Sheep in the Bible

• Abel was a keeper of sheepGen 4:2
  The verses

  Gen 4:2Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.
• Abel brought the firstborn of his flockGen 4:4
  The verses

  Gen 4:4while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
• Abraham found a ram caught by its horns in a thicketGen 22:13
  The verses

  Gen 22:13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
• Shepherds rolled a stone off the well’s mouth to water the flocksGen 29:2–3
  The verses

  Gen 29:2–3He looked and saw a well in the field, and near it lay three flocks of sheep, because the sheep were watered from this well. And a large stone covered the mouth of the well. When all the flocks had been gathered there, the shepherds would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
• Rachel was a shepherdess; Jacob watered her father’s sheepGen 29:9–10
  The verses

  Gen 29:9–10While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, with Laban’s sheep, he went up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.
• Jethro’s seven daughters watered the flock, and Moses helped themExod 2:16–17
  The verses

  Exod 2:16–17Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.
• Moses was shepherding Jethro’s flock when he came to HorebExod 3:1
  The verses

  Exod 3:1Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
• David, the youngest son, was out tending the sheep1 Sam 16:11
  The verses

  1 Sam 16:11And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” “Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”
• Jacob as a shepherd: heat by day, frost by night, losses to wild beastsGen 31:38–40
  The verses

  Gen 31:38–40I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock. I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night. As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
• Jacob’s wages: the speckled, spotted and dark-colored animalsGen 30:32
  The verses

  Gen 30:32Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages.
• His peeled branches at the watering troughs and the streaked youngGen 30:37–39
  The verses

  Gen 30:37–39Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Then he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks coming in to drink. So when the flocks were in heat and came to drink, they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
• Shepherds kept watch over their flocks by nightLuke 2:8
  The verses

  Luke 2:8And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
• The sheep know the shepherd’s voice; he calls them by nameJohn 10:3–4
  The verses

  John 10:3–4The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Wool, milk and shearing

• Milk from the flock, fat of lambs and rams from BashanDeut 32:14
  The verses

  Deut 32:14with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.
• Laban was away shearing his sheep when Rachel took the idolsGen 31:19
  The verses

  Gen 31:19Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
• Judah went up to his sheepshearers at TimnahGen 38:12–13
  The verses

  Gen 38:12–13After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah. When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
• Nabal had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, shearing them in Carmel1 Sam 25:2
  The verses

  1 Sam 25:2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
• Shearing time meant a feast: Nabal’s and Absalom’s1 Sam 25:11, 1 Sam 25:36, 2 Sam 13:23–24
  The verses

  1 Sam 25:11Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

  1 Sam 25:36When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

  2 Sam 13:23–24Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the sons of the king. And he went to the king and said, “Your servant has just hired shearers. Will the king and his servants please come with me?”
• The first wool sheared from the flock went to the priestsDeut 18:3–4
  The verses

  Deut 18:3–4This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock.
• Job warmed the poor with the fleece of his sheepJob 31:20
  The verses

  Job 31:20if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,

Flocks in numbers

• Mesha king of Moab paid 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams2 Kgs 3:4
  The verses

  2 Kgs 3:4Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
• The Arabs brought Jehoshaphat 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats2 Chr 17:11
  The verses

  2 Chr 17:11Some Philistines also brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat, and the Arabs brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats from their flocks.
• 250,000 sheep were taken from the Hagrites1 Chr 5:21
  The verses

  1 Chr 5:21They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took 100,000 captives,
• Job owned 7,000 sheep, and later 14,000Job 1:3, Job 42:12
  The verses

  Job 1:3and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

  Job 42:12So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
• Kedar traded in lambs, rams and goats with TyreEzek 27:21
  The verses

  Ezek 27:21Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers, trading in lambs, rams, and goats.
• Solomon offered 120,000 sheep at the temple’s dedication1 Kgs 8:63
  The verses

  1 Kgs 8:63And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.

In the Law

• A stolen sheep slaughtered or sold: repay four sheepExod 22:1
  The verses

  Exod 22:1“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
• A sheep torn by wild animals: bring the carcass as evidenceExod 22:10, Exod 22:13
  The verses

  Exod 22:10If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,

  Exod 22:13If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.

In Jerusalem

• The priests rebuilt the Sheep GateNeh 3:1
  The verses

  Neh 3:1At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.
• The pool of Bethesda lay near the Sheep GateJohn 5:2
  The verses

  John 5:2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.

Sayings

• Teeth “like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing”Song 4:2
  The verses

  Song 4:2Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.
• “Be sure to know the state of your flocks”Prov 27:23
  The verses

  Prov 27:23Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
• “The lambs will provide you with clothing”Prov 27:26
  The verses

  Prov 27:26the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.
• “As a sheep before her shearers is silent”Isa 53:7
  The verses

  Isa 53:7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.