Lexical Summary
kebes: Lamb
Original Word:כֶּבֶשׂ
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:kebes
Pronunciation:keh-bes
Phonetic Spelling:(keh-bes')
KJV: lamb, sheep
NASB:male lambs, lambs, lamb, male lamb, sheep, male
Word Origin:[from an unused root meaning to dominate]
1. a ram (just old enough to butt)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
lamb, sheep
From an unused root meaning to dominate; a ram (just old enough to butt) -- lamb, sheep.
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originof uncertain derivation
Definitiona lamb
NASB Translationlamb (21), lambs (28), male (1), male lamb (18), male lambs (32), sheep (2).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
107Exodus 29:38 (√ dubious: Late Hebrew
id., battering-ram; Assyrian
kabšu,
lamb according to COT
Gloss; Arabic
is
ram, leader; Syriac
lamb, with anom.
, is very rare, and probably loan-word; Nö in Frä
109) — absolute
Exodus 29:39 43t.; plural
Exodus 29:38 61t.; suffix
Job 31:20; —
lamb, for sacrifice:Isaiah 1:11; of daily offeringExodus 29:38,39 (twice in verse);Exodus 29:40,41;Numbers 28:3,4 (twice in verse) + 12 t.Numbers 28; sin-offeringLeviticus 4:32; purificationLeviticus 12:6;Leviticus 14:10 5t.Leviticus 14; dedication of altarNumbers 7:15 25t.Numbers 7; offerings in 7th monthNumbers 29:2 22t.Numbers 29, etc. (87 t. Exodus Leviticus Numbers all P); in Ezekiel's templeEzekiel 46:4 6t.Ezekiel 46;1 Chronicles 29:21; 2Chronicles 29:21,22,32; 35:7;Ezra 8:35, compare simileJeremiah 11:19.
lambs, as grazing; symbol of devastationIsaiah 5:17 (compare GieBeitr. 1890), simile of IsraelHosea 4:16; in predict.Isaiah 11:6.
lambs, as furnishing wool for clothing:Job 31:20 ,Proverbs 27:26 .
Topical Lexicon
Term OverviewStrong’s Hebrew 3532, keves (or kebes), denotes a male lamb, generally one year old. The word appears some 107 times, almost exclusively in cultic or pastoral contexts. Its consistent association with sacrifice invests it with rich theological meaning that threads from Genesis through the Prophets and anticipates the New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God.
Occurrences and Distribution
Keves clusters densely in five literary corpora: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Ezekiel. Exodus and Leviticus together account for over half the total occurrences, reflecting the centrality of the lamb in covenant worship. Narrative passages outside the Pentateuch employ the term more sparingly, often to underscore covenant unfaithfulness or promise restoration (for example,2 Samuel 12:4;Isaiah 16:1;Ezekiel 45:15).
Role in Levitical Sacrifices
Burnt Offering
Keves is the animal most frequently prescribed for the olah. InLeviticus 1:10–13 the worshiper may offer “a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats,” but the following instructions focus on the male lamb. The lamb is to be “slaughtered on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, are to sprinkle its blood against the sides of the altar” (Leviticus 1:11). The fragrant aroma ascending from a wholly consumed lamb dramatizes total consecration to God.
Sin Offering
For individual sins committed unintentionally, a female keves may be brought (Leviticus 4:32–35). The substitutionary logic is unmistakable: “The priest will make atonement for him concerning the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven” (Leviticus 4:35). The blood manipulation rites highlight the seriousness of sin even when inadvertent.
Guilt Offering
Leviticus 14 mandates a male keves in the trespass (asham) ritual for cleansed lepers. The blood is applied to the right ear, thumb, and big toe of the healed individual, pointing to comprehensive restoration to covenant life (Leviticus 14:12–18).
Peace Offering
While bovines often serve, a keves without blemish is equally acceptable (Leviticus 3:6–11). The fat portions, reserved exclusively for Yahweh, teach the worshiper that the best parts belong to God.
