se · lamb, sheep

What it means

se (שֶׂה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “lamb, sheep”.

One animal of the flock: a lamb, a sheep or a young goat.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A young of the flock: sheep, lamb or kid, from which the shepherd lived.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

One head of the small livestock: a lamb, a sheep or a young goat, without saying which. It is the word for a single animal of the flock, set against צֹאן, the whole flock (H6629).

• The Passover lamb Exodus 12:3Exodus 12:5
• “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Genesis 22:7Genesis 22:8
• “Like a lamb {that} is led to the slaughter” Isaiah 53:7
• Laws on the stolen or lost lamb Exodus 22:1Deuteronomy 22:1Exodus 13:13
• “Between sheep and sheep”: the judgment of the flock Ezekiel 34:17Jeremiah 50:17

Historical and cultural background

The Passover lamb had to be “without defect, a male, a year old” (Exodus 12:5), one per household. The firstling of a donkey was ransomed “with a lamb” (Exodus 13:13).

How we translate it

“Lamb” 31 times and “sheep” 12. “Lamb” is kept also in the laws, with a note in Exodus 12:3 explaining that it designates a young animal of the flock, of sheep or of goats (“from the sheep or from the goats you shall take {it}”, 12:5). When the text compares animals or speaks of one of the flock, “sheep” (Ezekiel 34:17; Jeremiah 50:17).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• lamb ×31
• sheep ×12
• animal ×2
• ewe ×1
• goat ×1

Where it appears

• Genesis×4
• Exodus×13
• Leviticus×5
• Numbers×1
• Deuteronomy×5
• Joshua×1
• Judges×1
• 1 Samuel×4
• Psalms×1
• Isaiah×4
• Jeremiah×1
• Ezekiel×7

• Genesis 22:7

  Isaac said to Abraham his father, and he said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

• Genesis 22:8

  Abraham said, “Elohim will see for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

• Genesis 30:32

  Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there every animal speckled and spotted, and every dark animal among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such will be my wages.

• Exodus 12:3

  Speak to all the community of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month they shall take for themselves, each man, a lamb for each father’s house, a lamb for each household.

• Exodus 12:4

  If the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house shall take one according to the number of persons; you shall make your count for the lamb each according to what he eats.

• Exodus 12:5

  Your lamb shall be without defect, a male, a year old; from the sheep or from the goats you shall take it.

• Exodus 13:13

  Every first offspring of a donkey you shall ransom with a lamb; and if you do not ransom it, you shall break its neck. And every human firstborn among your sons you shall ransom.

• Exodus 22:1

  When a man steals an ox or a lamb and slaughters it or sells it, he shall repay five cattle for the ox and four sheep for the lamb.

• Exodus 22:4

  If the stolen thing is actually found in his hand alive, whether ox or donkey or lamb, he shall repay double.

• Exodus 22:9

  In every case of transgression, whether for an ox, for a donkey, for a lamb, for a garment, or for any lost thing of which someone says, ‘This is it,’ the case of the two of them shall come before Elohim; the one whom Elohim declares guilty shall repay double to his neighbor.

• Exodus 22:10

  When a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a lamb or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured or is carried off, with no one seeing,

• Exodus 34:19

  Everything that first opens the womb is mine, and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of ox and lamb.

• Exodus 34:20

  And the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.

• Leviticus 5:7

  And if his means do not reach enough for a lamb, he shall bring as his guilt offering for what he has sinned two turtledoves or two young pigeons to YHWH, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering.

• Leviticus 12:8

  And if her means do not suffice for a lamb, she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering; and the priest shall make expiation for her, and she will be clean.”

• Leviticus 22:23

  And an ox or a lamb that has a limb too long or stunted you may offer as a freewill offering, it, but for a vow it will not be accepted.

• Leviticus 22:28

  And a cow or a ewe, it and its young, you shall not slaughter on one day.

• Leviticus 27:26

  But a firstborn, which as a firstborn belongs to YHWH, among the beasts, no man shall consecrate it; whether ox or lamb, it is YHWH’s.

• Numbers 15:11

  Thus it shall be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for a lamb, whether of the sheep or of the goats.

• Deuteronomy 14:4

  These are the beasts that you may eat: the ox, the sheep and the goat,

• Deuteronomy 17:1

  You shall not sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim an ox or a lamb that has a defect, anything bad, for it is an abomination to YHWH your Elohim.

• Deuteronomy 18:3

  And this shall be the due of the priests from the people, from those who sacrifice the sacrifice, whether an ox or a lamb: he shall give to the priest the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the stomach.

• Deuteronomy 22:1

  You shall not see your brother’s ox or his lamb straying and ignore them; you shall surely bring them back to your brother.

• Joshua 6:21

  And they devoted to destruction all that was in the city, from man to woman, from young man to old man, to ox, lamb, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

• Judges 6:4

  They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as your coming to Gaza, and they would not leave sustenance in Israel, neither lamb nor ox nor donkey.

• 1 Samuel 14:34

  Saul said, “Scatter among the people and say to them, ‘Bring near to me each his ox and each his lamb, and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against YHWH by eating with the blood.’” And all the people brought near, each his ox in his hand, that night, and they slaughtered them there.

• 1 Samuel 15:3

  Now go and strike Amalek, and devote to destruction all that he has; do not spare him, but put to death from man to woman, from child to nursing infant, from ox to lamb, from camel to donkey.’”

• 1 Samuel 17:34

  David said to Saul, “Your servant used to be a shepherd for his father with the flock; and when the lion came, or the bear, and carried off a lamb from the drove,

• 1 Samuel 22:19

  And Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, from man to woman, from child to nursing infant, and ox, donkey, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

• Psalms 119:176

  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for your commandments I have not forgotten.

• Isaiah 7:25

  And all the mountains that used to be hoed with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; and it will become a place for letting loose oxen and for trampling by sheep.

• Isaiah 43:23

  You have not brought me the sheep of your burnt offerings, and with your sacrifices you have not honored me; I have not made you serve with grain offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.

• Isaiah 53:7

  He was mistreated, and he humbled himself, and he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a ewe that before her shearers is silent, and he did not open his mouth.

• Isaiah 66:3

  One who slaughters the ox, one who strikes a man; one who sacrifices the lamb, one who breaks the neck of a dog; one who presents an offering, the blood of a pig; one who makes a memorial of frankincense, one who blesses wickedness. They too have chosen their ways, and in their detestable things their soul delights.

• Jeremiah 50:17

  A scattered sheep is Israel; lions have driven it away; the first devoured it, the king of Assyria; and this last one has gnawed its bones, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

• Ezekiel 34:17

  And you, my sheep, thus says Adonai YHWH: Look, I am judging between sheep and sheep, between the rams and the male goats.

• Ezekiel 34:20

  Therefore thus says Adonai YHWH to them: Look, I myself will judge between the fattened sheep and the lean sheep.

• Ezekiel 34:22

  I will save my sheep, and they will no longer be booty, and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

• Ezekiel 45:15

  And one lamb from the flock out of every two hundred, from the watered pastures of Israel, for a grain offering and for a burnt offering and for peace offerings, to make expiation for them, declares Adonai YHWH.

And 8 more times.