Flock

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The church of Jesus is so often spoken of in Scripture under the figure and similitude of a flock, that I could not think myself justified in passing it by unnoticed. That Jesus is himself called the Shepherd of Israel. ( Psalms 80:1) and sometimes the good Shepherd. ( John 10:11) and chief Shepherd, ( 1 Peter 5:4) and the great Shepherd. ( Hebrews 13:20) and the one Shepherd. ( Ezekiel 34:23) These are familiar names, by which Christ is well known to his church in Scripture. And consequently, as every shepherd is supposed to have a flock, otherwise his very character of shepherd ceaseth; so the church hath various descriptions also as the flock of Christ by which she is known. The church is said by Jesus himself to be his sheep, which his Father hath given him, and which he hath also purchased by his blood, and made them his by the conquests of his grace. Hence he saith, he called them all by name. He knoweth all their persons, state, and circumstances; goeth before them, and them into wholesome pastures, and causeth them to lie down in safety. He undertakes for all their wants, heals the diseased among them, brings home wanderers, restores the misled, and is so watchful over the whole of his flock, that they must all pass again under the hand of him that telleth them. ( Jeremiah 33:13) and hence it is impossible that any of them should perish, but he giveth them eternal life. ( John 10:1-16)

And what tends, if possible, to endear yet more this view of Christ's church as his flock, is the several properties of it. The flock of Jesus is but one. ( Song of Song of Solomon 6:9) though scattered in various parts of the earth, and divided into several folds. Both Jew and Gentile are brought into it, and hereafter will form "one in the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven." ( Hebrews 12:23) And this flock of Christ is not only one, but it forms a separate and distinct one. For separated by distinguishing grace and gathered out of the world's wide wilderness, Jesus hath pent it up, and hedged it in; so that it is for ever separated from the wolves and beasts of prey. Hence Jesus is represented as calling to his church in those sweet words: "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir, and Hermon, from the lions' dens, and from the mountains of the leopards." ( Song of Song of Solomon 4:8)

There is another great feature of Jesus's flock, and this is, in the present life, compared to the world, they are but small and inconsiderable in number. Jesus himself calleth it a little flock. "Fear not, little flock, (said that gracious Shepherd), for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." ( Luke 12:32) But overlooked and despised as the flock of Jesus is by the great ones of the earth, and low and humble as they are in their own view; yet when they are all brought home, and housed in his eternal kingdom, they will form a blessed company. John, the beloved apostle, in his days, when admitted in that glorious vision of the Lord to see heaven opened, related to the church, that he saw "a multitude, whom no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues." ( Revelation 7:9) And who shall say what millions since, the Lord hath gathered and taken home to his everlasting sheepfold above? Oh! the blessedness of belonging to the flock of Christ! Well might the prophet in the contemplation, as if speaking to Jesus, the Israel of his people, cry out, "Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" ( Jeremiah 13:20) And how beautiful, indeed, in the eyes of Jesus, must the flock appear, when made comely in his comeliness! How spotless like the whitest fleece, when washed in his blood, covered in the garment of his righteousness, and made all glorious within by the indwelling residence of the Holy Ghost! Hear what the Lord saith to his church: "Thou art beautiful as Tirzah, O my love! comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which come up from the washing, whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them." ( Song of Song of Solomon 6:4; Son 4:2)

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

One of the most familiar pictures in the Ot is that of the Church or people of God as a flock. In  Genesis 48:15 the correlative figure is found in ‘the shepherding God,’ and is repealed in the Blessing of the Tribes (‘the Shepherd of Israel,’  Genesis 49:24; cf. also Psalms 23 and  Ezekiel 34:31). In  Isaiah 40:11 the figure is directly employed: ‘He shall feed his flock like a shepherd’ (in the Ot generally ποιμένες λαῶν meant ‘civil rulers,’ as in Homer, but in the Nt the phrase stands for ‘spiritual guides and teachers’).

The Ot metaphor is carried over into the Nt, where τὸ ποίμνιον is used exclusively in the figurative sense of ‘church’ or ‘congregation.’ It appears thus in the tender address of our Lord: μὴ φοβοῦ τὸ, μικρὸν ποίμνιον, ‘Fear not, little flock’ ( Luke 12:32). The words continued to beat like a pulse in the breast of the Church, and are renewed again and again.