Passover Significance
Exodus 12 establishes the lamb as the center of Israel’s redemption narrative. “Your lamb is to be an unblemished male, a year old… You must slaughter it at twilight” (Exodus 12:5–6). The blood shielded households from the destroyer, marking out a redeemed people. The memorial feast calibrated Israel’s calendar and identity around the substitutionary death of a lamb. The Passover lamb prepares canonical soil for John the Baptist’s proclamation, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Priestly Ordination and Consecration
Exodus 29 andLeviticus 8 require two kevasim during priestly installation—one for the sin offering, another for the burnt offering. Along with a ram of ordination, the lambs broadcast the necessity of purity in those who mediate between God and His people. The blood is applied to ear, thumb, and toe of the priests, mirroring the leper’s rite and reinforcing the theme of whole-person sanctification.
Festal and Daily Rituals
Daily Tamid
Numbers 28:3–8 commands “two male lambs a year old, without blemish, as a regular burnt offering each day.” Morning and evening lambs bookend Israel’s daily life with perpetual remembrance of atonement and communion.
Sabbath Addition
Each Sabbath doubles the daily routine: “On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two male lambs a year old without blemish… in addition to the regular burnt offering” (Numbers 28:9–10). The extra kevasim underscore the sanctity of God’s appointed rest.
Monthly New Moon
Monthly renewal required “two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished” (Numbers 28:11). Inclusion of multiple kevasim reiterates the lamb’s central sacrificial role.
Pilgrim Festivals
Unleavened Bread, Weeks, Trumpets, and Tabernacles each incorporate lamb offerings, climaxing at Tabernacles with seventy bulls, fourteen rams, and ninety-eight kevasim over seven days (Numbers 29). The sheer volume symbolizes abundance and covenant fellowship.
Day of Atonement
Leviticus 16 prescribes a sin offering from a goat for the nation, yet the burnt offering component still features “one ram from the flock” (Leviticus 16:3) and omits a keves. Ezekiel’s eschatological temple, however, restores the lamb to Yom Kippur: “On the fourteenth day of the first month you are to offer a Passover feast… and a young bull and seven unblemished male lambs” (Ezekiel 45:21-23).
Non-Cultic References
Outside ritual texts, keves can refer to ordinary livestock, as in Jacob’s flocks (Genesis 30:32), Nathan’s parable (2 Samuel 12:4), orProverbs 27:23. Such passages remind readers that sacrificial animals were drawn from everyday pastoral life, making worship both accessible and costly.
Symbolic and Prophetic Dimensions
Innocence and Humility
Isaiah 53:7 pictures the Suffering Servant as “a lamb led to slaughter,” evoking the silent submission and innocence of the sacrificial keves. Jeremiah uses similar imagery for himself: “I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter” (Jeremiah 11:19).
Covenant Failure and Hope
Ezekiel 45–46 portrays renewed worship featuring kevasim, signalling covenant restoration.Amos 6:4 rebukes the complacent who recline on ivory couches and “eat lambs from the flock,” indicting them for misusing gifts intended for worship.
Universal Reign of Peace
Isaiah’s oracle of messianic peace envisions predator and prey coexisting: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6). The keves becomes a sign of covenant harmony extending to creation itself.
Christological Fulfillment
Substitutionary Atonement
1 Peter 1:18–19 declares believers redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.” The moral perfection required in every keves finds ultimate realization in the sinless Messiah.
Passover Completion
Paul writes, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Exodus lamb’s blood that delivered Israel from death foreshadows the cross where Christ shields believers from divine wrath.
Perpetual Intercession
The tamid offering of two daily lambs prefigures the continual priestly ministry of Jesus.Hebrews 7:25 affirms that He “always lives to intercede,” accomplishing eternally what the daily kevasim could only typify.
Apocalyptic Victory
Revelation crowns the imagery: the conquering Lion of Judah appears as “a Lamb standing as if slain” (Revelation 5:6), integrating sacrificial death and sovereign rule. The redeemed worship, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12), echoing the Pentateuchal refrain of fragrant aroma and acceptable sacrifice.
