The term nii^'^pp, lesitdh (literally something iceighed out, A. V. " piece of money," Gen. xxxiii, 1 9 ; Job xlii, 11 ; "piece of silver," Josh, xxiv, 32), has been supposed by many to denote a coin stamped with the figure of a lamb; but (Tcsenius suggests {Thesaur. p. 1241) that specimens of that sort are probably only those of Cy- prus, which bore that mark. See Kksitah.
Supposed Kcsitah,
SHEEP
640
SHEEP
This well-known domestic animal has, from the ear- liest 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 tirst mention of sheep occurs in Gen. iv, 2. The following are the principal Biblical allusions to these animals. They were used in the sacrificial offerings, both the adult animal (Exod. xx, 24; 1 Kings viii, G3; 2 Chron. xxix, 33) and the lamb, UJ5?> >• c- '' ^ male from one to three years old ;" but young lambs of the tirst year were more generally used in tlie offerings (see Exod. xxix, 38; Lev. ix, 3; xii, 6; Numb, xxviii, 9, etc.). No lamb under eight days old was allowed to be killed (Lev. xxii, 27). A verj' young lamb was called np'J. taleh (see 1 Sam. vii, 9 ; Isa. Ixv, 25). Sheep and lambs formed an important article of food (1 Sam. xxv, 18; 1 Kings i, 19 ; iv, 23 ; Psa. Ixiv, 11 ; etc.), and ewe's milk is associated with that of the cow (Isa. vii, 21, 23). The wool was used as clothing (Lev. xiii, 47 ; Deut. xxii, 11 ; Prov. xxxi, 13; Job xxxi, 20, etc.). See Wool, Trumpets may have been made of the horns of rams (Josh, vi, 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 taber- nacle (Exod. xxA', 5), Sheep and lambs were sometimes paid as tribute (2 Kings iii, 4). It is very striking to notice the immense numbers of sheep that were reared in Palestine in Biblical times : see, for instance, 1 Chron. V, 21; 2 Chron. xv, 11; xxx, 24; 2 Kings iii, 4; Job xlii, 12. Especial mention is made of the sheep of Bozrah (Mic. ii, 12 ; Isa. xxxiv, 6), in the land of Edom, a district well suited for pasturing sheep. "Bashan and Gilead" are also mentioned as pastures (IMic. vii, 14). "Large parts of Carmel, Bashan. and Gilead," says Thomson {Land and Book, i, 304), "are at their proper seasons alive with countless Hocks" (see also p. 331). " The flocks of Kedar" and " the rams of Nebaioth,"two sons of Ishmael (Gen. xxv, 13) that settled in Arabia, are referred to in Isa. Ix, 7. Sheep-shearing is alluded to in Gen. xxxi, 19; xxxviii, 13; Deut. xv, 19; 1 Sam. xxv, 4; Isa. liii, 7; etc. Sheep-dogs were employed in Biblical times, as is evident from Job xxx, 1, " the dogs of my tltick," Erom the manner in which they are spoken of by the patriarch it is clear, as Thomson i^ibid. i, 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, sin- ister, ill-conditioned generation, which are kept at a dis- tance, kicked about, and half starved, with nothing no- ble or attractive about them," They were, however, without doubt, usefid to the shepherds, more especially at night, in keeping off the wild beasts that prowled about the hills and valleys (comp, Theocrit, /f/, v, 106), Shepherds in Palestine and the East generally go be- fore their flocks, which they induce to follow by calling to them (comp. John x, 4; Psa. Ixxvii, 20; Ixxx, 1), though they also drove them (Gen. xxxiii, 13). See Shepherd. It was usual among the ancient Jews to give names to sheeii and goats, as we do to our dairy cattle (see John x, 3). This practice prevailed among the ancient Greeks (see Theocrit. Id. v, 103) :
OiiK ixTTo Tat dfivni oiiTOi 6 Kuivojiui, !i re Kvvaida;
The following quotation from Hartley {Researches in Greece and the Levant, p. 321) is so strikingly illustrative of the allusions in Jolin x, l-Ui that we cannot do bet- ter than quote it: "Having had my attention directed last night to the words in ./ohn x, 3, 1 asked my man if it was usual in (ireece to give names to the sheep. He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shejiherd when he called them by their names. This morning I had an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing liv a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question which I had put to the ser- vant, and he gave me the same answer. I then bade liim call one of his sheep; he did so, and it instant! v 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 (i, 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 the}' know not the voice of a stranger." Henderson, in Iceland, notices a shepherdess with a flock of flfty sheep, ev- ery one of which she professed to know bv name {Ice- kind, i, 189).