AGNELLO. — Born of the ram and the ewe, to which its symbolism is so immediately apparent to the mind
no, matt
no, mattutino e vespertino, detto ‘olat ha-tamid (Num. 28, 6. 10. 15. 23 sg.; Vulg. holocaustum iuge or sempiternum) and simply tamid in later Judaism (Dan. 8, 11-13; 11, 31; Mishnah); this rite is prescribed in Ex. 29, 38-42 and Num. 28, 3-4. 6.8. As in these passages, kebbés is often accompanied by the qualification ben-shanah («a yearling»): i.e., more than seven days old (Ex. 22, 30; Lev. 22, 27) and not more than one year. The lamb had moreover to be, for the holocaust, tamid «perfect» or without blemish (Septuagint ἀμωμος, Vulg. immaculatus): Lev. 1, 3; 3, 6; Num. 28-29: 15 times; cf. Lev. 4, 3-32; 5, 15. 18). This epithet tamid («without blemish»: cf. 1 Pt. 1, 19) is also found at Ugarit (ntm tm; Syria 10 [1929], pl. 61, no. 1).
The law specifies the rite of the lamb offered as a «peace» sacrifice (Lev. 3, 7-11) and «for sin» (Lev. 4, 32 [kebbés: Vulg. de pecoribus]). 35). In all the festivals and for almost every kind of sacrifice (v.), Mosaic Law prescribed the immolation of lambs (cf. Gen. 4, 3-4; Num. 6, 12; 1 Sam. 7, 9; 1 Kgs. 8, 63, where the generic term sōn is used: 120,000; etc.). In the tamid of the Sabbath, the lambs were 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening (Num. 28, 9 sg.). Other holocausts of «perfect» lambs were prescribed: 7 at the new moons, 7 in addition to the tamid each day of the Paschal week (Num. 28, 11. 19-24); 7 at the New Year (Num. 29, 2-4), 9 in all at Pentecost (Lev. 23, 18 sg.; Num. 28, 27), 7 in addition to the tamid on the Day of Atonement (Num. 29, 8-11); at the Tabernacles the daily number rose to 14, but only 7 on the eighth day (Num. 29, 13-36). Other lamb sacrifices were enjoined upon the purified mother (Lev. 12, 6-8) and the leper who had been healed (Lev. 14, 10-24: two lambs and one ewe-lamb). Each year the obligatory public worship, on behalf of the nation, required the immolation of 1,093 lambs (or kids), in addition to those offered in private sacrifices. Lambs were preferred, being more highly regarded and more expressive, but in many sacrifices a kid could be substituted, provided it was not white. Thus for the Paschal lamb (cf. 2 Chron. 35, 7): «Your lamb (seh) shall be perfect (tamid)... take it from the lambs (kebbāsîm) or from the goats» (Ex. 12, 5; the Vulgate’s iuxta quem ritum tolletis et haedum is inaccurate; cf. Deut. 14, 4). The Paschal lamb (v. PASCHA), ordained by God at the Exodus from Egypt (Ex. 12, 2-11; Num. 9, 2-14; Deut. 16, 1-7), preserved by its blood, of which the doorposts were smeared («as a sign») (Ex. 12, 7. 13. 22 sg.; the whole house was thus consecrated as an altar), the families of Israel from the destruction of the firstborn. Male and perfect (tamid, V. 5; as for the holocausts: Lev. 1, 3), it was immolated by the head of the household (later by the Levites: Ezra 6, 20; 2 Chron. 30, 17; 35, 6) in the court of the sanctuary on the evening of the 14th of the first month (Nisan), and its blood was poured (after the erection of the sanctuary) at the base of the altar. It was then eaten roasted (laid upon two pieces of wood forming a cross, without breaking its bones: Ex. 12, 46; Num. 9, 12; cf. John 19, 36), in groups of ten to twenty, and nothing was to remain (the leftovers were burned).
Flavius Josephus relates (Bell. Jud., VI, 9, 4) that, before the destruction of the Second Temple, 256,500 lambs were immolated at one Passover; but already W. M. De Wette noted the exaggeration of this figure (Lehrb. der hebr.-jud. Archäologie, 1814; 4th ed. 1864, § 218). The Babylonian Talmud (Pesahim 6b) even goes so far as to number (for the same period) 1,200,000.
