A common animal used both for food and within the sacrificial system.
The economic importance of goats
For food
Genesis 27:9; Judges 13:15 See also Deuteronomy 14:4, Deuteronomy 14:21; Judges 6:19; Proverbs 27:27; Luke 15:29
Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father— the kind he loves.
“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.”
For fabric
Exodus 35:26 The tabernacle curtains were spun from goat hair, the ordinary material for making tents. See also Exodus 26:7, Exodus 36:14; Revelation 6:12
And all the skilled women whose hearts were stirred spun the goat hair.
As a measure of wealth and payment
Genesis 30:32; 1 Samuel 25:2 See also Genesis 32:5, Genesis 32:13–14, Genesis 47:17; Proverbs 27:26; Ezekiel 27:21
Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages.
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
Goats used in sacrifice
For worship
Genesis 15:9; Judges 13:19; Psalm 66:13–15
For atonement for sin
Leviticus 4:23; Ezra 8:35 See also Leviticus 3:12, Leviticus 4:28, Leviticus 5:6, Leviticus 9:3; Numbers 7:16, Numbers 7:22, Numbers 7:28, Numbers 15:27
When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring an unblemished male goat as his offering.
Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and a sin offering of 12 male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.
As a fellowship offering
Numbers 7:17, Numbers 7:23, Numbers 7:29
At the dedication of the temple
1 Kings 8:63 parallel 2 Chronicles 7:5 See also 2 Chronicles 30:24; Ezra 6:17
And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.
Flawless goats were required
Exodus 12:5 See also Leviticus 1:10; Ezekiel 43:22
Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats.
The sacrifice of goats is unable to actually remove sins
Isaiah 1:11 In spite of their many sacrifices there was no evidence of repentance; Hebrews 9:12–14, Hebrews 10:3–4
Goats are symbolic of sinful humanity
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.