Quick Definition
πρόβατον, ου, τό n.n. a sheep
Strong's Definition
something that walks forward (a quadruped), i.e. (specially), a sheep (literally or figuratively)
Derivation: probably neuter of a presumed derivative of G4260 (προβαίνω);
KJV Usage: sheep(-fold)
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, n. | -ου | βαίνω (go, walk)
4.22 · Animals · Animals
sheep herbivorous domestic mammal with four legs; Ovis ladicaudata - fat-tailed sheep; used for sacrifice, source of meat, milk, hides, wool, and horns Since the distribution of sheep throughout the world is somewhat less than that of goats, there may be more difficulties involved in finding an adequate term. In some instances terms for sheep are actually based upon a term for goat. For example, among Eskimos goats are well known because there are wild goats in the mountains, and sheep are accordingly called in some dialects ‘woolly goats’ or ‘goats that have wool.’ Among the Maya in Yucatan sheep were introduced by the Spanish and were first described as being ‘cotton deer,’ and the name still persists. In some areas where sheep are not known at all, the meat of sheep is known, and accordingly sheep may be called by the name of the meat, for example, ‘mutton animals.’ But in most places where sheep are not indigenous, there is nevertheless some term for them, usually based upon a borrowing from a dominant language.
For the translator, however, there are often problems involving the connotations of the term for sheep and for related expressions concerning their behavior and the ways in which they are ‘led.’ As already noted under the discussion of goats (4.19), sheep are frequently less prized than goats, and therefore it may seem strange in biblical texts to find sheep being given a preferential rating. What may appear even more difficult to understand is the suggestion that sheep are led by a shepherd rather than being driven. This fact may require some type of marginal note to accompany the text if people are to understand the basis for a number of similes and metaphors of the Scriptures. Furthermore, if the experience which people have of sheep is only their knowledge about wild sheep, then obviously references to the helplessness of sheep will be either meaningless or even contradictory. Again, a marginal note is in order.
MAT 7:15 · MAT 9:36 · MAT 10:6 · MAT 10:16 · MAT 12:11 · MAT 12:12 · MAT 15:24 · MAT 18:12 · MAT 25:32 · MAT 25:33 · MAT 26:31 · MRK 6:34 · MRK 14:27 · LUK 15:4 · LUK 15:6 · JHN 2:14 · JHN 2:15 · JHN 10:1 · JHN 10:2 · JHN 10:3 · JHN 10:3 · JHN 10:4 · ACT 8:32 · ROM 8:36 · HEB 13:20 · 1PE 2:25 · REV 18:13
11.30 · Groups and Classes of Persons and Members of Such Groups and Classes · Socio-Religious
a person who is like a sheep (a figurative extension of meaning of πρόβατον[a] ‘sheep,’ 4.22) a follower of Christ, with the implication of needing care and guidance Compare 11.29 and 11.31.
JHN 10:7 · JHN 10:8 · JHN 10:11 · JHN 10:12 · JHN 10:12 · JHN 10:13 · JHN 10:15 · JHN 10:16 · JHN 10:26 · JHN 10:27 · JHN 21:16 · JHN 21:17
1 Since the sheep were approximately the same size as forest deer and since they had a fleece closely resembling wild cotton, they could quite logically be called cotton deer.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
πρόβατον probaton 39x
a sheep, Mt. 7:15; 9:36; 10:16; met. Mt. 10:6; 15:24
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
πρόβατον, -ου, τό
(< προβαίνω), [in LXX chiefly for צֹאן, also for שֶׂה, more rarely for כֶּבֶשׂ (כֶּשֶׂב), רָחֵל;]
in Hom., Hdt., cattle, esp. of small cattle, sheep and goats.
In NT, as in Attic writers generally (cf. MM, xxi), a sheep: Mt 7:15, Mk 6:34, al.; πρόβατα σφαγῆς, Ro 8:36(LXX). Metaph. (in cl. of timidity, stupidity or idleness), of the followers of a leader or master, esp. of those who are subject to the care of the Good Shepherd: Mt 10:6 15:24 26:31(LXX), Mk 14:27(LXX), Jo 10:7, 8, 15, 16, 26, 27 21:16, 17 (WH txt., προβάτια), He 13:20; opp. to ἐρίφια, Mt 25:33.
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
πρόβατον is used of ‘‘sheep” collectively in such a passage as P Hib I. 3210 (B.c. 246) πρόβατα Xn, (dv) ἔρσίεν)ες ἢ, ἄρνες ty . . . “38 sheep, of whicheizht are rams, 13 lambs . .” Other exx. of the word are P Petr II. 22° (iii/B.c.) Botds(?) ἢ ὑποζύγιον (‘‘ass ’’) ἢ πρόβατον, P Oxy II. 2445 (A.D. 23) πρόβατα τριακόσια εἴκοσι καὶ αἶγας [ἑκατ]ὸν ἑξήκον[τ]α καὶ τοὺς ἐπακολουθ(οῦντας) ἄρνας [κ]αὶ ἐρίφους, P Fay
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
πρόβατον (probaton) — sheep. πρόβᾰτον, τό, frequently in plural πρόβατα (but also in singular, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; irregular dative πρόβασι[Refs 5th c.AD+] — used (among the Ionians and Dorians) of all four-footed cattle, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of Europa's bull, [Refs 8th c.BC+] generally of cattle, flocks and herds, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ π. καὶ καρταίποδα [Refs]; opposed to ἄνθρωποι, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ λεπτὰ τῶν π. small cattle, i.e. sheep and goats, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; so later, π. ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐρίφων λήψεσθε [LXX] almost invariably of sheep, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in later Boeotian dialect, [Refs]: generally, animals for slaughter, whether for sacrifices, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; or for food, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. proverbial of stupid, lazy people, ἀριθμός, πρόβατ᾽ ἄλλως [Refs 5th c.BC+] more sheepish than a sheep, uncertain conjecture in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; χρυσοῦν π., = Latin pecus aurea, as nickname, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: in other proverbs, τοὺς γευομένους κύνας τῶν π. κατακόπτειν φασὶ δεῖν [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II. name of a sea-fish, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]. (Orig. of small cattle, sheep and goats, which in primitive mixed herds walk in front (προβαίνει) of the larger animals.)