anciently, as often now, with much festivity. Gen 31:19; Gen 38:12-13; 1Sa 25:4-8; 1Sa 25:36; 2Sa 13:23-28.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Sheep
Sheep. Sheep were an important part of the possessions of the ancient Hebrews and of eastern nations generally. The first mention of sheep occurs in Gen 4:2. They were used in the sacrificial offering, both the adult animal, Exo 20:24, and the lamb. Exo 29:28; Lev 9:3; Lev 12:6. Sheep and lambs formed an important article of food. 1Sa 25:18. The wool was used as clothing. Lev 13:47. “Rams skins dyed red” were used as a covering for the Tabernacle. Exo 25:5. Sheep and lambs were sometimes paid as tribute. 2Ki 3:4.
It is very striking to notice the immense numbers of sheep that were reared in Palestine in biblical times. (Chardin says he saw a clan of Turcoman shepherds whose flock consisted of 3,000,000 sheep and goats, besides 400,000 beasts of carriage, as horses, asses and camels). Sheep-sheering is alluded to Gen 31:19. Sheepdogs were employed in biblical times. Job 30:1. Shepherds in Palestine and the East generally go before their flocks, which they induce to follow by calling to them, compare Joh 10:4; Psa 77:20; Psa 80:1, though they also drive them. Gen 33:13.
The following quotation from Hartley’s “Researches in Greece and the Levant,” p. 321, is strikingly illustrative of the allusions in Joh 10:1-16, “Having had my attention directed last night to the words in Joh 10:3, I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give names to the sheep. He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them by their names. This morning I had an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark.
Passing by a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question which I had put to the servant, and he gave me the same answer. I then had him call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions, and ran up to the hands of the shepherd, with signs of pleasure and with a prompt obedience which I had never before observed in any other animal. It is also true in this country that a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him. The shepherd told me that many of his sheep were still wild, that they had not yet learned their names, but that by teaching them they would all learn them.”
The common sheep, of Syria and Palestine are the broad-tailed. As the sheep is an emblem of meekness, patience and submission, it is expressly mentioned as typifying these qualities in the person of our blessed Lord. Isa 53:7; Act 8:32; etc. The relation that exists between Christ, “the chief Shepherd,” and his members is beautifully compared to that which in the East is so strikingly exhibited by the shepherds to their flocks. See Shepherd.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Sheep
from probaino, “to go forward,” i.e., of the movement of quadrupeds, was used among the Greeks of small cattle, sheep and goats; in the NT, of “sheep” only (a) naturally, e.g., Mat 12:11-12; (b) metaphorically, of those who belong to the Lord, the lost ones of the house of Israel, Mat 10:6; of those who are under the care of the Good Shepherd, e.g., Mat 26:31; Joh 10:1, lit., “the fold of the sheep,” and John 10:2-27; Joh 21:16-17 in some texts; Heb 13:20; of those who in a future day, at the introduction of the millennial kingdom, have shown kindness to His persecuted earthly people in their great tribulation, Mat 25:33; of the clothing of false shepherds, Mat 7:15; (c) figuratively, by way of simile, of Christ, Act 8:32; of the disciples, e.g., Mat 10:16; of true followers of Christ in general, Rom 8:36; of the former wayward condition of those who had come under His Shepherd care, 1Pe 2:25; of the multitudes who sought the help of Christ in the days of His flesh, Mat 9:36; Mar 6:34.
a diminutive of No. 1, “a little sheep,” is found in the best texts in Joh 21:16-17 (some have No. 1); distinct from arnia, “lambs” (Joh 21:15), but used as a term of endearment.
Note: For “keeping sheep,” Luk 17:7, RV, see CATTLE.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Sheep
, occurs frequently, and , a general name for both sheep and goats, considered collectively in a flock, Arabic zain. The sheep is a well known animal. The benefits which mankind owe to it are numerous. Its fleece, its skin, its flesh, its tallow, and even its horns and bowels are articles of great utility to human life and happiness. Its mildness and inoffensiveness of temper strongly recommend it to human affection and regard; and have designated it the pattern and emblem of meekness, innocence, patience, and submission. It is a social animal. The flock follow the ram as their leader; who frequently displays the most impetuous courage in their defence: dogs, and even men, when attempting to molest them, have often suffered from his sagacious and generous valour. There are two varieties of sheep found in Syria. The first, called the Bidoween sheep, differs little from the large breed among us, except that the tail is somewhat longer and thicker. The second is much more common, and is more valued on account of the extraordinary bulk of its tail, which has been remarked by all the eastern travellers. The carcass of one of these sheep, without including the head, feet, entrails, and skin, weighs from fifty to sixty pounds, of which the tail makes up fifteen pounds. Some of a larger size, fattened with care, will sometimes weigh one hundred and fifty pounds, the tail alone composing one third of the whole weight. It is of a substance between fat and marrow, and is not eaten separately, but mixed with the lean meat in many of their dishes, and often also used instead of butter. A reference to this part is made in Exo 29:22; Lev 3:9; where the fat and the tail were to be burnt on the altar of sacrifice. Mr. Street considers this precept to have had respect to the health of the Israelites; observing that bilious disorders are very frequent in hot countries; the eating of fat meat is a great encouragement and excitement to them; and though the fat of the tail is now considered as a delicacy, it is really unwholesome. The conclusion of the seventeenth verse, which is, Ye shall eat neither fat nor blood, justifies this opinion. The prohibition of eating fat, that is of fat unmixed with the flesh, the omentum or caul, is given also, Lev 7:23.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Sheep
Psa 95:7 (a) GOD’s people in their deep poverty and need must come constantly and frequently to the Lord to receive their sustenance and to enjoy His fellowship.
Psa 100:3 (a) GOD’s people who dwell together in His fold, the church, rejoice in His goodness and continue in fellowship with one another, and with every need supplied.
Isa 53:7 (a) Here is a type of JESUS brought in weakness before those who were to torment Him and kill Him. He permitted them to do as they pleased with Him.