Sheep are mentioned over 500 times in the Bible, highlighting their importance both literally and symbolically in biblical times. As livestock, sheep provided food, milk, wool, and skins for clothing. But beyond their practical uses, sheep held deep symbolic meaning related to sacrifice, guidance, purity, and more.
Sheep were among the most commonly sacrificed animals in ancient Israel. They were used for both regular offerings and sin offerings. For instance, Exodus 29 outlines the consecration ceremony for Aaron and his sons as priests, requiring the sacrifice of one young bull and two rams. Leviticus 4 specifies that if the high priest sins, he must offer a young bull as a sin offering. But if anyone else sins unintentionally, they could sacrifice a female goat or lamb.
The most significant sacrificial lamb was the Passover lamb. God commanded the Israelites to slaughter an unblemished lamb and use its blood to mark their doorposts before the tenth and final plague – the death of the firstborn sons (Exodus 12:1-13). Homes marked with the lamb’s blood were “passed over” and their firstborns spared. This event foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice as the Lamb of God to save people from the wages of sin, which is death (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7).
Beyond sacrifice, sheep symbolized meekness, innocence, and purity. Using similes, the Bible compares faithful followers of God to sheep. Psalm 100:3 declares “…we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep (John 10:11). Those who trust and follow Him are His flock. Sheep also represented purity and innocence. When confronting King David about his sin with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan tells a parable about a rich man stealing and slaughtering his poor neighbor’s beloved lamb (2 Samuel 12:1-4). David is infuriated by the injustice until Nathan reveals that David is the rich man having stolen innocent “lamb” Bathsheba.
Sheep need constant care, which is why the Bible uses shepherds as metaphors for leadership and guidance. God promises, “I will place over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will tend them – he will be their shepherd” (Ezekiel 34:23). Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise as the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep individually and lays down His life for them (John 10:14, 11). Human leaders are called to shepherd God’s people by feeding, protecting, guiding and setting a Christlike example.
One of Jesus’ most famous parables featured sheep. In Luke 15:4-7, Jesus tells of a shepherd leaving his 99 sheep to search for one that was lost. When he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and returns home to celebrate. Jesus explains, “In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” This expresses God’s abundant grace that seeks to redeem every lost person.
A final key passage about sheep is Psalm 23. David proclaims the Lord as his Shepherd who provides, guides, comforts, and protects him. Verse 1 declares “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” As a good shepherd cares for his sheep, God promises to shepherd and satisfy the needs of His people.
In summary, sheep and shepherds were integral to everyday ancient life, making them powerful symbols in the Bible. Sheep represent sacrifice for sin, meekness, innocence, purity, and followership. Shepherds model leadership, guidance, and sacrificial care. Most importantly, Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise of a Messianic Shepherd-King caring for His people. Sheep point towards the saving work of Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Genesis 4:2-4 – Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering.
Exodus 12:1-13 – The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household… The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast…The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
Leviticus 4:32-35 – If someone brings a lamb as their sin offering, they are to bring a female without defect. They are to lay their hand on its head and slaughter it for a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. They shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the lamb of the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar on top of the food offerings presented to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.
2 Samuel 12:1-4 – The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
Psalm 100:3 – Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 23 – The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Isaiah 53:6-7 – We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He 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 its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Ezekiel 34:11-16 – For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Ezekiel 34:23 – I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.
Micah 2:12 – “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.
Zechariah 13:7 – “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
Matthew 9:36 – When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 10:16 – “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Matthew 15:24 – He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Matthew 25:32-33 – All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Matthew 26:31 – Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
John 10:1-18 – “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to 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. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
John 21:15-17 – When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
Hebrews 13:20 – Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep…
1 Peter 2:21-25 – To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Revelation 7:17 – For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”