H2924 H2924
lamb, young sheep
This term designates a young lamb, particularly one still nursing. In 1 Samuel 7:9, Samuel offered a suckling lamb as a whole burnt offering during Israel's crisis with the Philistines, emphasizing the sacrifice's completeness and purity. Isaiah 65:25 envisions the messianic age when wolf and lamb will feed together peacefully, overturning natural predatory patterns. The word appears cognate across Semitic languages (Aramaic talya for lamb/youth, Arabic for young gazelle or lamb), suggesting both youthfulness and vulnerability. The plural form talayim appears only in Isaiah 40:11, where God shepherds the lambs gently.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The two singular occurrences demonstrate the lamb's dual function: sacrificial and symbolic. 1 Samuel 7:9 specifies a nursing lamb (taleh chalab), emphasizing its tender age and unblemished status for whole burnt offering. Isaiah 65:25 uses the lamb to represent vulnerability and innocence in the eschatological vision where predator and prey coexist peacefully. The broader Semitic background connects this to youth and tenderness generally (Aramaic talya can mean youth, Syriac boy/girl), though biblical usage focuses on the young ovine. Spanish cordero, French agneau preserve the specific lamb identification. 2×
AR["حَمَلًا", "وَ-الْحَمَلُ"]·ben["-এবং-মেষশাবক", "মেষশাবক"]·DE["Lamm-von", "[וטלה]"]·EN["and-the-lamb", "lamb-of"]·FR["[וטלה]", "agneau-de"]·heb["ו-טלה", "טלה"]·HI["और-मेमना", "मेमना"]·ID["anak-domba", "dan-domba"]·IT["[וטלה]", "agnello-di"]·jav["cèmphè", "lan-cempe"]·KO["그리고-어린-양이", "젖-먹는-어린-양을"]·PT["cordeiro", "e-cordeiro"]·RU["и-ягнёнок", "ягнёнка"]·ES["cordero", "y-el-cordero"]·SW["mwana-kondoo", "na-mwana-kondoo"]·TR["kuzu", "ve-kuzu"]·urd["اور-برہ", "برہ"]
Related Senses
H6629 1. flock, sheep/goats (small livestock) (274×)H1241 1. cattle, herd (bovine livestock) (183×)H0352a 1. ram (male sheep) (156×)H6499 1. young bull, bullock (130×)H3532 1. lamb, young male sheep (105×)H2543 1. donkey (male ass) (96×)H7794 1. ox, bull (79×)H7462b 1. shepherd (agent noun) (76×)H5795 1. she-goat(s), female goat(s) (68×)H7462b 2. to shepherd, tend, pasture (60×)H1581 1. camel (domestic animal) (54×)H0738b 1. lion (46×)G4263 1. sheep (39×)H5739 1. flock or herd of livestock (38×)H5695 1. calf, young bull (35×)H0738a 1. lion (large predatory feline) (34×)H0860 1. female donkey (34×)H3611 1. dog (animal) (32×)H3715a 1. young lion, lion cub (31×)G0721 1. Lamb (29×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† טָלֶה n.m. 1 S 7:9 lamb (NH id., lamb;) Aramaic טַלְיָא lamb, youth, טַלְיְתָא girl, ܛܰܠܝܳܐ boy, youth, ܛܠܻܝܬܳܐ girl (cf. Mk 5:41 𝔖); Arabic طَلًا young of cloven-footed animals, especially young gazelle HomNS 235, Nedj. tully, male lamb, DoughtyArabic Desert. i. 429, ii. 269; Ethiopic ጠሊ flock of goats, goat, kid—טְלֵה חָלָב 1 S 7:9 sucking lamb (for burnt-offering); in prediction זְאֵב…