(1) St. Paul says to the elders of Ephesus: προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ … ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ, ‘Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock … to feed the Church of God’ ( Acts 20:28-29). The overseers and themselves part of the flock (ἐν ᾧ), and this suggests the insight, sympathy, closeness of intimacy, and the personal knowledge with which the flock is to be superintended. ‘The bishop is and remains a sheep of the flock, and must thus exercise his oversight both on himself and the whole flock’ (Stier, The Words of the Apostles , 1869, p. 328). ‘Feed’ and ‘guide,’ therefore, include the two great tasks of the ministry.

(2) Jesus had said to Peter: βόσκε τὰ ἀ ρνἱα μου … ποἱμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου, ‘Feed my lambs … tend my sheep’ ( John 21:15-16). Accordingly the Apostle, ‘in a personal reminiscence’ (W. H. Bennett, The General Epistles [Cent. Bible, 1901], p. 30) and, in ‘unobtrusive allusions to Christ’s life which harmonize with his discipleship’ (Moffatt, Introd. to Literature of the New Testament (Moffatt). , 1911, p. 335), says as a fellow-elder; ποιμάνατε τὸ ἐν ὑμῖν ποίμνιον τοῦ θεοῦ … τύποι γινόμενοι τοῦ ποιμνίου, ‘Tend the flock of God which is among you … making yourselves ensamples to the flock’ ( 1 Peter 5:2-3; cf. Pss. Sol . 17:45). ‘To feed the flock’ takes in the whole varied duties of the pastoral office. ‘It is not right that a man should only preach a sermon every Sunday, and after that pay no regard to the people’ (Stier, op. cit. , 328, quoting Gossner). ‘All modes of watchfulness and help are to be displayed. Fold as well as feed them; guide and guard and heal them’ (Hastings, Great Texts of the Bible , ‘St. John,’ 1912, p. 422). In the Authorized Versionof  1 Peter 5:3 the flock is called ‘God’s heritage,’ but θεοῦ is not in the text, and it is better to read with Revised Version‘the charge allotted to yon’ (cf. Tindale’s Version: ‘be not as lordes over the parrishes’). ‘The charge allotted to you’ is therefore parallel to ‘the flock of God which is among you, i.e. the particular Christian society committed to your care. ‘Each separate ἐκκλησία was thought of as the “portion” (κλῆρος) of the presbyter who watched over it’ (E. H. Plumptre, Camb. Bible , ‘St. Peter and St. Jude,’ 1880, p. 154).

It is evidence of how completely the thought of the shepherd and the flock possessed the mind of the early Church, that in the Catacombs the figure of a shepherd with a sheep on his shoulder and a crook in his hand is the most frequent of all symbols.

W. M. Grant.

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

Two Hebrew words, eder [עֶדֶר] and son , are regularly translated "flock" in the Old Testament and both are rendered by Greek poimne [Ποίμνη] (or its diminutive poimnion [Ποίμνιον]) in the Septuagint and New Testament. The word eder [עֶדֶר] connotes a more collective sense than so'n , which can also be translated "sheep." Both occur figuratively (as do the Greek terms), almost always with Israel (or Judah) and the church in view as the "flock" or people of God.

The designation "flock" is used a number of times simply as an epithet of the people, one that inherently communicates their helplessness, naiveté, simplicity, and dependence ( Psalm 74:1;  77:20;  78:52;  79:13;  80:1;  100:3;  Isaiah 40:11;  Zechariah 9:16;  10:3;  11:7,17;  John 10:16 ). More particularly, it speaks of Israel as subjects of earthly kings ( Jeremiah 13:20;  25:34-36;  Ezekiel 34:2-3 ) or of the elders of the church ( Acts 20:28;  1 Peter 5:3 ), who are held accountable for their leadership. Failing that leadership, or perhaps in rebellion to it, Israel is seen as a people without a shepherd ( Numbers 27:17;  1 Kings 22:17 ), helpless ones ( 2 Samuel 24:17 ) who wander and go astray ( Isaiah 53:6;  Zechariah 10:2 ). Isaiah makes it clear that such behavior is sinful, willful departure from the shepherd.

