From earliest times people have kept sheep, whether for their meat or for their wool (Gen 4:2). In the dry semi-desert regions around Palestine, many of the Arabs and other tribal people moved with their flocks from place to place, looking for pastures and water (Gen 26:12-22; Exod 3:1; Isa 13:20).
In other lands, where there was a better supply of grass and water, people who settled down permanently in one area kept sheep as part of their farming activity. After settling down in Canaan, the Israelites, on the whole, belonged to this latter category (Deut 7:13; 1 Sam 17:15; 25:2). Israelites kept sheep mainly for their wool, which they used to make clothing (Gen 38:13; Lev 13:47- 48; Prov 27:26). Apart from those ceremonial sacrifices where worshippers ate the meat of the sheep in a ritual meal, Israelites killed sheep for meat only on special occasions (Lev 7:15; Deut 12:21; 1 Sam 25:18; Amos 6:4; see also LAMB). A well known characteristic of sheep was that they were easily led astray and soon became lost. Because of this, people who were easily led astray were sometimes likened to sheep (Isa 53:6; Matt 10:6; 18:12). Sheep needed a shepherd to protect and lead them, and in the same way people need God to care for them and give them the right leadership in life (Num 27:17; Matt 10:16; John 10:11,27; 21:15-17; 1 Peter 5:1-4; see SHEPHERD).