The Paschal lamb was a true sacrifice: it is called zébah (Septuagint θυσία; Ex. 12, 27; 23, 18; 34, 25) or qorbān (Num. 9, 7, 13) with the verb hiqrib, technical terms for sacrifices. The sacrificial character is also evident from the expression pésah lē-pahwekh «Passover sacred to the Lord» (Ex. 12, 11, 48; Lev. 23, 5; Num. 9, 10, 14; Deut. 16, 1 sg.; 2 Chron. 30, 1, 5; etc.), and from the rite of the blood poured by the priest at the base of the altar of holocausts (Lev. 17, 3-6; 2 Chron. 30, 16; 35, 11). Hence Philo (Vita Mos. 3) and Flavius Josephus (Antiq. Jud. II, 14, 6; 11, 4, 8; Bell. Jud. VI, 9, 3) call the Paschal lamb θύματα and θυσίαι (cf. θυσίαι in Mark 14, 12; Luke 22, 7; 1 Cor. 5, 7). Yet it is impossible to reduce this sacrifice (v.) to one of the common categories of Mosaic Law; it was at once expiatory and «peace» (F. X. Kortleitner, Archaol. Biblica, Innsbruck 1917, pp. 264-66).
As a sacrifice, the Paschal lamb had to be killed in Jerusalem, and the rite ceased in Judaism with the destruction of the Temple. Today, in place of the lamb, the head of the household gives the afikoman (v.), which he raises, saying, before distributing it: Zeh zikkārōn lē-qorbān pésah («This is the memorial of the Passover sacrifice»).
So familiar a creature provided various images for biblical writers. The gambolling of lambs in springtime depicts the rejoicing of Israel delivered from Egypt (Wis. 19, 9), to which inanimate nature is joined (Ps. 113 [114], 4, 6; cf. Mal. 4, 2 [Heb. 3, 20]; the calves).
Timid and innocent, with a fleece ordinarily white, «without blemish» (tāmîm) as ritual demands, the lamb is in the Bible, as in other literatures, a symbol of innocence and gentleness, in contrast to cunning and violence. It is the opposite of the wolf (Ecclus. 13, 21 [Heb. 17a]; cf. Matt. 10, 16; cf. Horace, Epod. IV, 1; Phaedrus, etc.). The cessation of this instinctive opposition characterized the messianic age (Is. 11, 6; cf. 65, 25). Weak, inexperienced, and in need of guidance and protection (cf. Nathan’s parable: 2 Sam. 12, 3-4), the lamb calls for the shepherd as its counterpart (cf. Dante, Par. IX, 131 sg.; X, 94; XXIX, 106). The Messiah will be a watchful shepherd of men, a flock without a guide (cf. Matt. 9, 36; Mark 6, 34; 1 Pet. 2, 25; Num. 27, 17), the Good Shepherd (John 10, 2-16; cf. Luke 15, 4-6; Matt. 12, 12; 18, 11 sg.) who entrusts His lambs to Peter (John 21, 15; τὰ ἀρνά μου).
The just man, simple and upright, who suspects no snares or betrayals, persecuted by cunning enemies, is «like a lamb (kebhes) harmless, dragged off to the slaughter» (Jer. 11, 19). The image characterizes the «Servant of Yahweh», guileless and patient, «a lamb (seh) led to the slaughter and silent» (Is. 53, 7).
In Jewish apocrypha the biblical allegory of lambs (= the faithful) under the Shepherd (= God) persists: 1 Enoch 83-90; Ps. Sol. 8, 14 sg. But the Lamb-Redeemer in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs seems due to Christian influence: «From Judah and Levi shall arise for you the Lamb of God (ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ) who saves the nations by His grace» (Test. Jos. 19).
In the New Testament, John the Baptist points to Jesus as the Lamb of God (ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ) to indicate, beyond His innocence and meekness, His quality as an expiatory victim “who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29, 36; for sin, connected with death, cf. Num 9:13b). The article preceding the title of Lamb, and the precise manner (ἴδε, “behold”) in which the Baptist applies this appellation to Jesus, demonstrates that he employs a figure widely known as referring to the Messiah. The Baptist gives the formula a messianic and soteriological value (cf. Jn 1:30-34), alluding to the two lambs sacrificed daily in the Temple, and especially to the paschal lamb whose immolation was to take place shortly afterward (Jn 2:13), and to the expiatory sacrifice of the “servant of Yahweh” (Is 53:7; cf. Acts 8:32). The Evangelist places great emphasis on the paschal rite of Jesus (Jn 13:1-3; 31-33; cf. 18:28) and then underscores its fulfillment in Him as the type of the paschal lamb (Jn 19:33-36). The figure, expressing moral purification from sin through immolation, applied to Jesus as a characteristic appellation, rests on natural symbolism (rooted in the qualities of the soul) and at the same time on positive revelation (derived from the Old Testament, which links the idea of holocaust with the lamb, of liberation and salvation with the paschal lamb).
