Sheep

Sheep A

Eston

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 (Psa_23:1, Psa_23:2; Psa_74:1; Psa_77:20; Isa_40:11; Isa_53:6; Joh_10:1-5, Joh_10:7-16).

“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 lb., but sometimes extending to 30 lb. 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 (Exo_29:22; Lev_3:9; Lev_7:3; Lev_9:19).

Sheep-shearing was generally an occasion of great festivity (Gen_31:19; Gen_38:12, Gen_38:13; 1Sa_25:4-8, 1Sa_25:36; 2Sa_13:23-28).

Sheep B

shēp:

ISBE

1. Names:

The usual Hebrew word is צאן, cō'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 ḍa'n. The Greek word is πρόβατον, próbaton. 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, līyat. This is the אליה, 'alyāh, “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-'adḥa', the 10th day of the month dhû-l-ḥijjat, 40 days after the end of ramaḍân, 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 ma‛lûf, “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 ḳauramat, 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).

Sheep C

Nave

Offered in sacrifice

By Abel

Gen_4:4;

By Noah

Gen_8:20;

By Abraham

Gen_22:13;

See OFFERINGS

Required in the Mosaic offerings

See OFFERINGS

The land of Bashan adapted to the raising of

Deu_32:14;

Also

Bozrah

Mic_2:12;

Kedar

Eze_27:21;

Nebaioth

Isa_60:7;

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;

The first fleece of, belonged to the priests and the Levites

Deu_18:4;

Tribute (taxes) paid in

2Ki_3:4; 1Ch_5:21; 2Ch_17:11;

FIGURATIVE

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_50:34; Mat_26:31; Mar_14:27; Joh. 10:1-16;

Of the defenselessness of servants of God (Greek: diakonoi)

Mat_10:16;

Parable of the lost

Mat_18:11-13; Luk_15:4-7;

Sheep D

Webster M-Z

SHEEP, n. sing. and plu.

1. An animal of the genus Ovis, which is one of the most useful species that the Creator has bestowed upon man, and its wool constitutes a principal material of warm clothing, and its flesh is a great article of fool. The sheep is remarkable for its harmless temper ant its tmidity. the varieties are numerous.

2. In contempt, a silly fellow.

3. Figuratively, God's people are called sheep, as being under the government and protection of Christ, the great Shepherd.

Sheep E

Torrey

Clean and used as food

Deu_14:4;

DESCRIBED AS

Innocent

2Sa_24:17;

Sagacious

Joh_10:4; Joh_10:5;

Agile

Psa_114:4; Psa_114:6;

Being covered with a fleece

Job_31:20;

Remarkably prolific

Psa_107:41; Psa_144:13; Son_4:2; Eze_36:37;

Bleating of, alluded to

Jdg_5:16; 1Sa_15:14;

Under man's care from the earliest age

Gen_4:4;

Constituted a great part of patriarchal wealth

Gen_13:5; Gen_24:25; Gen_26:14;

Males of called rams

1Sa_15:22; Jer_51:40;

Females of, called ewes

Psa_78:71;

Young of, called lambs

Exo_12:3; Isa_11:6;

PLACES CELEBRATED FOR

Kedar

Eze_27:21;

Bashan

Deu_32:14;

Nebaioth

Isa_60:7;

Bozrah

Mic_2:12;

Flesh of, extensively used as food

1Sa_25:18; 1Ki_1:19; 1Ki_4:23; Neh_5:18; Isa_22:13;

Milk of, used as food

Deu_32:14; Isa_7:21; Isa_7:22; 1Co_9:7;

Skins of, worn as clothing by the poor

Heb_11:37;

Skins of, made into a covering for the tabernacle

Exo_25:5; Exo_36:10; Exo_39:34;

Wool of, made into clothing

Job_31:20; Pro_31:13; Eze_34:3;

Offered in sacrifice from the earliest age

Gen_4:4; Gen_8:20; Gen_15:9; Gen_15:10;

Offered in sacrifice under the law

Exo_20:24; Lev_1:10; 1Ki_8:5; 1Ki_8:63;

FLOCKS OF

Attended by members of the family

Gen_29:9; Exo_2:16; 1Sa_16:11;

Attended by servants

1Sa_17:20; Isa_61:5;

Guarded by dogs

Job_30:1;

Kept in folds or cotes

1Sa_24:3; 2Sa_7:8; Joh_10:1;

Conducted to the richest pastures

Psa_23:2;

Fed on the mountains

Exo_3:1; Eze_34:6; Eze_34:13;

Fed in the valleys

Isa_65:10;

Frequently covered the pastures

Psa_65:13;

Watered every day

Gen_29:8-10; Exo_2:16; Exo_2:17;

Made to rest at noon

Psa_23:2; Son_1:7;

Followed the shepherd

Joh_10:4; Joh_10:27;

Fled from strangers

Joh_10:5;

Washed and shorn every year

Son_4:2;

Firstlings of, not to be shorn

Deu_15:19;

Firstlings of, not to be redeemed

Num_18:17;

Firstlings of, could not be dedicated as a free-will offering

Lev_27:26;

Tithe of, given to the Levites

2Ch_31:4-6;

First wool of, given to the priests

Deu_18:4;

Time of shearing, a time of rejoicing

1Sa_25:2; 1Sa_25:11; 1Sa_25:36; 2Sa_13:23;

WERE FREQUENTLY

Given as presents

2Sa_17:29; 1Ch_12:40;

Given as tribute

2Ki_3:4; 2Ch_17:11;

Destroyed by wild beasts

Jer_50:17; Mic_5:8; Joh_10:12;

Taken in great numbers in war

Jdg_6:4; 1Sa_14:32; 1Ch_5:21; 2Ch_14:15;

Cut off by disease

Exo_9:3;

False prophets assume the simple appearance

Mat_7:15;

ILLUSTRATIVE

Of the Jews

Psa_74:1; Psa_78:52; Psa_79:13;

Of the people of Christ

Joh. 10:7-26; Joh_21:16; Joh_21:17; Heb_13:20; 1Pe_5:2;

Of the wicked in their death

Psa_49:14;

Of those under God's judgment

Psa_44:1;

(In patience and simplicity,) of patience, of Christ

Isa_53:7;

(In proneness to wander,) of those who depart from God

Psa_119:176; Isa_53:6; Eze_34:16;

(Lost,) of the unregenerate

Mat_10:6;

(When found,) of restored sinners

Luk_15:5; Luk_15:7;

(Separation from the goats,) of the separation of saints from the wicked

Mat_25:32; Mat_25:33;