Translation | Verse | Text |
King James | Mt 10:16 | Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
DOVES | Were clean according to the Mosaic ritual, and were offered in sacrifice, especially by the poor, Ge 15:9 Le 5:7 12:6-8 Lu 2:24. Several kinds of doves or pigeons frequented the Holy Land; and the immense flocks of them sometimes witnessed illustrate a passage in Isa 60:8. They are symbols of simplicity, innocence, and fidelity, Ho 7:11 Mt 10:16. The dove was the chosen harbinger of God's returning favor after the flood, Ge 8:1-22, and was honored as an emblem of the Holy Spirit, Mt 3:16. See TURTLEDOVE. |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
SERPENTS | These reptiles, unclean among the Hebrews, Le 11:10,41, are widely diffused through the world, but are most numerous and venomous in tropical climates. About one-sixth part of all that are known to be poisonous. These are distinguished by having two hollow poisonfangs in the upper jaw, and are usually of slower motion than most snakes. Venomous serpents were abundant in Egypt and Arabia, and seven different kinds are mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, some of which are identified with existing species. See ADDER, ASP, COCKATRICE, and VIPER. The serpents mentioned in Nu 21:1-35 Isa 14:29 30:6, and by whom multitudes of the Israelites were destroyed in the desert north of the Gulf of Akabah, were probably called "fiery" and "flying" with reference to the agonizing heat caused by their poison, and the rapidity of their darting motion. Herodotus indeed speaks of winged serpents as appearing every spring on the Arabian border of Egypt; but he did not see them, nor are there any to be met with in modern times. The serpent of brass, made and erected on a pole by Moses, had no healing virtue in itself, but was a test of the penitence and faith of the people. The author of Ecclesiasticus says of the Israelites, "They were troubled for a small season that they might be admonished, having a sign of salvation to put them in remembrance of the commandment of thy law. For he that turned towards it was not saved by the thing that he saw, but by thee, that art the Savior of all." Our Savior himself shows that the brazen serpent was a type of Him, Joh 3:14,15. The believing view of Christ is salvation to the soul infected by the fatal poison of sin. Respecting the brazen serpent, see NEHUSHTAN. Hezekiah destroyed a true and most sacred relic; Rome, on the contrary, fabricates false relics and adores them. See CHARMERS. Interpreters have largely speculated concerning the nature of the serpent that tempted Eve. Some have thought that serpents originally had feet and speech; but there is no probability that this creature was ever otherwise than it now is. Its subtle, crafty malignity is often alluded to the Scriptures, Ge 3:1 Mt 10:16 22:33. Besides, it cannot be doubted but that by the serpent we are to understand the devil, who employed the serpent as a vehicle to seduce the first woman, Ge 3:13 2Co 11:3 Re 12:9. |
Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
SHEEP | Of the Syrian sheep, according to Dr. Russell, there are two varieties; the one called Bedaween sheep, which differ in no respect from the larger kinds of sheep among us, except that their tails are somewhat longer and thicker; the others are those often mentioned by travellers on account of their extraordinary tails; and this species is by far the most numerous. The tail of one of these animals is very broad and large, terminating in a small appendage that turns back upon it. It is of a substance between fat and marrow, and is not eaten separately, but mixed with the lean meat in many of their dishes, and also often used instead of butter. A common sheep of this sort, without the head, feet, skin, and entrails, weighs from sixty to eighty pounds, of which the tail itself is usually ten or fifteen pounds, and when the animal is fattened, twice or thrice that weight, and very inconvenient to its owner. The sheep or lamb was the common sacrifice under the Mosaic law; and it is to be remarked, that when the divine legislator speaks of this victim, he never omits to appoint that the rump or tail be laid whole on the fire of the altar, Ex 29:22 Le 3:9. The reason for this is seen in the account just given from Dr. Russell; from which it appears that this was the most delicate part of the animal, and therefore the most proper to be presented in sacrifice to Jehovah. The innocence, mildness, submission, and patience of the sheep or lamb, rendered it peculiarly sheep and lamb, rendered it peculiarly suitable for a sacrifice, and an appropriate type of the Lamb of God, Joh 1:29. A recent traveller in Palestine witnessed the shearing of a sheep in the immediate vicinity of Gethsemane; and the silent, unresisting submission of the poor animal, thrown with its feet bound upon the earth, its sides rudely pressed by the shearer's knees, while every movement threatened to lacerate the flesh, was a touching commentary on the prophet's description of Christ, Isa 53:7 Ac 8:32-35. There are frequent allusions in Scripture to these characteristics of the sheep, and to its proneness to go astray, Ps 119:176 Isa 53:6. It is a gregarious animal also; and as loving the companionship of the flock and dependant of the protection and guidance of its master, its name is often given to the people of God, 2Ki 22:17 Ps 79:13 80:1 Mt 25:32. Sheep and goats are still found in Syria feeding indiscriminately together, as in ancient times, Ge 30:35 Mt 25:32,33. The season of sheep shearing was one of great joy and festivity, 1Sa 25:5,8,36 2Sa 13:23. Sheep-cotes or folds, among the Israelites, appear to have been generally open houses, or enclosures walled round, often in front of rocky caverns, to guard the sheep from beasts of prey by night, and the scorching heat of noon, Nu 32:16 2Sa 7:8 Jer 23:3,6 Joh 10:1-5. See SHEPHERD. |
Word | Easton Dictionary - Definition |
SHEEP | are of different varieties. Probably the flocks of Abraham and Isaac were of the wild species found still in the mountain regions of Persia and Kurdistan. After the Exodus, and as a result of intercourse with surrounding nations, other species were no doubt introduced into the herds of the people of Israel. They are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The care of a shepherd over his flock is referred to as illustrating God's care over his people (Ps. 23:1, 2; 74:1; 77:20; Isa. 40:11; 53:6; John 10:1-5, 7-16). "The sheep of Palestine are longer in the head than ours, and have tails from 5 inches broad at the narrowest part to 15 inches at the widest, the weight being in proportion, and ranging generally from 10 to 14 lbs., but sometimes extending to 30 lbs. The tails are indeed huge masses of fat" (Geikie's Holy Land, etc.). The tail was no doubt the "rump" so frequently referred to in the Levitical sacrifices (Ex. 29:22; Lev. 3:9; 7:3; 9:19). Sheep-shearing was generally an occasion of great festivity (Gen. 31:19; 38:12, 13; 1 Sam. 25:4-8, 36; 2 Sam. 13:23-28). |
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