Pastoral and Devotional Applications
Whole-Life Consecration
The total consumption of the burnt-offering lamb challenges believers toward undivided devotion.Romans 12:1 urges presenting bodies “as a living sacrifice,” appropriating the keves typology to Christian ethics.
Daily Rhythm of Worship
Morning and evening burnt offerings ground the faithful in regular communion. Family and congregational worship patterned after this rhythm nurtures ongoing awareness of Christ’s mediating work.
Corporate Fellowship
Peace offerings featuring kevasim involve communal meals in God’s presence. The Lord’s Supper, instituted by the Passover Lamb Himself, perpetuates this fellowship under the New Covenant.
Missional Witness
Isaiah’s vision of the lamb in a reconciled creation propels gospel proclamation, heralding the one sacrifice able to usher global peace (Acts 1:8).
Pastoral Care
Nathan’s parable of the poor man’s keves (2 Samuel 12:1-4) illustrates tender shepherding. Church leaders, called to “shepherd the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2), reflect the Lamb-Shepherd paradigm found inRevelation 7:17.
Conclusion
From Genesis pastures to Revelation’s throne, the keves threads a golden line of substitution, consecration, and hope. Its sacrificial blood announces the cost of atonement; its unblemished body prefigures the sinless Christ; its daily presentation models constant worship. In the Lamb of God, every keves offered on Israel’s altars finds perfect and eternal fulfillment.
Forms and Transliterations
בַכְּבָשִׂ֖ים בכבשים הַכְּבָשִֽׂים׃ הַכְּבָשִׂ֔ים הַכְּבָשִׂ֥ים הַכֶּ֗בֶשׂ הַכֶּ֣בֶשׂ הַכֶּ֥בֶשׂ הַכֶּ֧בֶשׂ הכבש הכבשים הכבשים׃ וְכֶ֨בֶשׂ וְלַ֨כְּבָשִׂ֔ים וְלַכְּבָשִׂ֖ים וְלַכְּבָשִׂ֛ים וְלַכְּבָשִׂ֥ים וָכֶ֧בֶשׂ וּכְבָשִׂ֛ים וּכְבָשִׂ֣ים וכבש וכבשים ולכבשים כְּ֝בָשַׂי כְּבָשִֽׂים׃ כְּבָשִׂ֑ים כְּבָשִׂ֛ם כְּבָשִׂ֣ים כְּבָשִׂ֤ים כְּבָשִׂ֥ים כְּבָשִׂ֧ים כְּבָשִׂ֨ים כְּבָשִׂים֙ כְּכֶ֖בֶשׂ כְּכֶ֥בֶשׂ כְבָשִׂ֖ים כְבָשִׂ֛ים כְבָשִׂ֥ים כְבָשִׂים֙ כֶּ֔בֶשׂ כֶּ֛בֶשׂ כֶּ֣בֶשׂ כֶּ֤בֶשׂ כֶּ֥בֶשׂ כֶּֽבֶשׂ־ כֶּבֶשׂ֩ כבש כבש־ כבשי כבשים כבשים׃ כבשם ככבש לַכֶּ֖בֶשׂ לכבש ḇak·kə·ḇā·śîm ḇakkəḇāśîm chevaSim hak·kə·ḇā·śîm hak·ke·ḇeś hakkəḇāśîm hakkeḇeś hakkevaSim hakKeves kə·ḇā·śay kə·ḇā·śim kə·ḇā·śîm ḵə·ḇā·śîm ke·ḇeś ke·ḇeś- kə·ḵe·ḇeś kəḇāśay kəḇāśim kəḇāśîm ḵəḇāśîm keḇeś keḇeś- keCheves kəḵeḇeś Kevasai kevaSim Keves lak·ke·ḇeś lakkeḇeś lakKeves ū·ḵə·ḇā·śîm uchevaSim ūḵəḇāśîm vaCheves vakkevaSim veCheves velakkevaSim wā·ḵe·ḇeś wāḵeḇeś wə·ḵe·ḇeś wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm wəḵeḇeś wəlakkəḇāśîm
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