SHEEP

In the Bible the term ẓon indicates both sheep and goats (Lev. 1:10; 3:6; et al.); only once does it refer to sheep alone, as distinct from izzim ("goats"; I Sam. 25:2). In the Mishnah both are referred to as behemah dakkah ("small cattle"). The most common strain of sheep in Israel is the broad-tailed sheep Ovis vignei platyura, derived from the desert sheep Ovis vignei (orientalis), domesticated during the Middle Stone Age. The bodily construction and way of life of this strain is adapted to the conditions of existence in dry regions such as Ereẓ Israel and its vicinity. The wool, particularly of the lambs, is usually white (Ps. 147:16; Isa. 1:18). The body of most of the sheep native to Ereẓ Israel is white; only the head and feet are brown. Some of the sheep, however, also have brown spots on other parts of the body. These can be born also to parents with white fleeces, and Jacob, when tending Laban's sheep, asked to receive as wages "all the dark ones among the sheep" born from white parents; a modest-seeming request to which Laban agreed (Gen. 30:32–37; see biology ). In the local breed some are raised for meat and others for wool (cf. II Kings 3:4). The ewe has no horns, while the ram has curved ones (cf. Gen. 22:13). This shape of horn also appears on ancient drawings. From it was fashioned the shofar of "rounded ram's horns" (RH 3:4). As stated above, the Israel sheep is distinguished by its broad and heavy tail (in the male it can reach a weight of 20 pounds, and is mentioned several times in the Bible (Ex. 29:22; Lev. 3:9; et al.)). The tail fat serves as stock when there is a shortage of pasture, particularly in summer. The sheep was a main source of meat, hence the expression "sheep for slaughter" often found in the Bible (Isa. 53:7; et al.). Its milk was also of importance (Deut. 32:14), while the wool was a basic necessity of life (Hos. 2:7). Its skin was valuable, being used for shoes, clothing, and hangings (Ex. 25:5). The fertility of the sheep is mentioned as a blessing (Ps. 144:13). The ewes normally gave birth to one lamb, but under favorable conditions they had twins – the "paired" of Song of Songs 6:6. The season of conception depends upon the state of the pasture. With the early ones, the primiparous, it begins in Adar; others conceive later. The early ones are the mekusharot ("stronger") of Scripture and the later ones the atufim ("feebler," cf. Gen. 30:41–42). The period of gestation of five months is mentioned in the Talmud (RH 8a). The weak and innocent sheep, the potential victims of beasts of prey, symbolize in prophetic parable and allegory the Israelite nation and its fate (Jer. 23:2–3; Ezek. 34:6–22; et al.). Many terms for sheep occur in the Bible. A male in its first year is called keves (Lev. 12:6), the female, kavsah (Lev. 14:10), kivsah (II Sam. 12:3), or kisbah (Lev. 5:6). The adult male is ayil, in Aramaic dekhar ("male"; Ezra 6:9). Ayil meshullash is one three years old (Gen. 15:9). The mature female is raḥel (Isa. 53:7; et al.). Taleh is used for the young of both sheep and goats (Isa. 40:11); the fully grown sheep is the seh (Gen. 30:32; Ex. 12:5). A prime species of sheep for meat was called karim. These came chiefly from the unpopulated border regions: Bashan (Deut. 32:14), Kedar (Ezek. 27:21), Moab (II Kings 3:4), Edom (Isa. 34:6), and Amalek (I Sam. 15:9). With the growth of the Jewish population of Israel from the beginning of the period of the kings, the pasture areas gradually diminished, being crowded out by agriculture. During the time of the Mishnah, when agriculture in Israel reached its peak of development, a regulation was enacted that small cattle were not to be reared in the populated part of the country, but only in desert areas and in Syria (BK 7:7), as well as in its forests (BK 81a). During that era the shepherd who was suspected of penetrating into agricultural areas to pasture his flock was treated with contempt (Sanh. 26b). At the close of the talmudic period, after the destruction of Israel's agriculture, the land was once more converted into extensive grazing areas. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Dalman, Arbeit, 6 (1939, repr. 1964), 170ff.; S. Bodenheimer, Ha-Ḥai be-Arẓot ha-Mikra, 2 vols. (1949–56), index, S.V. Keves; J. Feliks, Animal World of the Bible (1962), 17; idem, Ha-Ḥakla'ut be-Ereẓ Yisrael bi-Tekufat ha-Mishnah ve-ha-Talmud (1963), 112–5; idem, in: Teva va-Areẓ, 7 (1964/65), 330–7. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Feliks, Ha-Ẓome'aḥ, 296. (Jehuda Feliks)