📖 Biblical Definition
The lamb is the Bible's supreme sacrificial emblem and the chosen name of the Messiah. From Abel's accepted offering (Gen 4:4) through the Passover lamb (Ex 12), the daily tamid sacrifice (Ex 29:38-42 — a lamb morning and evening for 1,400 years), the Day of Atonement, and the prophetic lamb of Isaiah 53:7 ("like a lamb that is led to the slaughter"), Scripture prepares the reader to hear John the Baptist's declaration: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Peter: "you were ransomed... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pet 1:18-19). Revelation's worship song: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (Rev 5:12). The Lamb is on the throne.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
LAMB, n.
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LAMB, n. [Sax. lamb.] (1.) The young of the sheep. (2.) In Scripture, the lamb is the most frequent sacrificial victim: the lamb of the Passover, slain and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts; the daily burnt-offering of morning and evening; and, above all, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, John the Baptist's title for the Messiah. In the Revelation, the Lamb as it had been slain stands at the center of the throne, receiving the worship of every creature in heaven and on earth.
📖 Key Scripture
John 1:29 — "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
1 Peter 1:18-19 — "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."
Isaiah 53:7 — "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth."
Revelation 5:12 — "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
"Lamb of God" is liturgical background noise in many churches; the sacrificial specificity — lamb slain, lamb blood, lamb body eaten — is largely unpreached.
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The Lamb of God is a title so familiar it has lost its shock. John the Baptist, standing in the Jordan, told the crowd that this man is the lamb — meaning that the 1,400-year-old sacrificial system had just arrived at its telos. A single lamb, sufficient, final. Jesus' cross is not a metaphor for sacrifice; it is the real substance of which every temple lamb was a copy. Recover the weight: at communion you are not merely remembering an idea; you are participating in the body and blood of the slain Lamb. The sacrifice is over, yet the Lamb stands as it had been slain (Rev 5:6) forever — the marks of the wounds are eternal, not erased by resurrection but consecrated by it. Never speak of the Lamb cheaply.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
G286 — amnos (ἀμνός) — sacrificial lamb; G721 arnion — the Lamb of Revelation.
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H3532 — kebes (כֶּבֶשׂ) — young lamb; the common OT sacrificial lamb.
H7716 — seh (שֶׂה) — lamb, kid, young sheep; used in Passover instructions (Ex 12:3).
G286 — amnos (ἀμνός) — sacrificial lamb; John's title for Christ.
G721 — arnion (ἀρνίον) — little lamb, Lamb; Revelation's 28 usages of the enthroned Lamb.
Usage
"The Lamb stands as it had been slain — the wounds eternal, not erased, because the Cross is the eternal center of the universe."
"A thousand temple lambs pointed forward; one Lamb of God has arrived. The system is over; the sacrifice is eternal."