Although the flock is sometimes scattered in judgment ( Ezekiel 34:12 ) it is never without the hope of regathering ( Jeremiah 23:1-3 ). The reason for this hope is that Israel is under the care of Yahweh, the Good Shepherd ( Psalm 95:7;  Ezekiel 34:31; cf.  John 10:11-18 ), who has made his people the objects of his saving grace and heirs of all the covenant promises ( Micah 7:14 ).

Eugene H. Merrill

Bibliography . P. L. Garber, Isbe, 4:463-65; B. D. Napier, Isbe, 4:315-16; G. E. Post, Dictionary of the Bible, 4:486-87.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

Tsô'n (צְאוֹן, Strong'S #6629), “flock; small cattle; sheep; goats.” A similar word is found in Akkadian, Aramaic, and Syriac, and in the Tel Amarna tablets. In Hebrew, tsô'n kept its meaning in all stages of the development of the language. The word occurs 273 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, with its first occurrence in Gen. 4:2. The word is not limited to any period of Hebrew history or to any type of literature. The Book of Genesis, with the narratives on the patriarchs in their pastoral setting, has the greatest frequency of usage (about 60 times).The primary meaning of tsô'n is “small cattle,” to be distinguished from baqar (“herd”). The word may refer to “sheep” only (1 Sam. 25:2) or to both “sheep and goats”: “So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me” (Gen. 30:33). The “flock” was an important economic factor in the ancient Near East. The animals were eaten (1 Sam. 14:32; cf. Ps. 44:11), shorn for their wool (Gen. 31:19), and milked (Deut. 32:14). They were also offered as a sacrifice, as when Abel sacrificed a firstling of his “flock” (Gen. 4:4).

In the metaphorical usage of tsô'n , the imagery of a “multitude” may apply to people: “As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 36:38). God is viewed as the shepherd of His “flock,” God’s people: “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Ps. 100:3; cf. Ps. 23; 79:13; Mic. 7:14). In a period of oppression, the psalmist compared God’s people to “sheep for the slaughter” (Ps. 44:22) and prayed for God’s deliverance.

People without a leader were compared to a “flock” without a shepherd (1 Kings 22:17; cf. Zech. 10:2; 13:7). Jeremiah viewed the Judeans as having been guided astray by their shepherds, or leaders (Jer. 50:6). Similarly, Isaiah wrote: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).

The prophetic promise pertains to God’s renewed blessing on the remnant of the “flock”: “And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase” (Jer. 23:3). This would come to pass as the Messiah (“the Branch of David”) will establish His rule over the people (vv. 5-6). This idea is also expressed by Ezekiel: “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it” (Ezek. 34:23- 24).

The Septuagint gives the following translations: probaton (“sheep”) and piomnion (“flock”). The Kjv gives these senses: “flocks; sheep; cattle.”

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: ποίμνη (Strong'S #4167 — Noun Feminine — poimne — poym'-nay )

akin to poimen, "a shepherd," denotes "a flock" (properly, of sheep),  Matthew 26:31;  Luke 2:8;  1 Corinthians 9:7; metaphorically, of Christ's followers,  John 10:16 , Rv, for the erroneous Av, "fold." What characterizes Christ's sheep is listening to His voice, and the "flock" must be one as He is one.

2: ποίμνιον (Strong'S #4168 — Noun Neuter — poimnion — poym'-nee-on )

possibly a diminutive of No. 1, is used in the Nt only metaphorically, of a group of Christ's disciples,  Luke 12:32; of local churches cared for by elders,  Acts 20:28,29;  1 Peter 5:2,3 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 30:31-32 Numbers 27:17 Ezekiel 34:5 34:8 Matthew 9:36 Mark 6:34 Psalm 100:3 Jeremiah 23:3 Ezekiel 34:31 Hebrews 13:20 John 10:11 1 Peter 5:4

The unity of all Christians is pictured by the image of one flock composed of many folds ( John 10:16 ). Flocks can refer to individual congregations under the care of a pastor ( 1 Peter 5:2-3 ).

Judgment is sometimes pictured as the sorting of a flock. In  Ezekiel 34:1 the fat, strong sheep (the oppressive leaders of Israel) are separated from the weak sheep that they victimized (  Ezekiel 34:16-17 ,Ezekiel 34:16-17, 34:20-21 ). In  Matthew 25:32-46 sheep are separated from goats on the basis of concrete acts of love shown to the needy.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A lock of wool or hair.

