A collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats); also figuratively (of men)
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TSON, H6629, is a collective word for flock, especially sheep and goats. Its ordinary use belongs to livestock, wealth, provision, and daily shepherding, but Scripture often turns that ordinary world into a window on human vulnerability and divine care.
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Full entry for צֹאן (H6629) · Open the biblical lexicon
TSON, H6629, is a collective word for flock, especially sheep and goats. Its ordinary use belongs to livestock, wealth, provision, and daily shepherding, but Scripture often turns that ordinary world into a window on human vulnerability and divine care.
The BSB source-word alignment has 274 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include sheep (48), the flock (27), . . . (12), my flock (11), and flocks (10).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (63), Ezekiel (29), 1 Samuel (20), Jeremiah (18).
TSON, H6629, is a collective word for flock, especially sheep and goats. Its ordinary use belongs to livestock, wealth, provision, and daily shepherding, but Scripture often turns that ordinary world into a window on human vulnerability and divine care. Israel can be the Lord's flock, neglected by false shepherds, scattered by judgment, gathered by mercy, or led by faithful rule.
The word should not sentimentalize God's people as harmless or passive. A flock needs care because it is dependent, exposed, and easily scattered. The Bible uses that reality to expose failed leaders and to magnify the Lord who claims his people as his own flock.
H6629 moves from literal livestock to a major shepherding image for God's people. It shows dependence, exposure, leadership responsibility, judgment against false shepherds, and the Lord's covenant claim on his people.
As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, with Laban’s sheep, he went up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.
Jacob's ordinary care for Laban's flock grounds the word in concrete shepherding work before it becomes a people-of-God metaphor.
But David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.
David's movement between Saul and the flock quietly prepares shepherding as a leadership lens for Israel's king.
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah uses flock language to accuse destructive shepherds who scatter the Lord's sheep.
‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel makes the metaphor explicit: God's people are his flock, and the Lord himself is their God.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Collective term for livestock herds; metaphorically denotes God's people as vulnerable dependents needing shepherding.
Collective term for livestock herds; metaphorically denotes God's people as vulnerable dependents needing shepherding.
a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats); also figuratively (of men) BDB: small cattle Usage: (small) cattle, flock ( -s), lamb ( -s), sheep(-cote, -fold, -shearer, -herds).
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 274 lexical occurrence verses.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The flock metaphor receives its moral force from ordinary shepherding. Jacob waters Laban's sheep, David moves between Saul's court and his father's flock, and the daily work requires attention, provision, protection, and gathering. The prophets then use that concrete world to expose leaders who consume the benefits of office while scattering the Lord's people.
Jeremiah 23 announces woe because the flock belongs to God, not to the shepherds. Ezekiel 34 goes further: the Lord will judge failed shepherds, search for His sheep, gather them, feed them, and set one shepherd over them. This means flock language can never justify passivity or control. It magnifies God's ownership, holds leaders accountable for tangible care, and gives scattered people reason to hope.
Human shepherds remain servants under the Lord who knows and reclaims His own flock.
Ezek.34.11-31
The collective noun covers a flock, commonly sheep and goats considered together. It names the animals or people under care, not the shepherding office itself. Related Hebrew words for sheep, lamb, shepherd, and pasturing contribute to the canonical image but retain their own lexical work.
The prophetic promise that the Lord will seek His scattered flock and appoint one shepherd reaches a decisive fulfillment in Jesus, who identifies Himself as the good Shepherd and gathers one flock. This is a canonical shepherding trajectory. It does not erase the distinct Hebrew and Greek flock terms or transfer Christ's unique authority without qualification to church leaders.
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