Lamb (Male) - Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words
Usage Number: 1
Strong's Number: H3532
Original Word: kebes
Usage Notes: "lamb (male); kid." The Akkadian cognate of this noun means "lamb," whereas the Arabic cognate signifies "a young ram." The word occurs 107 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, and especially in the Pentateuch.
The kebes is a "young lamb" which is nearly always used for sacrificial purposes. The first usage in Exodus pertains to the Passover: "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats" (Exod. 12:5). The word gedî, "kid," is a synonym for kebes: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb [kebes], and the leopard shall lie down with the kid [gedî]; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them" (Isa. 11:6). The traditional translation "lamb" leaves the gender uncertain. In Hebrew the word kebes is masculine, whereas the kibsâ, "young ewe lamb," is feminine; cf. "And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves" (Gen. 21:28).
The Septuagint gives the following translations: amnos ("lamb"); probaton ("sheep"); and arnos ("lamb"). The kjv gives these senses: "lamb; sheep."