כֶּ֫בֶשׂ107 H3532
Lamb, young male sheep — primarily a sacrificial animal in Levitical law; also used in prophetic similes of innocence
Kebes is the standard Hebrew term for a young male sheep and appears overwhelmingly in the ritual legislation of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It names the animal of the daily burnt offering (Exod 29:38), the sin offering (Lev 4:32), purification rites (Lev 14:10), and every major festival calendar in Numbers 28-29. Yet the word breaks free of cultic lists in two prophetic passages where it becomes a simile of heartbreaking vulnerability — Jeremiah 'like a gentle lamb led to slaughter' (Jer 11:19) and Hosea's wayward Israel 'like a lamb in a broad pasture' (Hos 4:16). Translations universally use 'lamb/cordero/agneau/Lamm' for both senses, letting context carry the shift from ritual to rhetoric.
Senses
1. lamb, young male sheep — A young male sheep specified for sacrificial and offering contexts — burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings, purification rites, and festival prescriptions throughout the Priestly legislation. The daily offering alone requires two lambs (Exod 29:38-39; Num 28:3-4), and Numbers 7 lists them repeatedly in the tribal dedication of the altar. Multilingual glosses (spa: corderos, fra: agneaux, deu: Laemmer) are uniform across all 105 occurrences, reflecting an unambiguous referent in the pastoral-ritual world. 105×
AR["حَمَلَيْنِ","حُمْلَانٌ","حُمْلَانٍ","خَروفَينِ","كِبَاشِ"]·ben["মেষ","মেষশাবক","মেষের"]·DE["Laemmer"]·EN["lambs"]·FR["agneaux"]·heb["כבש","כבשים"]·HI["मेमने","मेमनों","मेम्ने"]·ID["anak-anak-domba","anak-domba","domba","domba-domba","domba-domba-jantan"]·IT["agnelli"]·jav["cempe","cempé","wedhus-gembel","wedhus-mènda","wedhus-mènda;"]·KO["어린-양들","어린-양들을","어린양들","어린양들-을"]·PT["cordeiros"]·RU["агнцев","овец","овцах","ягнят"]·ES["corderos"]·SW["wa-","wana-kondoo","wanakondoo"]·TR["kuzu","kuzular"]·urd["برّے","بھیڑ-کے-بچے","بھیڑوں-کے","بھیڑیں"]
2. like a lamb (simile) — Used in comparative constructions (with the ke- prefix) to liken a person to a lamb, evoking innocence, meekness, or vulnerability. Jeremiah 11:19 — 'I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter' — anticipates the Suffering Servant imagery of Isaiah 53, while Hosea 4:16 compares wayward Israel to 'a lamb in a broad pasture.' Spanish como-cordero and French agneau preserve the simile, and these two occurrences stand apart from the cultic register by foregrounding the lamb's character rather than its sacrificial role. 2×
AR["كَحَمَلٍ"]·ben["মেষশাবকের-মতো-","মেষের-মতো"]·DE["[ככבש]"]·EN["like-lamb","was-like-a-lamb"]·FR["[ככבש]","agneau"]·heb["כ-כבש"]·HI["जैसे-मेमना","मेमने-की-तरह"]·ID["seperti-domba"]·IT["[ככבש]","come-agnello"]·jav["kados-mènda-alit","kados-wedhus-gèmbèl"]·KO["양-처럼"]·PT["como-cordeiro"]·RU["как-агнец","как-ягнёнка"]·ES["como-cordero"]·SW["kama-mwana-kondoo"]·TR["kuzu-gibi"]·urd["بھیڑ-کی-طرح","جیسے-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×)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×)H5175 1. serpent, snake (31×)G0721 1. Lamb (29×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
כֶּ֫בֶשׂ107 n.m. Ex 29:38 lamb (√ dub.: NH id., battering-ram; Assyrian kabšu, lamb according to COT Gloss.; Arabic كَبْشٌ is ram, leader; Syriac ܟܶܒܫܳܐ lamb, with anom. ܫ, is very rare, and prob. loan-word; Nö in Frä109)—כ׳ abs. Ex 29:39 + 43 times; pl. כְּבָשִׂים v 38 + 61 times; sf. כְּבָשַׂי Jb 31:20;— 1. lamb, for sacrif.: Is 1:11; of daily offering Ex 29:38, 39(×2), 40, 41 Nu 28:3, 4(×2) +…