Question 1

What does "Lamb" mean in the King James Bible?

Accepted Answer

In the KJV, "Lamb" means "gentle sacrificial figure." The blood on the doorpost. When John said 'Behold the Lamb of God,' every hearer saw the Passover: a lamb killed, its blood painted on the door frame, the angel of death passing over. It was not a gentle image but a graphic one. In Revelation, the Lamb conquers -- the slain one turns out to be the most powerful being in the cosmos.

Question 2

Why did the word "Lamb" disappear from modern English?

Accepted Answer

Hebrew seh/kebes ('lamb') and Greek amnos/arnion ('lamb') lost the Passover-sacrifice context that made John's declaration a thunderbolt. Without the visceral memory of lamb slaughter, 'Lamb of God' became a gentle title rather than a violent image. The word was at peak usage around 1611 and declined by still used but defanged (~1900).

Question 3

What modern word replaced "Lamb"?

Accepted Answer

"Lamb" was replaced by: "sacrifice" (though this abstract; a lamb was a specific, living creature whose blood was smeared on doorposts to prevent death); "victim" (though this passive; the lamb in revelation is paradoxically also the lion -- the slain one who conquers); "offering" (though this ritualistic; the passover lamb was the difference between life and death at the exodus).

What Does “Lamb” Mean in the Bible?

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