Lamb
Summary
A young sheep that held central importance in Israelite sacrifice and became the preeminent symbol of Christ's redemptive work, portrayed as the meek, innocent victim whose blood brings salvation.
☩Hebrew Terminology
Several Hebrew terms denote lambs in Scripture. The most common, kebes (with feminine kibsah), refers to a male lamb from the first to third year, corresponding to the Arabic term for a young ram that has lost its first teeth. The word taleh denotes a sucking lamb, the very young of any animal. The term kar signifies a fat ram or wether, used in distinction from ayil which strictly means 'ram.' Mesha king of Moab sent 100,000 fat wethers as tribute to Israel, demonstrating their economic value. The collective term tson refers to flocks of sheep and goats generally, while seh denotes individuals of a flock, whether sheep or goats.
☩Sacrificial Requirements
Young rams formed essential components of nearly every Israelite sacrifice. They were offered in the daily morning and evening burnt offerings (Exodus 29:38-41), on Sabbaths (Numbers 28:9), at new moon feasts (Numbers 28:11), and at all the major festivals including Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, and Tabernacles. Lambs accompanied purification offerings for women after childbirth (Leviticus 12:6), for lepers (Leviticus 14:10-25), and for Nazarites completing their vows (Numbers 6:12-14). A ewe-lamb served as the prescribed sin offering for unintentional transgressions (Leviticus 4:32). Sacrificial lambs had to be without blemish, at least eight days old, and were not to be seethed in their mother's milk.
☩The Lamb of God
John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world' (John 1:29, 36), connecting Christ to the entire sacrificial system and especially to Isaiah's suffering servant who 'like a lamb that is led to slaughter... did not open his mouth' (Isaiah 53:7). All New Testament utterances regarding the Lamb derive from this Isaianic prophecy where 'the dumb type of the Passover now finds a tongue.' Peter declares believers were redeemed 'with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot' (1 Peter 1:19). Paul explicitly identifies Christ as 'our Passover lamb' who has been sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5:7).
☩The Lamb in Revelation
The Apocalypse uses 'Lamb' (arnion, a diminutive expressing endearment) twenty-eight times as Christ's primary title. John is told to behold a Lion but sees instead a Lamb standing as though slain, bearing marks of violent death yet possessing all power and wisdom (Revelation 5:6). The paradoxes multiply: the Lamb opens the seals of judgment, receives worship equal to God's, exercises fierce wrath against evildoers, becomes the Shepherd of His people, and appears as Bridegroom of the New Jerusalem. The law of sacrificial love revealed in the Lamb becomes the principle that moves history to its goal, resolves life's paradoxes, and illuminates the heavenly city where the Lamb is its lamp (Revelation 21:23).
Related Verses176 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Lamb," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. V (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Lamb," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 3.George Morrish, "Lamb," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).