(2): ( n.) Woolen or cotton refuse (sing. / pl.), old rags, etc., reduced to a degree of fineness by machinery, and used for stuffing unpholstered furniture.

(3): ( v. t.) To coat with flock, as wall paper; to roughen the surface of (as glass) so as to give an appearance of being covered with fine flock.

(4): ( n.) A company or collection of living creatures; - especially applied to sheep and birds, rarely to persons or (except in the plural) to cattle and other large animals; as, a flock of ravenous fowl.

(5): ( n.) A Christian church or congregation; considered in their relation to the pastor, or minister in charge.

(6): ( v. t.) To flock to; to crowd.

(7): ( v. i.) To gather in companies or crowds.

(8): ( sing. / pl.) Very fine, sifted, woolen refuse, especially that from shearing the nap of cloths, used as a coating for wall paper to give it a velvety or clothlike appearance; also, the dust of vegetable fiber used for a similar purpose.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A term used in the O.T. for Israel as sheep gathered by God as their Shepherd, and called Jehovah's flock.  Psalm 77:20;  Psalm 107:41;  Jeremiah 13:17 . It is also applied to those of Israel that were gathered to Christ when on earth. To these He added the Gentile believers; and all were united into one flock (not 'one fold'), with Christ as the one Shepherd.  John 10:16 . When the leaders of Israel were to be judged as not caring for the Lord's flock, the prophet speaks of the remnant as the poor o f the flock.  Zechariah 11:7,11 : cf.  Luke 6:20 . The Lord also spoke to His disciples as a little flock, bidding them not to fear: it was their Father's good pleasure to give them the kingdom.  Luke 12:32 . In Paul's address to the elders of Ephesus he exhorts them to take heed unto all the flock: the wolves would not spare them. Paul commended the shepherds to God and to the word of His grace.  Acts 20:28,29 : cf.  1 Peter 5:2,3 .

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Psalm 77:20 (a) The people of Israel are compared to sheep under the leadership of the Lord God of Heaven. (See also  Isaiah 40:11 -  Isaiah 63:11;  Jeremiah 13:17;  Jeremiah 23:2;  Jeremiah 25:34;  Ezekiel 24:5;  Micah 2:12;  Matthew 26:31).

 Luke 12:32 (a) This refers to the followers of the Lord Jesus. He is the shepherd, those who love Him are His sheep.

 Acts 20:28 (a) In this passage the church is compared to sheep. It refers to the true church of God, consisting only of believers, born-again people. It does not refer to those great national and international organizations which call themselves "The Church." (See1Pe  5:2).

King James Dictionary

Flock, n. L. floccus. It is the same radically as flake, and applied to wool or hair, we write it lock. See Flake.

1. A company or collection applied to sheep and other small animals. A flock of sheep answers to a herd of larger cattle. But the word may sometimes perhaps be applied to larger beasts, and in the plural, flocks may include all kinds of domesticated animals. 2. A company or collection of fowls of any kind, and when applied to birds on the wing, a flight as a flock of wild-geese a flock of ducks a flock of blackbirds. in the United States, flocks of wild-pigeons sometimes darken the air. 3. A body or crowd of people. little used. Gr. a troop. 4. A lock of wool or hair. Hence, a flockbed.

Flock, To gather in companies or crowds applied to men or other animals. People flock together. They flock to the play-house.

Friends daily flock.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

See Shepherd .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Flock . See Sheep.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(usually and properly עֵדֵר, e'der, ποίμνη [or dimin. ποιμνίον, a "little flock,' like חֲשַׂי, chasiph',  1 Kings 20:27]; occasionally מִקְנֶה, mikneh', cattle, as generally rendered; frequently צאֹן, sheep collectively, as commonly rendered; also מִרְעִית," marith',  Jeremiah 10:21, pasture, as elsewhere rendered; and עִשְׁתְּרוֹת, ashteroth' [q.v.],  Deuteronomy 7:13;  Deuteronomy 28:4;  Deuteronomy 28:18;  Deuteronomy 28:51, i.e. Venuses, ewes for breeding). (See Fold); (See Pasturage); (See Sheep).