In the Fold With Sheep and Goats

Are you a sheep-person or a goat-person?

If you had to be an animal during Bible times, it would be preferable not to be goat. For one reason, there's that whole scapegoat thing. The scapegoat was the goat over whose head the high priest Aaron confessed the sins of the people of Israel on the Day of Atonement. Then the goat, symbolically bearing their sins, was driven out into the wilderness, where it probably became dinner for a hungry lion.

Of course, one might argue, being a sheep could be equally as dangerous. A sheep, after giving up its wool, often appeared on the dinner table, or in the stew, or on the altar as a sacrifice. That said, goats in the Bible clearly are not viewed as sympathetically as sheep, and the NT singles out goats for unwelcome treatment as well. When talking about the final judgment, Jesus speaks of separating sheep from goats, and it's clear that the goats are the losers in this sorting.

For a shepherd, separating sheep from goats is not difficult. Though both species are often pastured together and ...