The Evangelist John has handed down the suggestive title of the Savior that he learned “from the beginning” at the moment of his vocation (Jn 1:36; cf. 1 Jn 1:1; 2:24) and made it the focal point of the Apocalypse, where the living symbol of the Lamb (= Jesus) recurs 128 times (always τὸ ἀρνίον). It has been argued (C. F. Burney, followed in part by I. Rohr, *Der Hebräerbrief und die geheime Offenbarung des hl. Joh.*, 4th ed., Bonn 1932, p. 92) that τὸ ἀρνίον corresponds to the Aramaic talyā, which equivocates between the sense of “young man” and “lamb.” But John “sees” Jesus as the Lamb. The figure dominates the entire Apocalypse from 5:6 (“Lamb... as though slain”) onward. The slain and victorious Lamb is the link between the two supreme salvific events: the accomplished Redemption and the final Judgment; the Lamb carries the former and exercises the latter. Heaven and earth look to the Lamb: He reigns in heaven (5:6; 7:17; 21:1, 3) and on the mountain (14:1), He is the temple and the light of heaven (21:22, 24), and the saints, saved by His blood (7:14; 12:11), share in the banquet of His wedding feast (19:7, 9; 21:9). Simple and meek, the Lamb fights and triumphs over the cunning and powerful Beast (the Antichrist is an anti-Lamb: 13:11) and conquers with His saints (12:11; 17:14), who are also immaculate (ἀμνῶν: 14:5).
The Synoptics are silent about the symbol Lamb = Jesus, which appears only in 1 Pt 1:19 (“Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect, the costly blood of Christ”). St. Paul (1 Cor 5:7) sees Jesus prefigured in the paschal lamb. This typical sense of the paschal lamb is then affirmed by the entire tradition: St. Justin (Dial. Tryph. 40, 111 [cites Is 53:7]: PG 6, 561, 732), Tertullian (Adv. Marcionem 4:40 [cites Is 53:7]; 5:7: PL 2, 490-91, 518), Origen (Hom. 2 in Lev.; Hom. 23 in Num.; Hom. 12 in Ier.; In Io. tom. 10, 11-13: PG 12, 421; 13, 752; 13, 396; 14, 328-430; *Tract. de libris SS. Scripturarum*, ed. P. Batiffol, Paris 1900, pp. 96-103), St. Cyprian (Ad Demetrianum 22: PL 4, 580), Lactantius, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Leo the Great, St. Gregory the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 102, a. 6: the most expressive figure of the Eucharist in the Old Testament).
Among Catholics, M.-J. Lagrange, followed by F. Ceuppens, denies that the appellation “Lamb of God” implies, in the Baptist’s mouth, the expiatory death, since this concept would have been unknown to him and his hearers. But the generality of believing exegetes (among recent ones, F. S. Porporato and A. Médébielle) vindicate this meaning, clearly perceived by the entire Catholic tradition.
The Fathers generally expressly link and unify the type of the paschal lamb, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” and the oracle of Is 53:7 (Origen, In Io. tom. 10, 13: PG 14, 336). And they depict Jesus as “Lamb of God,” i.e., the most pure and meek Victim who immolates Himself to save sinful mankind: Origen (In Io. tom. 6, 32-35: PG 14, 289-93), Eusebius (Demonstr. Evang. 10: PG 22, 717), St. Augustine (In Io. tr. 4, 10-11; tr. 7, 5-6 [“by the blood of the lamb the lion was conquered”]; tr. 120, 3: PL 35, 1410, 1439-40, 1953), St. John Chrysostom (In Io. hom. 17, 1: PG 59, 109), St. Cyril of Alexandria (In Io. 2: PG 73, 192). Dante (cf. *Paradiso* XVII, 33) applies the title “Lamb of God” to the Emperor (Epist. VII, to Henry VII), whom he invokes as “Redeemer.”
