Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LAMB

A sheep less than one year old (Lev. 17:3-4; 1 Sam. 17:34; Isa. 11:6; 65:25). In the OT lambs (Heb. keḇeś) are usually mentioned in relation to the sacrificial system. One lamb was to be offered in the morning and one in the evening, continually (Exod. 29:38-42; Num. 28:4). A lamb might also be offered as a freewill offering (Lev. 22:23), a burnt offering (Gen. 22:7-8), a peace offering (Lev. 3:1-7), an atonement for sin (Lev. 5:6; Num. 6:12, 14), and annually at Passover to commemorate the deliverance from Egyptian slavery (Exod. 12:3, 5, 21). At times, however, the distinction between burnt, peace, and sin offerings seems to be blurred (Ezek. 45:15). Sacrificing a lamb was also a part of the cleansing ritual for a leper who had been healed (Lev. 14:1-10, 24-25), and a firstborn donkey could be redeemed by a lamb (Exod. 13:13).

The sacrifice of a lamb was a common enough event to be used metaphorically for the suffering or death of an innocent on behalf of others (2 Sam. 12:1-6; the “suffering servant,” Isa. 53:7). Jeremiah spoke of himself as a lamb brought to the slaughter (Jer. 11:10), and Hosea spoke of Yahweh as feeding backsliding Israel like a lamb (Hos. 4:16).

In the NT the word appears in only two passages outside the book of Revelation. Acts 8:32-33 quotes the “suffering servant” passage, and 1 Pet. 1:19 uses a lamb as a metaphor for Christ’s sacrifice. John’s usage in Revelation is similar. Here the lamb (Gk. arníon) is the crucified, resurrected, exalted, victorious Christ (e.g., Rev. 5:6, 8, 12-13; 6:1, 16).

Joe E. Lunceford

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LAMB

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)