Bible dictionaries
Flock
What Bible dictionaries say about “Flock”, one article after the other.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Flock - (Webster's 1828 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, v.i. To gather in companies or crowds; applied to men or other animals. People flock together. They flock to the play-house.
Friends daily flock.
Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
The article in Easton + Webster 1828Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Herd - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
Gen. 13:5; Deut. 7:14. (See [272]CATTLE.)
Herd - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
HERD, n.
1. A collection or assemblage; applied to beasts when feeding or driven together. We say, a herd of horses, oxen, cattle, camels, elephants, bucks, harts,and in Scripture, a herd of swine. But we say, a flock of sheep, goats, or birds. A number of cattle going to market is called a drove.
2. A company of men or people, in contempt or detestation; a crowd; a rabble; as a vulgar herd.
HERD, n. A keeper of cattle; used by Spenser, and still used in Scotland, but in English now seldom or never used, except in composition, as a shepherd, a goatherd, a swineherd.
HERD, v.i. To unite or associate, as beasts; to feed or run in collections. Most kinds of beasts manifest a disposition to herd.
1. To associate; to unite in companies customarily.
2. To associate; to become one of a number or party.
HERD, v.t. To form or put into a herd.
Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
The article in Easton + Webster 1828International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE 1915)
See CATTLE.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia — James Orr, general editor and contributors; CrossWire SWORD module ISBE 2.2
The article in ISBE 1915International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE 1915)
hurd.
See CATTLE.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia — James Orr, general editor and contributors; CrossWire SWORD module ISBE 2.2
The article in ISBE 1915Smith’s Bible Dictionary
William Smith; revised by F. N. Peloubet and M. A. Peloubet; CrossWire SWORD module Smith 1.3
The article in SmithTranslation Words
Definition
In the Bible, “flock” refers to a group of sheep or goats and “herd” refers to a group of cattle or pigs.
- Different languages may have different ways of naming groups of animals or birds.
Translation Suggestions
- Consider what terms are used in your language to refer to different groups of animals, and use the appropriate term for each kind of animal.
- If your language uses the same word to refer to both groups of sheep and cattle, then you may need to say “groups of sheep” where the Bible says only “flocks,” and “groups of cattle” where the Bible says only “herds.” Alternatively, if the Biblical context does not demand differentiation (if the text simply says “flocks and herds,” meaning all their domesticated animals) you may just use the one word once.
(See also: goat, cow, pig, sheep)
Bible References
Word Data
The original work by unfoldingWord is available from https://www.unfoldingword.org/utw. Bible Strong converted the Markdown and resource links to its dictionary schema and normalized Bible references.
The article in Translation Words