Theological speculation has drawn significant conclusions from this symbol for the dogma of Redemption. Some non-Catholics exaggerate this, such as S. N. Bulgakov (*L’Agneau de Dieu. Sur l’humanité divine*, Paris 1933).
Christian figurative art presents Jesus as the Lamb, drawing mainly from Rev 5:6-14 and 7:9-17.
The Catholic liturgy, especially during Eastertide, frequently alludes to the paschal lamb. The appellation “Lamb of God” has been applied to Jesus in liturgical language from the earliest centuries to signify the immaculate Victim for the redemption of the world. Thus in the Roman Rite Mass, in the Gloria and after the breaking of the host, and when the priest, before Communion, shows the Lord in the host to the faithful. So also in the liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, after the lavabo, when the priest pierces the right side of the seal and makes the sign of the cross over the bread; when he divides the bread into four parts, after the adoration (cf. *Liturgia s. Joh. Chris.*, Venice 1687, p. 433). In the liturgy of St. Mark, the appellation occurs at the third prayer of the kiss of peace and in the adoration at the bowing of the head (*Missale Alex. s. Marci*, ed. Gius. L. Assemani, Rome 1754, pp. 53, 71).
S. 117-20, 156-60, 168-71; F. Soleri, *Gesù - Agnello di Dio nel pensiero di Giov. Batt.*, in *Scuola Catt.*, 60 (1932, I), pp. 359-70; id., *Gesù Agnello di Dio nell’interpretazione della liturgia e dell’arte cristiana*, ibid., 60 (1932, II), pp. 353-64; J. Schildknecht, *Ecce Agnus Dei*, in *Benediktinische Monatschrift*, 14 (1932), pp. 120-30; A. Médébielle, in *DBs*, III, cols. 205 ff.; J. Jeremias, *ἀμνός τοῦ Θεοῦ - παρθέντος* in *Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft*, 39 (1935), pp. 115-23; E. Barnekol, *Kann Paulus Christus als Passahlamm? Der Urtext von I Kor. 5, 7 ohne die nachpaulinische Passahdeutung* in *Theologisches Jahrbuch*, 7 (1939), pp. 65-68; F. Ceuppens, *Theologia biblica*, III: *De Incarnatione*, Rome 1939, p. 12; P. Jouan, *L’Agneau de Dieu*, in *Nouvelle Revue Théologique*, 67 (1940), pp. 318-21; P. Samain, *L’Agneau de Dieu qui ôte les péchés du monde*, in *Revue Diocésaine de Tournai*, 1 (1946), pp. 165-70; E. E. May, *Ecce Agnus Dei: I. philological and exegetical approach to John 1:29, 36*, Washington 1947.
2. Christian Archaeology
The lamb is often recalled by Jesus Christ in the Gospel, alongside the sheep, to figuratively represent the flock of the good shepherd, that is, His faithful; where it is difficult to maintain the distinction of sheep in the sense of apostles and bishops, from lamb in the sense of simple faithful. Such is also the meaning of the sheep and lambs that Paleo-Christian art, from the end of the 2nd century, places beside the mystical shepherd, to represent both the Church militant and the Church triumphant.But more refined and fruitful was the symbolism of the lamb applied to Christ, already in the Old Testament depicted as the Paschal lamb and expressly described as such by Isaiah, especially in the apocalyptic transfiguration of the *Agnus stans tamquam occisus* before the throne of God, *qui occisus est et redemit nos Deo in sanguine suo* (Rev. 5). This conception found great use in Christian art from the 4th century onwards, both in the funerary sculpture of sarcophagi and in the most solemn biblical compositions in music or painting. In this same art, the lambs (usually twelve) moving towards Jesus signify the apostles or even all the faithful. A singular case is that of the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (v.), where on the extradosses of the arches of the lower zone the artist has sculpted six biblical compositions in which both Jesus and the other figures are represented by lambs. The Trullan Council of 692 recommended replacing the representation of Jesus Himself with that of the nimbed or cruciferous lamb on the mountain or throne; but it was not heeded, at least in the West. Finally, it should not be forgotten that sometimes on funerary slabs the lamb is a simple allusion to the name of the deceased (e.g., of a Probata, since the lamb is called in Greek *πρόβατον*), or to their tender and innocent age. For the Paschal lamb